DOI: 10.11118/978-80-7509-831-3-0390

The stability of banks in post-mining lakes as a limit to their recreational potential

Jan Deutscher, Miloslav Šlezingr, Ondřej Hemr, Petr Pelikán, Kateřina Sedláčková

In the lowland areas of the Czech Republic, the mining sites of sand and gravel-pits are often naturally filled with groundwater. This creates typical post-mining lakes of great importance in the landscape. Not only do these lakes create valuable semi-natural habitats sought after i. a. endangered water bird species and become hotspots of local ecological stability, they also quickly become popular destinations for various recreational activities. Wanted or unwanted, spontaneous recreation cannot be stopped as fisherman; swimmers; divers; various sportsmen etc. always seem to find a way to enter the lakeside. This phenomenon has to be reckoned with at all stages of the restoration, planning and management of these areas. In post-mining lakes, where recreation is one of the desired functions, bank stability plays critical role in ensuring the safety of visitors and thus becomes one of the main limiting factors of its recreational potential. In this article, we present a unique low-cost approach how the stability can be improved. This can hopefully contribute to a reasonable management of these precious areas by supporting both its ecological and recreational values.

Keywords: bank stabilization, grain size distribution, lowland floodplains, post-mining sites, recreation

pages: 390-393, Published: 2022, online: 2022