Poland is one of the European countries with relatively limited water resources, while increasingly frequent periods of drought are making conditions even more difficult for agriculture.
Experts argue that one way to improve the situation is to change how agricultural drainage systems operate. Instead of being used solely to remove water from fields, they should also help retain and store it.
Such a transition may, however, require a compensation system for farmers who suffer losses because water remains on their land for longer.
“Shallow groundwater resources recover over periods of weeks or months. Deeper groundwater resources may take decades or sometimes hundreds of years to replenish, while deep artesian water resources may take thousands of years,” Dr Kinga Krauze of the European Regional Centre for Ecohydrology of the Polish Academy of Sciences told the Newseria news agency.
“Łódź, where I live, uses such resources. The question is whether they can still be regarded as renewable.”
She said that many people underestimate the fact that water resources in some parts of Poland are not fully renewable.
“We have become accustomed to water always being available. At times, there may even be too much of it, particularly in southern and northern Poland. In central Poland, however, water is much less abundant.”
Poland remains below the water-security threshold
Poland has access to approximately 60 billion cubic metres of renewable freshwater resources in an average year. During periods of drought, this volume may fall below 40 billion cubic metres.
A commonly used international benchmark indicates that renewable freshwater availability exceeding 1,700 cubic metres per person annually is needed to avoid regular water stress. Between 2015 and 2023, Poland had only between 1,100 and 1,600 cubic metres per person, according to Statistics Poland’s SDG Report 2025. Poland currently has one of the lowest volumes of freshwater per capita in the European Union.
“In summer, we fill our swimming pools at a time when water is already in short supply,” Krauze said. “I do not think we show it sufficient respect.”
She argued that improving the situation would require action ranging from individual decisions to the restoration of watercourses, river renaturalisation and the reconstruction of agricultural drainage systems.
Such infrastructure should be capable of both irrigating and draining fields, depending on current conditions.
“We very often drain fields and then face problems with agricultural drought,” Krauze said. “We are not doing enough, either through our individual decisions or through systemic measures. Considering the extreme events we are currently experiencing, our response remains insufficient.”
Agricultural drought affects hundreds of municipalities
The latest report from the Agricultural Drought Monitoring System operated by the Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation in Puławy covered the reporting period from 21 May to 20 July 2026.
After all seven reporting periods were taken into account, drought conditions affecting spring cereals were identified in 1,623 municipalities, representing approximately 65% of all municipalities in Poland.
Winter cereals were threatened in 1,425 municipalities, or 57% of the national total. Drought affected fruit shrubs in around 42% of municipalities and rapeseed and turnip rape in 40.5%. Grain and silage maize were affected in just over 25% of municipalities.
Some of the most extensive drought risks were recorded in the Kuyavia-Pomerania, Mazovia, Lublin and Łódź provinces.
In the case of spring cereals, drought conditions were identified in every municipality in Kuyavia-Pomerania and Mazovia, more than 98% of municipalities in the Lublin province and more than 80% in the Łódź province.
Europe recorded exceptionally dry soils in 2025
Water shortages are not limited to Poland.
In 2025, Europe experienced the driest soil-moisture conditions in the 33-year satellite record. Drier-than-average conditions affected large parts of the continent and persisted through much of the year.
The most extensive agricultural drought occurred in May, when 35% of Europe was classified as experiencing extreme agricultural drought and a further 19% was affected by moderate drought, according to the European State of the Climate 2025 report prepared by the Copernicus Climate Change Service and the World Meteorological Organization.
Prolonged soil-moisture deficits can reduce agricultural yields, weaken soil structure, increase erosion and raise the risk of wildfires.
Drainage ditches are both part of the problem and a potential solution
Poland’s extensive network of agricultural drainage ditches has traditionally been used to remove excess water from fields as quickly as possible.
Experts now argue that the same infrastructure could help reduce the effects of drought by slowing the movement of water through the landscape.
“The network of drainage ditches is one of the causes of problems with water availability in agriculture, but it is also part of the solution,” Krauze said.
“First of all, these should not be systems used exclusively for drainage. Their role must also include capturing water where it falls.”
Instead of immediately transferring rainfall through drainage ditches into rivers, water could be retained at different points within a catchment area.
Poland has approximately 250,000 kilometres of canals and agricultural drainage ditches, creating considerable potential for distributed water retention.
