Odra

Professor Agnieszka Napiórkowska-Krzebietke is a hydrobiologist and deputy director of the Stanisław Sakowicz Inland Fisheries Institute - National Research Institute in Olsztyn. In August 2022, she identified the presence of Prymnesium parvum, the so-called golden algae, in the Oder River. Since then, she has been conducting detailed research on the invasive algae. She is part of a group of scientists involved in the Team for the Situation Arising on the Oder River at the Ministry of Climate and Environment. The expert explains the specifics of the Oder golden algae.

The heat waves that have just appeared in Poland are causing a sharp increase in water temperature in rivers, canals and reservoirs. In many places, it exceeds 20 °C and reaches 26 °C. The Crisis Management Team of the Ministry of Climate and Environment has issued the latest recommendations, indicating specific remedial actions that will help reduce the growth and toxic blooms of the 'golden algae.'

On 7 June 2023. Anna Moskwa, the Minister of Climate and Environment, met with Steffi Lemke, the Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection. The current preventive and remedial measures and the restoration of the Oder River biodiversity conducted based on expert recommendations were summarised during the meeting. An additional topic was the issue of the ruling announced yesterday by the Voivodeship Administrative Court in Warsaw regarding the extension of the concession for the Turów mine for lignite mining until 2044. The German town of Zittau is a party in the 14 ongoing proceedings in this case.

The rapid growth of golden algae and fish die-offs in spring 2023 was found in the reservoir in Januszkowice, Czernica and Łacha Jelcz. Outside these locations, no die-offs were caused by a toxic golden alga bloom this year. The invasive algae thrive mainly in oxbow lakes, away from industrial areas, where the water salinity remains at 750-900 µS/cm and does not exceed 1100 µS/cm.

On 31 May 2023, a Polish-German workshop was held to discuss environmental restoration, planned and ongoing investments and maintenance measures on the Oder River resulting from the implementation of the International Polish-German Agreement. The event, organised in a hybrid format, results from the 2022 agreement between the Environment Ministers of Poland and Germany.

The Ministry of Climate and Environment coordinates remedial measures to combat golden algae. It is the next stage of the plan developed by the Ministry of Climate and Environment.

As agreed by the Ministry of Climate and Environment with the Chief Inspectorate of Environmental Protection, the Institute of Environmental Protection – National Research Institute and the Inland Fisheries Institute – National Research Institute, the continuous monitoring of the Oder River was piloted on 31 March 2023. Measurement data will be made public from 30 May 2023 after the system tests have been completed.

The Government wants to revitalise the River Oder. The idea is to better protect its aquatic environment, in the event of an ecological disaster. The new regulations provide for support for investments on the Odra River at the level of approx. PLN 1.2 billion.

A meeting between representatives of the five Oder River voivodeships and the Ministers of Climate and Environment, Infrastructure, State Assets and Agriculture and Rural Development was held at the Dolnośląskie Voivodeship Office in Wrocław on 19 April 2023. During the meeting, measures implemented over the past nine months to reduce the so-called 'golden algae' blooms in the Oder and other Polish rivers were discussed. The position of the Ministry of Climate and Environment was presented by Deputy Ministers Małgorzata Golińska and Jacek Ozdoba, as well as by the Chief Inspector of Environmental Protection, Krzysztof Gołębiewski, and the General Director of Environmental Protection, Andrzej Szweda - Lewandowski.

As agreed with the Ministry of Climate and Environment, the Inland Fisheries Institute - National Research Institute, the Institute of Environmental Protection, and the Chief Inspectorate of Environmental Protection have introduced continuous pilot monitoring of the Oder River.