On September 11, 2018, a nationwide conference organized by the Państwowe Gospodarstwo Wodne Wody Polskie - National Water Management Authority was held in Warsaw, and has been devoted to discussions on methodologies for determining heavily modified and artificial surface water bodies in the context of their verification and updating.
The conference was opened by Joanna Kopczyńska, representing the Państwowe Gospodarstwo Wodne Wody Polskie and acting as the Deputy President of Wody Polskie for Water Environment Management. She welcomed the numerous participants, and after a few words of introduction from the conference moderator Jerzy Grela, Chief Water Management Consultant at MGGP S.A., the speakers took the floor.
They presented three presentations aimed at explaining the subject of the conference. Paweł Pawlaczyk, an expert associated for example with the Committee for Nature Conservation of the Polish Academy of Sciences discussed: "Proces wyznaczania silnie zmienionych i sztucznych części wód w Planach Gospodarowania Wodami na obszarach dorzeczy i ich aktualizacjach" (The process of determining heavily modified and artificial water bodies in Water Management Plans at river basin districts and their updates). Then Dr. Szymon Jusik from the University of Life Sciences in Poznań presented: "Przegląd podejścia do wyznaczania silnie zmienionych (SZCW) i sztucznych części wód (SCW) w krajach europejskich" (Review of the approach on determining heavily modified (SZCW) and artificial water bodies (SCW) in European countries). Finally, Ilona Biedroń, a specialist in the Field of Engineering and Environment at MGGP S.A., presented: "Projekt wstępnej metodyki wyznaczania silnie zmienionych i sztucznych części wód na potrzeby II aktualizacji PGW w Polsce" (A draft of initial methodology for determining heavily modified and artificial water bodies for the purposes of the 2nd PGW update in Poland), and closed this part of the conference with her speech.
The next point of the day consisted in workshops. The conference participants (after previous declarations) were divided into four groups. The 90-minute panels were conducted in parallel, the theme of all sessions consisted in the results of the pilot and final designation of SZCW and SCW in relation to: a) mountain and foothill rivers, b) lowland rivers, c) lakes, and d) transitional and coastal waters. After the workshop, the results of individual problem sessions were discussed together, and the moderators carried out a summary.
Before the end of the conference, Paweł Prus from the Inland Fisheries Institute in Olsztyn also presented: "Koncepcja określania wartości granicznych klas potencjału ekologicznego" (The concept of determining the limit values of ecological potential classes). And a final discussion took place. During the conference's summary Joanna Kopczyńska, representing Państwowe Gospodarstwo Wodne Wody Polskie, Deputy President of Wody Polskie for Water Environment Management thanked everyone for their active participation and every professional voice that can make the final document prepared by Wody Polskie better.
She also announced working on environmental goals in the near future. This is the next stage in a cycle of preparing documents resulting from the Water Framework Directive - I hope that we will have a discussion just as active in terms of environmental goals, said the president.
The conference was held as part of the information activities concerning the project entitled "PRZEGLĄD I WERYFIKACJA METODYK WYZNACZANIA SILNIE ZMIENIONYCH I SZTUCZNYCH CZĘŚCI WÓD POWIERZCHNIOWYCH WRAZ ZE WSTĘPNYM I OSTATECZNYM WYZNACZENIEM" (REVIEW AND VERIFICATION OF METHODS FOR DETERMINING HIGHLY MODIFIED AND ARTIFICIAL SURFACE WATER BODIES INCLUDING PRELIMINARY AND DEFINITIVE DETERMINATION), which constitutes a part of the works aimed at developing the II update of water management plans in river basins for the years 2021 - 2027.