Summary:

The paper presents the results of investigations on changes of heavy metal contain within the deposits of the check dam water reservoir situated on the mountainous stream along the long term observations done between 1977-1981 and in 2002). The work was realized in the Kasinka Stream watershed in the Beskid Wyspowy in Polish Carpathians. The catchment area of the Kasinka Stream is 49,6 km2, the length of the Kasinka to the research cross section is 16,2 km, the precipitation is 914 mm, and the t-years floods within the check-dam cross section are as follows: Q10% = 32,0 m3 s-1, Q5% = 40 m3 s-1, Q2% = 52 m3 s-1, Q1% = 63 m3 s-1, Q0,5% = 73 m3 s-1 and Q0,1% = 99 m3 s-1. The Kasinka Stream is the 3rd order tributary of the Raba River which is the 2nd order tributary of the Vistula River. The Kasinka watershed is situated within the recreation areas of Krakow (the Raba Valley and Mszana municipality). The area is quite dense populated with many tourist areas. Also it is here where the road to Zakopane is nearby. All this reasons affected the accumulation of some chemical components in the deposits of the Kasinka Stream check-dam reservoir, including heavy metals. It was found that the following chemical components started to accumulate: Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Mg and Fe.
The reason for it seems to be in the dynamic development of Mszanka municipality, many small private businesses which turned up in last 15 years, the private farmsteads which have not enough efficient sewage treatment systems and also many illegal damping places which were found in surrounding forests and just situated close to the Kasinka Stream channel. In such damping the remains of oils, car batteries and paint-cans were found which have a huge influence on the increasing of the quantity of deposited chemical components in the stream sediments.