‘Vistula River and Its Basin 2020’ Programme Office Union of Vistula River Towns 1 ‘Vistula River and Its Basin 2020’ Programme Union of Vistula River Towns ‘Vistula River and Its Basin 2020’ Programme Office

Union of Vistula River Towns 2 Aims of the Programme to continue the work in progress undertaken by a number of governmental and local self-government institutions, research institutes, associations and others; to compensate for the absence of any direct (united) action related to water economy, including a total lack of water management strategies; to finally create an unambiguous definition and classification of the problems present in the Vistula River basin and to arrive at the ways to solve them, mainly concentrating on finding funds to finance the work to be undertaken; to co-ordinate various activities and to solve the existing and prevent possible new conflicts from arising.

‘Vistula River and Its Basin 2020’ Programme Office Union of Vistula River Towns 3 Legal Foundations Underlying the Operations of „Vistula River and Its Basin 2020’ Programme Office On 2 June 2000 governors (wojewoda) and heads of provincial parliaments (marszałek) representing 11 provinces (województwo) situated within the conventional the conventional bounds of the Vistula River Basin met in Toruń and signed an agreement to draw up a programme to improve the ‘Vistula River and Its Basin’. The Agreement was signed in the presence of the Head of the Council of Ministers’ Chairman’s Office and the Minister of Environmental Protection. Apart from the Union of Vistula River Towns, the following associations have been the initiators and participants of the programme:  Nautical and River League;  Vistula Basin Association – ‘Wisła’  Lower Vistula River Cascade Foundation;  Association of Water Management and Land Melioration Engineers and Technicians;  Water Engineering and Management Institute Council of Krakow Institute of Technology. The initiators and signatories of the Agreement set up the ‘Vistula and Its Basin’ Programme Office, financed from membership fees paid by the Union of Vistula River Towns and supported by the Head of the Council of Ministers’ Chairman’s Office and the Minister of Environmental Protection.

‘Vistula River and Its Basin 2020’ Programme Office Union of Vistula River Towns 4 Basic Legal Foundations of the Programme Constitutional sustainable development principle Acts of Law: Water Law, Law on Environmental Protection and Management EU directives, especially the EU Water Management Guidelines Polish ecological policy International agreements and conventions State government and provincial self-government strategies.

‘Vistula River and Its Basin 2020’ Programme Office Union of Vistula River Towns 5 Objectives of the PROGRAMME Flood drought and other hazard control. Vistula basin ecosystem improvement. Surface and underground water quality improvement. Facilitating sustainable economic development, agriculture included, within the Vistula basin, in compliance with the sustainable development principle.

‘Vistula River and Its Basin 2020’ Programme Office Union of Vistula River Towns 6 Characteristics of the ‘Vistula and Its Basin’ Programme Openness to  a variety of initiatives and offshoot programmes and  - with a passage of time -  to the changing social, economic and legal conditions. Cohesion  planning activities within the area of the basin  correlation between various initiatives Compliance  with the current laws (especially the Water Law, environmental laws and EU directives – EU Water Management Guidelines, etc.)  with strategies and spatial development plans and other improvement plans that have been and are being worked out at various levels  with the expertise available in given institutions and organisations  with requirements set by NGOs, as a result of negotiations Limited Range  the programme embraces a clearly defined area in the domains presented in the tables attached

‘Vistula River and Its Basin 2020’ Programme Office Union of Vistula River Towns 7 Territorial Division of the PROGRAMME AREA Vistula Basin within the Polish Republic Basins of other rivers and the Baltic Coastland rivers situated within the conventional bounds of the Vistula Basin area There exists a pressing need for international co- operation within water basins shared with the neighbouring countries

‘Vistula River and Its Basin 2020’ Programme Office Union of Vistula River Towns 8 Subject Areas to be Covered by the PROGRAMME The Programme covers the following interconnected basic subject areas: protection of the sources and purity of underground and surface water; emergency prevention; environmental protection and protection of nature resources and landscape; economic development of the basin.

