Odra

As announced, the Institute of Environmental Protection – National Research Institute has prepared the 'Report on the implementation of experiments for the neutralisation of golden algae in the locks of the Gliwice Canal'. The document summarises the remedial activities supervised by the Institute related to the eradication of Prymnesium parvum, the so-called 'golden" algae,' in the Gliwice Canal.

On 23 June 2023, Minister of Climate and Environment Anna Moskwa met in Wróblin nad Odrą with Opole Voivode Sławomir Kłosowski and the services involved in remedial measures in the Oder River.

Long-term weather forecasts indicate that temperatures around 30 degrees Celsius will prevail in Poland in July. There are many indications that Europe will face extreme heat waves for another year in a row. In 2023, scientists are also particularly concerned about the intense warming of the seas, unprecedented in the history of measurements. With constant air temperatures and intense sunshine, this phenomenon also affects inland waters, including rivers. At the end of June, water levels in Polish rivers are in the low to medium zone, indicating a hydrological drought.

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.