Summary:

Methods of hypothetical flood waves determining with the Cracow method developed for the Upper Vistula area are unlikely to be implemented by the common engineering practice in case when their verification was conducted only for one region. One of the methods is the Cracow method which is used for determining the flood waves in gauged catchments, whereas the other called the volume formula, is meant for ungauged catchments. In this method the wave volume is calculated by a formula, whereas its wave course is determined on the basis of a unit flood wave by means of SCS UHG method.
An attempt was made in the paper to apply both methods for the catchment in the Odra river basin. The Nysa Kłodzka river was selected as a pilot catchment, in which 12 gauging stations were identified, for which the assessment of results was conducted using the criterion of hypothetical flood wave volume. Additionally these results were compared with the results obtained using the Hydroproject method.
Conducted assessment allows to state that the Cracow method and the volume formula of hypothetical flood waves determining may be applied in the Odra basin. Verification of the methods and satisfactory results obtained in geographical region, other than the one for which they were developed allows to put forward a thesis that neither of methods has a regional character, so they may be applied in various catchments. Also the volume formula may be used for a catchment up to 1000 km2, like for the Upper Vistula catchment. However, the spatial range of both methods applicability should be verified on a wider material, i.e. for catchments of various morphological character, management and hydrological regime.