Soil and Water Research, 2008 (vol. 3), issue 3
Editorial
František Doležal
Soil & Water Res., 2008, 3(3):81-82 | DOI: 10.17221/2789-SWR 
Runoff formation in a tile-drained agricultural basin of the Harz Mountain Foreland, Northern GermanyOriginal Paper
Andreas Herrmann, Detlef Duncker
Soil & Water Res., 2008, 3(3):83-97 | DOI: 10.17221/20/2008-SWR
By taking two different tile-drained agricultural basins with porous aquifers in the lowlands of northern Germany as examples, it is demonstrated with an integrated study approach that this type of basin responds similarly to an input as forested mountainous basins with dominant fractured rock aquifers in the central European highlands do. The control mechanism is local rise of pressure heads of aquifers starting with the infiltration process. It is shown that drain laterals in agricultural basins function like fractures and faults in those hard rock basins, i.e. as efficient drain pipe lines. This effect is amplified by hydraulic pressure transmission...
Assessing the stream water quality dynamics in connection with land use in agricultural catchments of different scalesOriginal Paper
Petr Fučík, Tomáš Kvítek, Martin Lexa, Pavel Novák, Alena Bílková
Soil & Water Res., 2008, 3(3):98-112 | DOI: 10.17221/19/2008-SWR
The ecological status of many surface waters in the Czech Republic is poor, mainly due to still relatively high discharges of N substances especially from agriculture. High nitrate values in the streams situated particulary in basins of drinking water reservoirs invoke the neccesity for the precise detection of diffuse pollution areas to enable the setting of the appropriate land management strategies or relevant measures. We introduce a simple method for estimating the changes of nitrate concentrations in surface waters regarding the land use modification. Stream and drainage water nitrate concentrations in prevailingly agricultural catchments of...
Impact of landuse on runoff in mountain catchments of different scalesOriginal Paper
Ladislav Holko, Zdeněk Kostka
Soil & Water Res., 2008, 3(3):113-120 | DOI: 10.17221/16/2008-SWR
The paper presents two approaches to the analysis of the impacts of landuse changes on hydrological regime in mountain catchments of northern Slovakia. An intersite comparison of measured data along the Jalovecký creek was used to test whether different landuse can be identified by means of water balance data and characteristics of runoff events. Although the comparison provided extended knowledge of the catchment, the only characteristic which might indicate possible impact of different landuse is the ratio of peakflow to flow at the beginning of the event. Simulations by means of spatially distributed hydrological model showed that different (extreme)...
Long-term progress in water quality after grassing and fertilization reduction in spring areas of the Šumava MountainsOriginal Paper
Pavel Žlábek, Václav Bystřický, Pavel Ondr, Tomáš Kvítek, Petr Lechner
Soil & Water Res., 2008, 3(3):121-128 | DOI: 10.17221/3/2008-SWR
The changes in water quality caused by grassing of arable land followed by the reduction in the use of fertilisers after 1989 are demonstrated on an example of two tile-drained subcatchments in spring areas in the Šumava Mountains. The original water quality monitoring was performed in the mid-1980s, at the time when the area was used as tile-drained arable land. The monitoring was renewed in 2004 under different, i.e. extensive, land use conditions. The principal reason for the new monitoring at the site was to see what sort of changes, if any, in water quality had occurred in the location, particularly in terms of nitrate nitrogen leaching. The concentrations...
Annual changes in the chemical composition of stream water in small catchments with different land-use (Carpathian Foothills, Poland)Original Paper
Joanna P. SIWEK, Mirosław ŻELAZNY, Wojciech CHEŁMICKI
Soil & Water Res., 2008, 3(3):129-137 | DOI: 10.17221/17/2008-SWR
The aim of the study was to identify the factors that influence annual changes in the chemical composition of stream waters. The research area was located in the marginal zone of the Carpathian Foothills (Poland) in the Stara Rzeka catchment (mixed land-use) and its two sub-catchments: Leśny Potok (wooded) and Kubaleniec (farmed). Hydrochemical studies were carried out during the 1998-2004 water years and with separate recording frequencies for individual parameters. Measures used included specific conductance (SC), pH and the concentration of the main ions (Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+, HCO3-,...
The impact of artificial drainage on water quality in two model areas in the bohemian forest foothillsOriginal Paper
Jan Vopravil, Tomáš Khel, Karel Voplakal, Monika Čermáková
Soil & Water Res., 2008, 3(3):138-154 | DOI: 10.17221/7/2008-SWR
This contribution arises from a broader research assignment dealing with the changes in soil properties and characteristics which have occurred following the artificial drainage of some agricultural soils in the Czech Republic. The current state is statistically compared with the state before the drainage. Thanks to the Research Institute for Soil and Water Conservation database, extensive sets of historical data are available. To enable a more detailed evaluation of the changes discovered, we chose two smaller study areas with different soil use. In the first area (Haklovy Dvory - arable land) there is intensive use of the soil, while in the other...
Long-term trends of rainfall and runoff regime in upper Otava River basinOriginal Paper
Zdeněk KLIMENT, Milada MATOUŠKOVÁ
Soil & Water Res., 2008, 3(3):155-167 | DOI: 10.17221/2/2008-SWR
The floods experienced recently in the Czech Republic gave rise to numerous discussions over the changed environment and related potential impacts on the rainfall and runoff processes. The main aim of our research project was to determine long term trends of rainfall and runoff regime in Otava River basin. The rainfall-runoff analyses using both the single and double mass curves over the period of the hydrologic observations were taken as a basic method. Beside mean discharge, precipitation, snow and air temperature trends, analysis of land cover change and human impact on the river network and drainage areas development were applied too. The greatest...
Storm runoff in the foothill headwater area SenotínOriginal Paper
Miroslav Tesař, Oldřich Syrovátka, Miloslav Šír, Ľubomír Lichner, Jan Váchal, Miroslav Krejča
Soil & Water Res., 2008, 3(3):168-174 | DOI: 10.17221/6/2008-SWR
The purpose of the pilot project Senotín (1993-2000) was to prove the methods of revitalization of sub-mountain headwater area (0.38 km2) in the Novobystřická Vysočina Highland (610-725 m a. s. l.) in the Czech Republic. This area was tile-drained and ploughed in 1985. Seven underground clay shields newly constructed in 1995 stopped the function of the tile drainage. Four balks prevented the surface and subsurface runoff. These adaptations improved water retention capacity of the whole catchment, which is demonstrated using an example of runoff formation in the revitalized area. A typical storm rain (total 15 mm, duration 5.6 h, max. intensity...
Water storage in snow cover and runoff in experimental basins in the Jizerské hory MountainsShort Communication
Šimon Bercha, Libuše Bubeníčková, Jan Jirák, Pavla Řičicová
Soil & Water Res., 2008, 3(3):175-182 | DOI: 10.17221/4/2008-SWR
The main aim of this work was to compare the results of the water storages obtained in the experimental basins in the Jizerské hory Mountains before the time of snowmelt with the total outflows, which were measured in the hydrological stations during the snowmelt period in two winter seasons with extraordinary snow depths (2005 and 2006). The snow water equivalent (measured in weekly steps), daily precipitation amount, and runoff in hourly values were the input data; the calculated runoff coefficients were the output values. The runoff coefficients from the snowmelt periods of 2005 and 2006 were compared in the Uhlířská and the Jezdecká Basins. The...