Climate Resilience in Water Management Project (CRWMP)

pipeline

The proposed project would be the fourth in a sequence of flood protection initiatives implemented in Poland’s two major river basins, the Odra and the Vistula. The sequence began in 1997, following the catastrophic floods in the Odra Basin, when the Government of Poland requested World Bank support for recovery. The Flood Emergency Project (1997–2005) responded by rehabilitating affected areas of the Odra River Basin and establishing a flood forecasting and warning system. Building on this emergency operation, the Odra River Basin Flood Protection Project (P086768, 2007–2020) implemented major structural measures to protect the basin from future flooding, covering the reach from Raciborz through the city of Wrocław. It also further strengthened flood forecasting and improved the integration between forecasting and flood management. The third project in the sequence, the recently closed Odra–Vistula Flood Management Project (P147460, 2015–2025), extended flood protection infrastructure to the Middle and Lower Odra River Basin and the Upper Vistula Basin. In addition, it enhanced operational flood forecasting and established Flood Operation Centers. For this fourth project in the sequence, Poland has requested financing to implement flood risk management measures in currently unprotected reaches of the Upper and Middle Vistula Basin and to address persistent flood risks in the Nysa Kłodzka catchment of the Odra Basin. The project would also respond to the growing risks posed by prolonged droughts experienced in recent years, which are expected to intensify and become more frequent under projected climate change. The Project Development Objective is to reduce flood and drought risks in Poland. It focuses on decreasing flood risk in the upper and middle Vistula Basin and the Biała Lądecka as a part of Nysa Kłodzka catchment through enhanced flood protection infrastructure and forecasting, while reducing drought risk nationwide by increasing water retention capacity, strengthening drought forecasting and management, and improving water quality monitoring to benefit communities and ecosystems. The project comprises four components: (i) flood risk reduction through the construction of dry polders to protect major urban areas, including Krakow, Sandomierz, and Warsaw, as well as the Biała Lądecka catchment; (ii) drought risk reduction through multipurpose reservoirs (including the Kamieniec Ząbkowicki multipurpose reservoir) and green retention measures; (iii) institutional strengthening for flood and drought forecasting, early warning, management, and water quality monitoring. This component will also finance a green scheme, yet to be identified, for improved water retention in the upper Vistula basin and Nysa Kłodzka catchment; and (iv) project management and monitoring and evaluation to support effective implementation and knowledge sharing.