The water in the field is disappearing quietly. No one knows how much

We don’t know how much water agriculture in Poland actually uses. This is not an accusation. It’s a fact. Groundwater intakes for agricultural purposes are not commonly recorded or metered, and therefore do not make it into the Central Statistical Office’s compilations. The CSO’s data include intakes intended for water supply for the population and industry, i.e. those covered by a water permit. Meanwhile, a huge part of Polish agriculture is made up of individual farms, using their own wells, ditches or small intakes on watercourses – with no obligation to report intake.

Deficiencies in the system that carry risks

As a result, there is a serious information gap. The state does not know how much water agriculture takes, and consequently – it cannot reliably plan or counteract the effects of water scarcity in agricultural areas. Translated into practice – we have no way to develop a reliable so-called water-economic balance. It’s like trying to manage a household budget without knowing how much we spend on utilities or food.

Despite this ignorance, one thing is certain – the demand for water in agriculture is growing. Crops cover about 60 percent of the country’s land area, much of which – especially on light soils and in low rainfall regions – requires irrigation at least periodically.

Polish statistical anomaly

In Europe, agriculture accounts on average for about 70 percent of total water withdrawals. In Poland – according to official statistics – only 5 percent, but this is a figure detached from reality. Underestimated not because farmers do not use water, but because the system for monitoring it in this sector does not function.

This is a situation that is unique in European Union countries. In Germany, Spain or Italy, all or most intakes (depending on the specific regulation) are subject to mandatory recording and metering. In Poland, we still live in the belief that a small well does no harm. The problem is that there are hundreds of thousands of small wells, and many of them draw water from the same shallow, locally overburdened aquifers.

Does it matter?

Yes, and it’s fundamental. Water today is not only a resource, but also an economic and climate risk factor. Droughts – increasingly frequent and prolonged – are no longer an extraordinary phenomenon, but a seasonal norm. They affect the entire continent, regardless of political borders. Under a changing climate, any sub-optimal decision in water management can cost: crop yields, food quality, and rural economic security. According to the FAO, water scarcity (its quantitative and qualitative lack, variability of precipitation) is today the main constraint to agricultural development in the temperate zone.

Without reliable data, it is difficult to talk about planning, and without the implementation of water-saving practices and a systemic approach to retention, we are facing not only a local drought, but also a serious water deficit in agriculture – with consequences for the entire food economy and our wallets.

So what do we need to do?

For the time being, every farmer is scratching his own kneecap. This is not a ridiculous statement in this case, but in line with reality. With energy prices that have long exceeded the limits of common sense – and, analysts say, have no real justification – water remains one of the last resources for which we are still trying to pay as little as possible.

To move forward, the will of politicians is needed, who, as is well known, take water in their mouths before each election. But when that will finally appears, probably more under pressure from reality than from an internal need to act – it will be necessary to implement real support mechanisms: financial incentives and advice for farmers. Only then will practices that reduce water use and loss – from rational irrigation, to changing the structure of crops, to developing on-farm micro-retention – have a chance of becoming the standard rather than the exception.

Because the basic challenge is not a lack of awareness. The problem lies in the belief that a farm is a zone of autonomy – to some extent this is true, but it should not be the case with water management. And in an environment where every hectare affects the balance of the region, the lack of information about what is happening to water in hundreds of thousands of scattered farms is a gap that the entire economy loses out on.

Without data, there is no management. Without tools, there is no change. And without the belief that shared responsibility for water begins in the field, not just in the parliamentary chamber, every drought will be a repetitive lesson from which no one learns.