Chapter 13
Flood Marks in Poland and Their
Significance in Water Management
and Flood Safety Education
Marcin Gor˛ aczko
Abstract The tradition of permanent marking of maximum water levels reached
during catastrophic floods in Poland dates back at least to the 2nd half of the sixteenth
century. Currently known are more than 300 high water marks, in most cases in a form
embedded onto various kinds of structures. The existence of these objects makes it
possible to attempt forming a comprehensive body of knowledge about high water
marks, including details such as their geographical and hydrological positioning,
place of attachment, method of assembly, data they display, accessibility, etc. Flood
marks have a particularly significant value for the study of historical hydrology, as
they allow the recreation of the height and range of floods that occurred prior to
the introduction of the systematic measurements of the water levels conducted using
special instrumentation. Wherever existing in publicly accessible spaces, flood marks
have the potential to serve an educative role, informing the population inhabiting and
working in river valleys about the potential flood threat in the given area. Finally,
old flood marks represent an element of the cultural heritage, serving as a remembrance of the natural cataclysms which occurred in places which for centuries have
been inhabited by mankind. They allow the improved understanding of the way the
settlement network developed on the areas threatened by floods. The work presents
the current state of research on the high watermarks existing in Poland and its line of
advancement. Utilizing specific examples, the work presents arguments in support of
the preservation of the old high watermarks and their active protection from devastation. It also points to the necessity for the development of a unified methodology
for their cataloging, providing certain recommendations for any new objects of that
kind.
Keywords Flood marks · High watermarks · Poland · Flood risk · Historical flood
events
M. Gor˛ aczko (B)
Faculty of Civil and Environmental, Engineering and Architecture, University of Science and
Technology, Kaliskiego 7, 85-796 Bydgoszcz, Poland
e-mail: gorgon@utp.edu.pl
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
M. Zeleˇ náková et al. (eds.), Management of Water Resources in Poland, Springer Water,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61965-7_13
253
Flood Marks in Poland and Their
Significance in Water Management
and Flood Safety Education
Marcin Gor˛ aczko
Abstract The tradition of permanent marking of maximum water levels reached
during catastrophic floods in Poland dates back at least to the 2nd half of the sixteenth
century. Currently known are more than 300 high water marks, in most cases in a form
embedded onto various kinds of structures. The existence of these objects makes it
possible to attempt forming a comprehensive body of knowledge about high water
marks, including details such as their geographical and hydrological positioning,
place of attachment, method of assembly, data they display, accessibility, etc. Flood
marks have a particularly significant value for the study of historical hydrology, as
they allow the recreation of the height and range of floods that occurred prior to
the introduction of the systematic measurements of the water levels conducted using
special instrumentation. Wherever existing in publicly accessible spaces, flood marks
have the potential to serve an educative role, informing the population inhabiting and
working in river valleys about the potential flood threat in the given area. Finally,
old flood marks represent an element of the cultural heritage, serving as a remembrance of the natural cataclysms which occurred in places which for centuries have
been inhabited by mankind. They allow the improved understanding of the way the
settlement network developed on the areas threatened by floods. The work presents
the current state of research on the high watermarks existing in Poland and its line of
advancement. Utilizing specific examples, the work presents arguments in support of
the preservation of the old high watermarks and their active protection from devastation. It also points to the necessity for the development of a unified methodology
for their cataloging, providing certain recommendations for any new objects of that
kind.
Keywords Flood marks · High watermarks · Poland · Flood risk · Historical flood
events
M. Gor˛ aczko (B)
Faculty of Civil and Environmental, Engineering and Architecture, University of Science and
Technology, Kaliskiego 7, 85-796 Bydgoszcz, Poland
e-mail: gorgon@utp.edu.pl
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
M. Zeleˇ náková et al. (eds.), Management of Water Resources in Poland, Springer Water,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61965-7_13
253