Identification of Potential Localities for Restoring Former Historical Ponds: Case Studies from the Czech Republic

Identifikácia potenciálnych lokalít na obnovu bývalých historických rybníkov: Prípadové štúdie z Českej republiky

Hana Skokanová, Renata Pavelková, Marek Havlíček, Aleš Létal

In: Geografické informácie (Geographical Information), Ročník (Volume) 24, Číslo (Issue) 2, 2020, p. 315-328, ISSN 1337-9453

DOI: 10.17846/GI.2020.24.2.315-328

Abstract

The paper presents methods and results how to identify place of former historical ponds that may have some potential for restoration in present landscapes. In this study, ponds represent a type of artificial water bodies with historical traditions in the form of fish breeding (fishponds) in Central European landscapes. For the identification, we used old maps from 19th to mid-20th century, digital terrain model, cadastral data about ownership and present land cover datasets. The methods consist of several steps – vectorising all ponds that occurred on old maps, identifying those that disappeared, selecting those that are more than 100 m distant from present settlements, assessing the existence of their dams by using digital terrain model, and finally identifying land use/land cover and number of owners in these localities. The methods were tested in nine catchments across the Czech Republic. Results show that the number of such identified ponds ranged from 3 to 51 in individual catchments. Majority of the selected ponds have no dam relicts and up to five owners usually own the land.

Keywords: ponds, restoration, old maps, dam relicts, ownership

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