Chapter 4
Anthropogenic Water Reservoirs
in Poland
Mariusz Rz˛ etała
Abstract Anthropogenic water bodies play an increasingly important role in the
development of water resources. In 2018, there were 50 water bodies in Poland with
capacities greater than 10 hm
3 (mln m
3 ) each. Their total retention capacity is slightly
more than 3.7 km
3 , and their total area is 530 km
2 . Among artificial bodies of water,
the following types are most often distinguished: reservoirs impounded by dams,
flooded mineral workings, levee ponds, water bodies formed in subsidence basins
and hollows, artificial pools and industrial ponds (for some bodies of water, multiple
origins can be indicated). Water bodies in Poland function in quasi-natural areas as
well as under conditions of varied agricultural or urban-industrial human pressure.
Their environment determines the course of limnic processes which are characteristic
of lentic waters, e.g. water circulation, water level fluctuations, thermal processes,
oxygen conditions, ice phenomena, changes in water fertility, salinity levels and
others. Artificial water bodies in Poland mostly serve numerous functions despite
the many environmental protection problems related to the lentic water environment,
e.g. eutrophication, salinisation. Together with their immediate surroundings, they
fulfil important natural and landscape roles. Storage reservoirs are used primarily for
economic purposes such as water supply, flood protection, recreation and tourism,
the breeding of fish and other aquatic organisms, energy production, inland transport,
the extraction of mineral resources, etc.
Keywords Water body · Reservoir · Water balance · Limnic processes · Thermal
conditions · Ice phenomena · Oxygen conditions · Eutrophication · Salinisation ·
Flood control · Water supply · Leisure · Recreation · Poland
4.1 Introduction
Among the hydronyms which are often used when classifying the origins of lentic
waters, there are also “ponds” (without their origins being clearly distinguished; this
M. Rz˛ etała (B)
Institute of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Silesia in Katowice,
B˛ edzinska 60, 41-200 Sosnowiec, Poland
e-mail: mariusz.rzetala@us.edu.pl
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
M. Zeleˇ náková et al. (eds.), Quality of Water Resources in Poland, Springer Water,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64892-3_4
59
Anthropogenic Water Reservoirs
in Poland
Mariusz Rz˛ etała
Abstract Anthropogenic water bodies play an increasingly important role in the
development of water resources. In 2018, there were 50 water bodies in Poland with
capacities greater than 10 hm
3 (mln m
3 ) each. Their total retention capacity is slightly
more than 3.7 km
3 , and their total area is 530 km
2 . Among artificial bodies of water,
the following types are most often distinguished: reservoirs impounded by dams,
flooded mineral workings, levee ponds, water bodies formed in subsidence basins
and hollows, artificial pools and industrial ponds (for some bodies of water, multiple
origins can be indicated). Water bodies in Poland function in quasi-natural areas as
well as under conditions of varied agricultural or urban-industrial human pressure.
Their environment determines the course of limnic processes which are characteristic
of lentic waters, e.g. water circulation, water level fluctuations, thermal processes,
oxygen conditions, ice phenomena, changes in water fertility, salinity levels and
others. Artificial water bodies in Poland mostly serve numerous functions despite
the many environmental protection problems related to the lentic water environment,
e.g. eutrophication, salinisation. Together with their immediate surroundings, they
fulfil important natural and landscape roles. Storage reservoirs are used primarily for
economic purposes such as water supply, flood protection, recreation and tourism,
the breeding of fish and other aquatic organisms, energy production, inland transport,
the extraction of mineral resources, etc.
Keywords Water body · Reservoir · Water balance · Limnic processes · Thermal
conditions · Ice phenomena · Oxygen conditions · Eutrophication · Salinisation ·
Flood control · Water supply · Leisure · Recreation · Poland
4.1 Introduction
Among the hydronyms which are often used when classifying the origins of lentic
waters, there are also “ponds” (without their origins being clearly distinguished; this
M. Rz˛ etała (B)
Institute of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Silesia in Katowice,
B˛ edzinska 60, 41-200 Sosnowiec, Poland
e-mail: mariusz.rzetala@us.edu.pl
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
M. Zeleˇ náková et al. (eds.), Quality of Water Resources in Poland, Springer Water,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64892-3_4
59