ŘVC has a positive opinion for the next section of the Vltava river navigation

České Budějovice - The Directorate of Waterways (ŘVC) can start modifying the Vltava River in South Bohemia, which will eventually allow navigation from České Budějovice to Prague. The office received a positive assessment today in the so-called EIA process, meaning that the construction in the section between Hluboká nad Vltavou and the Hněvkovice waterworks will not disrupt the environment. Pavlína Straková from the communication department of ŘVC informed ČTK about this.
    To enable boats to travel from the capital to Budějovice, the state will have to spend at least 2.6 billion crowns on modifications to the river flow. The South Bohemian region is primarily advocating for the extension of the waterway.
    "The goal of the project is to restore the navigability of the Upper Vltava in the section between České Budějovice and Týn nad Vltavou for recreational navigation," said ŘVC director Miroslav Šefara regarding the assessment obtained today.
    The entire project for the "South Bohemian" part of the river is divided into three sections - from České Budějovice to Hluboká nad Vltavou, from Hluboká to the Hněvkovice reservoir, and from there to Týn nad Vltavou. The first section already received a positive assessment two years ago, leaving the last section's opinion pending. The first recreational passenger ship from Orlík could appear in Budějovice within three to four years. The modernization of weirs or the reopening of currently unused locks, especially from Týn nad Vltavou upwards, will require 600 million crowns.
    This year, ŘVC plans to modernize the weir in Českém Vrbném and deepen the channel in the backwater of the weir in Hluboká nad Vltavou. At the Hněvkovice reservoir, they will modify the lock chamber. "After the completion of the navigation facilities on Orlík and Slapy, a continuous Vltava waterway will be created, connected through the Elbe to a vast network of European waterways," Straková stated.
    However, the construction schedule for the locks is not known. Everything is still in the investment planning phase, and reportedly, there may be issues with the EIA process. According to Šefara, protests from environmental organizations can be expected, which could delay the entire construction.
    The construction of the boat lift at Slapy will cost at least 1.2 billion crowns. The lift also needs to be completed at the Orlík reservoir, where there is a concrete lift trough from the time of the dam's construction. The costs for its completion are estimated at 800 million crowns.
    The restoration of the Vltava's navigability is not the first such project in the Czech Republic. For recreational navigation purposes, ŘVC is also renovating the Baťa Canal between Otrokovice and Rohatec in the Zlín region, which has been deteriorating since the early 1960s. Just like the people of Zlín, the South Bohemians expect that boat transport on the Vltava will boost tourism; some tourists could travel by water from Prague or even from Germany to the South Bohemian metropolis.