In January of 2018, the new Water Resources Law will come into effect. The new act is very extensive and will affect real property. What is important for developers, property owners and property managers, the amendment of the Water Resources Law will bring new financial burdens in relation to properties of over 3,500 m² situated in areas not connected to open or closed sewer systems, i.e. unsewered and undrained areas – in the form of an annual fee for the reduction of the natural soil water retention due to works conducted on the premises of the property or building structures attached to land that contribute to the reduction of such retention as a result of excluding over 70% of the property surface area from the biologically active area, in locations not connected to sewage systems.
The fees will be charged for each square metre of the property, depending on whether the property is or not equipped with a water retention system and depending on the amount of water outflow from the sealed area of the sealed zones, with the fees ranging from PLN 1 to 0.1 for one square meter per year.
Even with a 50% reduction of such charges in relation to the Act – as proposed in the draft Ordinance of the Council of Ministers published on 6 November 2017 – the additional payments will nevertheless increase the cost of construction and use of real property, which might in particular affect logistics centres.