Urban water supply infrastructure in Grudziądz (northern Poland): from the Middle Ages to the pre-modern times

This article presents the history of the water supply system in Grudziądz (Poland) over the centuries, from the Middle Ages to the end of the nineteenth century. The location of Grudziądz on the high escarpment of the Vistula River made it difficult to supply water to the town. The innovative technical facilities, such as a water-work and water supply tower had to be constructed because the gravitational waterworks could not be applied. The basis for the research was the analysis of historical sources. In this study, non-invasive methods were used (aerial prospection, LiDAR scanning and geophysical surveys with Ground Penetrating Radar), since the hydrotechnical objects are located in a functioning urban space and no excavations could be carried out. The research included: (i) the measurements, exploration and preparation of photo-documentation of the water tower, (ii) providing a digital model of the tower, (iii) finding the tunnel inside the tower, and (iv) attempting to locate the tunnel's course outside the tower.

Quantifying the impacts of climate variation, damming, and flow regulation on river thermal dynamics: a case study of the Włocławek Reservoir in the Vistula River, Poland

Background River damming inevitably reshapes water thermal conditions that are important to the general health of river ecosystems. Although a lot of studies have addressed the damming’s thermal impacts, most of them just assess the overall effects of climate variation and human activities on river thermal dynamics. Less attention has been given to quantifying the impact of climate variation, damming and flow regulation, respectively. In addition, for rivers that have already faced an erosion problem in downstream channels, an adjustment of the hydroelectric power plant operation manner is expected, which reinforces the need for understanding of flow regulation’s thermal impact. To fill this gap, an air2stream-based approach is proposed and applied at the Włocławek Reservoir in the Vistula River in Poland. Results In the years of 1952–1983, downstream river water temperature rose by 0.31 ℃ after damming. Meanwhile, the construction of dam increased the average annual water temperature by 0.55 ℃, while climate change oppositely made it decreased by 0.26 ℃. In addition, for the seasonal impact of damming, autumn was the most affected season with the warming reached 1.14 ℃, and the least affected season was winter when water temperature experienced a warming of 0.1 ℃. The absolute values of seasonal average temperature changes due to flow regulation were less than 0.1 ℃ for all the seasons. Conclusions The impacts of climate variation, damming, and flow regulation on river water temperatures can be evaluated reasonably on the strength of the proposed methodology. Climate variation and damming led to general opposite impacts on the downstream water temperature at the Włocławek Reservoir before 1980s. It is noted that the climate variation impact showed an opposite trend compared to that after 1980s. Besides, flow regulation below dam hardly affected downstream river water temperature variation. This study extends the current knowledge about impacts of climate variation and hydromorphological conditions on river water temperature, with a study area where river water temperature is higher than air temperature throughout a year.

Crossbow Part Finds from the Territory of Mazovia and Dobrzyń Land

The article discusses crossbow finds from the territory of historical Mazovia and Dobrzyń Land. These finds are mainly pieces of spanning devices and triggers. In the latter category we have a lever from the stronghold (motte) in Lekarcice Nowe as well as a few bone and antler nuts from strongholds in Czersk, Pułtusk, Warsaw, and Wizna. Included among the parts of spanning devices there is a mechanism from the castle in Liw. Furthermore, spanning stirrups have been recovered from strongholds on the Vistula river in Bobrowniki and Dobrzyń. The find from Liw merits special attention. This spanning device is of the band-and-belt type, which rarely occurs in East-Central Europe. Furthermore, the bow of the stirrup from Dobrzyń is provided with a broad foot plate with an asymmetrical rib. Such a construction was of significance for spanning the crossbow. The artefacts from Mazovia and Dobrzyń Land are dated from the 2nd half of the 13th to the 15th century.

