The house by the river may be a trap. Is it time to start talking about resettlement?
Some local governments ignored the objections of Wody Polskie and allowed development in flood areas. The residents were not aware that they were building a house in a place that could be under water in a few quarters of an hour. This moment can be used to start a discussion about encouraging them to move to safer areas.
Friday’s “Rzeczpospolita” refers to the report of the Supreme Audit Office from 2023, the authors of which established that although local governments are obliged to consult the development plan for areas near rivers with Polish Waters, these arrangements often remain “only on paper”. The pressure from people who dream of a house near the river (and money comes with it) is so great that some local governments are willing to help them. As a result, people in good faith buy plots and build houses because they are not aware that it is a flood area – the spatial development plan allowed construction.
According to “Rz”, also Polish Waters themselves, the institution responsible, among others, for their concern for flood safety, they most often gave a favorable opinion in proceedings regarding the development conditions and management of flood areas. “In 2018-2021, they spent over 19,000. decisions in these matters, of which as many as 90 percent meant consent to start investing there,” we read.
This is the time to encourage people to abandon their homes in flood plains
In this context, it is worth recalling the conversation that RMF FM journalists had with prof. UMCS Stanisław Chmiel, head of the Department of Hydrology and Climatology of UMCS in Lublin. In his opinion, the priority should be to limit development in flood areas to mitigate the effects of possible future floods. A discussion should also be started on the proposal to resettle people living in flood areas, said the hydrologist.
– While maps of flood areas for major rivers have been created in recent years, they are still missing for smaller rivers, their tributaries, seasonal streams and even dry valleys with sporadic surface runoff. This is where we deal with issuing new building permits. As the current situation has shown, small watercourses have become large, rushing rivers, and this has contributed to so many misfortunes, said the professor.
In his opinion, it is a good time to start a discussion on resettlement proposals for people living in flood areas. Right now, experiencing the flood and facing its effects, affected residents are most willing to move to places where they are not at risk of a repeat of these events.
Moreover, the interlocutor from UMCS pointed out that we still do not have enough retention reservoirs in Poland, mainly in areas where flash floods occur. He pointed out the need to build especially dry flood reservoirs (polders) in mountainous and foothill areas, which will capture excess water.
– However, this does not guarantee complete protection. I doubt that it is even possible to build so many reservoirs that there would be no flood threats. There are disasters that simply cannot be stopped, he noted.
