According to the information provided by the reader, her concerns relate to the tall grass on the riverbank, which has not been cut, and beaver dams built on the Bobrzyca.
In response to our question, the wójt of Warta Bolesławiecka municipality provided information about who is responsible for maintaining the Bobrzyca and where matters concerning the proper maintenance of the river should be reported.

In response to a press inquiry dated 14 November 2022, the Wójt of Warta Bolesławiecka Municipality informs us that Państwowe Gospodarstwo Wodne Wody Polskie is the owner of, and is responsible for the proper maintenance of, the Bobrzyca watercourse, which runs through the territory of Warta Bolesławiecka Municipality. All information received by this office concerning the condition of the watercourse and the location of beaver dams is immediately forwarded to the Bolesławiec Water Supervision Authority.
For several years, the municipality has also co-financed maintenance of the Bobrzyca watercourse under agreements concluded with Państwowe Gospodarstwo Wodne Wody Polskie. Funds for this purpose have also been secured in the municipal budget for the current year.

Please therefore inform the resident of Raciborowice Dolne who contacted the editorial office for help that matters concerning the proper maintenance of the Bobrzyca watercourse should be addressed to the Zarząd Zlewni w Lwówku Śląskim of Państwowe Gospodarstwo Wodne Wody Polskie, ul. Jaśkiewicza 24, 59-600 Lwówek Śląski or the Bolesławiec Water Supervision Authority, pl. Piłsudskiego 1, 59-700 Bolesławiec.

Wójt of Warta Bolesławiecka Municipality Mirosław Haniszewski

We also provide information about dams built by beavers, as reported by Nadleśnictwo Bolesławiec: beavers are protected. Destroying their habitats, including dams, is prohibited.

A dam is an ingenious arrangement of logs and branches that form the structure’s reinforcement. The animals use large quantities of silt, mud, turf and shredded plant material to seal it. They carefully carry and arrange all these materials.

The aim is to raise the water level by blocking its outflow in the area where the beavers have decided to settle. When settling, these aquatic engineers take the terrain into account. A favorable location is a section where the riverbed runs through a significant depression in the land. The beavers’ work is then easier, as they only need to block natural passages using narrowings in the terrain.

Hard-working beavers build several dams along a single watercourse, allowing a larger area to be flooded. They immediately repair any damage to a dam. The collected water is essential for creating other beaver structures, such as burrows, lodges (dwellings), and a network of channels and storage chambers.