Serious warning - The impact of climate warming on forest water conditions in Eastern Poland in hydrological year 2025

In 2024, record high air temperatures were observed in Central and Eastern Europe. Combined with unfavorable precipitation conditions, this caused serious disturbances in forest water resources, which occurred mainly in 2025. These disturbances affected both groundwater and surface water. Groundwater levels reached their lowest points in all forest habitats (fresh, moist, and swampy), indicating a shift in moisture type by one class and reduced water availability for the tree stands. Surface waters in small catchments did not experience any peaks or inundation throughout 2025. In particular, the absence of spring floods severely limited the water supply to riparian habitats. Surface runoff also decreased to about 15% of normal levels. This led to the drying up of significant sections of watercourses, transforming them into intermittent watercourses, and to a substantial reduction in the supply of water to reservoirs on watercourses, resulting in a marked decrease in the amount of water retained and, in some cases, even their complete drying up. Extraordinary phenomena in 2024-2025 may become normal in Eastern Poland in the future.