Gorzów Wielkopolski is the first town in the water region of the Warta where the consultation meeting concerning the draft of the updated flood risk management plan (uFRMP) for the Oder water basin was held on 9 March. The meetings in Poznań and Kalisz will be held on 10 and 11 March. The draft of the updated FRMP provide for the total of 44 activities for that region.
The operating strategy of Państwowe Gospodarstwo Wodne Wody Polskie in the water region of the Warta is an example of synergy of the draft uFRMP and the plan of combating drought effects (PPSS) in the form of numerous activities, including e.g. retention-related ones, aimed mostly at retaining water where it falls to use those resources reasonably in dry periods.
“Greater Poland and the water region of the Warta is an example of how we try to counteract the drought effects as well when planning the activities to minimise the flood risk. This is a serious challenge but we hope we will manage to achieve both those objectives with social support”, said before the meeting in Gorzów Marek Gróbarczyk, the Secretary of State in the Ministry of Infrastructure responsible for the water management aspects and for the implementation of investments in the maritime and water sector. An example of such activities is e.g. the multi-purpose Wielowieś Klasztorna reservoir on the Prosna river. This is the largest project designed for the region in uFRMP . The project, with the cost estimated to exceed PLN 1 billion, is to alleviate the drought effects and to prevent floods on the Prosna and the Warta.
New activities and continued works
As much as 39 of activities included in the draft of the updated FRMP for the water region of the Warta are the continuation of the already started ones. They include the ones connected with the warning systems, e.g. construction and improvement of the local flood alert systems and the development of the monitoring system, early warning and programming of flood hazards. Also the modernisation of hydro-engineering facilities in Jeziorsko reservoir and the modernisation of weir on that reservoir required attention related to the flood safety. The group of continued tasks include also modernisations of the flood embankments, including the left-bank embankment of the Warta in the commune of Pyzdry, the right-bank embankment of the Prosna in the commune of Pyzdry, the left-bank flood embankment on Rumin polder in the commune of Stare Miasto and the left-bank flood embankment of the Warta in the village of Rumin. The plan provides also for the alteration, vertical enlargement and expansion of flood embankments of the Kucelinka canal in Częstochowa. “The last section of the Warta to the mouth to the Oder, situated in the territory of the Catchment Board in Gorzów Wielkopolski, is attractive in terms of wildlife, but also threatened with floods. Classifying the relatively long section of the Warta and the Noteć, being its tributary, as a problem area results mostly from the possible risk of the likely embankment failure. This is why it is so important to maintain the flood embankments in a good condition”, Bogumił Nowak, director RZGW Poznań, explains.
This is the first update of FRMP
The flood risk management plans are developed for 6 years. At present, they are updated for the first time. They include the most important activities concerning the safety of residents of the threatened areas. The public consultations concerning the drafts of the updated FRMP , announced by the Minister of Infrastructure and coordinated by Państwowe Gospodarstwo Wodne Wody Polskie, started on 22 December 2020 and will last until 22 June this year. The earliest comments and requests have already been submitted. Consultation meetings take place simultaneously. They will be held in as many as 28 towns and cities in Poland. The debates in February, March and April are held on-line. When the pandemics-related restrictions are alleviated or removed, the consultation meetings may be held in the traditional form. Information on that is published on an ongoing basis in the news at www.stoppowodzi.pl This is also where the drafts of updated FRMPs can be found.