Date
Author
Михаил ТЕЛЕХОВ; Санкт-Петербург
Source
Preserved copy
Translated material
Chudskoy management
The Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation presented a model for managing groundwater resources
A model for managing groundwater resources in the Narva River basin and Lake Peipsi has been created. Thus, the Russian side is preparing to implement an agreement with the European Union, according to which transboundary water bodies must comply with international environmental standards from 2010.The creators of the project - the St. Petersburg Complex Geological Expedition (PCGE) of the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation and representatives of similar departments in Finland and France - announced this at the International Environmental Conference in Helsinki. Estonia, together with the French and Finns, presented the same model - only in relation to the other half of the Narva basin and Lake Peipsi. (For now these are two different models, although ecologists dream of someday combining the two parts into a single whole.)
Officials and environmentalists of the European Union approved the results of the work of their colleagues from Russia. It was decided to begin implementing these models in the environmental services of all entities operating on the shores of Narva and Lake Peipus - from government departments and self-government bodies to private companies located in close proximity to the Russian-Estonian border. Of course, the main attention of environmentalists in the Leningrad region is attracted by the oil shale mining plant. It has a stronger influence than all other factors on the aquatic ecology of this area of the Leningrad region.
The first activities for the transition from the Soviet to the European system of groundwater management of transboundary reservoirs began in Russia in 2003 as part of the LIFE Third Countries program. Funding for the project was multilateral, some of the funds were transferred from the federal budget, and some came from the European Union. But the involvement of French and Finnish specialists in the work was not only a measure of control over the effective use of millions of euros. For example, the Finns, as a “third party,” are dependent on the ecology of groundwater in both Estonia and Russia. The French developed a computer program on the basis of which a river basin management model was built.
And geologists from Russia and Estonia were assigned the role of “workhorses”. They had to transfer all the data accumulated over many years about this territory from paper to electronic media, and also double-check the information. To do this, a hydrogeological expedition worked on the banks of Narva for more than a year, checking previous data with the current state of the reservoir.
As a result, the models described above were obtained. More precisely, a detailed three-dimensional computer model, where horizontally - the basin of Narva and Lake Peipsi, and vertically - their “cut” from sea level to the beginning of the salty layers of groundwater. The software package contains all the characteristics of the site - physical, biochemical. And now a specialist can study the nature of the movement of any stream or spring flowing in some border swamp.
As PKGE hydrogeologist Sergei Kotlov explained to a Vremya Novostey correspondent literally on his fingers, the essence of the model is simple. For example, observers report: the level of the Narva River is falling and underground reservoirs are being dried up. Upon closer examination, it becomes clear that the reason is pumping out dirty water that filled some abandoned mine at the aforementioned oil shale mining plant. Using the model, a specialist can see what will happen if you stop draining the mine. He sees that the keys have come to life and water has flowed into the river, only dirty. Then he slows down the pumping speed until clean water flows into Narva. And the results presented by the computer are so perfect that if you put this solution into practice, there will be no error. And such a chain can be built regarding any changes in the region’s environment.
Based on this model, a number of recommendations have already been developed for business entities in the Narva River area. Compliance with these recommendations gives confidence that transboundary water bodies on the border with Estonia are clean. All that remains is to force officials and entrepreneurs to follow the advice of environmentalists. But this is already a function of the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation - both in interaction with business entities and in applying effective sanctions to them.
The managers of the oil shale mining plant told a Vremya Novostei correspondent that they are ready to do everything to ensure that neither local officials nor EU environmentalists can find fault with them. They have been waiting for such recommendations for a long time. All that remains is to find funds for the purchase of equipment and the implementation of environmental measures. This, by the way, is also provided for by the resource management project. Economists who took part in the project offered entrepreneurs mechanisms for finding funds. Although their advice, in contrast to the three-dimensional computer model, is quite banal - increasing prices for products and creating an “ecological fund” in the expenditure department of enterprises.
Scientists' enthusiasm for the new model clearly exceeds that of businessmen. Hydrogeologist Sergei Kotlov believes that the essence of the project is not even to fulfill obligations to the European Union, but that the water management program will allow him, as a specialist, to know exactly what is happening underground - why natural reservoirs have dried up or where strange impurities come from in the river and what measures need to be taken to reverse the process. And so far this is the best mechanism for preserving fresh drinking water supplies in the state.