Social and economic aspects of the flood which occurred in 1997

The basin of the upper Vistula is controlled by gauging stations at 393,8 km of the Vistula's course, starting from its head-waters, and at 653,7 km , starting from the mouth to the Boltic Sea.

The basin of the upper Vistula occupies the area of 50 731,8 km2 which constitutes 25% of the whole river basin. About 91% of the river basin is situated in Poland, occupying 15% of the the whole country's area.

The basin of the upper Vistula spreads , in its main part, within the area of three big physico-geographical units, i.e., the Carpathians, the Sub-Carpathian Basins and the Uplands of the Little Poland.

The basin of the upper Vistula is an area with the greatest abundance of water in Poland ( 24% of its resources).

There are two types of overbank flows in the basin of the upper Vistula, namely: flows caused by spring thaw and rain-fall floods. Spring thaw flows are caused by a violent snow melting and are characterized by a lower flood-wave culmination and longer duration in comparison with rainfall floods. Rainfall floods, occurring on large areas of the river basin as a result of continuous, lasting for a couple of days rains, are characterized by a high culmination of flood waves moving at

a great speed. This type includes all kinds of disastrous floods which occurred on the Cartathian tributaries of the Vistula. The other type of rainfall floods is caused by

short-lived, torrential rains of extreme intensity. These floods do not have large extent, they are violent and short-lived. Though they cause considerable local damages, they do not play important role in water economy. Particular overbank flows differ in their origin, character, duration, territorial extent, as well as weather conditions and location.

Flood disasters on the Vistula occur more frequently than on other comparable rivers. From the beginning of the 19th c. up to the 60s of the 20th c. floods have been occurring regularly on the Vistula at the rate of one in three years. The flood in August 1813 is believed to be the greatest one in the last 200 years. It caused extensive damage along the whole river.

In the 20th c. in the river-basin of the upper Vistula the most disastrous, because of their extent and intensity, were the summer floods in 1903, 1934, 1970, 1972 and 1997. Sligtly less calamitous were the floods in June 1925, September 1931, May 1940, and July 1960.

Water was always the basic factor which determined the possibilities for the development and the character of agricultural economy, livestock farming and forestry. At the same time farming and forestry bore a serious influence on the water conditions in a given area. In the early Middle Ages the whole populace used to live in small settlements, grouped on the ponds, lakes, rivers or streams. With the growing number of farmsteads, the settlements were usually developing in accordance with the topography of the land and economic goals of the community, and extending up the river. This process resulted in the concentration of building development along water courses or around ponds.

Historical data concerning the early Middle Ages show that the eastern part of the Carpathian Mountains was poorly developed.

The settlements were scattered and localized in the lower drainage catchment of the Vistula's tributaries. Up to the present time, they have considerably grown in this area, sparing only the Bieszczady Mountains.

We can state that:

a) settlements concentrate on the river banks and include municipal and industrial buidlings and infrastructure (roads and bridges).

b) in many cases natural river valleys have lost their basic function of conducting big waters.

Polish hydrotechnologists, aware of the existing hydrological conditions, problems connected with settlement, current economic needs and the necessity of taking difficult decisions, facing, at the same time, financial problems and changing regulations, have been undertaking effective actions and projects for over one hundred years. These efforts can be evaluated after many years, looking from a distance at the period of the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries and our

20th c. history.

Due to historical reasons, the operations undertaken in order to secure a proper protection of the basin of the upper Vistula against flood were insufficient.

Flood control system includes:

a/ flood enbankments,

b/ storage reservoirs, polders,

c/ river regulating structures and hydrotechnical lining of streams

The number of flood enbankments which are built at present is insufficient in relation to the needs and they require:

a/ modernization - because they are not high enough

b/ repair - because of bad technical condition of objects

c/ extension - because of insufficient extent of protective barrier.

About 3800 km of rivers and streams have been regulated in the basin of the upper Vistula. River enbankments of a total lenght of 1700 km protect the areas of over 210 000 ha against flood. These are usually built-up areas, inhabited by hundreds of thousands of people.

The majority of flood enbankments in the basin of the upper Vistula requires quick modernization, whereas the speed of

erecting the new ones causes that many areas are deprived of this type of passive flood protection. Therefore hydrologists try to find new, supplementary forms of activities which,

reducing the risk of flood will, at the same time, facilitate its control and minimalize damages.

a/ modernization and repairs of the existing infrastructure,

b/ extension, particularly the lining of rivers and mountain streams in order to stabilize their channels

Problems connected with hydrotechnical lining of mountain streams are to be thoroughly analysed and solved. The problems are connected with the following conditions:

* the settlement in the upper part of the river basin interferes in the environment, i.e., vallies and river channels, which impedes their lining done in complience with ecological requirements,

* the existing technical infrastructure is not adjusted to the existing flood hazard ( on slopes and in the area of intermittent streams and permanent streams ),

* rivers and streams are often surrounded by protected lanscape areas which require special ecological care during the process of hydrotechnical lining.

