Danuta Jurak

Abstract

This paper investigates the possible impact of climate change on physical and biological processes in storage reservoirs supplying water for domestic use and industry. As a case study the water temperature and evaporation in Sulejów Reservoir, Central Poland, will be simulated for a number of climate scenarios. An energy balance model for a non-stratified (or weakly-stratified) lake was applied. Reservoir tempera-ture is shown to be highly sensitive to changes in air temperature. Further research is needed to reduce the level of uncertainty in freshwater ecosystem impact assessments, focusing mainly on developing more credible climate scenarios.

Keywords: temperature of water, reservoirs, climate impact

Danuta Jurak, Institute of Meteorology and Water Management ul. Podleśna 61, 01-673 Warszawa, Poland