36
K. Kubiak-Wójcicka
Fig. 3.4 Map of areas of operation of Regional Water Management Authorities, Catchments
Management Boards and Water Supervising (as of July 6, 2018) [43]. Explanations: 1 – Water Supervisings headquarters, 2 – Catchments Management Board headquarters, 3 – Regional Management
Authorities headquarters, 4 – boundaries of Catchments Management Boards, 5 – boundaries of
Regional Water Management Authorities
Regional Water Management Authorities were established based on the previously
existing 7 RZGW (Gda´ nsk, Szczecin, Pozna´ n, Warsaw, Kraków, Gliwice, Wrocław).
As a result of the reduction of the area of operation of the existing RZGW units,
additional 4 new units have been created, i.e., Bydgoszcz, Lublin, Rzeszów, and
Białystok.
The new institution responsible for water management in Poland has taken over
from local governments the tasks of issuing water law consents for special use of
water and establishing fees for water usage. These tasks are currently carried out by
the management of the catchment. Collective water supply and collective sewage
disposal is still the communes’ own task. The changes concerned issues related to
the setting of water tariffs charged by municipal or commune’s water and sewage
companies. The rates of water fees are subject to approval by the Director of Regional
Water Management Authority and not, as before, by the municipal council.