Acta carsologica, XXV (1996) 
Metka Petrič 
INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM "KARST-FRACTURED AQUIFERS 
- VULNERABILITY AND SUSTAINABILITY" 
(KATOWICE - USTRON, POLAND) 
Fram 10th to 14th June, 1996 the international symposium "Karst-Frac-
tured Aquifers - Vulnerability and Sustainability" was held at the health resort 
Ustron by Katowice in Poland. It was organized by the Department of 
Hydrogeology and Engineering Geology of the University of Silesia in Sosnowiec; 
it was held under the patronage of the International Association of Hydrogeologists 
(IAH). There were 61 participants from 13 countries (China, Croatia, France, 
Germany, Ireland, ltaly, Israel, Poland, Russia, Slowakia, Slovenia, Switzerland 
and the USA). The Slovenian coloures were represented by me, Metka Petrič 
from the Karst Research Institute ZRC SAZU in Postojna. 
The symposium started with the opening ceremony on June 10th, 1996, in 
the morning. The participants were greeted by introductory speeches by the 
chairman of Scientific Committee prof. dr. Andrzej Rožkowski, by the rector 
of the Silesian University prof. dr. Andrzej Jankowski, by the representative of 
the Ministry of Environment Protection, Natural Resources and Forestry dr. 
Jacek H. Jezierski, by the president of IAH prof. dr. John Moore, and by the 
president of the Karst Commission at IAH prof. dr. Heinz Hotzl. After the 
official introduction the professional part of the symposium began. 
The presentations were divided into five topical themes. The first one was 
dedicated to the groundwater protection in karst areas, and to systems and 
methods of preserving the karst aquifers in various countries. The second 
theme treated the human impact on the karst environment. The authors tried 
to answer to the question what the consequences of the intensive exploitation 
of underground water on the state of aquifer systems are - from the 
qualitative as well as from the quantitative point of view. Discourses in the 
session on groundwater management in karst areas presented practical re-
searches how to salve the problems of water supply. Also with these speeches 
a special attention was given to the protection of water sources against 
pollution. More general problems regarding karst hydrogeology were included 
in the fourth group. There were shown characteristics and specialities of 
numerous karst aquifer systems in different parts of the world. In the fifth 
group research methods in karst-fractured aquifers were spoken about. Among 
others the use of hydraulic and geophysical methods in karst hydrogeology was 
shown. I spake about the study of the rainfall - runoff relations in the 
experimental karst basin. 
The organizer offered also the opportunity to illustrate the themes with 
posters. So on six panneaus there were primarily presented the pollution 
problems and the quality of underground water in Upper Silesia. The 
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Other reports 
afternoon of the 11th June was filled locally, too. For this day was preserved 
for the visit of the health resort complex at Ustron. The hosts informed us 
first with the basic hydrogeological characteristics of the area, then with the 
methods of draining the used medicina! salty water back into the aquifer. 
Eventually we visited the most important resort premises, and the computer 
guided pumping station for the underground water. 
During the symposium there were held various meetings of the Karst 
Commission at IAH. Most of the tirne was dedicated to the preparation of a 
new book on the karst hydrogeology, one of the next IAH publications. 
The second part of the programme was reserved for excursions. On 
Wednesday, 12th June there were two all day long excursions. The main 
destination of the first one was the lead and zine mine Olkusz, lying 30 km 
east of Katowice. I took part, however, in the excursion to the territory of 
Tarnowskie Gry in the northern part of the Upper Silesia. We first visited the 
lead, zine and silver mine where the ore was excavated from the 12th to the 
beginning of the 20th century. The consequence of the years long mining is 
a dense network of galleries, shafts and drainage system in the Middle Triassic 
carbonate rocks. Very interesting are also the hydrogeological conditions, for 
two of the aquifer zones are separated by an intermediate layer of poorly 
permeable rocks. The upper aquifer part is equipped with horizontal drainages 
which drain water to the near river, while the water from the lower zone is 
pumped. We went to see also Staszic, the oldest of the pumping stations in 
Upper Silesia. Here a relatively pure water is pumped. But a much greater 
ecological problem is represented by the outflows of 65 coal mines in the 
area. About 500 m3 of waste water from these mines flows into rivers every 
minute. Because of that the rivers are very polluted. Another unpleasant 
consequence of the years long mining is the subsidence of the surface above 
the mines. According to the quantity of the excavated material the surface 
subsides from some centimetres to one meter a year. 
The afternoon excursion of 13th June took us to the hilly area Beskidy, 
which is built with Cretaceous and Tertiary flysch sediments. We visited the 
spring area of two rivers, Visla and Sola which together with their tributaries 
represent the main source of drinking water for the provinces Katowice and 
Bielsko-Biala. Of a really great interest were the wells of salt water with a 
high concentration of Na, CI, J and Br in the surrounding of the town Sol. 
In the evening the symposium was officially closed. The next morning I took 
part in the post-congress excursion to Krakow and to the salt mine Wieliczka. 
The given lectures have been collected in the fina! publication. In the 
introductory part of the book it is written that the purpose of the symposium 
was to offer the participants possibilities to exchange opinions and ideas on 
the characteristics of the karst-fractured aquifers, the presentation of their 
studies, and their protection.The majority of the participants would certainly 
agree that this purpose was completely achieved. 
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