Influence of Recreational, Landscape and Protective Functions on the Value of Forest, Wooded and Bushy Properties in Urbanized Areas on the Example of the Local Market of the City of Krakow

The paper presents a proposal for an approach to the valuation of forest, wooded and bushy real estate located in cities, which allows for the assessment of the impact of natural, protective and landscape factors on the value of this type of real estate. The main problem in the valuation of this type of real estate is the correct estimation of the impact on the value of the non-production factors described above. Considering the above, the main goal of the study was to identify the factors influencing the prices and value of forested, wooded and shrubby properties located in urbanized areas. The supplementary goal was to confirm the suitability of the methods and statistical models used in the study for similar measurements. By implementing the adopted goals, the article presents an analysis of the impact of these factors on the prices and value of real estate. The study covered the southwest part of the city of Kraków, located between the Vistula River and the Kraków-Rzeszów railway line in the north and east, and the southern and western border of the city. Urban forests perform mainly social functions, constituting only a marginal source of wood raw material. The results of the study showed that, in the case of similar properties, prices are significantly influenced by factors such as location, type and nature of the surroundings, form of access to the road, landscape and recreational values, manner of use and development status, as well as the permissible form of development, which is a measure of the profitability of timber production. The work ended with a discussion on the results and proposed directions for further research.

Polish and Slavic dialectal culturemes: Outline of issues

This article surveys Polish publications on culturemes and discusses the research procedure for identifying them. The following units have been recognized as dialectal culturemes: robota ‘work’, ziymia ‘earth’, biyda ‘poverty’, głód ‘hunger’, śleboda ‘freedom’, honór ‘honour’, krzyz ‘cross’, Pán Bóg ‘God’, Pán Jezus ‘Lord Jesus’, Matka Boská ‘Mother of God’, ksiondz ‘priest; father’, pán ‘lord, master’, gorzáłka ‘vodka’, and chlyb ‘bread’. Polish culturemes include: Pan Bóg ‘God’, Pan Jezus ‘Lord Jesus’, Matka Boska ‘Mother of God’, krzyż ‘cross’, praca ‘work’, honor ‘honour’, bohaterstwo ‘heroism’, odwaga ‘courage’, prawość ‘righteousness’, wolność 'freedom', Polska ‘Poland’, Wisła ‘the Vistula river’, Częstochowa ‘the city of Częstochowa’, Kraków ‘the city of Cracow’, Warszawa ‘the city of Warsaw’, bieda ‘poverty’, chleb ‘bread’, and wódka ‘vodka’. Slavic culturemes are the least numerous: Pan Bóg, Pan Jezus, Matka Boska, krzyż, praca, wolność, honor, chleb, Słowianin ‘Slav’ and wódka.

The proposal of a new provisional border of range of the acidophilous oak forest Calamagrostio arundinaceae-Quercetum petraeae Hartm. 1934 Scam. et Pass. 1959 in central Poland

The range of acidophilous oak forest from Quercetea robori-petraeae Br-Bl. et Tx. ex Oberd. 1957 in Central Europe depends largely on the syntaxonomical concept used and is still provisional. The most continental association from this class occurring in Poland is Calamagrostio arundinaceae-Quercetum petraeae Hartm. 1934 Scam. et Pass. 1959. It is present in western and central Poland, but its eastern boundary is not well known. The aims of the study were to survey and document new patches of Calamagrostio-Quercetum in central Poland, to check the internal variation of the association and to summary the known distribution of it in lowlands of central-western and central Poland. 23 phytosociological relevés were made within new stands together with soil sampling. New relevé data was subjected to the numerical Wards classification together with acidophilous oak forests datasets from western Poland and oak-pine forests ones from eastern part of the Country. The new dataset was similar to Calamagrostio-Quercetum. Three subassociations were distinguished. Soil parameters and oak site index did not differ from acidophilous oak forest stands from other parts of Poland. The provisional range of Calamagrostio-Quercetum in central Poland was proposed to be moved by circa 60–90 km to the north-east (approximately as far as the Vistula river line) in order to include south-western part of Mazowsze.

