7 Studies on, the Use and Protection of Springs in Poland
127
farms and villages. However, in some cases, Polish springs became a source of local
conflicts. In a small village of Rzepin ( ´
Swi˛ etokrzyskie Voivodeship), until 1962,
water was drawn from a spring located 4 km away and carried by women, in buckets
suspended from yokes. Suddenly, a new spring appeared in the center of the village
at one of the private lots. However, this miracle of a kind would soon become a
source of discord among the neighbors, deeply dividing the local community and
resulting in a long-term local social conflict. The story became the basis of a widely
recognized Polish documentary film ´
Zródło (Spring) of 1962 (http://ninateka.pl/film/
zrodlo-tadeusz-jaworski). Today, rural farms are turned into rural tourist boarding
houses or small hotels, animal breeding for one’s own needs is transformed into
industrial production, and high-capacity water intakes for snow guns, indispensable
on ski slopes, appear on mountain meadows and within the springs present there. In
consequence, water consumptions raise drastically, and degradation follows which
affects not only the groundwater outflow points but also their alimentation zones. In
Poland in the past, springs were used to feed fish ponds, and they are still used for
the purpose. Only the number and the scale of this type of intakes have increased.
This concerns, in particular, large-scale trout ponds.
Spring waters parameters are usually characterized by good quality. Furthermore,
their temperature is low in the summer. This highly facilitates the dissolving of
oxygen, the high levels of which are necessary to maintain optimal conditions for
trout breeding. The construction of fish ponds and, in some cases, also of reservoirs
(for leisure, fire prevention, or other purposes) frequently causes an irreversible
degradation of spring niches and valley spring lines, as such facilities are usually
located on flood plains. Frequently, entire lines of ponds are created by damming
upper sections of streams draining water from the springs. In consequence, the
spring niches are flooded and the outflow points degraded [82]. One of the largest
springs in the Polish lowlands – the spring in Rosanów, of an average discharge of
40 dm
3
× s
−1 and with very clean water, drains water-rich sands of GrotnickiLu´ cmierski sander (Fig. 7.11). The groundwater resources drained by that outflow,
estimated for the discharge discharge mentioned above, amount to 2.27 × 10
6 m
3 ,
and they are renewed in less than one year [108]. A water intake installed at this
outflow would cover a water demand of over 20 thousand people. Many attempts
have been made to use this spring for the production of table sparkling water. Fortunately, these plans were unsuccessful, mainly due to protests of naturalists from Łód´ z
and of local foresters.
Tourist attractions and leisure sites. Springs are a popular attraction for tourists
and “holiday-makers,” mainly because their water is of good quality and they offer
a mixture of values and qualities of inanimate and animate natural environment.
Contact with natural water has a beneficial influence; it improves one’s mood,
soothes emotions, calms, and stimulates imagination. The aspects of local, historical,
personal, or even emotional significance are also important. It is evident in locally
used expressions and names of some outflow points: spring of love, spring of hope,
spring of cleansing, comforting water, smelly spring. Before the World War II, a
spring draining several small valleys formed in Jurassic rocks was flowing in the
127
farms and villages. However, in some cases, Polish springs became a source of local
conflicts. In a small village of Rzepin ( ´
Swi˛ etokrzyskie Voivodeship), until 1962,
water was drawn from a spring located 4 km away and carried by women, in buckets
suspended from yokes. Suddenly, a new spring appeared in the center of the village
at one of the private lots. However, this miracle of a kind would soon become a
source of discord among the neighbors, deeply dividing the local community and
resulting in a long-term local social conflict. The story became the basis of a widely
recognized Polish documentary film ´
Zródło (Spring) of 1962 (http://ninateka.pl/film/
zrodlo-tadeusz-jaworski). Today, rural farms are turned into rural tourist boarding
houses or small hotels, animal breeding for one’s own needs is transformed into
industrial production, and high-capacity water intakes for snow guns, indispensable
on ski slopes, appear on mountain meadows and within the springs present there. In
consequence, water consumptions raise drastically, and degradation follows which
affects not only the groundwater outflow points but also their alimentation zones. In
Poland in the past, springs were used to feed fish ponds, and they are still used for
the purpose. Only the number and the scale of this type of intakes have increased.
This concerns, in particular, large-scale trout ponds.
Spring waters parameters are usually characterized by good quality. Furthermore,
their temperature is low in the summer. This highly facilitates the dissolving of
oxygen, the high levels of which are necessary to maintain optimal conditions for
trout breeding. The construction of fish ponds and, in some cases, also of reservoirs
(for leisure, fire prevention, or other purposes) frequently causes an irreversible
degradation of spring niches and valley spring lines, as such facilities are usually
located on flood plains. Frequently, entire lines of ponds are created by damming
upper sections of streams draining water from the springs. In consequence, the
spring niches are flooded and the outflow points degraded [82]. One of the largest
springs in the Polish lowlands – the spring in Rosanów, of an average discharge of
40 dm
3
× s
−1 and with very clean water, drains water-rich sands of GrotnickiLu´ cmierski sander (Fig. 7.11). The groundwater resources drained by that outflow,
estimated for the discharge discharge mentioned above, amount to 2.27 × 10
6 m
3 ,
and they are renewed in less than one year [108]. A water intake installed at this
outflow would cover a water demand of over 20 thousand people. Many attempts
have been made to use this spring for the production of table sparkling water. Fortunately, these plans were unsuccessful, mainly due to protests of naturalists from Łód´ z
and of local foresters.
Tourist attractions and leisure sites. Springs are a popular attraction for tourists
and “holiday-makers,” mainly because their water is of good quality and they offer
a mixture of values and qualities of inanimate and animate natural environment.
Contact with natural water has a beneficial influence; it improves one’s mood,
soothes emotions, calms, and stimulates imagination. The aspects of local, historical,
personal, or even emotional significance are also important. It is evident in locally
used expressions and names of some outflow points: spring of love, spring of hope,
spring of cleansing, comforting water, smelly spring. Before the World War II, a
spring draining several small valleys formed in Jurassic rocks was flowing in the