Many hydrotechnical and regulating structures, as well as flood defences and elements of land infrastructure were damaged or at risk as a result of the overbank flow which occurred in September 1996. Not only the areas situated in a direct neighbourhood of watercourses but also the areas which were affected by surface erosion caused by intensive flow of rainwater, were flooded and, in consequence, destroyed.

The extent and duration of the flood which occurred in southern and western Poland in 1997 were greater in comparison with the flood which occurred in 1996. The last flood caused more damages, especially enormous damages resulting from the flooding of urbanized areas , including big cities, industrial plants and other economic objects. Damages caused by the flooding of farming regions and rural areas were also much more severe. Such extent of the flood of July 1997 was not only a result of natural, long-lasting unfavourable weather conditions but it also resulted from the technical condition of passive and active flood control objects. As a consequence of both above mentioned factors many kilometres of flood enbankments, as well as numerous elements of hudrotechnical and regulating structures were damaged or completely destroyed.

On December 23,1997 the Republic of Poland signed a credit agreement with the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development for the implementation of the Project of the Liquidation of the Effects of Floods.

The Plan for the Implementation of the Project " The Republic of Poland, Proposed Project of the Liquidation of the Effects of Floods", carried out with the assistance of the World Bank, consisting of three component parts:

* Component Part A: urban and rural infrastructure.

* Component Part B: flood protection and risk reduction * Component Part C: project management and technical assistance

Component Part B consists of 4 constituents:

* Constituent B.1.: Planning of flood protection in the drainage catchment

* Constituent B.2.: Monitoring, forecasting and systems of warning

* Constituent B.3.: Investing in infrastructure and flood control

* Constituent B.4: Flood risk reduction and flood prevention programme

The goal of Constituent B.1. is to consolidate the basis for effective and prompt investing in flood control in the basin of the upper Vistula, as well as to improve co-ordination and undertake effective protective actions at the time of flood. Constituent B.1. provides for the preparation of an integrated and modern strategy of water resources management and the project of flood control, as well as the support for the modernization of the most significant tools of water economy planning, including the preparation of digital simulation models, digital maps of valleys, GIS systems and remotely-controlled read-out systems. Regional Board for

Water Economy in Kraków, a unit responsible for plans designed for drainage catchments, will supervise the preparation,

managemennt and implementation of this Constituent, in close co-operation with other institutions managing water economy in drainage catchments.

* establishment of Co-ordination and Information Centres of Flood Protection System for the drainage catchment of the upper Vistula ( with the seat in Kraków ) and for the drainage catchment of the upper reaches and the middle part of the Oder River ( ( with the seat in Wroclaw).

* technical assistance, including the purchase of equipment, i.e., computers, GPS, cars, other equipment, additional staff etc.

* acquisition of basic data necessary for conceptual work and modelling (digital models of an area and relevant data

bases , digital topographic maps, cross-sections, maps of flood hazard zones, implementation of the technologies of digital modelling in the Regional Board for Water Economy in Kraków ).

* updating of plans of flood protection for a drainage catchment; identification of new elements of the infrastructure connected with flood control, economic and technical analyses of optional systems of flood control, including the biggest towns and areas liable to flood,

preparation of the strategies of the protection of the upper Vistula against flood, along with the estimation how it may affect the environment, feasibility study.

* digital simulation models, technical assistance in

planning assignments (analysis of future events,

hydrologic analysis, options).

3.1. Protective actions.

It seems evident, basing on the analysis of Constituent B.1.,i.e., "Planning of flood protection in the drainage catchment", that the establishment of the Co-ordination and Information Centre of Flood Protection System is of prior importance in the first stage concerning the implementation of Constituent B.1., whereas the operations connected with

complex implementation of all elements of Constituent B.1. with reference to the upper Vistula are most important in next stages. The establishment of the said Centre will facilitate the co-ordination of actions related to flood control.

The Centre will co-operate with units of government and

self-government administration, responsible for actions connected with flood control. It will also enable the access to all information stored in the Centre's data base.

Aims of the Co-ordination and Information Centre of Flood Control Systems for the river-basin of the Vistula:

A. actions undertaken in normal conditions, i.e. no flood hazard or potential possibility of flood hazard

B. actions undertaken at the time of emergency, i.e., alert state and disasters.

Within the framework of the basic goal one can discern two packages, namely:

Planning, including studio work, research work, planning and design work connected with the plans of flood control for the drainage catchments (Package I).

