Fyrisån now and then
Fyrisån is Upplands longest river; it has its source in the surroundings of Dannemora and its outlet in Ekoln south of Uppsala. Fyrisån was first named Salaån and got its "new" name from Olof Rudbeck among others in the 1600-century. In the year 1841 the river was dammed and the islandfall was built to collect the power from the water. The dam made it impossible for the fish to travel upstream and play. The river was also for a long time considered a dirty ditch where all of the towns waste was dumped.
Today the water in the river is clean and fishstairs have been built by the waterfalls to help the fish to travel upstream. The Asp fish is Upplands landscape fish and it is on the IUCN Red List of endangered species. It lives in Mälaren and will hopefully start to travel upstream through Uppsala city and play. The shores have been made in to a popular recreational area and an indispensible addition to the city. People can come close to the water by walking on boardwalks and paved quays. Every year on Valborg (30th of April) there is a rafting arranged by teknolog- och naturvetarkåren (Technologist- and Naturescienceunion). The participants dress up in costumes and go down the river on their homebuilt Styrofoam rafts.
to make people to think of Fyrisån in a positive way. The river was really dirty in former times
