STATIONARY MATHEMATICAL MODEL OF an AQUIFER AS A BASIC TOOL FOR MANAGEMENT OF GROUNDWATER RESOURCES IN THE CONCENTRATED OPENCAST MINING INDUSTRY IN THE HOLY CROSS MOUNTAINS

Abstract

Opencast mining industry very often extracts mineral resources below the groundwater table. Dewatering of excavations affects exploitable groundwater resources. It causes only temporal changes, but if they last several tens of years, local population is forced to modernize existing or even build new groundwater intakes. Mines discharge water into rivers, and local residents have problems with water supply. The municipality has the right not to agree for dewatering, but then it limits the activities of the mining industry. Therefore, it is very important to recognize not only the mining excavations affected by water inflow, but also the scope of hydrodynamic changes and their impact on groundwater intake facilities. The basic computational tool for prediction the effects of extraction of mineral resources below the water table should be a properly constructed mathematical model of a dewatered aquifer. The model should be stationary and should be used to prepare further forecasts for the assessment of damage caused by mining operations, depending on the progress in the exploitation of minerals. This will allow anticipating actions to cover possible losses in water supply to people, agriculture and the local industry. The authors present this problem and the attempts of such operations, based on the examples from the Gałęzice–Bolechowice–Borków and Łagów regions in the Holy Cross Mountains where numerous opencast mines of the Devonian limestones and dolomites are located.