2949775684

GEOGRAPHIA POLONICA 68,1997

ANTHROPOGENIC CHANGES IN WATER CONDITIONS

IN THE LUBLIN AREA

Zdzisław Michalczyk

Department of Hydrography, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University

Akademicka 19, 20-033 Lublin, Poland

Marek Jarosław Łoś

Bureau of Water Management Projects and Environment Protection

Kapucyńska 1A, 20-009 Lublin, Poland

ABSTRACT: The development of the city of Lublin has been closely associated with the exploitation of water resources in the Bystrzyca river basin. The extension of this city distinctly affects the water conditions of the middle part of this basin. Lublin is supplied with water almost solely from underground resources, a situation which has been dictated by excellent-quality and easily-available underground waters and smali resources of surface water. A high level of exploitation of the underground waters has led to considerable changes in water circulation. Its character and grade have been changing over the centuries with the development of the city and an increase in water needs.

KEY WORDS: water circulation, water resources, changes in water conditions, Bystrzyca river basin, Eastern Poland.

INTRODUCTION

Lublin, 147.5 km² in size, is a large economic, cultural and administrative centre. The number of inhabitants in 1993 was 350,000 (making it the biggest city in eastern Poland). It is situated on the Bystrzyca river, a left tributary of the Wieprz river flowing into the Vistula (Fig. 1). This city has for centuries been strongly connected with the Bystrzyca river and the estuarial regions of its tributaries — the Czechowka and the Czerniejowka, and its further development has distinctly affected the water conditions in the middle part of the Bystrzyca river basin.

Before intensive changes in water circulation the average flow of the three rivers in the Lublin area used to be: 3.1 m³/s for the Bystrzyca, 0.7 m³/s for the Czerniejowka and 0.2 m³/s for the Czechowka. South of Lublin, the