a b s t r a c tMore than 2000 of mountain lakes covering more than 0.1 ha exist in a territory of Kyrgyzstan. Nearly 20% of them are dangerous because of instability of lake dams, frequent overflows and melting of buried ice inside the moraine dams. According to the Kyrgyz lake inventory, 328 lakes are at risk of outburst and 12 lakes are considered as actually dangerous. Since 1952 more than 70 disastrous cases of lake outbursts have occurred. The majority of the endangered lakes belong to one of the three genetic types: morainic-glacier, supraglacial and lake dammed by landslides and debris flows. Petrov, Adygine and Koltor lakes were selected and studied in the Tien-Shan Mountains as case studies of the most frequent genetic types of hazardous lakes. Observations were focused on the morphology of the lake basin and the surrounding relief, outflow pattern and processes controlling the development of lake. For the hazard assessment, evolution of glaciers and lakes was reconstructed using historical reports, aerial photographs and satellite images.

An interdisciplinary study of glacier-related hazards in the Petrov lake region (Ak-Shiirak Range, the Inner Tien-Shan, Kyrgyzstan) has been undertaken to identify potential dangers to the area. A cooperative effort from experts in the fields of hydrology, glaciology, geomorphology and geophysics has been employed in this study. For the hazard assessment, evolution of the Petrov glacier and lake was reconstructed using historical reports, aerial photographs and satellite images. Geomorphological mapping and geophysical soundings was applied to the lake territory and the moraine dam. This has identified potentially hazardous areas of the dam including subsurface drainage zones and cracks that could cause a sudden extremely high discharge. In the past three decades, the Petrov lake has doubled in size, while in recent years, its area has been increasing by more than 92,000 square metres per year. Although there is no evidence for an imminent outburst, the dramatic increase in the lake's size emphasizes the importance of this study.

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The article evaluates the water quality in rural areas in the Czech part of Labe River catchment using the example of Slapanka River catchment. This river drains a typical landscape of Ceskomoravska Highland. Water quality in rural areas is still very low and the attention is paid to organic substances and nutrients. Increased amount of them in streams is caused mainly by agriculture and production of municipal wastewater resulting in increased eutrophication. A significant part of the article consists in the evaluation of point and non-point sources of water pollution. Identifying the type of the pollution source is helped by regression analysis using data from the public monitoring network. Eleven sampling sites were selected for evaluating the water quality. Physical and chemical analyses were made 12 times during the field monitoring in the years 2001-2003. In long-term development water quality has improved in all monitored parameters during the last 15 years. Least significant improvement has been found with the concentration of nitrate nitrogen. The water quality within the whole catchment area still remains low.To reduce the influence of pollution sources, we recommend the sanitation of diffuse sources of pollution from small settlements with less than 2000 inhabitants, and a successive change from agricultural management and intensive mass production to extensive ways, especially in mountain and sub-mountain areas.

Abstract. The formation and development of glacial lakes in mountainous regions is one of the consequences of glacier recession. Such lakes may drain partially or completely when the stability of their dams is disturbed or as a consequence of impacts. We present a case study from the Central Asian mountain range of Tien Shan – a north-oriented tributary of the Adygine Valley, where the retreat of a polythermal glacier surrounded by permafrost has resulted in the formation of several generations of lakes. The aim of this study was to analyse the past development of different types of glacial lakes influenced by the same glacier, to project the site's future development, and to evaluate the outburst susceptibility of individual lakes with an outlook for expected future change. We addressed the problem using a combination of methods, namely bathymetric, geodetic and geophysical on-site surveys, satellite images and digital elevation model analysis, and modelling of glacier development. Based on this case of the glacial lakes being of varied age and type, we demonstrated the significance of glacier ice in lake development. Lake 3, which is in contact with the glacier terminus, has changed rapidly over the last decade, expanding both in area and depth and increasing its volume by more than 13 times (7800 to 106 000 m3). The hydrological connections and routing of glacier meltwater have proved to be an important factor as well, since most lakes in the region are drained by subsurface channels. As the site is at the boundary between continuous and discontinuous permafrost, the subsurface water flow is strongly governed by the distribution of non-frozen zones above, within, or beneath the perennially frozen ground. In the evaluation of lake outburst susceptibility, we have highlighted the importance of field data, which can provide crucial information on lake stability. In our case, an understanding of the hydrological system at the site, and its regime, helped to categorise Lake 2 as having low outburst susceptibility, while Lake 1 and Lake 3 were labelled as lakes with medium outburst susceptibility. Further development of the site will be driven mainly by rising air temperatures and increasingly negative glacier mass balance. All three climate model scenarios predicted a significant glacier areal decrease by 2050, specifically leaving 73.2 % (A1B), 62.3 % (A2), and 55.6 % (B1) of the extent of the glacier in 2012. The glacier retreat will be accompanied by changes in glacier runoff, with the first peak expected around 2020, and the formation of additional lakes.