400
T. Ciupa and R. Suligowski
17.1 Introduction
Most cities in Poland, like all over the world, are located by rivers [1]. This is because
they have always been a city-forming function. The proximity of a river has brought
many socio-economic, political, military and other benefits, depending on its size
and the topographic location of a city [2]. The importance of rivers in the formation
of cultures, civilizations and history—including many Polish cities, is discussed
interestingly in a multi-volume monographic work edited by J. Kułtuniak [3]. The
issues of water circulation in Polish cities in historical terms have also been taken up
by Czaja [4, 5], Drwal et al. [6], Pociask-Karteczka [7], Kaniecki [8], Magnuszewski
and Gutry-Korycka [9], Cie´ sli´ nski and Bastian [10].
The problem of the impact of urbanization on water conditions, due to the rapid
development of urban areas, was noticed in Poland in the 1970s [11–16]. However,
the intensive development of hydrological research took place in the next decade. It
mainly covered strongly urbanized areas of existing and newly developing industrial
regions: Upper Silesian, Konin and Bełchatów, as well as the agglomerations of
Łód´ z, Warsaw and Cracow. Initially, the scientific work concerned observed changes
in the surface hydrographic network and groundwater levels [17–24]. Furthermore,
it has been numerously pointed out that runoff is influenced by the land use and
management in industrialized and urbanized areas [4, 25–43], as well as in suburban
catchments [44–48]. Changes in water environment in urban areas are often very
diverse and have both quantitative and qualitative character [37, 49–56].
The increase in interest in the hydrology of urban areas in Poland also results from
practical aspects [57–62]. Knowledge of the impact of transformations in urbanized
catchments on runoff processes, sediment supply and fluvial transport is indispensable when preparing hydrotechnical projects and forecasting their impact on the
environment. This knowledge is also used in expertises and analyzes related to maintaining the capacity of riverbeds [63], limiting surface runoff [64–66], protecting the
land from excessive erosion [35], the silting up of water reservoirs and the maintenance of drainage systems [67, 68], flood protection and population risk [69, 70], the
use of river waters in industrial processes [71], etc.
Studies show that the greatest hydrological consequences of anthropogenic transformations are observed in small catchments with an area up to several hundred
square kilometers. It has been proven that in urbanized areas disturbances of various
water balance elements occur, which directly shape the size of surface runoff, its
relation to underground runoff and they significantly affect the height and course of
flood waves as well as mechanisms and intensity of fluvial processes [72, 73].
The resources of surface and underground water are the fundamental basis for
the functioning and economic development of cities and the quality of living of their
inhabitants. There are 930 cities in Poland (as of January 1, 2018) [74], including 1
exceeding a million inhabitants (Warsaw—1.758 million), 15 with 200–1000 people,
206 inhabited by 20–200 thousand people. The most numerous group (708) are,
however, cities in which the number of inhabitants does not exceed 20,000. In Poland,
as many as 60.1% of the population (23.1 million people) live in cities on an area
T. Ciupa and R. Suligowski
17.1 Introduction
Most cities in Poland, like all over the world, are located by rivers [1]. This is because
they have always been a city-forming function. The proximity of a river has brought
many socio-economic, political, military and other benefits, depending on its size
and the topographic location of a city [2]. The importance of rivers in the formation
of cultures, civilizations and history—including many Polish cities, is discussed
interestingly in a multi-volume monographic work edited by J. Kułtuniak [3]. The
issues of water circulation in Polish cities in historical terms have also been taken up
by Czaja [4, 5], Drwal et al. [6], Pociask-Karteczka [7], Kaniecki [8], Magnuszewski
and Gutry-Korycka [9], Cie´ sli´ nski and Bastian [10].
The problem of the impact of urbanization on water conditions, due to the rapid
development of urban areas, was noticed in Poland in the 1970s [11–16]. However,
the intensive development of hydrological research took place in the next decade. It
mainly covered strongly urbanized areas of existing and newly developing industrial
regions: Upper Silesian, Konin and Bełchatów, as well as the agglomerations of
Łód´ z, Warsaw and Cracow. Initially, the scientific work concerned observed changes
in the surface hydrographic network and groundwater levels [17–24]. Furthermore,
it has been numerously pointed out that runoff is influenced by the land use and
management in industrialized and urbanized areas [4, 25–43], as well as in suburban
catchments [44–48]. Changes in water environment in urban areas are often very
diverse and have both quantitative and qualitative character [37, 49–56].
The increase in interest in the hydrology of urban areas in Poland also results from
practical aspects [57–62]. Knowledge of the impact of transformations in urbanized
catchments on runoff processes, sediment supply and fluvial transport is indispensable when preparing hydrotechnical projects and forecasting their impact on the
environment. This knowledge is also used in expertises and analyzes related to maintaining the capacity of riverbeds [63], limiting surface runoff [64–66], protecting the
land from excessive erosion [35], the silting up of water reservoirs and the maintenance of drainage systems [67, 68], flood protection and population risk [69, 70], the
use of river waters in industrial processes [71], etc.
Studies show that the greatest hydrological consequences of anthropogenic transformations are observed in small catchments with an area up to several hundred
square kilometers. It has been proven that in urbanized areas disturbances of various
water balance elements occur, which directly shape the size of surface runoff, its
relation to underground runoff and they significantly affect the height and course of
flood waves as well as mechanisms and intensity of fluvial processes [72, 73].
The resources of surface and underground water are the fundamental basis for
the functioning and economic development of cities and the quality of living of their
inhabitants. There are 930 cities in Poland (as of January 1, 2018) [74], including 1
exceeding a million inhabitants (Warsaw—1.758 million), 15 with 200–1000 people,
206 inhabited by 20–200 thousand people. The most numerous group (708) are,
however, cities in which the number of inhabitants does not exceed 20,000. In Poland,
as many as 60.1% of the population (23.1 million people) live in cities on an area