Installation of transmission facilities on lands covered with flowing surface water – the Polish example

Abstract

The purpose of the research is to check whether it is possible to encumbrance lands covered with flowing surface water in favor of a transmission networks operator (hereinafter: transmission undertaking) by way of a transmission easement. The term ‘flowing surface water’ includes rivers and flowing lakes, which according to the Central Statistical Office occupy around 2% of Poland’s land area. These waters are located in both urban and rural areas, and the transmission infrastructure facilities involved may be constructed below ground, on the ground or in the air space above the ground. This applies to the transmission of all public utilities including but not limited to water, gas, electricity and telecommunications. The transmission undertaking should seek to acquire the right to the land to install the facilities. This article attempts to address the question of whether the land covered by flowing surface water constitutes a specific type of land which might in some way affect the possibility of establishing a transmission easement.