Chapter 5
Water Resources of Stagnant Waters
Adam Choi ´
nski and Rajmund Skowron
Abstract Total water resources of lakes in Poland for 7081 lakes (above 1 ha)
equal 19.7349 km
3 (Masurian Lake District – 51.27%, Pomeranian Lake District
– 36.12%), Wielkopolska-Kujawy Lake District – 11.93%, and area south of the
delineated range of the last glaciation – 0.68%). Retention for the area north of the
line delimiting the maximum range of the last glaciation is 162 mm. It constitutes
only 10% of mean annual precipitation, and the value is approximately 3.5 times
smaller than the amount of mean outflow from the territory of Poland.
Keywords Water resources of lakes and dam reservoirs · Changes in the surface
area of lakes · Poland
5.1 Introduction
From the geological point of view, the age of lakes is exceptionally short. This
particularly refers to postglacial lakes, predominating in Poland. Two usually cooccurring factors are considered to be responsible for the process of the decline of
lakes, and therefore also their water resources. The first one is water level fluctuations,
contributing to changes in the surface area. A decrease in the water level results in the
intensification of the sedimentation process. Accumulation of sediments, i.e. sedimentation within the lake basin, determines the degree of shallowing, and therefore
leads to a decrease in water resources.
Causes for water level fluctuations include: short- or long-term climate changes,
determining changes in water supply to the lake from aquifers; deforestation of the
lake’s catchment, effect of local factors, for example determining changes in the
A. Choi´ nski (B)
Institute of Physical Geography and Environmental Planning, Adam Mickiewicz University,
Krygowskiego 10, 61-680 Pozna´ n, Poland
e-mail: choinski@amu.edu.pl
R. Skowron
Faculty of Earth Sciences and Spatial Management, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Lwowska 1,
87-100 Toru´ n, Poland
e-mail: rskowron@umk.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_5
63
Water Resources of Stagnant Waters
Adam Choi ´
nski and Rajmund Skowron
Abstract Total water resources of lakes in Poland for 7081 lakes (above 1 ha)
equal 19.7349 km
3 (Masurian Lake District – 51.27%, Pomeranian Lake District
– 36.12%), Wielkopolska-Kujawy Lake District – 11.93%, and area south of the
delineated range of the last glaciation – 0.68%). Retention for the area north of the
line delimiting the maximum range of the last glaciation is 162 mm. It constitutes
only 10% of mean annual precipitation, and the value is approximately 3.5 times
smaller than the amount of mean outflow from the territory of Poland.
Keywords Water resources of lakes and dam reservoirs · Changes in the surface
area of lakes · Poland
5.1 Introduction
From the geological point of view, the age of lakes is exceptionally short. This
particularly refers to postglacial lakes, predominating in Poland. Two usually cooccurring factors are considered to be responsible for the process of the decline of
lakes, and therefore also their water resources. The first one is water level fluctuations,
contributing to changes in the surface area. A decrease in the water level results in the
intensification of the sedimentation process. Accumulation of sediments, i.e. sedimentation within the lake basin, determines the degree of shallowing, and therefore
leads to a decrease in water resources.
Causes for water level fluctuations include: short- or long-term climate changes,
determining changes in water supply to the lake from aquifers; deforestation of the
lake’s catchment, effect of local factors, for example determining changes in the
A. Choi´ nski (B)
Institute of Physical Geography and Environmental Planning, Adam Mickiewicz University,
Krygowskiego 10, 61-680 Pozna´ n, Poland
e-mail: choinski@amu.edu.pl
R. Skowron
Faculty of Earth Sciences and Spatial Management, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Lwowska 1,
87-100 Toru´ n, Poland
e-mail: rskowron@umk.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_5
63