Vistula Water Level

The Vistula is the longest and largest river in Poland being 1,047km long and is known to be the largest source of water for Poland.  The sources of its water are the Barania Gora and the Silesian Beskids,and its mouth is the Baltic Sea and the Gdansk Bay.  The Vistula is also known for the drastic variations in water levels in different sections of the river and also due to the climate change.

The red line on the map is the Vistula River and as you can see it runs throughout Poland is the longest river.

 

The Vistula is broken up into three sections the upper which averages12 feet, the middle which averages 25 feet, and the lower which averages 33 feet, as mentioned the climate has a major impact on the water level as well.  In the late summer to the spring there are low-water periods, due to the colder climate that usually create ice forms on the surface of the Vistula rather than increasing the water level and volume.  With these low water levels many things are affected, such as the way of life for surrounding citizens and a disruption in the navigation system. 

This is the Vistula River at an extremely low water level, due to this severity Poland was put in a drought.

 

As expected if the climate can cause a lack of water it could also cause an increase of water.  Flash floods are a major problem that is present in the spring time.  With this knowledge drainage density aspects have been put into place.  The river contains storage reservoirs that are located in the valleys of the mountain range it runs through, with the main goal of storing the excessive water flow to prevent flooding, and recently even larger storage basins have been built.  These floods are caused by melting snow and ice that had been built up over the winter in the drainage areas.  Also with these floods heavy rains have also been known to occur in the spring.  This could affect many people with the overwhelming amount of surplus in water, in many ways but most commonly of flooding surrounding environments.

This is a house located near the Vistula that is clearly flooded by the run off of melting snow and ice in the spring time.

 

 

SOURCES

 http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/630787/Vistula-River/34488/Hydrology

 http://www.icid.org/v_poland.pdf

http://clasfaculty.ucdenver.edu/callen/1202/Battle/Destroy/Hydrology/HydrologyBasics.html

IMAGE SOURCES

http://kids.britannica.com/comptons/art-55182/Vistula-River

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/poland/100524/vistula-river-flood-natural-disaster-news