18 Waterways in Poland – The History, Present State and Future
373
The fact that this concern is justified may be proved by preparations for the
implementation of the Ministry’s priority project “Waterway connecting the Vistula
Lagoon with the Gdansk Bay.” It provides for the construction of a ditch by the Vistula
Spit, 1260 m long, 5 m deep, from 25 to 100 m wide, and a waterway connecting
the ditch with Elbl˛ ag of 22 km length, 5 m depth (with an average lagoon depth
of 2.7 m) and width from 60 to 120 m. The value of the investment is estimated at
EUR 500 million. The ditch and the waterway will cut Nature 2000 areas: special
protection areas of the Vistula Lagoon and Vistula Spit, as well as the area of birds’
special protection of the Vistula Lagoon. For this reason, the investment has met
with the opposition of many environments. For obvious reasons, numerous nongovernmental organizations protest against it, headed by the Polish WWF branch
and scientists representing the natural sciences. The purposefulness of the project
was also questioned by the Regional Directorate for Environmental Protection in
Gda´ nsk. Only after the director of this institution was forced from the post, a positive
environmental decision was obtained for the investor. The project of a waterway
through the Vistula Spit and the Vistula Lagoon was also negatively evaluated by the
self-government of the Pomeranian Voivodship. The Marshal’s Office, apart from
objections related to the protection of nature within the scope of the investment’s
impact, also pointed to the lack of economic justification for its implementation.
Finally, the local government authorities of holiday resorts located on the Vistula
Spit are concerned with the predicted degradation of local beaches. The matter of
the described waterway is also significant because it places Poland in the role of a
very uncertain partner in the planned construction of the TEN-T network.
Another controversial project, towards which the Ministry of Maritime Economy
and Inland Navigation is inclined, is the creation of a cascade in the Vistula, from
Warsaw to Gda´ nsk. The beginnings of this investment date back to the 1960s.
The project involved the construction of dams in Wyszogród, Płock, Włocławek,
Ciechocinek, Solec Kujawski, Chełmno, Opalenie and in Tczew together with the
accompanying hydropower plants. The growing crisis of the socialist economy in
Poland caused that only the dam in Włocławek was finally built. After state system
transformation in Poland, the concept of construction of dams on the lower Vistula
was repeated several times, but mainly in the context of a dam below the one
in Włocławek, as a measure to prevent excessive erosion of the bottom on this
section of the river. In recent years, the idea of full cascading of the lower Vistula
has been revived, but this time, along with hydro-energetic ones, the benefits that
the investment would bring to the development of inland waterway transport are
underlined.
Among the in progress investments, there is the construction of a port for a ferry
on the Vistula from Czarnowo to Solec Kujawski, which is to be launched in 2019.
This is the first step to building a multimodal port in Solec Kujawski, whose task
will be to service cargo transported by inland waterway E40 and E70 from the port
in Gdansk further into the country. It is assumed that the operation of such a port
will contribute to the unloading of road transport and the share of inland waterway
transport will increase in the amount of transported cargo. However, an indispensable
condition for the launch of a multimodal port is the adaptation of the lower Vistula
373
The fact that this concern is justified may be proved by preparations for the
implementation of the Ministry’s priority project “Waterway connecting the Vistula
Lagoon with the Gdansk Bay.” It provides for the construction of a ditch by the Vistula
Spit, 1260 m long, 5 m deep, from 25 to 100 m wide, and a waterway connecting
the ditch with Elbl˛ ag of 22 km length, 5 m depth (with an average lagoon depth
of 2.7 m) and width from 60 to 120 m. The value of the investment is estimated at
EUR 500 million. The ditch and the waterway will cut Nature 2000 areas: special
protection areas of the Vistula Lagoon and Vistula Spit, as well as the area of birds’
special protection of the Vistula Lagoon. For this reason, the investment has met
with the opposition of many environments. For obvious reasons, numerous nongovernmental organizations protest against it, headed by the Polish WWF branch
and scientists representing the natural sciences. The purposefulness of the project
was also questioned by the Regional Directorate for Environmental Protection in
Gda´ nsk. Only after the director of this institution was forced from the post, a positive
environmental decision was obtained for the investor. The project of a waterway
through the Vistula Spit and the Vistula Lagoon was also negatively evaluated by the
self-government of the Pomeranian Voivodship. The Marshal’s Office, apart from
objections related to the protection of nature within the scope of the investment’s
impact, also pointed to the lack of economic justification for its implementation.
Finally, the local government authorities of holiday resorts located on the Vistula
Spit are concerned with the predicted degradation of local beaches. The matter of
the described waterway is also significant because it places Poland in the role of a
very uncertain partner in the planned construction of the TEN-T network.
Another controversial project, towards which the Ministry of Maritime Economy
and Inland Navigation is inclined, is the creation of a cascade in the Vistula, from
Warsaw to Gda´ nsk. The beginnings of this investment date back to the 1960s.
The project involved the construction of dams in Wyszogród, Płock, Włocławek,
Ciechocinek, Solec Kujawski, Chełmno, Opalenie and in Tczew together with the
accompanying hydropower plants. The growing crisis of the socialist economy in
Poland caused that only the dam in Włocławek was finally built. After state system
transformation in Poland, the concept of construction of dams on the lower Vistula
was repeated several times, but mainly in the context of a dam below the one
in Włocławek, as a measure to prevent excessive erosion of the bottom on this
section of the river. In recent years, the idea of full cascading of the lower Vistula
has been revived, but this time, along with hydro-energetic ones, the benefits that
the investment would bring to the development of inland waterway transport are
underlined.
Among the in progress investments, there is the construction of a port for a ferry
on the Vistula from Czarnowo to Solec Kujawski, which is to be launched in 2019.
This is the first step to building a multimodal port in Solec Kujawski, whose task
will be to service cargo transported by inland waterway E40 and E70 from the port
in Gdansk further into the country. It is assumed that the operation of such a port
will contribute to the unloading of road transport and the share of inland waterway
transport will increase in the amount of transported cargo. However, an indispensable
condition for the launch of a multimodal port is the adaptation of the lower Vistula