There are three meetings in the public consultations of the draft updated flood risk management plans (uFRMP) dedicated to the water resource region of the Central Wisła and the Lower Narew basin. On 14 April, the discussion was held in Warsaw. In the problem areas of this part of the region there are 41 flood control measures planned. They include primarily expansions, alterations, and modernisations of embankments several hundred kilometres long.
The flood risk managements plans (FRMP) with a list of specific measures in different parts of Poland are developed every 6 years. At present, the documents, including the ones pertaining e.g. to the water resource region of the Central Wisła, are updated for the first time. The public consultations of the draft updated FRMPs, announced by the Minister of Infrastructure and coordinated by Państwowe Gospodarstwo Wodne Wody Polskie, have been held since 22 December 2020. This is a key stage of works devoted to the draft documents. The discussions will be held in as many as 28 towns and cities. They have been half-way. Until now, all the discussions have been held on-line.
The Wisła river as the source of hazard
uFRMP for the entire water resource region of the Central Wisła and the planning basin of the Lower Narew comprise the total of 105 measures. In the central part of the region, in Mazovia, they include mainly expansions, modernisations and repairs of embankments. “We allocate several hundred million zlotys for it. This is necessary in the light of the likely hazards brought by the increased water level in the upstream sections of the largest Polish river. The embankments are very important protections for the residents of the areas along the river. They require our constant attention. We remember how important they were during the great flood in 2010. To a lesser degree, they are useful during every spring thaw or long rainfall in the mountains and at foothills, said before the meeting in Warsaw Marek Gróbarczyk, Secretary of State in the Ministry of Infrastructure, responsible for the aspects of water management and investments in the maritime and water sector.
645 kilometres of embankments
The water resource region of the Central Wisła covers the Wisła basin from the mouth of the Sanna river to Włocławek. The largest right-bank tributaries of the Wisła in that region include Narew (in its downstream section together with the Bug and the Wkra), the Świder, the Skrwa, and the left-bank ones include the Kamienna, the Iłżanka, the Radomka, the Pilica and the Bzura. Anna Łukaszewska-Trzeciakowska, director of PGW WP Regionalny Zarząd Gospodarki Wodnej in Warsaw emphasized the gravity of problems caused by rivers in the central part of the Wisła basin. “In the entire Wisła basin, the length of rivers constituting areas exposed to the flood danger is more than 18 thousand km. As much as 4.5 thousand kilometres are situated in our region. This is the longest in Poland which requires suitable preventive measures. This is where embankments are used with the total length at the section administered by PGW WP RZGW in Warsaw longest in Poland and amounting to as much as 645 km. Another, equally significant group of problems perceived during the designed measures, is the vicinity of the Zegrze Reservoir with the Dębe Barrage”, she said. The most important measures planned in the central part of the water resource region of the Central Wisła, for close to a half billion PLN, include the repair of embankments of the Długa river near Zegrze Reservoir, expansion of the embankments of the Wisła and Wilga rivers in the commune of Wilga in the poviat district of Garwolin, modernisation of the flood control embankment of the Wisła in Łomianki commune, modification of the right-bank flood control embankment of the Wisła in Sobienie Jeziory and Karczew communes, the expansion of the flood control embankment of the Okrzejka river in Maciejowice commune in the poviat district of Garwolin and expansion of the right-bank embankment of the Wisła at the section from Jabłonna to Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki.
Sixteenth consultation meeting
The most important measures concerning the safety of residents of the threatened areas are planned in uFRMP. In Poland, this list contains more than 1,100 items planned for 2022–2027. Those are the documents attracting attention of the debate participants and all stakeholders. The drafts of updated plans, complemented with the requests and comments submitted during the consultations (they can be submitted e.g. using a form on www.stoppowodzi.pl), should be adopted in December 2021 in the form of regulations by the minister competent for water management.
So far, the meetings relating to the public consultations have been held in Kraków, Nowy Sącz, Gliwice, Pszczyna, Gorzów Wielkopolski, Poznań, Kalisz, Bydgoszcz, Piła, Rzeszów, Jasło, Stalowa Wola, Białystok, Olsztyn and Włocławek. On 15 April, the discussion will be held in Radom and on 21 and 22 April the one in Lublin and Dęblin. For more information on uFRMP and public consultations, visit www.stoppowodzi.pl