The year 2010 was catastrophic for Poland due to numerous hydro-logical incidents, including floods. Major floods occurred three times within that year: in May, June and September. Those events confirmed that the flood control services and available measures were insufficient at all management levels of state and local government. The main deficiencies identified included an insufficient level of monitoring, insufficient skills in impounding structure control and a poor technical condition of flood control embankments. The control procedures applied in more than 80% of impounding structures during the flood of May 2010 failed to meet the conditions defined in the basic document binding on a reservoir manager - the Instructions for Water Management in a Reservoir, defining among others the rules for water discharge from reservoirs under flood conditions.