Changes in Legal Regulations as a Way of Improving Water Management in Poland

Abstract

Abstract The article presents 9 water alerts illustrating the state and problems of water management in Poland three years after the entry of the new Water Act into force on January 1, 2018. The alerts were developed by a group of experts critically assessing some of the introduced legislative changes. The alerts analyzed the main problems related to drought and flood protection as well as the specificity of water management in cities and rural areas. Postulates to improve the legal regulations in the field of water management and financing, its integration with spatial planning and educational needs in this regard were also presented. The content of 8 alerts is briefly discussed, and the problem of water–agriculture interaction is presented in more detail. The article indicates that legal regulations of water management are particularly difficult as they apply to the entire society, almost all economic sectors and the natural environment, and its preparation must be carried out with extreme care after many analyzes and debates.