Pozytywki pond - deeper, wider, longer

Driving back from the weekly shop at Auchan last Saturday, I noticed work in progress on the pond on ul. Pozytywki, with workmen pumping water out of it. I was without my camera at the time, so a big thanks to near-neighbour Marcin Daniecki for sending me a batch of pics from the works. Marcin also linked me to the official public tender website, which shows that the work to improve the functioning of drainage around this part of southern Jeziorki will happen in lightning tempo. The work here and on nearby Wąsal pond on ul. Katarynki is happening in parallel with the larger-scale re-cultivation of the wetlands between ul. Trombity, Dumki and Kórnicka that I've been covering in past weeks, and is intended to prevent a repeat of the disastrous flooding that we experienced in June 2010.

Above: eight-wheeler dump trucks await the soil, dug out from the bottom of the drained pond. Much of this soil will go to local fields, to raise their level as well as their quality - the mud from the pond is high-quality stuff! Most of the fields around Jeziorki right now can be seen sporting mounds of pond mud, which is being levelled by bulldozers.

Above: tree felling is under way. The area is losing some of its charm. The terms of the public tender are ambiguous: on the one hand, trees and bushes are to be cut down (wycinka drzew i krzewów), on the other hand, as well as serving as retention ponds, they must also serve the landscape and nature, maintaining the diversity of flora and fauna.

Below: according to the terms of the tender, the work has to be completed by 10 December. So Sunday working has been the norm. Today, I observed men with brooms sweeping mud and dust off the road surface on Pozytywki, Karczunkowska and Cymbalistów.

Left: what will remain, once the diggers and cutters have gone? What will be achieved - the security of local homes and fields from future flooding.

The ducks and herons will, I hope, return; a deepened, widened pond should mean more fish. And no doubt before too very long, the bushes and trees will grow back.

All the photos above are by Marcin Daniecki, many thanks once again for sending them to me, Marcin!

Below: the way it was, back in May this year. A lovely place, when the midges are not too troublesome. Balancing the needs of suburban man and nature will always be tricky.

Below: also from May 2012, the view looking west across the pond, from the old sluice gate.