Abstract
The central part of southern Poland is a land of anthropogenic lakes. Within an area of 6,766 km2 as many as 4,773 water bodies are present with a total area of 185.5 km2. Around a dozen of the largest water bodies serve flood protection purposes and are sources of water for municipal, industrial, agricultural, transport, energy purposes, etc. Such usage of these water bodies is the main reason for fluctuations in their water levels, although obviously these also depend directly on their supply (rainfall, groundwater drainage, water transfers), and indirectly on the size of their catchment areas and the degree to which their basins are full. The most spectacular changes in water levels occur during high and (less frequent) low water stages. Periodical rises in water levels related to high water episodes caused by thawing or rainfall reach as much as several metres compared to the period preceding the high water episode. Drought periods result in the lowering of storage levels towards minimum ones as does similarly the intentional discharge of water from reservoirs. In water bodies in southern Poland, annual changes in water levels range from several centimetres to almost ten metres. The variability of levels is often similar to the average depth of the water body in question, in some cases approaching its maximum depth. It determines the changes in the water retention, unprecedented for natural lakes.