The Water Framework Directive sets new standards in the field of water management in the area of the European Union. The strategic goal of the implementation of WFD is not only to ensure that the citizens of the Member States have access to water resources of specific quality but also to involve the public in the measures to improve the status of waters. The basis for the shaping of the environmental awareness and environmentally friendly attitudes of the public is the provision of the EU citizens with detailed and reliable information on the environment.

In seeking to meet the needs of the public with regard to access to information, the National Water Management Authority decided to make available A Raster Hydrographical Map of Poland, developed by the Section of Hydrography and Morphology of Riverbeds of the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management in Warsaw. The map shows a complete hydrography of Poland, divided into 1,083 sheets at a scale of 1:50 000, in the PUWG-92 coordinate system. The map is made in the form of raster images, in a graphic JPG format, complete with a legend and hydronims. In addition, a JPG file is enclosed with each sheet, enabling the sheet to be localised in space using the relevant GIS software.

The map was prepared on the basis of the current (October 2007) Computer-based Hydrographical Map of Poland, developed by the Section of Hydrography and Morphology of Riverbeds of the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management, which was commissioned by the Minister of the Environment and financed with the resources of the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management.

The conditions for the use of the Raster Hydrographical Map of Poland are given below. The user must read them before the map is enabled.

The National Water Management Authority has taken all the efforts to ensure that the map operates correctly. However, should any problems in the functioning of the map occur, e.g. ZIP files are erroneously assigned to sheets, please us at the address:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.