Only two West Pomeranian lakes with EU class I quality

19 lakes and rivers tested in Poland qualified for the first water quality classes according to the standards set by the European Commission - according to a list prepared for PAP by the Chief Inspectorate for Environmental Protection.

The list of cleanest water bodies, as explained by the Chief Inspectorate of Environmental Protection, was created based on measurements taken in 2024 as part of the State Environmental Monitoring System. Each year, a different set of rivers and lakes is examined, meaning that if the list had been compiled last year, different water bodies would have been included, and there will be different ones next year.

The Inspectorate also emphasized that the order of the rivers and lakes listed should not be considered a ranking, but rather as information that may prove helpful when choosing a place to spend a vacation or a summer weekend. Thus, the list of nine lakes in the best condition includes: Bałędzis (Podlaskie Voivodeship), Białe Filipowskie (Podlaskie Voivodeship), Gwiazda (Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship), Białe koło Sytnia Góra (Pomeranian Voivodeship), Kozie (Kozy) (Pomeranian Voivodeship), Ostrowite (Pomeranian Voivodeship), Kownackie (Greater Poland Voivodeship), Betyń (West Pomeranian Voivodeship), and Spore (West Pomeranian Voivodeship).

When it comes to rivers, the GIOŚ listed the cleanest ones as: Wołkuszanka (Podlaskie Voivodeship), Bielska Struga (Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship), Brodek River (Pomeranian Voivodeship), Radunia on the section from Lake Ostrzyckie to Strzelenka (Pomeranian Voivodeship), Zbrzyca (Pomeranian Voivodeship), Piława from the Nadarzycki reservoir to the mouth (Greater Poland Voivodeship), Płytnica from the Sypniew Canal to the mouth (Greater Poland Voivodeship), Rurzyca (Greater Poland Voivodeship), Lubaczówka (Subcarpathian Voivodeship) and the Drawa River from Studzienica to Mierzęcka Struga (Lubusz Voivodeship).

As part of the State Environmental Monitoring System, the Chief Inspectorate of Environmental Protection (GIOŚ) does not examine entire bodies of water, but only sections of them at points it deems representative. At each measurement and control point (MPP), specific indicators are examined, of which there are dozens. Monitoring covers rivers, lakes, dam reservoirs, as well as coastal waters such as the Vistula Lagoon, the Szczecin Lagoon, and the Bay of Gdańsk. There are 4,040 such measurement and control points to be examined in Poland between 2022 and 2027.

As explained by Piotr Panek, Chief Specialist at the Department of Environmental Monitoring at the Chief Inspectorate of Environmental Protection, water quality classification in Poland is based on dividing waters into quality classes, which determine their degree of deviation from natural conditions, resulting from pollution and transformation. "The current system, consistent with the 2000 Water Framework Directive, includes two classes – good and poor. This consists of two classes of chemical status and five classes of surface water quality: very good (blue), good (green), moderate (yellow), poor (orange), and poor (red)," he pointed out.

Looking at the water quality map for Poland, compiled in 2022 based on six years of data, the majority of water is yellow. Only one lake, Płaskie Lake in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, is marked in blue. The next multi-year assessment will be conducted this year.

Panek explained that when testing water quality, both biological factors (e.g., invertebrates, fish, plants) and physicochemical factors are taken into account, such as the content of phosphorus, nitrogen, pesticides, and other substances found in the water, as well as the degree of physical transformation of riverbeds and lake basins. He emphasized that even if the presence of some substances is the result of biological processes and natural phenomena, changes in their levels are the result of human activity, as is the presence of harmful synthetic substances. In simple terms, the state of biological and natural physicochemical elements constitutes the ecological state, while the state of contamination with toxic substances—both synthetic and natural—constitutes the chemical state. These are assessed separately.

Panek said that the EU's water quality assessment is based on the so-called "weakest decides" principle. This means that if, for example, one of the 40 indicators tested for a river or lake is poor, the entire body of water receives a poor rating.

The EU Water Directive requires water quality standards to be updated every six years. He recalled that the latest report published by the European Commission at the beginning of this year showed that the percentage of surface waters in good condition in Poland decreased from 31% to 8.5% over the past six years.

When asked why, despite numerous actions taken by individual governments, the condition of surface waters in Poland was deteriorating, the expert noted that "generally, in 2016, in all countries that began to take a more ambitious approach to research, the number of water assessments of poor condition increased significantly." He pointed out that on EU maps, red (poor quality) is not only in Poland, Germany, the Benelux, and Denmark, but even in Sweden, which, he said, "was the quickest and most ambitious to start testing everything the EC recommends, including indicators contained in fish bodies. Currently, the standard for one of the indicators, PBDE, is set so that even fish that swim near Alaska or Antarctica fail to meet it. Simply put, practically every fish in the world exceeds this standard." The expert noted, however, that blue should indicate good condition, but it could mean that a given region has not yet undertaken as advanced water quality monitoring as elsewhere.

He also recalled that the standards set out in the Water Framework Directive were intended to contribute to achieving good surface water status throughout the EU by 2015, but no country has achieved this.

"Unfortunately, nature isn't mathematics. You can't measure everything or influence everything. Yes, there are cases where, when we cut off untreated sewage, the condition of the phytobenthos can improve within a few years. But there are also places where, even after 10 years, despite implementing corrective measures, the ecological condition remains poor," he said.

The European Commission is currently analysing whether the WFD is effective enough and whether changes are needed to achieve the water quality objectives set.

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