22
K. Kubiak-Wójcicka
2.2.3 Lakes and Man-Made Reservoirs
The lakes in Poland are not the largest in the Baltic Sea basin. The largest lake in
Poland— ´
Sniardwy—is 157 times smaller than Europe’s largest lake—Lake Ladoga
in Russia.
The largest accumulation of lakes in Poland is in the north, which is connected with
the extent of the last glaciation. According to [13], compared to Europe as a whole,
northern Poland is classified as an average area for lakes, both in terms of percentage
coverage of lakes and density of occurrence. Polish lakes have two characteristic
features. Firstly, there is an extremely high proportion of post-glacial lakes and,
secondly, they are relatively small in area. Despite their small areas, Poland’s postglacial lakes are classified as bodies of considerable depth. The deepest lake in
Poland—Ha´ ncza—has a maximum depth of 108.5 m. Poland has 7,081 lakes with
an area of over 1 ha [14]. The largest accumulations of lakes are in the Masurian
Lake District, the Pomeranian Lake District and the Kuyavian–Greater Poland Lake
District. Table 2.2 lists Poland’s 11 largest lakes, each of an area above 20 km
2 .
Man-made reservoirs supplement the network of lakes in Poland. Table 2.3 lists
the 24 largest man-made reservoirs, each with a total capacity of more than 30 hm
3 .
These are mainly dam reservoirs that were created by a river or river valley being
intersected by a dam. The largest retention capacity is the Solina reservoir (472.4
hm
3 ) in south-eastern Poland, although in terms of the area it is only 8th. The largest
reservoir is Włocławek with an area of 75.0 km
2 and a capacity of 453.6 km
3 . A
second group consists of reservoirs created by barraging natural lakes. The largest of
the reservoirs listed in Table 2.3 is the Pako´ s´ c reservoir, which is located in central
Poland [16]. A separate group of man-made water reservoirs is that of post-mining
reservoirs. The largest was created in the Upper Silesian region, e.g., Dzier˙ zno Du˙ ze,
Dzie´ ckowice, and Ku´ znica War˛ e˙ zy´ nska. According to [17], Upper Silesia has more
than ten such reservoirs with a capacity of more than 1 hm
3 , but the total number
Table 2.2 The largest lakes
in Poland [15]
Lake
Drainage basin
Area (km 2 ) Max. depth (m)
´
Sniardwy Pisa
113.4
23.4
Mamry
W˛ egorapa
102.8
43.8
Łebsko
Łeba
71.4
6.3
D˛ abie
at the estuary of
the Oder
56.0
4.2
Miedwie
Płonia
35.3
43.8
Jeziorak
Drw˛ eca
32.2
12.0
Niegocin Pisa
26.0
39.7
Gardno
Łupawa
24.7
2.6
Jamno
Baltic Sea
22.4
3.9
Gopło
Note´ c
21.5
16.6
Wigry
Czarna Ha´ ncza
21.2
73.0
K. Kubiak-Wójcicka
2.2.3 Lakes and Man-Made Reservoirs
The lakes in Poland are not the largest in the Baltic Sea basin. The largest lake in
Poland— ´
Sniardwy—is 157 times smaller than Europe’s largest lake—Lake Ladoga
in Russia.
The largest accumulation of lakes in Poland is in the north, which is connected with
the extent of the last glaciation. According to [13], compared to Europe as a whole,
northern Poland is classified as an average area for lakes, both in terms of percentage
coverage of lakes and density of occurrence. Polish lakes have two characteristic
features. Firstly, there is an extremely high proportion of post-glacial lakes and,
secondly, they are relatively small in area. Despite their small areas, Poland’s postglacial lakes are classified as bodies of considerable depth. The deepest lake in
Poland—Ha´ ncza—has a maximum depth of 108.5 m. Poland has 7,081 lakes with
an area of over 1 ha [14]. The largest accumulations of lakes are in the Masurian
Lake District, the Pomeranian Lake District and the Kuyavian–Greater Poland Lake
District. Table 2.2 lists Poland’s 11 largest lakes, each of an area above 20 km
2 .
Man-made reservoirs supplement the network of lakes in Poland. Table 2.3 lists
the 24 largest man-made reservoirs, each with a total capacity of more than 30 hm
3 .
These are mainly dam reservoirs that were created by a river or river valley being
intersected by a dam. The largest retention capacity is the Solina reservoir (472.4
hm
3 ) in south-eastern Poland, although in terms of the area it is only 8th. The largest
reservoir is Włocławek with an area of 75.0 km
2 and a capacity of 453.6 km
3 . A
second group consists of reservoirs created by barraging natural lakes. The largest of
the reservoirs listed in Table 2.3 is the Pako´ s´ c reservoir, which is located in central
Poland [16]. A separate group of man-made water reservoirs is that of post-mining
reservoirs. The largest was created in the Upper Silesian region, e.g., Dzier˙ zno Du˙ ze,
Dzie´ ckowice, and Ku´ znica War˛ e˙ zy´ nska. According to [17], Upper Silesia has more
than ten such reservoirs with a capacity of more than 1 hm
3 , but the total number
Table 2.2 The largest lakes
in Poland [15]
Lake
Drainage basin
Area (km 2 ) Max. depth (m)
´
Sniardwy Pisa
113.4
23.4
Mamry
W˛ egorapa
102.8
43.8
Łebsko
Łeba
71.4
6.3
D˛ abie
at the estuary of
the Oder
56.0
4.2
Miedwie
Płonia
35.3
43.8
Jeziorak
Drw˛ eca
32.2
12.0
Niegocin Pisa
26.0
39.7
Gardno
Łupawa
24.7
2.6
Jamno
Baltic Sea
22.4
3.9
Gopło
Note´ c
21.5
16.6
Wigry
Czarna Ha´ ncza
21.2
73.0