The Lower Vistula and Its Ice Problems

In many countries of the northern hemisphere during winter period ice forms appear on various water bodies, which results in significant changes of physical, chemical and ecological conditions. These changes are different in rivers, channels, lakes or once-through reservoirs. On the terrain of Poland ice always caused considerable problems affecting intensive inland navigation and other river use. These problems appeared especially on the Vistula River, which in 17th and 18th century was one of the most navigable rivers in Europe. The Vistula is the largest Polish river, which flows from the south in the Carpathian Mountains to the Baltic Sea in the north. It is the second largest river, after Neva, of the Baltic Sea catchment. The length of the Vistula is 1047 km and its catchment amounts to 194 thousand km2. The predominant part of the Vistula river basin (87%) is now on Polish territory and the remaining (13%) catchment is in Belarus, Ukraine and Slovakia. The course of the Vistula can be divided into three distinctly different sections: upper, middle and lower. These river sections have appropriate catchments with their tributaries. There are hydraulic structures on the main river course and on its tributaries which serve navigation, hydroenergy, flood protection, water supply and recreation. All over the Vistula catchment there are frequent floods during spring and summer time resulting from excessive precipitation but in winter caused by ice phenomena. Numerous flow problems appear especially along the lower Vistula course because of ice phenomena and they result very often in severe flood problems. The Vistula has a very variable time and spatial discharge, because of existing climate conditions over its catchment. The aim of the paper is to present hydraulic and hydrologic characteristics of the Lower Vistula river with special emphasis on the management of this river section for navigation, hydroenergy, flood protection and water supply in view of ice phenomena appearing there. Information concerning changes of water characteristics due to various water temperatures are presented as well as on the formation of various forms of ice in flowing water. Numerous ice studies were carried out in Poland and especially on the Lower Vistula section as it was very ice prone and where many ice jams and ice-jam floods occurred. A special hydraulic situation existed at the mouth of the Vistula, which caused important floods in the 18th century and resulted in the construction of a special direct channel to the sea (Przekop Wisły) solving flood problems in this area. Information is presented on changes in open channel flow due to the appearance of ice cover and other ice forms. The paper includes ample information on the run, consequences and studies connected with a very important ice-jam-flood on the upper part of Włocławek reservoir in 1982.

Geochemical State of Wilga River Environment in Kraków (Poland)—Historical Aspects and Existing Issues

Aquatic systems are a very important part of the environment, which requires special attention due to the constant deterioration of the quality and quantity of water globally. Aquatic environments in Poland are mostly affected by the mining and smelting industry, which is especially visible in the south of the country, and one of such anthropogenically affected rivers is the Wilga—a small tributary of the Vistula River (the biggest river in Poland). For many years, the catchment area of the Wilga River accommodated a functioning industry that was based on the use of metals (fur, leather processing, foundry and galvanizing plants), as well as the “Solvay” Kraków Soda Works, which have left behind soda waste piles, and currently, along the course of the river, there are ongoing works connected with the construction of the “Łagiewnicka Route”, which required the relocation of a section of the Wilga river bed, among other things. To determine the general condition of the river, selected physico-chemical parameters were analysed in the water (pH, conductivity, anions: Cl−, N-NO3, P-PO4 and SO4 and cations: Al, Ba, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Li, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, Pb, Sr and Zn), suspended particulate matter and sediment (Al, Ba, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Li, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, Pb, Sr and Zn). Samples were taken before the relocation of the river bed (2019) and after its relocation (2021). The obtained data were compared with recorded historical data and this revealed that over the years, the condition of the Wilga environment has improved significantly, especially in terms of the contamination of sediments with metals, the concentrations of which fell several ten-fold. This is attributed to the closure of most industrial plants located within the river’s catchment area and to the modernization and legal regulation of the functioning of the remaining plants. An effect of leachates from the soda waste piles on the waters of Wilga has been observed (in the form of higher pH, mineralization and concentration of chlorides), which has however gradually decreased over time. However, no visible impact of road transport on the river’s environment has been observed, or any impact of the construction works or the related relocation of the river bed for that matter. The river should still be classified as polluted, but the level of this pollution has decreased significantly and the qualitative composition of the pollution has also changed.

Case Study: Forecasting the Lower Vistula Bed Deformation without and with Development of Dam Cascade

The case study presents the results of numeric simulations of deformations of Vistula River bed downstream the Włocławek Dam, with and without development of the downstream dam cascade. Calculations were performed using a one-dimensional flow model MIKE11 with a river transport module. Using synthetic inflow hydrographs, predictions were performed for 39 year period (2016–2055). Results indicate that the construction of the dam cascade will reduce the erosion of the river bed downstream the Włocławek dam.