The Czech Government was for long committed to development of the transport potential of its navigable rivers the Elbe (Labe) and Vltava, both of which were developed for high-capacity inland shipping from about 1900. The route initially opened to Prague was designed for 700-tonne barges drawing up to 1.8m, with pairs of 11m wide locks. Between the wars Czechoslovakia continued the Elbe canalisation from the Vltava confluence upstream to Kolin, with locks 85 by 12m to accommodate 1000-tonne barges. From the 1960s, new 190 by 12m locks for push-tows were gradually added, and the upper limit of navigation was extended to Chvaletice and Pardubice. However, navigation is for the time being limited to Chvaletice, pending completion of the new lock and weir at Prelouc.
The Danube-Oder-Elbe Water Corridor project for water management and navigation remains alive, thanks to an intense lobbying effort in 2009, after years of government backtracking under pressure from the environmentalist lobby. The Czech waterway authorities have expressed their gratitude to Inland Waterways International for assistance in rejecting a parliamentary motion which would have led to abandonment of all prospects of building the Danube-Oder-Elbe waterways in the Czech Republic.
These canals may well not be built for many years, but the authorities and moderate members of the Green Party believe that it makes sense to retain national ownership of the land, so that the waterways can be built as soon as the economic, environmental and funding climate is right. A week before the vote in July 2009, IWI President Dave Ballinger wrote to the Prime Minister and seven ministers of the Czech Government, urging them "to accept the challenge of ensuring that future waterway or canal developments and improvements are done in a manner that is acceptable to the Czech Republic and the majority of its citizens. With a history of waterway engineering to the highest standards, the Czech Republic could develop and showcase the solutions proposed today, engineered and natural, in order to mitigate environmental impacts, while at the same time acknowledging the strategic and economic importance of inland water transport."
This letter posted in Canada, arriving on the Prime Minister's desk a few days before the vote, helped to obtain this important result.
European Waterways Map & Concise Directory (2008) available to order on www.euromapping.com

Information about the network : http://www.plavba.cz