Hydrological study of the Aggtelek karst springs

Increased population growth and changing environmental conditions have focused attention on sustainability of karst spring flow. In Hungary, the quality of karst springs is acceptable for drinking water supply; the only treatment it needs is the disinfection. Aggtelek is one of the best-studied karst regions; a hydrologic monitoring network was built and operated at the Josvafő Research Station for about 50 years. The long-term data for the 15 major karst springs, rainfall, and temperature was available for analyses. This paper presents a methodology to estimate karst spring recharge, which can then be adapted to predict karst spring flow in lessstudied areas.