On the last Sunday of September, World River Day is celebrated. This is a great opportunity to talk about the rivers
Przemysław Gruszecki, Director of the Department of Water Environment Management at PGW Woda Polskie, talks about renaturalisation, i.e. the latest plans to improve water status.
What is river renaturalisation?
Briefly speaking, it is restoring their natural state. However, as part of the renaturalisation plan currently being prepared, we will not propose a complete change in the nature of the rivers. The aim of the project is to improve the functioning of blind people. The document will specify areas that require appropriate action and identify specific corrective methods.
Does the implementation of the program mean a revolution in water management?
No. The renaturalisation plan complements the activities that are already being carried out by Polish Waters. It complements with other programs, such as the flood risk management plan and the drought prevention plan. Each of them is focused on specific goals, but eventually they form a coherent in-merits whole and are reflected in water management plans. The renaturalisation plan will be used in some of the plans that relate to environmental activities. Basing on the effects of the plan, guidelines will be created for implementation in the coming years.
Where to start, what will be the most important? What rivers to consider?
In developing the renaturalisation plan, we take into account the ecological status of rivers, or more specifically - the ecological status of the water bodies that these rivers form. The Vistula in Ustroń and Toruń is the same river, but it has a completely different character on these sections. The structure of the bottom is different, other organisms live there, the nature of the flow, speed or fluctuations due to natural factors, such as the intensity of freshening caused by rainfall in a given region, are different. That is why in our planning work we use the term: uniform water bodies (JCW). The aim of the program is to restore natural conditions where possible, while maintaining the conditions necessary for the current use of water. We are interested in those places, those rivers where the assessment of ecological status indicates a worse condition than good, and the reason is physical changes as a result of which individual indicators of biological elements do not achieve this good condition.
It should also be remembered that in Poland we do not have such strongly transformed rivers, as e.g. in the Netherlands or Germany. That is why the scale of river restoration in our country is completely different. It is worth noting here that the name of the project "Renaturation program" does not fully correspond to what this study will be. The program will cover not only natural water bodies, but also those that we consider to be significantly modified. In the latter case, we are not talking about "renaturalisation" because it would mean the need to abandon the current forms of using these waters, but rather about looking for ways to improve ecological quality, in this case called "ecological potential", without dismantling existing infrastructure.
An example of a heavily changed river is the Włocławek reservoir. For us, planners in water management, this is not an artificial reservoir, but a heavily changed river - Vistula. And by definition, it is meant to be so, we will not modify it. In such cases, however, we want, if possible, to improve the conditions of functioning of the educated ecosystem, because it must be remembered that nature adapts to human activities. Many species of waterfowl, plants inhabit heavily changed rivers or artificial reservoirs. Nature is doing great.
So how is it assessed that the river needs renaturalisation?
This process is complicated. To understand this issue well, you need to delve into the method of assessing waters and setting environmental goals. In general, we can say that we divide all rivers, and similarly: lakes, transitional and coastal waters into natural and strongly changed, which I mentioned earlier. We speak of "heavily modified waters" when physical changes introduced by human hands are distant and irreversible (this transformation serves, among others, industry and the economy). Then restoring naturalness would mean that you have to give up your business. By giving a given body of water the status of "heavily modified", we kind of approve these changes that have already been made and accept that they are necessary.
The remaining watercourses, where there are no irreversible changes, or the reason why they were carried out no longer exist, are in our nomenclature "natural". The goal for them is to achieve good status - understood as a comprehensive assessment of the quality of the functioning of the aquatic ecosystem. Therefore, we are not talking only about water quality, but we assess the conditions for biological life. There is a list of over 100 parameters that are grouped into indicator groups. In addition to those qualitative parameters, such as chemicals, temperature or color, we have 5 biological indicators that indicate the presence of life in water, as well as indicators on hydrology and morphology, telling about how the riverbed, coastal zone, flow velocity, its stability, variability looks. The starting point for the analysis is to imagine how all these elements would look in natural conditions, not disturbed by human activity, or slightly disturbed.
So what are the main renaturalisation activities focused on?
The purpose of the renaturalization program we are talking about is to ensure patency of the watercourses. We mainly look at it for access to fish. In our current activities, we focus on providing them with appropriate operating conditions. So that two-environment fish, such as sea trout, can get to spawn. Of course, we also have other species in mind, bottom organisms, invertebrates. In other words, rivers are to provide different species with a suitable place to live and move freely, in accordance with their life cycle.
Fish encounter various obstacles along their path, usually in the form of weirs and dams. If the indicators describing the biological element, which are fish, and therefore their abundance, species composition, age structure (parameterized by numbers) are bad, then we look for the reasons. The first one that we often see is usually the transverse development of rivers. Our project aims at finding places where there is no patency and propose actions to fix it. The solution is, for example, building or repairing fish passes that allow them to hike up or down the river. It is also possible to dismantle old and non-functioning damming structures. These actions must be taken in a logical order.
Will renaturization activities significantly affect other water use?
