Blocking a controversial investment: General Director of Environmental Protection refused to issue an environmental decision for the project of building a dam on the Vistula in Siarzewo, below the water level in Włocławek – it was announced in the notification. In fact, this means that it will be impossible to obtain consent for further construction and the project will fail. It is not possible to appeal against this decision. You can only apply for reconsideration by GDOŚ.
This is what the dam in Siarzewo was supposed to look like: The dam was intended to increase the region's flood protection and help prevent flooding droughts. It would regulate the water level, among other things. through a water reservoir with a capacity of 135 million m3. Its element was also to include a water power plant. This is an idea from back in time government Mateusz Morawiecki (although there was talk about him already in the 1970s). The construction of the water barrage was assumed in a long-term investment program called “Development of the Lower Vistula”. It is provided for in it construction of the dam by 2032 for PLN 7.5 billion. Works They were supposed to start in 2024, but the change of government and “analyses” delayed it.
Environmentalists were against: However, the investment was highly controversial, especially among environmentalists. Polish The WWF branch warned that the dam had no significant impact on flood safety and would only intensify the problem of ice embolism floods. It was warned that its creation could significantly reduce the fish population in the Vistula and lead to drought. “'The investment will drain taxpayers' pockets, it will destroy the river's ecosystem, eliminate the chance of the return of migratory fish and violate European directivesexposing Poland to another conflict with Brussels,” it was written in the position.
More about the dam in Siarzewo you will read in Maria Mazurek's text: “An idea from Gomułka's times is coming back. There will be a new dam on the Vistula. Ecologists: This is the second Białowieża“.
Sources: : General Directorate for Environmental Protection, WWF, Next.gazeta.pl