Groundwater renewable resources in karst areas, the case of the Kleśnica River basin (Sudety Mountains, Poland)

The karst-fractured medium constitutes a considerable groundwater capacity, as shown on the example of the Kleśnica River basin. The paleozoic crystalline limestones in the research area are good collectors of the groundwater. The Kleśnica River basin, one of the largest crystalline limestone lens, is situated in the Sudety Mountains. Groundwater renewable resources were distinguished with the use of hydrological methods, on the basis of hydrometric measurements of the flow discharge of the Kleśnica River during the low-flow period (2009–2010). The mean module of the groundwater runoff equals 20.79 dm3/s*km2, and includes the study of the river catchments areas with extremely high groundwater runoff. The groundwater renewable resources in the Kleśnica River basin are almost twice higher than in the neighbouring river basins (the Kamienica and Morawka River basins), in which there are no significant outcrops of carbonate rocks. These considerable renewable resources also provide a high runoff in the spring, 7.98 dm3/s*km2. The high values of the runoffs indicate, that the groundwater is coming from the regional circulation system and, on a smaller scale, from the local system. The groundwater from both systems flows into the fractured system through the karst of carbonate massif rocks and their weathering fringes.