ABSTRACT
The debate on the construction o f the Vuotos Reservoir has been a protracted one.
The historical basis for the harnessing of the Kemi River for hydropower generation
was an Act passed in 1952 permitting the systematic exploitation of the hydropower
resources of the river and establishing a state-owned company for the purpose, Kemijoki Ltd.1047 The initial plans for the Vuotos reservoir, or as it was known then
’the Kemihaara project’, by Kemijoki Ltd. were completed in the 1960s, with the
reservoir to be located in the area o f the municipalities of Savukoski, Salla and most
extensively Pelkosenniemi. The project was suspended for environmental reasons in
1974, and in 1982 the Finnish government made an informal decision not to proceed
with the construction of the reservoir. The project was resumed as the ’Vuotos
project’ by the middle o f the 1980s and the preparatory work was completed when
Kemijoki Ltd. applied to the W ater Court o f Northern Finland on 25 September 1992
for a permit to construct the Vuotos reservoir and dam.1048 (See figure 7).
