Summary:

Long term observations of Upper Vistula tributaries, made by authors, showed that the narrowing and straightening of the rivers and their floodplains resulted in accelerated riverbed erosion and the increase of flood risks. River floodplains are widely acknowledged as being very important for biodiversity, therefore by their narrowing the floodplains lost their natural patterns with a consequence decline in habitat and species diversity. In the last years appeared a new approach in river management and engineering, the EU Water Frame Directive consists an important step for more ecological river training. In consequence an increasing number of restoration projects have been initiated in the last years. In the present paper the authors tried to check the possibilities of flood plain widening upstream of the Nowy Sącz City situated on Dunajec River (km: 111+900 - 107+500), where are devastated wastelands. In the urban area of Nowy Sącz the levees distance was left unchanged. For the new conditions the numerical simulation by 1D mathematical model RubarBE was carried on. The obtained results showed the significant decrease in the flood peaks upstream of Nowy Sącz and some in the town.