Vrané nad Vltavou is a municipality in the Central Bohemian Region on whose territory the Vrané waterworks, one of the stages of the Vltava Cascade, is located.
Vrané nad Vltavou is a municipality in the Central Bohemian Region. It is home to the Vrané waterworks, which forms one of the profiles of the Vltava Cascade on the lower course of the Vltava river [1][2].
Reduced outflow because of drought in 2026
On 7 October 2026 the Regional Commission for Drought and Water Scarcity Management of the Central Bohemian Region decided to declare a state of water scarcity for the Vltava and the Elbe in central Bohemia [1][3]. The commission was convened by the regional governor Petra Pecková (STAN) at the request of the state enterprise Povodí Vltavy [1][4].
The commission approved an extraordinary operating procedure at the Vrané waterworks that allows, where necessary, the minimum outflow to be reduced from 35 to 20 cubic metres per second, until 30 April 2027 [1][2]. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Povodí Vltavy and the Central Bohemian Region, the purpose of the measure is to slow the fall of the water level in the Slapy Reservoir and possibly also at Orlík, until the hydrological situation improves thanks to rainfall [2]. The commission also discussed reducing the minimum residual flow applying to permitted water abstractions to 20 cubic metres per second, while the abstraction permits themselves remain unrestricted for now [1][2]. According to the commission's decision, the flow of the Vltava in the Praha-Chuchle profile must be kept at no less than 24 cubic metres per second [1][4].
Context
The measure at Vrané follows a long-standing unfavourable hydrological situation in the Vltava basin, which according to the authorities has also shown itself in falling water levels in the Orlík and Slapy reservoirs [2]. The Orlík Dam began reducing its outflow on 4 September 2026 because of the fall in the water level, and Povodí Vltavy for the first time used the water reserve from the Slapy Reservoir to maintain the necessary flow of the Vltava in Prague [1].
Chronology
- — The Regional Drought Commission declared a state of water scarcity on the Vltava and the Elbe in central Bohemia and allowed the minimum outflow from the Vltava Cascade at the Vrané waterworks to be reduced from 35 to 20 cubic metres per second until 30 April 2027. → ČTK / České noviny Novinky.cz
Sources
- ČTK / České noviny — 7 October 2026
- Novinky.cz — 7 October 2026
- ČT24 — 7 October 2026
- iDNES.cz — 7 October 2026