In the past, their primary purpose was to drain fields rapidly. They could now be used to slow runoff and store water during wet periods.
Controlling the flow of water through ditches allows it to remain in the landscape for longer. This supports infiltration into the soil, helps replenish groundwater, improves soil moisture and limits erosion.
Retaining water requires compromises
Although the proposed solution is relatively simple from a technical perspective, its implementation may create conflicts between landowners.
“We have high hopes for this solution, but it requires many compromises,” Krauze said.
“We must understand that retaining water along particular sections of drainage ditches means that farmers whose fields are located next to them will have considerably more water on their land than others.”
Some farmers may be unable to enter their fields with agricultural machinery as early in spring as neighbours whose land is not being used for water retention.
Excessively wet soil can delay sowing, reduce access for machinery and, in some circumstances, damage crops. At the same time, holding water in one part of a catchment may improve its availability for farms located elsewhere during dry periods.
The benefits are therefore shared more widely, while the direct costs may be borne by a smaller number of landowners.
Simple structures can slow water runoff
Polish Waters stresses that relatively simple water-control structures installed in drainage ditches can play an important role in improving landscape retention.
Adjustable sluice gates can regulate water levels, while small weirs can slow the flow. Culverts equipped with flow controls can retain water following rainfall and release it gradually.
The appropriate solution depends on the size of the ditch, local terrain, soil conditions and the needs of neighbouring farms.
On smaller ditches, simple wooden barriers or small fixed weirs may be sufficient. Larger channels may require concrete structures with adjustable steel gates.
Such measures can help transform drainage infrastructure into a dual-purpose system capable of removing excess water during particularly wet periods and retaining it when drought risk increases.
Farmers may need compensation for retaining water
Krauze said a compromise must be reached between different water users operating within the same catchment.
In other countries, similar conflicts are sometimes resolved through payments to people who provide water-retention benefits to the wider community.
“The community may pay compensation to those who guarantee greater water retention or improved water availability in the future,” she explained.
“The system covers potential losses resulting from a farmer allowing more water to be stored on their fields or to remain there for longer, while other farmers also benefit.”
A similar model could be introduced in Poland.
Water users within a particular area could agree on a compensation mechanism for farmers who preserve wetlands, allow fields to retain more water or accept higher water levels in nearby drainage ditches.
Payments could reflect delayed access to fields, potential crop losses, restrictions on land use or the costs of maintaining water-retention infrastructure.
Such arrangements would recognise that water retention is an environmental service providing benefits beyond the boundaries of an individual farm.
Maintenance of drainage systems remains a serious problem
For drainage ditches to perform either drainage or retention functions effectively, they must be regularly maintained.
In January 2026, the Association of Municipalities and Counties of Greater Poland warned that agricultural drainage infrastructure was progressively deteriorating. It argued that the current legal and financial system for maintaining drainage equipment was ineffective.
In many regions, ditches are becoming overgrown and losing their capacity to carry or retain water. Water companies responsible for parts of the infrastructure often lack stable funding, while responsibility is divided between landowners, local authorities and public institutions.
Poorly maintained ditches may accelerate the uncontrolled loss of rainwater and snowmelt during some periods while making it impossible to retain water effectively during shortages.
A lack of maintenance can also create the opposite problem during heavy rainfall. Blocked or damaged ditches may contribute to local flooding, the inundation of neighbouring properties and an increased risk of flood damage.
Poland needs a new approach to agricultural water management
Modernising agricultural drainage cannot therefore consist solely of blocking ditches or raising water levels.
It requires coordinated management across entire catchments, functioning infrastructure and agreements between farmers whose interests may differ.
Systems must remain capable of removing excess water when necessary while retaining it during dry periods. Decisions on when to store or release water should take account of weather conditions, crop cycles, soil type and local flood risk.
Financial incentives may also be necessary to ensure that individual farmers are not required to bear the cost of measures that benefit the wider community.
As droughts become more frequent and rainfall becomes increasingly irregular, Poland’s existing drainage network could become one of the country’s most important tools for improving agricultural water security.
Achieving this will require a change in thinking. Water should no longer be treated solely as something that must be removed from agricultural land as quickly as possible, but as a resource that must be retained whenever conditions allow.
