Świnna Poręba Flood Protection Reservoir on the Skawa River

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

The construction of the reservoir in Swinna Poreba is one of the longest-lasting projects in hydraulic engineering in Poland.

The Swinna Poreba Reservoir will be a key facility in the water management system of the north-western part of the Malopolska and Silesia Voivodships. It was designed as a multi-purpose reservoir which performs the following functions:

• flood protection of flood protection of the Skawa River Valley downstream the reservoir, the Vistula River Valley, and of the City of Cracow
• drought protection – increasing the minimum outflow from the reservoir from – 0.77 m³/s to 6.4 m³/s
• generation of renewable energy at estimated 14.8 GWh per year,
• water supply for Silesia and in emergency (in the case of the Tresna Reservoir failure) for the City of Cracow
• enriching the landscape and the ecosystem in the areas surrounding the reservoir,
• enhancing tourism and recreation potential in the areas adjacent to the reservoir

TECHNICAL DATA:

• total capacity of the reservoir is 160 million m³, including the flood reserve of 60 million m³
• the average depth about 15 m
• the surface at the max water level 1035 ha
• earth dam about 50 m high and 640 m long (volume of the embankment – 2.23 million m³, concrete volume – 300,000 m³), constructed of gravel, sand and pebbles, sealed with a clay core in the axis of the dam
• discharge facilities consist of surface overflow with four-span weir (4 x 16 m) and sector gates, bottom outlet of 6,5 m dia and 4MW  hydropower plant of 15m³/s flow capacity

SCOPE OF SERVICES:

• comprehensive technical documentation
• physical modeling studies
• author’s supervision
• as-built drawings