Lake Żywiec

Beneath the surface of Lake Żywiec lie the remains of Zarzecze, Tresna, Zadziele and Stary Żywiec — villages that disappeared when the Soła river was dammed in the 1960s. The reservoir covers about 10 km², is 6.6 km long and up to 26.8 m deep. On one side it is closed off by the Beskid Mały hills, on the other it opens onto the Żywiec Basin and the peaks of the Żywiec Beskids.

History: water for Silesia and a barrier against floods

The reservoir was planned above all to supply water to the industrial Silesian conurbation, and the decision was speeded up by the flood of 1958. The dam was placed where the Soła cuts through the Beskid Mały, which meant flooding nearly a thousand hectares of the floor of the Żywiec Basin. Trial filling began in December 1965, the lake is usually dated to 1966, and it was formally put into service in 1967. It is the first and highest of the reservoirs in the Soła cascade.

The dam in numbers

The earth dam at Tresna is 310 m long and 39 m high above the valley floor, built from local gravel and river cobbles. Beside it stands a 21 MW hydroelectric power station. The reservoir's total capacity is 94.6 million m³, of which 23.1 million m³ is permanently kept free to absorb flood waves. The shoreline measures 33.7 km, and in its central part the lake is about 2.5 km wide. The reservoir is steadily silting up: it is estimated that some 70 years after construction it will have lost half its capacity.

Interesting facts

• On 15 November 1978, at about 5 a.m., two PKS buses carrying miners to the Brzeszcze coal mine skidded within a quarter of an hour of each other in the Wilczy Jar ravine near Oczków and plunged 18 metres into the icy water. Thirty people died and nine survived. A plaque by the bridge commemorates the tragedy.
• During the drought of 2015 the water level dropped by about 2 m, exposing large parts of the lake bed.
• Every August the lake hosts a sailing regatta in memory of Adam Banaszek.

Tripto tip

The easiest way to get to know the lake is aboard the passenger boat "Albatros", which sails from Tresna (landing address: Nad Jeziorem 1). The cruise lasts 50 minutes; in 2026 a standard ticket cost PLN 50, children up to 16 paid PLN 45 and under-3s travelled free — check dates and times on the operator's website before you go. From the dam and the shore at Tresna you can see how the lake cuts in between the ridges of the Beskid Mały. For a half-day trip, combine the lake with a walk around Żywiec and its Habsburg castle and park. The water level is regulated and changes over the year, so in drier periods the shores can be wider and stonier.