HYDROGEOLOGICAL REGIONAL MODEL AS A PERMANENT TOOL IN SOLVING VARIOUS-SCALE TASKS – EXPERIENCE FROM THE LEGNICA-GŁOGÓW COPPER REGION (LGOM)

Abstract

Regional models, covering several thousand km2, are usually implemented to reflect the functioning of hydrogeological systems, whose internal conditions exert an influence over long distances. These include rivers (a model of a catchment), groundwater basins (models covering recharge areas), large intakes and mines (models covering capture zones). Due to the manner of formulating the hydrogeological task and accuracy dictated by the scale, such models are forgotten immediately after verifying, archiving and introducing the results into planning documents and studies. A numerical model with an area of approx. 3 thousand km2 is presented, which is subject to updates and successfully solves subsequent tasks from 2010. It shows how the solutions can be approached on a local scale, on the order of several tens – several hundred metres, using a 400-metre discretization grid. The construction of the regional model requires a high amount of documentation, field and computer work. Therefore, we should aim to use regional models in the long-term, as permanent, with the involvement of people who participated in their creation.