Odra program to offer more than flood prevention
Three years after devastating floods hit southern Poland, the government last week gave the go ahead on a zl. 7.6 billion ($1.7 billion) plan that will not only improve flood prevention along the Odra, but also transform the river basin into a modern European waterway.
Dubbed a tool to spark regional development, the "Program for the Odra 2006" aims to protect cities adjacent to the Odra from major flood damage; improve water quality and the natural environment along the river; build a water transport network between Poland and Germany; and develop the river's power generating potential.
"This document outlines national policy in relation to southwestern and western regions of Poland," said Janusz Zaleski, the program's coordinator. "(The program) is not only about water management in a narrow sense, but also concerns strategic issues like regional development and spatial planning."
According to a government press release, the zl. 7.6 billion price tag is to be covered by national and regional budgets, loans from the European Investment Bank and World Bank, European Union grants and Poland's National Environmental Protection Funds.
In terms of flood prevention, a key element of the Odra 2006 program is the construction of the long-awaited reservoir near Raciborz. With a planned capacity of 200 million cubic meters, the reservoir near the Polish-Czech border would not only spare Wroclaw, Poland's fourth largest city, from substantial flood damage, it would also protect a string of other minor cities along the way.
"This is something that should have been done 50 years ago," said Ryszard Rogala, a professor at the Institute of Geo- and Hydrotechnics at Wroclaw Technical University. "It's a good thing that this is getting moving now."
The Odra 2006 program also seeks to minimize water pollution problems along the river. According to government-sponsored studies on the Odra, each year approximately 1,109.3 million cubic meters of treated and untreated sewage from Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany are dumped into the river and its tributaries. In an effort to improve the natural environment and water quality in the Polish part of the Odra basin, the program includes the completion of 72 municipal and 31 industrial sewage treatment plants.
The program also aims to improve the river's navigability. Once Odra 2006 is fully implemented, the river will connect to existing water transportation networks in Western Europe. By 2015, 20 tons of cargo will be transported each year along the Polish section of the Odra.
While more than two years in the making, the acceptance of the program comes on the heels of a recently released report by the Supreme Board of Inspection (NIK) that asserted that at least zl. 28 million ($6.4 million) in public funds earmarked for flood recovery were squandered through mismanagement and misappropriation. In addition, the NIK report urged the government to implement a long-term flood protection program as part of national strategy and back it up with the necessary financing.
"The 'Program for the Odra 2006' is a fast answer by the government on the issues raised by NIK," Zaleski said.
