Water crisis in Poland. Expert on drought, flooding and lack of response

Climate change is making its mark on every aspect of our lives, yet water is still overshadowed in the public debate. What we need is not revolution, but understanding. Because if we don’t realize how the system works, we will live from disaster to disaster – warns Jacek Zalewski, a water management expert, in an interview with Agnieszka Hobot.

Does Poland have a water management strategy, or are we still navigating in the dark? Why don’t concrete-choked cities manage water – neither when there’s not enough nor when there’s too much? And can nature-inspired solutions become the future of water management? We discuss how our environment is changing and we still can’t keep up, in a conversation that leaves no illusions.

Agnieszka Hobot: In the climate change debate, energy and air quality play first fiddle – electricity prices electrify the public, smog in cities raises health concerns, and water is everywhere, but it’s as if it doesn’t exist. Only when it starts to run out or when it destroys everything in its path are we reminded that it exists. Why is the topic of water still treated as secondary?

Jacek Zalewski: Water is such a vast topic – from the one in the tap and pipes in the city, to rivers and lakes, to changes in ocean levels – that it is paradoxically difficult to grasp what we are actually supposed to be debating. But I won’t agree that it’s not present in everyday conversations. We talk about it all the time – when we complain about drought, floods, dirty rivers or drying up lakes. The problem is different – water does not exist in the political debate in a professional and strategic way.

The water industry has for years been at the service of other sectors – energy, transportation, industry, urban development – as a priority. It was itself becoming a tool, an accessory to infrastructure. Today, the situation has reversed. We are beginning to see that it is water that dictates conditions: in the form of droughts, floods, shortages, high costs, declining quality, overheated cities without greenery, agricultural losses, costs of pumping underground water, or problems with post-industrial waste, such as brine from mines.

For most people, these are new phenomena, but not for those who have been dealing with water for years. Our problem is the weakness of the industry. It doesn’t debate, it hasn’t developed its own strategy, it has no clout, it’s still mentally stuck in the 19th century, in the days when water was treated as something that just is.

The energy industry has set the stage for decades. Electricity prices are a topic of daily conversation. And water? We are only beginning to talk about its price out loud, despite the fact that we pay for it in different ways at least five times: for intake and treatment, bringing it to homes, sewage disposal, treatment and stormwater infrastructure. And water management at the catchment scale? That’s a topic few people care about at all – until a catastrophe happens, such as the massive fish die-off in the Oder River or a flood in the Klodzko Basin.

Until we understand that water is not an auxiliary resource, but the absolute basis of all systems, from the economy to quality of life, we will only respond to it on an ad hoc basis – always too late, always in crisis mode.

A.H.: Droughts and floods are no longer extreme episodes – they are becoming an everyday occurrence, hitting infrastructure, the economy and quality of life. The mechanism of these phenomena seems clear, but do we really understand it? How does the altered cycle of the water cycle affect their frequency and intensity? What, less obvious, consequences may await us in the coming decades?

J.Z.: The mechanism is well-documented – the recent flooding in the Klodzko region in the fall of 2024 showed this vividly. Air that is warmer than a decade ago, an effect of climate change, can hold more water vapor. Since temperatures are rising globally, periods of drought are getting longer – water evaporates, saturating the atmosphere. And when the moist, heavy air finally meets a cooler mass, intense, prolonged precipitation or violent, torrential downpours with catastrophic consequences follow.

The problem, however, is not just the climate, but how we humans are changing the landscape. Water, instead of seeping into the ground, flows down like glass – because the surface is sealed. Large-scale deforestation with modern forestry machines – harvesters, destruction of natural retention, river regulation, invasive infrastructure investments – all make water disappear where it is needed and appear where it shouldn’t. From suburbanization to intensive agriculture, from drainage ditches to concreting of space, examples abound.

What’s in store for us? The weather will be changeable – we will live a bit like the media: from one disaster to another. Once the Vistula, once the Oder. More expensive life, limited industrial development, more water crises. But what is not being talked about out loud is environmental degradation. Unless we change our approach and begin to understand the ecosystem, instead of brutally modifying it, we will be stuck in a space that is less and less friendly – not only to nature, but also to ourselves.

A.H.: Does Poland have a comprehensive water management strategy in the context of climate change? Are we still acting reactively, making short-term decisions? What are the biggest gaps in the system and what are the consequences of ignoring them?

