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More than six thousand cubic metres of groundwater is pumped daily in Estonia. Jaanus Teramaa, a senior researcher at the Tallinn University Institute for Ecology explains how it is vital to defend every lake to ensure clean water and proper water flow.

According to research based on NASA studies, more than a third of the Earth’s ground water supplies are running dry. And this is not only happening in dry and hot areas.

The Aral sea, which used to be the fourth biggest lake in the world, is now only 10% of what it used to be. This is happening because of overconsumption of the incoming water.

Since 2002, recurring droughts have reduced the water supplies in California to a level where they will only last for one more year. Their supply of groundwater will not last much longer.

The saddest part is that we do not know how much groundwater there is left in the world. The fact is, mankind has already altered the global water cycle. Clean water is one of the more important resources in the world and the lack of it will become one of the most important socio-economic problems, which the humankind will be facing in the near future.

There are more than 1500 natural lakes in Estonian, tens of thousands of bog pools and as many man-made still water bodies, over 30,000km of rivers and a network of ditches spanning about 140,000km. Our resource of groundwater is an estimated two trillion (2,000,000,000,000) cubic metres.

Most of Estonian groundwater supplies are in good shape. At the same time, we have more rainfall than evaporation, and our main problems are with drainage, not maintaining water levels.

Still, even Estonia has areas, where clean water is scarce. Ida-Virumaa is the county with most environmental problems, and also the county where we get almost all of our electrical energy. This has left a deep imprint on the environment.

Ida-Virumaa is also the host of the Kurtna nature park, the richest nature park in lakes, which is the last bit of pure nature in the industrial landscape and the habitat of many endangered species and rare lake ecosystems.

Intensive oil shale mining has changes the groundwater supplies in a way that already decades ago, groundwater intakes had to be created to supply Jõhvi and other large centres with drinking water.

This, in cooperation with other factors characteristic of such areas, drains so much water from the supply that it directly affects the water levels and conditions of nearby lakes.

Kuradijärv (Devil’s Lake) in Kurtna is one of the more affected lakes. By the 1980, the water level sank by four metres and the lake lost 80% of its volume. This completely altered the lake’s ecosystem and therefore an important link in the general water cycle.

Reductions in water usage, that came with the independence of Estonia, the water level recovered partially, but by now a new decline has started. Over six thousand cubic metres of groundwater is pumped daily from the intake.

The less water the lake has and the worse the ecosystem’s condition, the less effective the natural self-cleaning ability of the lake. The “soup” is just thicker and everything that reaches the lake will soon be re-absorbed by the people.

When the self-cleaning capability of different parts of the ecosystem is ruined, it will leave its mark – albeit a small one at first – to the entire cycle. If too many links in the cycle become weak, it will put the whole world’s fresh water supply in danger.

Caring about every lake is important, not just for the one lake, but to ensure global processes. To ensure we have a functioning water cycle and drinkable fresh water.