This paper presents an assessment of water flow rates variability of the river Sama before (1973–1983) and after (2004–2012) the construction of the Radzyny reservoir on the river. The studied catchment, with an area of 448.4 km², is located in the Pojezierze Wielkopolskie. During years 1998–2000, on the river two dams were built that formed the Radzyny water reservoir with an area of 109.4 hectares and a capacity of 2.88 mln m³. Comparison of the size of river flows during years 1973–1983, before reservoir building, and for period 2004–2012, after the construction, showed that damming a water in the tank has reduced flows, especially in the winter half-year. The active capacity of the reservoir was 2.3 mln m³ and accounted for 7.8% of the average annual runoff and the rate of abnormal hydrological regime amounted to 29% of a threshold of 10%.