A newspaper page became a bank of the Daugava on 17 October 1986. In the “Pārrunu kārtā” section, Literatūra un Māksla published Dainis Īvāns and Artūrs Snips’s article “Par Daugavas likteni domājot,” in which the Daugavpils hydroelectric plant was no longer merely an engineering project, but a threat to landscape, memory, and self-respect. After the publication came a wave of signatures and letters—more than 30,000 voices against the project—and in 1987 construction was halted.

The campaign against the Daugavpils hydroelectric plant became one of the first major victories of public opinion in occupied Latvia. It showed that nature protection, cultural memory, and political self-awareness could merge into one force at the beginning of the Awakening.