We are building the city’s resilience to rain. Guidelines from GWO MPWiK S.A. in Wrocław—the goal: more retention in urban spaces

For several years now, MPWiK S.A. in Wrocław has been consistently implementing measures aimed at establishing an effective and coherent system of sustainable stormwater management. The goal of these measures is to increase Wrocław’s resilience to ongoing climate change and to ensure favorable conditions for the city’s social and economic development.
One of the next steps in this process is the update to the Guidelines for Stormwater Management in the City of Wrocław, announced this past July.
The updated Guidelines address climate challenges and clearly emphasize the increasingly common approach to stormwater from development sites as a valuable resource. This water should be retained where it falls and utilized there.
A common challenge for investors, designers, and contractors today is the shift in approach—from traditional drainage to conscious stormwater management.
The Wrocław GWO Guidelines introduce consistent principles for planning, designing, and evaluating stormwater management solutions, taking into account the perspective of the entire watershed. The guidelines promote solutions that include infiltration, detention, retention, and the integration of stormwater drainage systems with green-and-blue infrastructure.
The presentation will focus on the main principles underlying the GWO Guidelines of MPWiK S.A. in Wrocław, with particular emphasis on issues such as stormwater balancing, the rules for sizing and calculating GWO components, and the coordination process.

A graduate of the Zielona Góra University of Technology and the Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, where he majored in environmental engineering. For many years, he has been professionally involved in water management and stormwater management issues in Wrocław.
From 2018 to 2023, he served as Deputy Director of the Regional Water Management Authority (PGW Wody Polskie) in Wrocław, responsible for Water Services and Water Environment Management. He has been with MPWiK S.A. in Wrocław since 2007. Currently, as a leader in the Engineering Department, he heads the Stormwater Management Team.
At the Company, he is responsible for implementing the city’s Stormwater Management Strategy and for collaborating at the operational level with city agencies on the development and implementation of an effective, sustainable stormwater management system.