About Swinna-Poreba Dam

The Świnna Poręba reservoir on the Skawa river in Lesser Poland is one of Poland's most recently completed large reservoirs, formally inaugurated in 2011 after a 35-year construction process beset by funding interruptions, engineering revisions, and the political transition from communist to democratic Poland. The 55-metre concrete-face rockfill dam holds 160.8 million cubic metres in a deeply incised Carpathian foothill valley near Wadowice — the birthplace of Pope John Paul II. The reservoir serves multiple purposes: flood protection for the Skawa and upper Vistula valley, drinking water supply for the Kraków metropolitan area and southern Lesser Poland, low-flow augmentation for downstream navigation and ecology, and limited hydroelectric generation of approximately 4 megawatts. The long construction timeline meant several design revisions were required as geological investigations revealed challenging valley conditions. The reservoir displaced several hundred households from the Świnna Poręba and adjacent villages during filling. Today the water body extends 12 kilometres upstream along the Skawa valley into the Beskid Makowski highlands, with forested hillsides providing a relatively clean and well-protected catchment. Recreation is developing gradually with fishing, kayaking, and shoreline walking trails established since 2013.