Water streams

 

Small stream and swift creek management

LČR also manages small water streams and swift creeks in the total length of 35k km, and over 880 water bodies and reservoirs. These are usually water streams with steep longitudinal inclination, which cause erosion, have characteristic sediment regime and are located in headwater areas and upper parts of river basins.

As part of catchment area management, LČR also manages water streams outside forests running through agricultural land and built-up areas.

Water stream management

LČR has been managing water streams through its operational units, Stream Administration Units, since its establishment in 1992. These

Voda, tůně a rybníky

units provide for the actual management of water streams, care for the greenery growing along them and are in charge of investment when modifying water streams.

Water stream management comprises activities defined by Water Act and implementing regulations. As for torrent control, it is a non-commercial service that aims at stabilising the runoff situation in the catchment area. In the Czech Republic, the torrent control service has been provided since 1884 in direct relation to forest management.

Seven Stream Administration Units provide for administration and care for small water streams and they are located according to the catchment areas in Frýdek-Místek, Vsetín, Brno, Hradec Králové, Benešov, Plzeň and Teplice. Water Management Department of the LČR Headquarters in Hradec Králové is in charge of the methodology for the Stream Administration Units. There are over 150 staff members providing for the water stream management at LČR.

List of LČR Stream Administration Units

Water-management-related activities at LČR

Stream management and adopted measures (repairs, reconstructions and new investments) are financed from own resources and partly from subsidies. Subsidies mainly support measures adopted in public interest under Section 35 of the Forest Act; they are disbursed under programmes of the Ministry of Agriculture such as Support of Flood Prevention programme and programme for removing flood damage on state-owned water properties. Furthermore, EU subsidies under Rural Development Programme and Operational Programme Environment are used too. Also Regions contribute partly from their budgets to measures adopted on small water streams.

LČR activities related to water management focus on preventative measures and mainly on construction and reconstruction of torrent control elements in areas suffering from floods. Measures are adopted mainly in order to retain space to catch floating materials, stabilise longitudinal inclination by transverse elements and provide for anti-flood protection by creating maximum capacity of stream beds. Within the activities carried out in public interest (Programme 2020 declared by LČR), endangered species with bond to water environment are supported, invasive, nonendemic plants are removed, spring wells are renewed and cleaned, gazebos for recreation are built and info panels are placed in forests. All water-management-related activities are non-commercial and do not generate practically any profit for LČR when compared to the total investment. 

Programme 2020 – Examples

  • Milk spring gazebo
  • Recreational facility in cadastral area of Sloup v Moravském krasu
  • Bezdýnka waterhole
  • Forest gazebo – Dukovany Retention reservoir
  • Forest gazebo – Contributory of Chrudimka No. 2
  • Gazebo at retention damming, Broumovsko
  • Info panels with gazebo, Orlické hory
  • Koutecká waterhole, Ohnišov
  • Trnava – waterhole
  • U Hubertky waterhole
  • Bike stand, Broumovsko
  • Račí potok – entangling shoots create suitable condition for lampreys
  • Reintroduction of river trout in Jizera Mountains
  • Mechanical destruction of Reynoutria
  • Reynoutria in Morávka river basin
  • Info panels – Czech spring of Lužnice River

Water management

Stream Administration manages water-related property with acquisition value of almost CZK 6bn (mainly modifications of water streams, torrent control elements, anti-flood measures, water reservoirs).

In April 2019, LČR started a programme called Return Water Back to Forest, which is the biggest project in LČR history ever. Under this programme, LČR will build 73 new water reservoirs and renew or reconstruct 292 ones. LČR will invest into this programme over one billion Czech korunas.