Changes in the moisture content of the middle fen soils in the Odra River valley in the region of Brzeg Dolny in the vegetation periods 2004–2009

In soils, where the water table is deeply located and has a minor impact on the moisture content of the surface layer, we are dealing with the precipitation-and-water type of water management. If underground water level is close to the surface, the top stratum of the soil, apart from precipitation, is additionally fed by water absorption from underground waters. Then we are dealing with ground-and-water type of manage-ment. We consider such types of water management of soil in the area of the left-bank valley of the Odra river, above and below the dam in Brzeg Dolny. The dominant soil types here are middle fen soils, based on middle clay and heavy clay as well as loam, which, in conditions of either excess or deficiency of moisture, are difficult to cultivate. The work compares water management of two soil profiles in vegetation periods between 2004 and 2009. The formation of underground waters, meteorologi-cal conditions and the course of the water reserves in the strata 0–50 cm and 0–100 cm were estimated with various supplying conditions of the active stratum of the soil. The volume of the supply with percolated water from underground water of the layer 50–100 cm on approximately 75–90 mm was also estimated. This value was mainly dependent on the depth of the retention of the water table of the soil profile above the level in Brzeg Dolny.