{"id":21360,"date":"2019-10-12T08:00:25","date_gmt":"2019-10-12T15:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/community.nrs.com\/?p=21360"},"modified":"2019-10-07T14:24:05","modified_gmt":"2019-10-07T21:24:05","slug":"battling-for-bulgarian-rivers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2019\/10\/12\/battling-for-bulgarian-rivers\/","title":{"rendered":"Battling for Bulgarian Rivers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Venturing into a pocket of the Balkans not yet explored, the Balkan Rivers Tour team had no idea what to expect as they drove south to Bulgaria. After a quick stop at Kayak Fest Tara<\/a> to see the familiar faces and rivers, the BRT4 team rallied the winding roads from Montenegro\u2019s Tara Canyon to Bulgaria\u2019s Kresna Gorge. The 10-hour trip gave the crew plenty of time to dream, brainstorm, scheme, plan and prepare for the week ahead.<\/p>\n

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Arriving late, bright views of the Pirin Mountains and coffee with an eclectic group of Bulgarian River defenders greeted the BRT4 team in the morning. The first presentations of the week started with the geography, history and current struggles within the Kresna Gorge and on the Struma River. Threats to the waterways of the region vary from mega highway development, cross-boundary industrial (predominately mining) pollution and the rampant construction of small hydropower dams.<\/p>\n