THE IMPACT OF INFILTRATION DAM ON THE GROUNDWATER REGIME IN THE KURTNA LANDSCAPE RESERVE AREA

The area of Kurtna Landscape Reserve is situated between oil shale mines. This area is an important part of the Estonia deposit, and the located mining conditions there are good. Narva surface mine pumps groundwater from the area of Kurtna Lakes. It is able to minimize the influence of surface mining. Testing of mining technology and hydrogeological modelling show that mine front may be closed for stopping water flow instead of leaving an open trench by the border of the area of the lakes. According to modeling, hydraulic conductivity of the dam must remain 0.1 m/d to avoid sinking of water level in the lakes, and filtration basins must be supplied with water in an amount of 7000 m3/d as yearly average. As the result, the landscape will be reclaimed, overall look and shape will be smoothed. Abandoned fields of peat milling will be reclaimed, and their fires will be avoided