‘Vistula River and Its Basin 2020’ Programme Office Union of Vistula River Towns Protection of the Sources and Purity of Underground and Surface Water. Protection of underground water reservoirs, especially the GZWP (main underground drinking water reservoir) Facilitation of rational water use, with a special focus on the quality of municipal water for home use (people – underground water, industry – surface water) Underground and surface water pollution control, including projects carried out within the framework of the National Municipal Sewage Treatment Programme Identification of surface washings and their neutralisation Assessing water abundance levels in individual catchment basins and drawing up appropriate spatial development guidelines Water balance and economic balance of individual catchment basins Supporting and creating conditions for local legislative bodies to pass their own laws of basin water use

‘Vistula River and Its Basin 2020’ Programme Office Union of Vistula River Towns Emergency Prevention Flood control:  active Flood-control reservoirs, especially in the Upper Vistula basin Small retention Flood control polders Ice-breaking  passive Flood embankments River and mountain regulation  non-investment projects Spatial development planning Expropriations Taxation and insurance systems  Flood emergency procedures Response action plans in case of crisis Flood prevention education Drought prevention  Surface and underground water retention, small retention, including afforestation in the basin  Facilitating rational use of water and maintaining its high quality Prevention against industrial accidents and breakdowns of hydraulic engineering structure

‘Vistula River and Its Basin 2020’ Programme Office Union of Vistula River Towns Environmental Protection and Protection of Nature Resources and Landscape Designating areas whose nature and landscape will be protected, taking into special account elements included both in provincial strategic developmental plans and national programmes, e.g. Natura 2000, among others Designating areas to be protected within the framework of international conventions Solving conflicts of interests between environmental protection and economic development, in compliance with the sustainable development principle Counteracting negative effects of the economic development in the basin, paying special attention to the ichthyofauna. Marking out individual areas and start work on restoring their natural environment to its former condition Protecting sites of a unique scenic value in the basin Protecting the cultural heritage of the basin, paying special attention to hydraulic engineering structures (e.g. canals) and urban arrangements (e.g. arrangements of riverside towns)

‘Vistula River and Its Basin 2020’ Programme Office Union of Vistula River Towns Economic Development in the Vistula Basin Area Water tourism and recreation connected with water  inland navigation ports, marines, riverside hostels for yacht, canoe and motorboat tourism  revitalising navigable tourist routes  developing international water tourism  bathing resorts and recreational complexes Hydropower engineering  determining the maximum level of hydropower potential to be safely used in the basin  indicating places where hydropower plants should be built Inland navigation  determining possibilities how to make use of inland trade navigation as an alternative means of merchant transport, especially of bulk goods  reaching a compromise between waterway parametres and adjusting the water navigation stock to them  development of tourist and individual inland navigation Traffic between riverbanks and lakeshores  designating and assessing the results of building permanent river-crossing spots and places for ferry crossing, together with construction of other facilities Water for Industry  dividing the basin into areas suitable for supplying industry with water Inland fishing and angling  indicating waters suitable for fishing and angling  indicating areas where fish farming might be developed Spatial development planning  indicating areas available for the development of settlement, environmental protection, etc.  indicating areas suffering from water deficits, resulting in their limited potential for economic development

‘Vistula River and Its Basin 2020’ Programme Office Union of Vistula River Towns 13 Administrative Bodies, Institutions and Organisations Taking Part in the Programme governmental administration, first and foremost, the Minister of Environmental Protection as the Polish Government’s Plenipotentiary for the ‘Vistula 2020’ Programme self-government administration at all levels associations of towns and ‘gminas’ (local basic administrative municipal and rural communities) academic and research institutes NGOs - ecological (e.g..WWF) and economic included businesses private persons ‘Vistula River and Its Basin’ Programme Office

‘Vistula River and Its Basin 2020’ Programme Office Union of Vistula River Towns 14 Administrative Bodies, Institutions and Organisations Implementing the Programme governmental administration, mainly regional water management boards, regional state forest managing boards, national parks, inland navigation offices and nautical offices self-government administration, in matters that fall within their legal authority (e.g. land melioration and water structure managing boards supervise passive flood hazard control and melioration pumps, while ‘gmina’ control sewage treatment management. businesses mixed bodies operating as public and private partnerships