J.Z.: Poland does not have such a strategy, and – paradoxically – maybe that’s a good thing. Because with the current priorities, for example, the country’s defense, would the authorities be able to create it in a substantive way, really considering it the most important? I doubt it. I have participated in many meetings on this subject – the diagnosis of problems is usually accurate, but then… either solutions are proposed that are unrealistic to implement, or they continue to duplicate ideas from 200 years ago, from the era when wood and grain were floated down the Vistula.

What we need today is not another document, but a change in attitude – in local governments, education and in professional circles. We are still mentally stuck in an era where resilience to climate change meant more concrete. Meanwhile, it’s the resilience of an ecosystem that, even if it succumbs when disaster strikes, manages to recover without causing an avalanche of losses.

That’s why it makes sense to support grassroots initiatives, education and informed local governments. This is what we are doing – through the Stormwater Poland or Water Folder Day conferences, which bring together nearly 1,500 experts annually. There are more and more of these events, by the way. Education is undertaken by publications such as Water Matters or the portals Climate Science and Water World. But it’s still not enough – the topic of water should be a priority, not an add-on to the climate change debate.

A.H.: Are we as a society aware of the role of water in climate change adaptation? What misconceptions dominate and most impede the implementation of effective solutions? Is the problem a lack of education or perhaps insufficient communication between experts, politicians and the public?

J.Z.: We’re at the stage where we’re still learning the basics – like turning off the water while brushing our teeth. It’s a small step, but a good one to start with. It would seem that the pandemic has left us with the habit of washing our hands more often, but one only has to look at the behavior at gas station sinks to have doubts about the prevalence of this practice.

What about a deeper understanding of the problem? Awareness is growing in local governments, because local government officials are the ones who see the problem up close – they don’t always know how to solve it, but they know it exists. And importantly – unlike those in power at the central level – they are less likely to talk nonsense for political effect….

A.H.: Living in a city, we are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change – from heat waves to flash floods. What solutions could revolutionize urban water management in the coming years?

J.Z.: What we need is not a revolution, but understanding. Rainwater must soak in, not run off. This is not an innovation, but a basic principle that every farmer and homesteader knows. The sidewalk should drain water onto the lawn, not the other way around.

Of course, we can talk about digitizing retention systems, controlling infrastructure based on weather forecasts, using artificial intelligence. These are all possible and effective-but if we don’t start by understanding the basic cycle of water and how to strengthen the ecosystems that regulate this economy, no revolution will make sense. It will only be a Band-Aid on a deep wound.

A.H.: In many countries, water management is increasingly based on Nature-Based Solutions. Are there real chances for their implementation on a larger scale in Poland? What barriers – technological, administrative, financial – could hinder their development? And what would be the benefits of moving away from traditional concrete solutions?

J.Z.: In my opinion, as a society, we have one important characteristic – we are open to novelties and adapt very quickly. As soon as we see a real need for change, we are able to implement modern solutions in no time. This was the case with the construction of roads, sewage treatment plants, access to water, digitalization or even the leapfrogging of medicine. As a result, we are not lagging behind, and sometimes even ahead of other countries. Our problem is not a lack of innovation, but consistency in building the future.

As for Nature-Based Solutions, we are seeing clear results from their implementation. Suffice it to mention EU funds – billions of zlotys allocated for adapting cities to climate change. The Ministry of Climate and Environment and the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management have been supporting the development of blue-green infrastructure for years. In just one competition for greening the surroundings of schools, there were five times more applications than the funds provided! This shows that change is already happening – and on a huge scale. Our platform, where engineers design green roofs, open water tanks or rainwater infiltration systems, is already used by 10,000 professionals. This is not a niche – it’s a trend that is gaining momentum.

Could action be faster? Of course. But one cannot underestimate what has already been accomplished. We are on the right track – now we just need to keep up the pace and stop treating water as a problem and start thinking of it as a key resource on which the future of ourselves depends.

Executive Vice President at RetencjaPL. He leads a team implementing dozens of projects annually in the area of rainwater and water management for local governments and government institutions/units. Recently, he has been heavily involved in promoting the idea of adaptation to climate change, which also has a practical dimension: working with many local governments, RetencjaPL has obtained hundreds of millions of zlotys for projects for Polish cities from EU funds, primarily from FEnIKS. His passion is water management. Heavily involved in promoting sustainable approaches to drainage system management, blue-green infrastructure and retention planning, and sustainable river maintenance. Practitioner with extensive experience working with local government and water and sewer companies. Experienced presenter and lecturer, author of guidelines, catalogs and co-author of textbooks. Co-organizer of the international conference Stormwater Poland.

pic. main: Pavel Przykaza / Unsplash