Powstanie i rozwój państwowej służby hydrogeologicznej w Państwowym Instytucie Geologicznym

Within the framework of the Poland’s preparation to join the EU, it was necessary to establish new surveys and specialized organizations to cope with tasks to implement the water management policy defined in the Water Framework Directive approved by the European Parliament and Council in 2000. The establishment of the Polish Hydrogeological Survey (PHS) by the Water Act of 18 July 2001 imposed an obligation on the Polish Geological Institute to identify, balance and protect the groundwater as well as to define the principles of the sustainable water management in the river basins. Taking into account the achievements of the Department of Hydrogeology and Engineering Geology, the PGI was well prepared to fulfil the tasks of the PHS in every way: both professional and organizational one. From the mid 1970s the groundwater monitoring has been organized by the Institute as a hydrogeological stationary observation network in Poland. The cartographic projects run by the Institute and the Institute digital data bases with a huge amount of the hydrogeological data collected till 2000 have been very useful to the PHS activity. In subsequent 17 years the PHS has run on annual basis more than 30 permanent tasks as well as more than 10 many years projects essential for the national groundwater management. Until the end of 2017, the PHS activity had been funded by the National Fund for the Environment Protection and Water Management. Currently after the water management reform by the Water Act of 20 July 2017, the PHS is supervised by the competent minister for the water management (The Minister of Marine Economy and Inland Sailing), while funding is now by the National Water Authority Polish Waters.