Wind farms and groundwater impacts: A practice guide to EIA and Planning considerations
Northern Ireland Environment Agency
Northern Ireland Environment Agency
What impact can a wind farm have on groundwater?
The development of a wind farm has the potential to impact on groundwater quality, groundwater quantity and/or the established groundwater flow regime. Figure 1 shows the scale and extent of the foundation of a single wind turbine which could potentially impact on the aquatic environment. Changes to the local water environment can affect receptors such as wells/boreholes, springs, wetlands and waterways, and can also have implications for groundwater dependent ecology and/or land stability.
[1]Figure 1: Construction of the foundation of a single wind turbine.
The key impacts to groundwater that can result from the construction, operational and decommissioning stages of wind farms are summarised in Table 1 below.
Table 1: Potential impacts on groundwater from wind farms
| Construction Phase | Operational Phase | Decommissioning Phase | |
| Groundwater Flow Regime | Earthworks and site drainage: • Reduction in water table if dewatering is required for turbine foundation construction or borrow pits; • Changes to groundwater distribution and flow. |
Physical presence of turbines and tracks: • Possible changes to groundwater distribution; • Reduction in groundwater storage. Reduction of forestry in site area: • Changes to infiltration and surface runoff patterns, thereby influencing groundwater flow and distribution. |
Physical presence of former turbines and tracks: • Possible changes to groundwater distribution; • Reduction in groundwater storage. |
| Groundwater Quality | Earthworks: • Disturbance of contaminated soil and subsequent groundwater pollution. Materials Management: • Pollution from spills or leaks of fuel, oil and building materials. |
Materials Management: • Pollution from spills or leaks of fuel or oil. |
Use of vehicles and machinery to remove infrastructure: • Pollution from spills or leaks of fuel or oil. |
Download original document: “Wind farms and groundwater impacts [2]”
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/documents/wind-farms-and-groundwater-impacts-a-practice-guide-to-eia-and-planning-considerations/
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[1] Image: https://wind-watch.org/pix/albums/userpics/10001/wind-turbine-foundation.png
[2] Wind farms and groundwater impacts: https://docs.wind-watch.org/NIR-wind-groundwater.txt