Here, environmental, economic and social goals must be reconciled. Renaturalisation of rivers cannot mean that we will give up navigation or construction of hydroelectric power plants, designation of bathing areas, etc. The essence of activities is that these investments are maximally environmentally friendly. There are appropriate procedures and legal restrictions in that respect. Rivers are not being renaturated at all costs. Economic, commercial, and social analyzes, issues of population migration and money flow appear in the classical model of environmental management. One wrong program can lead to economic collapse in a given region. You also need to pay attention to this. You always have to balance between the broadly understood human needs and the needs of the environment, i.e. sustainable development.
Wody Polskie are already involved in the reconstruction of ecological corridors. Such a project is implemented, among others on Biała Tarnowska. Is this the direction in which renaturalisation is going?
It is a separate project not related to the currently planned renaturalisation plan. However, it also aims to improve the conditions important for the ecosystem, including the migration of migratory fish species. Wherever possible, Wody Polski choose solutions that mimic the conditions of natural rivers. This investment is a great example of good cooperation between state administration and non-governmental organizations, ecological communities. This is a successful project implemented by Wody Polskie with the participation of WWF. Experts from various fields and environments will also be involved in the development of the river renaturalisation plan.
What institutions do Polish Waters cooperate with regarding water quality?
Polish waters do not directly monitor the environment. We work on the data of the Environmental Protection Inspection. The Main Inspectorate for Environmental Protection (CIEP) is responsible for water monitoring and their quality. As Polish Waters, we have our contribution in assessing the possibilities of achieving environmental goals. We get data and assessment of the status of waters from the Chief Inspectorate of Environmental Protection, we also collect data from the Sanitary Inspection, from owners of intakes, or the directorate for environmental protection during the state of protected areas. We analyze these data on individual sections of rivers and see if we achieve this good environmental status and provide protection for what should be protected or not - and how far away we are. If the assessed water body does not meet the set environmental goals, and we know how far we are from these goals, we are looking for tools, what needs to be done to make it better. This is what water management plans are for, an the action program being their part in particular.
Wody Polsie often faces the accusation of concreting rivers ...
This is another issue not related to renaturalisation. It refers to maintenance work. Once, before the Wody Polskie were built, it was actually concreted, the banks were leveled to such an extent that some rivers became similar to canals. You don't do that anymore. We have a different approach to maintenance. We carry out the works we need in an appropriate way so as not to damage nature. Watercourse patency can be provided in a different way. They are often more expensive but they bring much less damage to the environment.
The world is changing, today there is a completely different approach to the natural environment. It must be remembered that the concreted river not only loses its natural value. It also causes faster flow of water - which is not favorable in the event of floods or drought. And these phenomena occur in Poland and will occur in the future. Therefore, Wody Polskie, realizing their tasks, are based on the latest knowledge in the field of water management. They are also guided by environmental goals.
And what about the Vistula and ecological disaster after the failure of the "Czajka" sewage treatment plant? Is Vistula clean or dirty?
Here thinking about water quality still comes down to the reflection whether the water is clean and I can take a bath, if I drink water, I will survive and I will be fine, etc. These are health aspects and basically these are questions for the Sanitary Inspection. If we wanted to talk about water quality according to today's standards, then we are talking about the whole, about everything - about the aquatic ecosystem. Therefore, the question of whether the river is clean or dirty is difficult to answer. We are talking about good or bad condition, because this concept better reflects the essence of things. Finally, one of the worst parameters tested (out of a few hundred indicators) determines whether the river is in good or bad condition. It is enough that one of them fails to meet the quality standards, even if all others are great, and the matter is a foregone conclusion: we are in a bad condition.
If this discharge of sewage lasted longer, then what would improve in Vistula would be destroyed. That was all the misery. During the accident, 260,000 flowed into the Vistula River daily. m3 of wastewater, of which 13 tonnes of particularly harmful biogens, nitrogen, phosphorus and heavy metals. Serious, irreparable damage to the aquatic environment may have occurred. We would lose the effect of what has been worked out over the years, which we have already achieved on our way to improving the quality of water in the Vistula River and achieving this good state. We have already forgotten the infamous name "queen of Polish sewage", it is completely incomprehensible why now we should not worry about the threat of her return.
1.8 million people live on the Vistula from the height of Warsaw to Gdańsk, who want to feel safe and want to enjoy its natural values.
Can you reconcile the interests of people and the good of the environment?
It is worth balancing these two goals. If we want to build something on the river, then one of the aspects that should be followed is the overriding social interest. Water management is just about seeking such balance and deciding, which is the overriding interest here. If it is, for example, the economy and shipping, because it will contribute to the development of the region, then these investments can be implemented. However, you need to know why the activity is to be used and try to do as little damage as possible in the environment. Renaturization is nothing more than correcting mistakes made in the past: eliminating unnecessary transformations of watercourses, reducing the effects of necessary transformations, but whose negative effect on the environment can be reduced. Perhaps someday, such another renaturization program will not be needed at all, if planning the investments we remember that choosing the simplest solutions, without looking at the consequences for the environment, is a bad choice. It is better to always choose methods and solutions that seem more expensive, but in effect better because they cause less damage to the environment. Wody Polskie are heading in this direction.
Speaking: Anna Jastrzębska
from the Department of Social CommunicationPGW Wody Polskie
Photo Jerzy Malicki / Wody Polskie