Water monitoring in Poland (PMŚ)
When it comes to official data on the state of waters, the source is the State Environmental Monitoring (PMŚ), run by GIOŚ. It is worth knowing that monitoring is not uniform - it is divided into types with different aims, which explains why not everything is studied everywhere and as often.
What monitoring is for
The aim is to provide consistent data for the assessment of water status (see Classes and status of water quality) and for the river basin management plans. Hence the different types of study, chosen according to need.
Types of surface-water monitoring
- Surveillance - gives a general picture of water status across a representative network of points; a broad range of indicators, a less frequent schedule.
- Operational - focuses on waters at risk of failing to meet objectives; it studies indicators relevant to a specific pressure (e.g. nutrients where the problem is eutrophication), more often.
- Investigative - launched to explain the causes of a problem or assess the effect of an event (e.g. an incident).
- (There is also the monitoring of protected areas - e.g. bathing waters or drinking-water intakes.)
The differences show best side by side - and they explain why two official points on the same river carry entirely different data:
| Type | What for | Range of parameters | Frequency | Where it runs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surveillance | a general picture of water status | broad | lower | a representative network of points |
| Operational | watching waters at risk of missing their objectives | narrow - matched to the specific pressure | higher | where a pressure has been identified |
| Investigative | to explain a cause or the effect of an incident | depends on the question | ad hoc, sometimes dense | as needed |
| Protected areas | requirements of separate rules (bathing waters, drinking-water abstraction) | per the rules | per the rules | waters under protection |
⚠️ A missing parameter does not mean it was not measured - it means it was not needed. An operational point covers only what concerns its pressure, so comparing two points, it is easy to mistake a gap in the programme for a gap in knowledge about the river.
What this means for you
- GIOŚ data from different points may have a different range and frequency - this is not an error but a consequence of the type of monitoring.
- When planning your own monitoring, it is worth consciously choosing its aim (a general picture vs a specific problem) - see Sampling plan.
Where to find the data
The results and assessments are made available by GIOŚ - see GIOŚ data and an overview of open environmental data.
In practice
It is best to relate your own measurements to the official assessments - then they gain context. In LimnoLog you can organise them in a project and compare their trend with the data from the state network.
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