Scholarly record
MODELING OF GROUNDWATER AVAILABILITY FOR PRODUCTION, LATVIA CASE
Abstract
The volume of accessible groundwater in Latvia from a chosen aquifer is generally sufficient for a household or company to install a borehole with a flow rate of 10 m3/day or 100 m3/day. In this case, the main legal restrictions concern lowering the groundwater table to the minimum permissible level and the required water level reserve relative to the top of the well's filter column. Latvia is rich in groundwater water; for decision-makers to install a water intake well, it is usually sufficient to analyze data from several nearby geological, monitoring, or production wells. At the same time, there is a growing trend of urban residents and businesses relocating to suburban neighborhoods and villages nearby. The decision-making process for issuing permits for production wells under such conditions becomes a complex task – it is unknown whether multiple production wells competing for the same aquifer will create a depression zone exceeding legal limits. Furthermore, these wells could potentially face water shortages. This study attempts to forecast water resource availability throughout Latvia for all groundwater aquifers used for water production, at 250-meter intervals, considering the potentially competitive operating conditions of production wells. The study conducted using modelling based on the Latvian regional hydrogeological model LAMO4, followed by mathematical data processing. The results published as regional groundwater availability maps and interactively accessible map for more than 900000-modeled wells. The results obtained gives forecast of available groundwater amount for production wells and facilitate the decision-making process to permission for production wells.
Publication details
References8
Republic of Latvia Cabinet Regulation No. 696 "Procedures for the Issue of Licences for the Use of Subterranean Depths and Authorisations for the Extraction of Widespread Mineral Resources, as well as Procedures for the Lease of the Land of a Public Person for the Use of Subterranean Depths", Online, Available - https://likumi.lv/ta/en/en/id/236750-procedures-for-the-issue-of-licences-for-the-use-of-subterranean-depths-and-authorisations-for-the-extraction-of-widespread-mineral-resources-as-well-as-procedures-for-the-lease-of-the-land-of-a-public-person-for-the-use-of-subterranean-depths
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