About Goczalkowice Dam

The Goczałkowice reservoir on the upper Vistula near Pszczyna in Silesia holds 161.3 million cubic metres of water and has been supplying drinking water to the Katowice conurbation since its completion in 1956. The low 15-metre earth-fill embankment dam creates a broad, shallow reservoir covering approximately 3,200 hectares in the Silesian Foothills between the Vistula and Bajerka rivers. The reservoir was one of the first large infrastructure projects in People's Republic of Poland designed specifically to address the chronic water shortage of the Upper Silesian industrial basin, which supports one of Europe's highest concentrations of heavy industry and population density. Today the Goczałkowice reservoir forms the backbone of the water supply network for the Katowice-Rybnik-Bielsko metropolitan area, serving approximately 2 million people. Water quality management is demanding: the reservoir receives inputs from the intensively agricultural Foothills catchment as well as treated municipal wastewater, requiring continuous phytoplankton and cyanobacteria monitoring. The extensive shallow zones support breeding little bittern, marsh harrier, and great reed warbler, and the reservoir is designated as a Natura 2000 site. Recreational access to the shoreline is restricted in the water protection zone, though some angling is permitted under licence.