Activity 4, Report 2: Strategy for sustainable management of ground water and aggregate extraction areas for Vyborg district The European Union´s Tacis Cross-Border Co-operation Small Project Facility Programme Strategy development for sustainable use of groundwater and aggregates in Vyborg district, Leningrad Oblast Activity 4, Report 2: Strategy for sustainable management of ground water and aggregate extraction areas in Vyborg District Activity 4, Report 2: Strategy for sustainable management of ground water and aggregate extraction areas for Vyborg district Strategy development for sustainable use of ground water and aggregates in Vyborg District, Leningrad Oblast, Russia Activity 4, Report 2: Strategy for sustainable management of ground water and aggregate extraction areas in Vyborg District Edited by Leveinen J. and Kaija J. Contributors Savanin V., Philippov N., Myradymov G., Litvinenko V., Bogatyrev I., Savenkova G., Dimitriev D., Leveinen J., Ahonen I, Backman B., Breilin O., Eskelinen A., Hatakka, T., Härmä P, Jarva J., Paalijärvi M., Sallasmaa, O., Sapon S., Salminen S., Räisänen M., Activity 4, Report 2: Strategy for sustainable management of ground water and aggregate extraction areas for Vyborg district Contents Contents ...............................................................................................................................................3 Summary ..............................................................................................................................................4 Introduction..........................................................................................................................................5 2 Objectives of the report................................................................................................................6 Background of the project....................................................................................................................6 Relevance of the strategy to the region................................................................................................7 Groundwater potential the in the Vyborg ..........................................................................................10 Threats of groundwater quality..........................................................................................................13 Recent programs on protection of the environment...........................................................................14 Common grounds for groundwater and aggregate resource strategy ................................................15 Development of groundwater supply.................................................................................................16 Development of groundwater protection ...........................................................................................17 Integrated mapping and assessment of subsurface resources ............................................................18 Implementation of the strategy ..........................................................................................................23 References..........................................................................................................................................25 Appendix 1.........................................................................................................................................26 Activity 4, Report 2: Strategy for sustainable management of ground water and aggregate extraction areas for Vyborg district Summary The main purpose of this Tacis Cross Border Cooperation, Small Project Facility project was to develop water supply and rational management and exploitation of groundwater resources and sand, gravel and rock aggregate materials around existing water intakes in towns and villages in the Vyborg district, Leningrad Oblast. Groundwater-based water supply in Finland has developed cost-efficient technical solutions and groundwater exploration approaches that can be recommended as the basis for best practices for groundwater investigations also in Vyborg area and similar crystalline bedrock areas in NW-Russia. The Finnish approaches are versitile and can be adjusted to comply with the current Russian regulations on groundwater investigations. Consequently, the development of water supply in the Vyborg district based on the utilization of glaciofluvial deposits can be included to the already started federal programs. Glaciofluvial deposits can provide similarly, solutions for water deficit in other parts of NW Russia. Future programs could also integrate the investigations of improved assessments of aggregate resources in Vyborg district. Based on Finnish experiences, this would support significantly sustainable aggregate extraction and future management of natural resources in Vyborg area. Finally, investigations promoting production of mechanically high quality rock aggregate materials should be supported to reduce the use of sand and gravel aggregates. Three strategic development areas for sustainable management can be distinguished: groundwater supply, groundwater protection and integrated environmental management of subsurface resources The activities described can accomplished only in more that one project. The activities should be implemented in compliance with Russian administrative structure and with existing practises of land-use or water services planning. Permitting the use of natural resources is co-ordinated and controlled by the federal agencies and local executive bodies under the Ministry of Natural Resources. Some of the activities suggested may be defined as regulatory obligations of the aggregate extracting companies in the extraction licence agreements and to be carried out at their expense. Many of the activities described above can be incorporated to already ongoing Federal development and target programs. Due to the improvement of the financial situation of Russian Federation, it is realistic to expect significant Federal funding in near future to some of the activities listed above. The local level authorities have limited possibilities to implement the activities with their own resources. However, their role in the initiation phase of federal development and target programs has been significant. Therefore, Leningrad Oblast Administration can be expected to have good perspectives to get allocations from Federal financing to the activities listed above. Co- financing should be also sought from international programs and donors. Consequently, it is hoped that this document helps the Administrations of the Vyborg district by providing new concepts for development of the area and a choice of priority directions of works on rational use of natural resources. Some of the activities delineated would benefit from a continuing co-operation with Finnish expert organizations and administration. Some of the activities are relevant also for other areas in NW Russia. For example, in the Republic Kareliya where also exist severe problems with local water supply. Activity 4, Report 2: Strategy for sustainable management of ground water and aggregate extraction areas for Vyborg district Introduction Since 1997, The Tacis Cross Border Cooperation (CBC) Small Project Facility (Tacis CBC SPF) has supported small-scale co-operation projects between local and regional authorities on the Western borders of the NIS. The basic purpose of the SPF is to foster co-operation between regions, cities and local authorities. The objective is to support priority areas by enabling partners to work together on a common cross-border problems or developing the partners’ competencies in different priority areas. In addition to the obvious need for cross-border cooperation in combating pollution and improving conservation, the European Parliament, EU Member States, and the NIS' governments themselves have shown political interest in the environment, and all of them stress that the environmental considerations should be a key component of the Tacis-CBC programme. This project has been co-financed by the European Union´s Tacis Cross-Border Co-operation Small Project Facility Programme (c.a. 80 %)1, the Administration of Leningrad Oblast (c.a. 7 %) and Geological Survey of Finland – GTK (c.a. 13 % ). The main purpose of the project was to develop water supply and rational management and exploitation of groundwater resources and sand, gravel and rock aggregate materials around existing water intakes in towns and villages in the Vyborg district, Leningrad Oblast. The local authorities were helped to safeguard the sufficient groundwater supply for the local population and tourists in long terms while upholding the supply of high-quality aggregate production needed for the strong ongoing build-up of infrastructure in NW-Russia. The aim or the project was to distinguish best practices for sustainable use of groundwater and aggregate resources after know-how transfer and comparison of the present techniques used for environmental planning and groundwater investigations in geologically analogical cross-border areas. The project went beyond mere dissemination of information and recommendations by developing a pilot site and delineating prospective areas for future investigations. Environmentally based strategies were delineated using the project findings to help the region to cope with the increasing demand for potable water and high quality construction materials. Project consortium consisted of local and regional environmental