Poland is among the European Union countries with the lowest water resources per capita, while climate change is further intensifying the problem. An unstable hydrological situation poses a threat not only to residents, but also to agriculture and industry. Experts speaking during a debate at the European Economic Congress argued that short-term emergency measures should be replaced by systemic changes, including increasing natural retention, restoring peatlands and recovering used water resources.
They also stressed that local governments, businesses, scientists and expert communities should all be involved in such initiatives.
“Poland’s current hydrological situation is not good. After a snowy winter, we had several months without rainfall, which means we are entering the spring and summer growing season with insufficient water resources. We are already experiencing agricultural drought and observing falling water levels in rivers. This is leading to a deepening water crisis in our country,” said Dr Kamil Jawgiel, geographer, hydrologist and president of the Wody Warta “Hydroni” Foundation, in an interview with Newseria.
Poland has around 60 billion cubic metres of renewable freshwater resources annually. During drought periods, this figure falls below 40 billion cubic metres. Between 2015 and 2023, renewable freshwater resources per capita in Poland ranged from 1,100 to 1,600 cubic metres. This is below the UN water security threshold of 1,700 cubic metres, according to Statistics Poland’s report “Poland on the Path of Sustainable Development. SDG Report 2025”.
“Water shortages may become an increasingly serious problem in our country. One of the sectors most affected is agriculture. Water is needed for irrigation, and agriculture is increasingly using groundwater, which may lead to local overexploitation of resources. This problem will therefore deepen,” said Dr Jawgiel.
He added that in previous years water shortages had also affected households, not only in rural areas but also in cities. Every year, around 200–300 water supply companies in Poland appeal to residents to critically reduce water consumption.
One indicator showing the pressure on water resources is water stress, which compares water use with available resources. According to Statistics Poland, the level of water stress in Poland has fallen from 19.2% in 2015 to 15%, suggesting moderate pressure on water resources and some stabilisation of consumption. This decline was partly due to a reduction in annual water use per capita from 262 cubic metres in 2015 to 214 cubic metres in 2024. Nevertheless, Poland remains among the EU countries with the highest levels of water stress.
“Water is becoming a strategic resource. Let us look at where Poland stands. We are on the borderline of water stress. As much as 80% of water resources are at risk. Climate change is also intensifying, affecting not only the availability but also the quality of water,” said Rafał Wróblewski, Management Board Member at Nestlé Polska.
“Water is the only substance on Earth that is both essential for life and cannot be replaced by any other raw material, medium or substance. Water shortages will therefore have further negative consequences, directly affecting our quality of life and posing a threat to the economy,” said Dr Jawgiel.
Drought is not only a problem for farmers. It also affects foresters and businesses for which stable access to water is a condition for continuity of operations.
According to Wróblewski, this should lead to a change in how water is managed. “This translates into specific actions that must begin with treating water as a strategic resource. Today, a reactive, crisis-based approach to water resource management still prevails. We need to move towards systemic, long-term action that connects business and other stakeholders in order to protect water resources and manage them consciously,” he said.
Experts argue that the answer lies in broadly understood retention, which is regarded as a remedy for many water-related problems, from drought and flooding to insufficient water quality.
“Natural retention is of key importance, including river renaturation, restoration of wetlands and peatlands, rain gardens and retention basins in cities. Structural retention of rainwater is also important in flood protection, especially in mountainous areas,” said the president of the Wody Warta “Hydroni” Foundation.
In 2023, Poland adopted the Programme for Counteracting Water Shortages for 2022–2027, with a perspective to 2030. Its main goal is to increase water retention in Poland. The programme provides for 727 investments, including 94 water retention facilities, such as reservoirs, and 633 other facilities shaping retention, including damming and regulatory structures.
Statistics Poland also reports that the capacity of small water retention is increasing, which is especially important in the face of variable flows and periodic shortages. Between 2015 and 2024, it rose from 830,000 to 881,000 cubic decametres.
“We need decisive action. If water is to be treated as a strategic resource, we need a kind of stewardship for the good of water — an approach in which economic decisions take into account the long-term protection and regeneration of resources,” Wróblewski said.
He pointed to examples of initiatives combining business, science and local governments. One of them is Nałęczowianka’s “Water Regeneration” programme, which goes beyond the factory walls and focuses on the entire local water ecosystem, including the catchment area at the source.
The “Water Regeneration” project by Nestlé Waters & Premium Beverages, producer of Nałęczowianka natural mineral water, was launched in 2020. It assumes that the company will restore and return to circulation at least as much water as it uses in its operations. The programme includes activities in the Bystra River catchment area aimed at regenerating water and removing pollution. As a result of these investments, more than 570,000 cubic metres of water have been regenerated in the Nałęczów region.
“The Bystra River is a strategic resource for us, and we take care of it. We work with experts and local governments that indicate what actions are needed. We combine forces to protect and regenerate water resources in the local ecosystem,” Wróblewski said.
He added that the project is a commitment to renew water resources at least at the level used in the production process. The company says it has implemented specific initiatives that allow it to exceed this goal. These include investments in water and sewage infrastructure, support for local communities and cooperation between local governments and experts.
Last year, the company began cooperation with the Wody Warta “Hydroni” Foundation, which advised on techniques for recovering and regenerating rainwater, supported the preparation of a report summarising the first five years of the project and designed and implemented a pilot rain garden in Nałęczów.
Water as a strategic resource, ways to secure the needs of industry, agriculture and households, as well as retention policy and the protection of water resources, were discussed during a panel at the European Economic Congress in Katowice.
