On 16 march there were the public consultations held in Bydgoszcz with respect to the draft of the updated flood risk management plans (uFRMP) for the water region of the Noteć river. Although the region faces primarily the hydrological drought, the flood hazard cannot be overlooked here. The draft of uFRMP provides for 48 activities aimed at improving flood safety. Those are primarily repairs of embankments and the modernisations of local hydro-engineering facilities on the Noteć and its tributaries.
The flood risk management plans are a key document related to flood protection resulting directly from the EU Flood Directive. “At present, we are at the most important stage of developing the document updates, i.e. public consultations. They are developed by Wody Polskie, and the consultations are organised by the minister competent for water management”, said Małgorzata Bogucka-Szymalska, deputy director of the Department of Water Management and Inland Navigation at the Ministry of Infrastructure.
Drought and flood — two faces of the water management problems
The water region of the Noteć river has the lowest average annual precipitation amounts in Poland. The so-called hydrological low-water period is recorded here on a regular basis, with the readouts below SNQ (average low flow in many years). That was the case e.g. in summer 2020. “We are not an exceptional region in terms of water deficit. It is similar for the whole central strip of Poland. This is mostly an effect of the warming climate. Unfortunately, those are not the only problems brought about by the global climate changes. Floods caused by short, though rapid rainfall and the spring thaw water rising are equally dangerous. Abundant snowfall in February reminded about the real hazard. The inhabitants of the flood-endangered areas along the Noteć river are afraid of inundations, e.g. like the ones in Wieleń in 2011. FRMPs are to anticipate such hazards and ensure efficient protective activities are undertaken”, said Grzegorz Smytry, director of Państwowe Gospodarstwo Wodne Wody Polskie, Regionalny Zarząd Gospodarki Wodnej in Bydgoszcz.
48 activities in the region: 11 of them are continued and 37 are new.
The most important modernisation and construction projects are situated in the western part of the region, in Wieleń and Drezdenko. Their cost is estimated to reach more than PLN 94 million. Many activities refer to the repairs of hydro-engineering structures, including e.g. the Bydgoski Canal and Osowa Góra floodgate no. 6 with structures and the bridge, Prądy floodgate no. 5 with structures and the bridge, and Czyżkówko floodgate no. 4 with structures, at the section from 14.8 km to 38.9 km. What is more, the plans include the modernisation of water steps on the lower and upper canalled Noteć river in Łochowo, modernisation of the pumping station in Herburtowo and Lubcz Mały, pumping station in Józefowice and Antoniny and profiling of the longitudinal section and the cross section, as well as the horizontal arrangement of the Bachorza Duża Canal; expansion of the Noteć in the Pakość-Łabiszyn section, considering the lake of Mielno and Sadłogoszcz; profiling of the longitudinal and the cross-section of the Kcynka river.
The first updated 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. So far, several dozen comments and requests have been received. Consultation meetings take place simultaneously. They will be held in as many as 28 towns and cities in Poland. So far, the debates were held in Kraków, Nowy Sącz, Gliwice, Pszczyna, Gorzów Wielkopolski, Poznań and Kalisz. Subsequent ones will be organised on 17 March in Piła and on 23–25 March in Rzeszów, Jasło and Stalowa Wola. Due to the pandemics, the discussions held so far and to be held in March and April will be carried out on-line. Registration for a specific meeting on www.stoppowodzi.pl starts three weeks before the appointed date. When the restrictions are removed, the consultations will have the traditional form. All the information is published on an ongoing basis in the news on www.stoppowodzi.pl. This is where you can find the drafts of the updated FRMP as well.