On World Day against Desertification and Drought, representatives of the Green Party presented to the Polish Parliament the solutions for effective fight against drought and desertification in Poland and announced the submission of the first draft act amending the Water Law – with an emphasis on low retention and achieving good environmental status of waters – in accordance with the requirements of the Framework Directive water.

“In 2019, agricultural drought affected all 16 voivodeships in the country and almost all crops. As much as 95 percent of the Poland’s area is under threat from hydrological drought, regarding surface waters,” Urszula Zielińska, Member of Parliament and member of the parliamentary committee on maritime economy and inland navigation, noted.

Representatives of the Green Party referred to the government's ongoing work since 2016 on the so-called Drought Prevention Plan "Stop Drought" (PPSS). The plan, financed by the European Union, is to be ready by the end of 2020. According to Urszula Dragan, chairwoman of the Green Party Warsaw Mokotów Party and Warsaw's Sister of the River, the schedule of the plan is delayed.

To date, the results of public consultations have not been even summarized. In addition, the program currently under development is the priority of multi-billion hydro technical investments serving the so-called high retention, i.e. in practice - creating a system that accelerates the flow of rainwater to rivers and reservoirs, and thus not only does not solve the problem of drought, but even contributes to its deepening. 

MP Zielińska presented the demands of the Green Party, among others, changing the approach to water resource management – from centralization in large reservoirs to small, "distributed" retention and savings, as well as a scientific, modern approach, including climate change forecasts.

(WBJ)