Basic planning documents required by the Water Framework Directive and the Water Law include: National Water and Environmental Programme (NWEP) as well as River Basin Management Plans (RBMPs).
National Water and Environmental Programme defines basic and supplementary measures aiming at improving or maintaining good status of waters, while its summary is a key element of the River Basin Management Plans.
NWEP was first drafted back in 2008 and approved in 2010 in line with the Water Law in force at the time. This document is available here. Pursuant to article 113b section 9 of the Water Law and article 11 section 8 of the Framework Water Directive, NWEP is subject to review every 6 years. Documents drafted under the planning cycle (2010-2016) are in force until the next version is drafted. They were adopted on 18 October 2018.
The Directive requires every Member State to draft the River Basin Management Plans (RBMPs). During planning cycle 1 and 2, the President of the National Water Management Authority was responsible for drafting ten River Basin Management Plans for the following river basins: Odra, Vistula, Dniestr, Danube, Jarft, Elbe, Neman, Pregolya, Prokhladnaya, Ücker.
First River Basin Management Plans were drafted in line with the WFD in 2009 and approved by the Resolution of the Council of Ministers on 22 July 2011. Documents drafted in the first planning cycle (2003-2009).
Pursuant to WFD and Water Law, RBMPs are subject to review and updated every 6 years. The first update (I aRBMPs, 2 planning cycle) was completed in 2010-2015. The party responsible for drafting the said documents was the President of the National Water Management Authority. Upon preparing, draft documents underwent environmental impact assessment and six month long public consultations. Due to the difficulties encountered during the verification process, the approval of the documents took slightly longer than expected. On 18 October 2016, Council of Ministers has issued the 1st update of the RBMPs in the form of a resolution. Detailed information concerning the second planning cycle (2010-2015).
Updated RBMPs are not just meeting the requirements posed by the WFD and Water Law, first and foremost they aim at:
Currently, works aiming at drafting the 2nd update of the River Basin Management Plans (II aRBMPs, 3rd planning cycle, 2016-2021) are under way. Pursuant to article 13 of the WFD, Member States should ensure drafting of River Basin Management Plans for each river basin that is entirely located on their territory. Due to the new division of river basins introduced by the new Water Law, during the 3rd planning cycle, the following river basins will be subject to drafting management plans:
The drafted documents shall become the basis for taking decisions that influence the status of water resources, moreover, they will also define the rules of managing waters during the 6-year long planning cycle. The very plans not only have an impact on shaping the water management but also other sectors, including: industry, municipal or urban engineering, agricultural, forestry, transportation, fishery and tourism.
The project is co-financed by the European Union under the Infrastructure and Environment Operational Programme 2014-2020.