Identification of a karst hydrological system in the Dinaric karst (Yugoslavia)

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Abstract
The construction of a reservoir on the Neretva River resulted in the flooding of three springs which now function as ponors (swallow-holes). In the first phase, they discharged 28 m3 s−1 of water from the full reservoir. All the water that was lost through these ponors appeared some 1 km downstream from the dam in a group of springs. Most of these springs were, in the natural state, only temporary, and during the dry period their discharge was approximately 1 m3 s−1. In order to reduce the losses from the reservoir, some reclamation works were carried out resulting in a decrease of the losses by only 6 m3 s−1. Detailed hydrogeological and hydrological analyses were performed with the objective of identifying the karst system, i.e. to determine the position of the karst channels. The definition of the position and dimensions of the karst channels through which the greatest quantities of water are lost from the reservoir was carried out according to the definition of the hydrograph recession curves and the discharge curves of a group of downstream springs. The recession part of the hydrograph was defined by applying a new expression for the Maillet formula. Thus, it became possible to define not only the transport characteristics of the karst mass but also its retention characteristics.