Groundwater–Surface Water Interaction: Process Understanding, Conceptualization and Modelling (Proceedings of Symposium HS1002 at IUGG2007, Perugia, July 2007). IAHS Publ. 321, 2008, 164-170.

Coupling of surface water management and groundwater dynamics for mining pit lakes

Hagen Koch, Kai Mazur & Uwe Grünewald

Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus, Chair of Hydrology and Water Resources Management,
PO Box 101 344, D-03013 Cottbus, Germany

hagen.koch@tu-cottbus.de

Abstract In mining regions the availability of surface water can be affected by groundwater drawdown. For sustainable management of the surface water resources, groundwater dynamics also have to be considered. In the Lusatian mining area (Germany) large-scale lignite mining left huge mining pit holes to be filled with surface water and groundwater. Due to unreliable and low surface water availability, the implementation of the filling process requires systematic planning. A surface water management model using stochastic streamflow series was applied because the future surface water availability is unknown. Using regression functions, groundwater dynamics in a system of linked mining pit lakes were included in a surface water management model. These functions enable the simultaneous calculation of effects caused by surface water management and corresponding groundwater dynamics. In this paper the results obtained will be presented and problems and their solution will be discussed.

Key words surface water–groundwater-coupling; integrated water resources management; mining areas; groundwater drawdown; regression functions