At Vansjön, a little over a mile northeast of central Heby, lives Staffan Lund. After the weekend’s heavy rain in the municipality, large parts of his land are under water.
However, he believes that the floods could have been avoided. Not only at his land, but also in central Heby all the way down to Örsundsbro in Enköping municipality.
– Lake Vansjön is the main source of water supply in Heby. If we had a regulation dam already in place, we might not have had the problems we have now. There would have been a more even flow of water, says Staffan Lund, who is chairman of the Vansjö Nordsjö Vattenvårdsförening and continues:
– Now it didn’t happen that way because the lake’s water levels were already full when the rain came.
The association has worked for ten years to get permission to build a regulating dam at the lake’s outlet. But three times the Land and Environment Court has refused them.
Staffan Lund is something of an expert on the subject. Before retirement, he worked at SLU as head of the external financing unit. There he granted funding for research projects in, among other things, water issues.
– I have worked with water issues most of my professional life.
Support from the municipality
Heby municipality has also been positive about the proposal for the construction of a dam at Vansjön – and agrees with Staffan Lund.
– If this had been in use, we probably could have at least delayed the floods, says Per Möller (C), chairman of the community planning board in Heby.
Rejection from higher authorities
SVT has applied to the Land and Environmental Court, which has declined to comment.
In the final decision from the court, however, it is stated that the application from Staffan Lund and Vansjö Nordsjö Vattenvårdsförenings was denied due to, among other things, insufficient documentation.
But the hope for a future dust regulation is still alive.
– We will probably make another application to the Land and Environmental Court, but it is important that we have the authorities with us then, says Staffan Lund.