Facts
The Misox Power Plants AG (MKW) utilizes the hydropower of the Calancasca and Moesa rivers and their tributaries for electricity generation. The Federal Supreme Court must decide whether the remediation measures ordered by the Canton of Graubünden pursuant to Art. 80 Paras. 1 and 2 WPA are lawful. The Government of the Canton of Graubünden obligated MKW to install a compensation flow device at the Curina water withdrawal point and to release an annual compensation flow volume of 4.734 million m3. Further measures were ordered. Pro Natura, WWF, and SFV appealed this decision.Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court partially upholds the appeal: Pursuant to Art. 80 Para. 1 WPA, remediation measures must be in the public interest, proportionate, and must not interfere with the substance of existing rights. The legislator has already made this balancing of interests, so that remediations up to the compensation threshold are permissible. However, the compensation flow of 4.734 million m3 ordered by the Canton at the Curina intake is insufficient. Given the favorable earnings situation of MKW and a representative 10-year period for determining average production, more extensive remediation measures must be considered reasonable. The Government is therefore instructed to evaluate the specific economic consequences of various remediation options and to order the maximum reasonable measures. Pursuant to Art. 80 Para. 2 WPA, a…