Mining Institute of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Perm, Russia

A. P. Lepikhin, Head of laboratory, Professor, Doctor of Geographical Sciences
A. V. Bogomolov, Senior Researcher, Candidate of Engineering Sciences, whitewing85@mail.ru
Yu. S. Lyakhin, Researcher, Candidate of Engineering Sciences
A. I. Luchnikov, Leading Researcher

A key role in stable functioning of mining facilities belongs to the sustainable water supply. The severity of the problem is increasing due to emerging climate change trends and exclusive standards imposed on the intake water quality. At the same time, mining facilities have a strong impact on the environment, including water bodies. This paper discusses the issues of increasing sustainability of water use as a case-study of operating mines at the Upper Kama potassium–magnesium salt deposit. It is shown that in the water bodies located in zones of active technogenesis, zones of increased mineralization can form in the near-bottom areas, and water masses become heterogeneous in depth as a result. The scale and nature of the phenomenon under study are determined both by the intensity of filtration discharges of groundwater with increased mineralization, and by the hydrological regime of water bodies. Depending on the nature of a water body, vertical stratification can be observed both throughout the year and in relatively short periods of ~ 5–10 days. This article discusses both the mechanisms of the vertical stratification and the set of measures to increase sustainability of process water supply as a case-study of specific water bodies, namely, the Upper Zyryanka reservoir and the Kama River (Kama Reservoir) near the city of Berezniki. The proposed set of measures is based on the effective monitoring of water bodies, including automated control, as well as on the selective water sampling from the target horizons.
The study was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, Grant No. 20-45-596028, and by the Government of the Perm Krai, Project MIG No. S-26/788.

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