Hydraulic potential of the Lower Vistula (Poland)

Abstract

The Vistula is the largest river in Poland. Lower Vistula (part of the river discussed in this paper) is almost four hundred kilometers long river section extending from the tributary Narew to the outflow to the Baltic Sea. In the 17th century the Vistula was the most navigable river in Europe. After partitioning of Poland the Vistula lost its significance. Now the Lower Vistula should provide a navigation connection to the Europe forming water routes E70 and E40. However it does not meet the criteria required for the international waterways. Moreover, the river has a quite large hydro-energy potential. There have been many plans for the development of the Lower Vistula River so far. Unfortunately none of them has been implemented. In this paper, the authors would like to present their own arguments to reactivate the Lower Vistula Cascade (LVC) project. In order to analyse the LVC idea and Lower Vistula hydraulic potential, a numerical hydraulic model of the Lower Vistula was developed at the Department of Hydraulic Engineering of Gdansk University of Technology. Various aspects of the LVC concept, such a potential inland waterways, hydropower, flood control and water retention, are discussed in the article.