Marta Cieślik
Geographical Studies, Issue 155, 2018, pp. 47 - 67
https://doi.org/10.4467/20833113PG.18.014.9537Runoff from a karstic catchment (southern part of the Krakow–Częstochowa Upland) was analyzed. The Prądnik-Ojców river gauge station, which closes the upper and the most interesting from the hydrological point of view part of the catchment (67.5 km2), was selected for detailed analyses. The 1961–2014 timespan was studied. Characteristic water discharges and runoff structure were analyzed. Based on the results, water resources were evaluated as large. The specific discharge reached 6.5 dm3∙s–1∙km–2, being slightly higher than the average for Poland (5.62 dm3∙s–1∙km–2), but comparable to other karstic catchments located in the Upland Belt of Poland. The discharge is stable both in the annual hydrological cycle as well as in the multiannual course. The 53-year long series did not reveal any statistically important tendencies in runoff and the multiannual changes of runoff were predominantly related to changes in precipitation. The structure of runoff is dominated by groundwater runoff, which reached 90% on average, and the unit groundwater runoff reached 5.8 dm3∙s–1∙km–2. This value is a little higher (up to 1.5 dm3∙s–1∙km–2) in comparison with the neighboring karstic catchments.