Analysis of the Exposure of Polish Lakes to Flood Risk

Flooding constitutes one of the main natural hazards in Poland, which causes enormous social, economic and environmental losses. The main causes of the occurrence of floods include intensive rainfall, rapid melting of snow and ice cover, as well as strong gusts of wind from the sea. Based on the resilience theory (resistance, elasticity), which constitutes an efficient tool for the description of the social-ecological system capability or components thereof to mitigate the effects of dangerous events, as well as the capability of reconstructing and adapting the system to new conditions, the authors have analysed the exposure of Polish lakes to flood risks with a probability of occurrence Q0.2%, Q1% and Q10%. In order to determine the level of exposure of lakes to the risk of flooding by flood waters, studies were conducted using the flood hazard and flood risk maps which were developed under the Project entitled “IT System of the Country’s Protection against Extreme Hazards”. The result of the efforts of the group of authors is the determination of the number of lakes, which are located in the flood risk area Q0.2%, Q1% and Q10%, including division into risk level groups (low, moderate and high). The results presented in the paper may constitute a contribution to further, more detailed studies concerning assessment of the vulnerability of Polish lakes located in the flood prone area.