‘Vistula River and Its Basin 2020’ Programme Office Union of Vistula River Towns 15 Conflics connected with the Programme any activity causes a conflict of interests and loyalties conflicts that might arise:  conflicts between economic and environmental lobbies – see: Nieszawa water screen, the Natura 2000 Programme, the Lower Vistula Cascade Programme  conflicts arising from different local interests in the basin  conflicts between interest groups present within the environment connected with water management  conflicts between the government and self-government administration  international conflicts one of the main aims of the programme is to arrive at a compromise in the areas of conflict implementation of the programme will be rendered impossible if a consensus in the areas of conflict cannot be reached

‘Vistula River and Its Basin 2020’ Programme Office Union of Vistula River Towns 16 Financing the Programme The prerequisite of the Programmes success is its financial standing – the previous programmes have fallen through due to a lack or mismanagement of the funds available It is vital to achieve a synergy effect through acquiring funds from a variety of sources:  It is vital to achieve a synergy effect through acquiring funds from a variety of sources:  state budget – within the framework of the Long-term Programme Law  state strategic funds, mainly from the National Environmental Protection and Water Management Fund, Provincial (wojewódzkie) Environmental Protection and Water Management Funds, the ECOFund.  EU funds whose beneficiaries are, first and foremost, self- government bodies and businesses.  private sources, especially those which form public and private partnerships. That is why, the most important task of the Office now is to prompt the Polish Parliament to finally pass the long-awaited Law of the Vistula “ Ustawa Wiślana ”. The second best might be the formal approval of the Programme given by the Government of the Polish Republic.

‘Vistula River and Its Basin 2020’ Programme Office Union of Vistula River Towns 17 Analysis of the Strengths and Weaknesses of the Programme Strengths  gathering all interest groups around the idea of the Programme  a comprehensive Programme for the entire basin stands a better chance to be implemented than dispersed individual initiatives  high degree of social acceptance of the programme voiced by local self-government authorities and communities. Weaknesses  low degree of acceptance regarding the problem of funding the programme, expressed by decision makers at various levels, caused by its long-term character and, consequently, the prolonged completion time, way beyond the official’s time in office.  conflicts of interests and loyalties mentioned above

‘Vistula River and Its Basin 2020’ Programme Office Union of Vistula River Towns 18 Programme Procedure Collection and update of reliable data received from institutions participating in the Programme, mainly from:  Minister of Environmental Protection and from organisational units subordinate to him;  self-government authorities at all levels – provincial (województwo), district (powiat) and basic municipal and rural local district communities (gmina);  associations of ‘gminas’ and towns;  institutions implementing particular projects;  businesses;  academic and research institutes; Verification of the data acquired and negotiating compromises in conflict areas Preparing the final draft of the ‘Law of the Vistula River’ ( ‘Ustawa Wiślana’ ) Submitting the law proposal to the Minister of Water Management in order to secure agreements between departments at the ministerial level. Submitting the law proposal to the Parliament of the Polish Republic

‘Vistula River and Its Basin 2020’ Programme Office Union of Vistula River Towns 19 Programme Advancement The basic territorial range and subject areas of the Programme have been agreed upon A draft proposal of the Programme has been completed Most of the data needed has been acquired, the main source being provincial administration offices. According to the Programme participants, ca. 80% of the data needed has been collected.

‘Vistula River and Its Basin 2020’ Programme Office Union of Vistula River Towns 20 Expectations Representatives of various groups and circles, especially authorities in water management will get actively involved in the implementation process of the Programme Information on the already existing programmes and projects carried out in the Vistula basin, especially data coming from academic and environmental circles will be freely shared and processed Full updated information needed for the implementation of the programme will be accessed, the main source being the governmental administration (Minister of Environmental Protection, Regional Water Management Boards, etc.), district (powiat) and local municipal and rural communities (gmina), ‘gmina’ associations and businesses. Understood as attempts made to reach a mutual aim, the Office’s activities will win the approval of academic circles, various governmental and self-government administrative bodies at all levels, businesses and NGOs.

‘Vistula River and Its Basin 2020’ Programme Office Union of Vistula River Towns 21 Contact address Biuro Programu dla Wisły i jej Dorzecza / ‘Vistula River and Its Basin’ Programme Office ul. Chopina Warszawa tel. (22) , fax.(22)

‘Vistula River and Its Basin 2020’ Programme Office Union of Vistula River Towns 22 We are open to co-operation and suggestions We will be pleased to deal with any queries you may have.