Geography
LGD N.A.R.E.W. operates of the
territory of seven municipalities of the Podlaskie voivodship, which
are included in the Narwiański National Park, namely: Choroszcz,
Kobylin Borzymy, Łapy, Sokoły, Suraż, Turośń Kościelna and Tykocin.
The park encloses in its territory a boggy valley of the Narew
River, stretching from Suraż to Rzędziany and covering the area of
6810 ha. A huge natural and landscape advantage of this area is its
primeval nature, vast marshes, waterlogged territories and an
unusual system of the valley of the Narew River, which flows through
numerous riverbeds and in consequence creates a complicated system
of junctions called ‘Polish Amazon,’ which is unique on Polish and
European scale.
Characteristics
The formation of
the Norht-Podlaska Lowland, which constitutes a conglomeratic area
of the Narew River, took place in consequence of a glacier’s
activity during the Central-European Ice Age, about 200 000 years
ago. It is a lowland territory. The hills have inconsiderable
relative altitudes. Lakes are scarce and are in the last phase of
overgrowing with vegetation. The whole area is located in the basin
of the Narew, which has a typical features for Polish lowlands
characterised by a maximal flow of water in spring during the
melting of the snow and a secondary maximum during the summer
months.
The valley of the
Upper Narew, and especially the stretch of the LGD N.A.R.EW. area,
was formed within the sphere of a quite wide and not too deep
territory lowering. The Valley of the Upper Narew occupies the zone
of 480 km2 while the area of the LGD N.A.R.E.W. has the area of
990,96 km2. It consists of three dominant sections, with the central
one being the most interesting and abundant stretch of the river as
far as nature is concerned, situated on the territory of the LGD and
stretching from Suraż to Żółtki, This is the place where the river
grounds are often called a peculiarity of this part of Europe. The
Narew flows here in the south-north direction, taking numerous turns
and separating the valley by the use of many divisive and rejoining
riverbeds. Due to that reason the Narew River was called
anastomotic river, or in other words a plaited one. The
bottom of the valley of Narew is boggy and possesses many meanders,
ravines and reservoirs.
The climate of the
north-eastern region of Poland, where the territory of the Upper
Valley of the Narew is situated, is characterised by continental
features and is one of the coolest in the country. The average year
temperature is about 6,6 – 6,9oC while the average summer
temperature (the period of July and August) is 18,5 oC. Winters are
relatively long and frosty with the average temperature of about
–6oC. The regular period without ground-frost for the district of
Białystok lasts 155 days, the last ground-frost appears usually in
the last decade of May with the 11-day variation margin. The polar
and sea air is dominant here. The period of vegetation starts on
10th April and ends on 25th November with an 8-day margin. The
general thermal and climate conditions of the Valley of Narew do not
differ greatly from the neighbouring territories.
The area of LGD
N.A.R.E.W. is not rich in mineral resources. The lodes of coal,
lignite oil, gas or any others are non-existent. The most widely
used natural resources on this territories are mineral resources
such as different types of sand, sand with gravel, clay and loam
formations, as well as lodes of lake cretaceous. The problem with
those resources is their exploitation in accordance with the
environment protection rules. That is why, there is a need to
minimize the negative effects of the quarries on the landscape and
reactivate the used ones. Important natural resources of this
territory are peak seams. Most of them are situated on the territory
of the Narwiański National Park and are under a strict ban of
exploitation. Outside the park only minimal amounts of this stock
are excavated. The biggest value of this territory is clean air and
water. There are also unique plants and animals ranging.
On the territory
of LGD the biggest watercourse is Narew and its inflows: Nereśl,
Ślina, Kurówka situated on the area of Tykocin municipality. In
Suraż the main watercourse (of course apart from Narew) is Liza as
well as a network of nameless courses joined by melioration canals.
In Turośń Kościelna apart from the Narew one can distinguish rivers
such as Czaplinianka, Turośnianka, Grądówka, Kowalówka and
Niewodniczanka. In the municipality of Choroszcz the main inflows of
Narew are the Supraśl River, Horodnianka, and numerous drainage
ditches which drain the water straight to Narew.
The quality of
water existing on the territory of LGD N.A.R.E.W. is mostly
influenced by the human activities. The quality of surface water of
Narew and its inflows depends currently on the biggest extend on the
quantity of sewage spilled into the river.
The general
conclusion is that the quality of the water is gradually improved.
It is caused by the lack of big and problematic industrial plants as
well as a consistent water protective policy, construction of modern
sewage plants and sewage systems. The waters of 2nd and 3rd class of
cleanliness are dominant; the classless waters of n.o.n. character
existed only in one measuring point in the inflow of Horodnianki,
below the city of Choroszcz.
As far as the
ground waters are concerned, the area of LGD N.A.R.E.W. is not rich
in those. The ground waters of usable character appear mainly in
sandy and gravel formations of tertiary and quaternary type. The
water-bearing horizon is situated at the depth of 120 – 150 meters.
A limited quantity of those resources implicates the need for a
consistent policy concerning the amounts of water resources, surface
as well as the ground ones.
