In 2015, Gdańsk experienced its third consecutive year with low precipitation. Heavy rainfall occurred on average only once or twice a year. Memories of the Gdańsk flood of 9 July 2001 were gradually fading among residents. The 15th anniversary of this critical rainfall event in 2016 was meant to refresh awareness of the unpredictability of extreme precipitation.
By 2025, much has happened in the field of stormwater management over the past ten years. At the national level, with the entry into force of the new Water Law on 1 January 2018, stormwater ceased to be classified as wastewater. In Gdańsk, intense and torrential rainfall events began to occur more frequently. The rainfall that took place on 14 July 2016 clearly exceeded the scale of the 2001 event.
In recent years, rainfall events in Gdańsk requiring crisis-response measures have occurred as many as eight times a year. The City of Gdańsk has changed its stormwater management policy by systematically using green infrastructure for water retention, implemented a climate change adaptation plan, and expanded its meteorological and hydrological monitoring systems. The approach to crisis management during increasingly frequent rainfall events has also evolved. GIS tools and hydrodynamic modelling are now used on a much broader scale.
Gdańsk has become a centre for the implementation of green retention solutions. The historic decision to establish a company dedicated exclusively to stormwater management and urban drainage has significantly increased the city’s capacity to plan and implement actions in this field.