[3][4][5] It is part of the project to construct a waterway connecting Bay of Gdańsk with the port of Elbląg with a total length of 22.88 km.

[6] The canal is located between the villages of Skowronki and Przebrno, at the site of an abandoned settlement called Nowy Świat, hence its official name.

The idea of constructing the canal dates back to 1577 when the King of Poland, Stephen Báthory, proposed a plan to build it on the Vistula Spit in connection with the Danzig Rebellion (1575–1577).

He sent Castellan of Wiślica Mikołaj Firlej and Royal Chancellor Piotr Kłoczowski to the region and the village of Skowronki was selected as the site for the planned canal.

[citation needed] Marine biologist Dr. Agata Błaszczyk expresses the concern associated with the phosphorus accumulated in the sediments at the bottom of the lagoon, primarily coming from technical wastewaters from industries in the area of Elbląg, from animal farming sewage, and from washed-out fertilizers, which contribute to eutrophication of the nearly closed lagoon resulting in strong blooms of cyanobacteria, which in turn contribute to algal blooms in the lagoon, giving it a distinct greenish color compared with the rest of the Baltic Sea.

[14] The new waterway is expected to contribute to the mobility of the sediments, possibly resulting in changes in the ecology of the adjacent areas of the Baltic Sea with unknown consequences.