Impact of an urban area on the dynamics and features of suspended solids transport in a small catchment during floods

Abstract

The paper concerns the impact of the diverse land use in the Silnica river catchment, within the city of Kielce, on the size and dynamics of concentration and load of transported suspended solids, and the variability of the mineral particles mean grain size, during various flood types. This small river flows through the centre of Kielce, the city of 200,000 population in Poland. In its course, the river flows through areas of various land use. In the upper reaches, the catchment is dominated by forests, in the middle the river flows through a reservoir and the lower – through an urban area. Hydrological measurements and transport of the suspended solids were carried out simultaneously in three hydrometric cross-sections of the Silnica, which close the sub-catchments of the land use as mentioned above. The investigations were carried out during floods of various origins: induced by snowmelt, torrential rainfall and frontal rainfall. The analysis indicates that the two rainfall-induced flood types, characteristic for the summer season, show high runoff dynamics. In contrast, snowmelt-induced floods show high concentration and load of the transported suspended solids. In the section of the watercourse flowing through the city, there is an abrupt increase in runoff and suspended solids concentration. Thus, there may be periodic threats to fish and invertebrates, leading to a reduction in the population of living organisms.