AbstractThis study analyses the statistical and dynamic properties of time series of mean annual groundwater levels for the years 1961–2000, with the purpose of preparing reference statistics for the study period. Data came from 62 measurement stations of the groundwater observation network of the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management—the National Research Institute IMGW-PIB—located across the Wielkopolska Lowland (western Poland). Station-grouping criteria were as follows: the availability of a 40-year measurement series, spatial location, as well as separation of the aquifer from the surface. For estimating the time series structure of groundwater levels, the following stationarity tests were conducted: the augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) test and the Kwiatkowski-Phillips-Schmidt-Shin (KPSS) test, with positive results in 44% of the stations, the majority comprising a group that represents confined aquifers. Their non-stationarity was attributed to the presence of a long-term stochastic trend. In ...