The work on the plan for counteracting the effects of drought is entering the consultation phase.
The draft plan was submitted to voivodes who visited the registered office of Polish Waters on 18 July to give their opinion on the document. During the meeting, the detailed map of areas threatened by drought was presented. Experts dealing with the development of plan discussed its particular elements. A part of presentation was devoted to the voivodes’ competencies in the field of fight against the drought, such as development of local laws, determination of the protection areas or introduction of the temporary restriction for the use of water. The plan for counteracting the effects of drought developed by Polish Waters assumes a broad cooperation with voivode offices and municipal authorities, as well as with other local authorities and local organisations, farmers, entrepreneurs. The aim is to develop good practices in the field of water management.
The fight against drought and water resources protection is an issue that concerns all of us. Therefore, already on 11 September, the public consultations will start in Poznań and will be carried out in 15 major cities in Poland within six months. During consultations, we will provide details of the plan and the catalogue of measures which include detailed guidance for the households, agricultural holdings and for municipalities on how to manage water to reduce the risk of drought. The draft project also includes the list of investments related to the retention increase, i.e. increase in the water resources available. The consultations are a perfect opportunity to provide guidelines concerning local problems related to the phenomenon of drought and to suggest solutions which will be included at the subsequent stage of project development. The plan for counteracting the effects of drought is created by everybody – experts, but also Polish citizens.