Models, maps, equipment, including all actions designed to provide technical assistance and tools for activities connected with the protection of the Vistula's basin against flood.

Planning work should result in the preparation of

" A perspective programme of a complex flood control of the drainage area in the upper reaches of the Vistula ", designed for separate sub-regions for which there will be established conditions of using the water of the river basin, as well as the analysis of the influence of a chosen variant of the strategy on the environment.

Planning of flood protection is to establish, with the use of various methods and models, the following:

* classification, in terms of priority, of rivers and streams in the area of the upper Vistula

* within the framework of the said classification - areas liable to flood

* within the said areas - zones of particular economic and social importance (urbanized areas, particularly valuable areas in respect of historical objects or the natural environment).

Planning work will develop at three levels:

At the first level the planning work will focus on digital maps of different scale which will create a possibility of contstructing dynamic simulation models.

At the second level the planning work should concentrate on the verification of the knowledge and experience concerning floods, as well as on the preparation of particular component parts of the "Perspective Project...." for separate areas of the river basin of the upper Vistula.

The third level should include actions designed to prepare

a programme of further development and modernization of the existing infrastructure of flood control.

The following goals are to be fulfilled within the framework of the planning work ( with the use of the tools from from Package II):

- recapitulation of the present state

- possible solutions in the field of technical assistance

- hierarchy of needs

- proposed methods

- preparation of the feasibility study

The report will contain a recapitulation and estimation of technical possibilities of flood control. There will be a separate recapitulation and estimation for urbanized (urban) areas and a separate one for non-urbanized (rural) areas in the river basin of the upper Vistula (in a drainage catchment system). Besides, there should be identified, in terms of priority, the necessary technical operations, inundation areas

treated as reserves, and necessary resettlements.

Feasibility study should be consulted with provincial authorities and local self-governments.

In order to implement the "Perspective Project of a complex flood control in the basin of the upper Vistula " it seems purposeful to engage various specialists from the whole area of the drainage basin, as well as young people (student's trainings), representatives of scientific centres (universities), unions of rural districts, councillors and members of non-governmental organizations in order to collect materials neccesary for the preparation of reports (reviews, stock-taking).

A possibility of visualization of flood hazard in the basin of the upper Vistula will provide a basis for planning. Presentation of flood hazard, both, on traditional and digital maps will make it possible to create conditions enabling the use of water from the river basin included in the flood control system. It will also provide basis for consultative work. Visual presentation of flood hazard will be possible thanks to the preparation of the maps of the areas liable to flood and the provision of hardware and software, appropriate field equipment with field vehicles for stock-taking work for the Regional Board for Water Economy and Co-ordination Centre. Development of computer database and software of the Regional Board for Water Economy should comply with the standards accepted and approved in previous years - UNIX network, GIS package - ArcInfo.

The work carried out at present, designed to prepare maps of the areas liable to flood, should deliver cartographic information (maps), possibly, of the whole area of the upper Vistula . Study work, performed within the framework of

Package I, should facilitate the final choice of a catchment basin for which there will be prepared a digital model of the surface features (DTM), as well as a digital model of flow.

Goals to be achieved within the framework of Package II:

a/ Further development of the GIS system and database for the needs of flood control, inclusive of costs.

b/ Preparation of the maps of flooded areas ( liable to flood )

c/ Preparation of digital model of areas allocated for the drainage catchments which are in difficult hydrologic situation.

d/ Preparation of a digital model for catchments and acceptance of the princliples of its use.

The institutions which implement the project are responsible for its particular constituents. Regional Board for Water Economy in Kraków, regarded as as one of the leading

* The basic effect of organizational work will be the establishment and functioning of the Co-ordination and Information Centre of Flood Protection System (OKI), with the seat in Kraków. The Centre will facilitate the co-ordination of activities connected with flood control. It will co-operate with the bodies of government administration responsible for actions connected with flood control. The Centre will deliver information stored in its basedata.

* As a result of the programme's implementation, particular bodies of government and self-government administration will obtain reports on flood hazards in chosen vallies coming under their spheres of activity, which will then be used in planning, consultative work and decision-making processes.

* The work accomplished within the framework of Constituent B.1. will facilitate decision-making processes in the field of planning and in operational scope. The prepared Strategy of flood control and the assessment of environmental effect will contribute to effective investing in flood control.

* The programme provides for trainings of persons employed in

water economy institutions, as well as other persons, in the field of flood control. It also provides for the publication of various informative and educational materials and guides.

The implementation of particular orders will be awarded by tender, pursuant to the directives of the World Bank.