Departure from Wroclaw
 
 

Visit Auschwitz
 
 The group made a short stop in Auschwitz to pay respect to those who perished in the former concentration camp.  

 

"Auschwitz was regarded as the most effective concentration camp established by the Nazi regime in pursuit of the "Final Solution." Unknown numbers of people of various nationalities perished in the camp. Even today the name holds a cold and somber connotation".(12) Click here for more information.   In one of the walls of the torture rooms it is written: "Those who forget history are condemned to live it again".

Krakow 

 Visit Krakow University of Technology

 

Our visit in Krakow was directed by the Institute of Water Engineering and Water Management of Krakow University of Technology. An introduction to the University history and current areas of action was given by the director,  Prof. Elzbieta Nachlik.

Staff members presented the general aspects of water resources management in Poland and other related projects. Our guides in this city were  dr. Adam Laptas, dr. Barbara Kopczynska-Bozek and dr. Andrzej Potocki.  They led technical fieldtrips to different reservoirs and also showed us the rich nature and cultural beauty of Krakow.

 Visit to Czrosztyn-Niedzica reservoir

The dam of the reservoir is located below the Niedzica castle in a narrowing of the Dunajec valley.  The Dunajec is the main tributary of the upper Vistula river.

The power station is equipped with reversible (pumping) units and it is used for water power production during the peak demand hours of the day. River flow downstream of the reservoir is controlled by a compensation reservoir below the main reservoir that enables a constant outflow to Pieninski Gorge independently of the operation of the power plant. Characteristics of the system (5): Catchment area:   1147 km2 Average flow rate:  23.8 m3/s Installed capacity of pumped storage power plant:  92 MW   Aggregate average yearly outflow:  750 mln m3 Total capacity of reservoir:  234.5 mln m3

The project construction was approved after several years of discussions.  The reservoir construction was opposed by environmentalist that were concerned about the water quality, flora and fauna in the region and by people concerned with the historical value of the areas to be flooded and the landscape modification caused by a huge engineering structure next to a castle. Nevertheless, the requirements of energy production and flood protection in the region pushed the project ahead, even tough a lot of changes were made to the original proposal.

The project was completed and started operation in 1997; shortly afterwards, the structure was proved to be of invaluable  importance for flood protection in the upper Vistula catchment.   The reservoir was used to store part of the flood produced by the event of 1997.  As a result, the flood wave was delayed and the peak reduced protecting the populations downstream the dam. Given the magnitude of the event in 1997, even though part of the flood was kept in the reservoir, the spillways were used and significant flow of 550 m3/s passed through the dam.

White water rafting

One of the benefits of the Czrosztyn-Niedzica reservoir operation is that the flow downstream of the dam is controlled; in this way there is a dependable minimum flow that is provided continuously.  The rafting activity is positively affected since it is possible to have rafting during the whole year.  And even when weather conditions are not optimal, it is possible to have an enjoyable experience!!!
 

 Krakow 
 

Visit cascade system of reservoirs on the Sola River

The Sola River is a tributary of the Upper Vistula River.  The cascade system was built for different purposes: water supply to the Silesian-Cracovian Industrial Region; flood control; low flows augmentation through the Vistula River; and energy production.

CZANIEC (3) Year of construction 1967 Reservoir area (ha) 45 Reservoir capacity (mill m3) 1.3 Installed capacity (MW) Compensation Dependable flow (m3/s) -- Nominal head (m) -- Energy production (mill-kWh) --     PORABKA (3) Year of construction 1953 Reservoir area (ha) 367 Reservoir capacity (mill m3) 28.4 Installed capacity (MW) 12.6 Dependable flow (m3/s) 64.6 Nominal head (m) 21 Energy production (mill kWh) 25   TRESNA (3) Year of construction 1967 Reservoir area (ha) 1000 Reservoir capacity (mill m3) 100 Installed capacity (MW) 21.0 Dependable flow (m3/s) 122.0 Nominal head (m) 20.4 Energy production (mill kWh) 28.0

As a result of the cascade operation, the following benefits were achieved: increased minimum river discharge from 1.5 m³/s to 9.1m³/s;  production of 53 millns KWh of the peak load electric energy (power installed 33.6 MW); decreased maximum flood discharges recorded in Sola River from 1400 m³/s to 650 m³/s (3).
  

Visit to hydroelectric power plant Porabka-Zar

 

Porabka-Zar is a pumping storage power plant located in the right bank of the Sola River.   The water is taken from the Sola river at the Porabka reservoir and pumped 440 m to the top of a hill during hours of low energy consumption and cheap energy price.  Then, during peak demand hours, the water is sent back to the river and energy is generated in the process.   Plant characteristics (4): Year of construction 1979 Generation capacity (MW) 500  Pumping requirement (MW) 540 Nominal Head (m) 432.0 Energy production (mill.kWh) 640.0

 Landscape view from Porabka-Zar reservoir:

 

Tresna reservoir and Sola river.

Porabka reservoir

City tour in Krakow

 

"  Kraków is one of the most beautiful, and magic cities in Europe. Settled since the Stone Age, established as a city in XIII century, is a woderful example of medieval and renaissance architecture and art. Thousands of historic buildings, monuments, ecclesiastical edifices, defensive and fortification constructions, palaces and residences, Poland's larges collection of work of art estimated at over 2 million items in museums, churches, monasteries and private collections - all of it made that the UNESCO World Heritage Committee placed the architectural and historic complex of Kraków, together with the nearby salt mine of Wieliczka, on the list of the first twelve major historic sites in the world." (13) (go to source)

 More information about Krakow can be found at http://ciesin.ci.uw.edu.pl/poland/orbis/fold_6.htm(14)
 
 

Visit to Dobczyce reservoir

The Dobczyce reservoir is used for water supply of Krakow, flood control and hydropower generation.  It is located in the Raba river in the Vistula River catchment.

Barbara Kopcynska-Bozek, Witold Krajewski and our guide at the dam talk about the reservoir construction and operation criteria. The installed capacity is 2.5 MW.  The flow in the river varies from 1.25 m3/s to 12.6 m3/s.  The annual energy production is 9.6 GWh. The reservoir is used for drinking water, therefore recreation is not allowed.  The extensive use of fertilizers in the catchment area has an important effect on the water quality, since a lot of nutrients are transported to the river during rainfall.  Some punctual sources of pollution are related to the spill of non-treated waters from industry and agriculture directly in the river.  For these reasons the water quality of the reservoirs ranges from class 2 to class 3 (class 1 being the optimal), and the limiting factor is most of the times the phosphorus and nitrogen concentration.

The reservoir is used also for flood control; information related to rainfall and water levels in the upper catchment is sent to the authorities in a continuous basis and this data is used to plan the operation criteria of the reservoir.

Departure to Warsaw

Page prepared by Yenory Morales under the supervision of  Marian Muste and Witold Krajewski.  Please send comments to: webmaster@iihr.uiowa.edu
Copyright © 2001  IIHR - Hydroscience & Engineering. All rights reserved.