Battle for the Berounka
The third reading of an amendment proposed by MP Jana Krutáková, for the
River Berounka to be removed from the list of usable waterways intended for
canalisation, was put to the Chamber of Deputies on Wednesday 6 March. The
amendment to the Act on Inland Navigation was approved by the Chamber of
Deputies, but did not pass a Senate vote on 3 May and was returned. Should the
Senate approve the amendment and the President sign it, the River Berounka will
be removed from the list of waterways with potential transport significance. In
spite of ratification by the Chamber of Deputies, the Ministry of Transport
does not yet consider the matter to be closed and is trying to ensure that the
flow of water is canalised in the future.
This is the only explanation to be drawn from a letter that reached
representatives of self-governments in the concerned municipalities at the end
of March. In this the company Sweco Hydroprojekt a.s. referred to the
initiation of an analysis entitled “Verification of the economic effectiveness
of the scope and form of potential canalisation of the River Berounka”. The
contracting entity in this case is Ředitelství vodních cest (Directorate of
Waterways), promoted by the Ministry of Transport itself.
Should the Senate ratify the law and it is signed by the President, the
demands of the City of Prague, Prague city districts, municipalities and towns
in the Central Bohemia region, which have long been against the proposed
encroachments on the landscape and the construction of large-scale water works,
will have been heard. The Berounka has until now been classified as a waterway
of transport significance from the 37th river kilometre to the port
of Radotín and under Act No. 114/1995 Coll., on inland navigation, the
investor, meaning the Ministry of Transport and the Directorate of Waterways,
must push through the canalisation of the water flow.
The canalisation of the Berounka would require the construction of
large-scale water works – weirs and sluices. Apart from deepening the bed along
a section of the river from Beroun to Radotín of around 40 km and regulating
the riverbed, two new weirs would be built, several locks, the weir in
Karlštejn would be raised and a navigation channel would be built in the river
floodplain at Lipence and Dolní Černošice.
Representatives of the self-government units that lie along the potential
waterway and that were involved in the “Save the Berounka” campaign in May 2018
(Prague 16, Lipence, Velká Chuchle, Zbraslav, Černošice, Hlásná Třebaň and
Zadní Třebaň) therefore met at Zbraslav on 16 April, together with Institut pro
plánování a rozvoj hlavního města Prahy (the Institute for Planning and
Developing the City of Prague), delegates from the Ministry of Transport, the
Directorate of Waterways and Sweco Hydroprojekt a.s. A project engineer
from the latter presented the three main thematic parts of the canalisation of
the Berounka project – a marketing analysis, the proposed technical design and
an economic appraisal.
Mayors presented a host of counter-arguments and specific remarks during
the discussion. “The analysis project submission is fundamentally lacking an
evaluation of the values and functions of the landscape and an appraisal of the
effects of the plans on the environment,” explained Karel Hanzlík, Mayor or Radotín and one of those in
attendance at the meeting, before providing a specific argument: “The
construction of a weir in Radotín, for example, would significantly change the
character of the river and would have a negative impact on the
recently-completed anti-flood protection in Šárovo kolo, leading to re-swelling
and raising of the level of groundwater and as a result a worsening of flood
situations”.
Other fundamental arguments were directed at the insufficient
infrastructure and the fact that municipalities would have a higher tourist
burden, meaning higher costs on maintaining public order for the concerned
self-government units. The representatives of municipalities and city districts
therefore continue in their opposition to the plan to canalise the Berounka and
other activities leading to any canalisation. Last, but not least, the mayors
consider this project to be uneconomical use of public funds in light of the
status of consideration of the amendment to the law. Given that remarks on
the study are not binding, it was agreed that the municipalities and city districts
would keep up-to-date with the progress of the project and would be able to express
their views in comments procedure. The concept of the project should be readied
and presented at joint discussions at the end of June.