The area now occupied by a body of water near Orlová was once a brickyard,which was sold in the 1920s to the coal processing plant Kamenouhelné závody Orlová – Lazy, and later converted into residential houses for pensioners and former employees’ widows. The place became known as “Kozí Becirk” (Goats’ Place) after the goats kept by the local residents on the surrounding meadows.
The settlement was torn down in 1958 and in its place a lake emerged amid the subsidence caused by mining activities. “Deep hard coal mining typically goes hand in hand with the development of poorly drained hollows, which are usually quickly filled by groundwater as well as surface water. In the past, they were frequently used as settling pits for waste and coal sludge,” said Jan Slíva, Deputy Director of CSS – rekultivace OKD.
A different fate was in store for Kozí Becirk. It was one of the first reclamation projects in the then Czechoslovakia, with landscaping works starting in 1972, followed by tree planting. The site is one of the few in the country where the results of reclamation and landscaping can still be observed several decades later.
Nonetheless, the current landscape differs from that intended in the 1970s. “The surface continued to subside even after landscaping. Today we know that the process, depending on the extent of the previous mining, can even continue for several decades,” explained Slíva.
Given this outcome, the development plans for the site were reassessed at the turn of the millennium. In cooperation between the town of Orlová and Lazy Mine, a recreational lake was created at the site with sand beaches lining the banks and a reconstructed road for access. Kozí Becirk thus became a popular spot for anglers, bikers and water sports.
Kozí Becirk is a good example of how reclamation procedures can develop over time. In the past, bodies of water at reclamation sites were seldom used for leisure activities for fear of water contamination in the subsided hollows. Previously, they would have often been filled with spoil, creating the flat terrain with limited potential for further revitalisation.
The current trend is to move in the opposite direction, with the stabilisation of the landscape to as delicate an extent as viable, utilising aquatic and wooded expanses. The aim is to preserve the natural biotopes with indigenous plant and animal species. “Reclaimed sites represent significant development potential for the inhabitants of the Karviná region, which lacks suitable recreational resorts,” said Slíva.
- Technical reclamation: 1972 –1977 and 1999
- Biological reclamation: 1977–1982 and 1999 –2002
- Estimated outlay: CZK 5.8 million
- Source of financing: OKD
- Area: 12.5 ha
- Reclamation objective: a body of water and greenery
The reclaimed sites are progressively populated by returning animal and plant species with a keen demand for a clean environment. Experts expect this approach to reclamation to continue, gradually returning locations to natural-cultural landscape states in which indigenous species can coexist with human utilisation of terrain.
“The quality of water in the reclaimed subsided hollows in the Karviná region is regularly measured. The results are much better than the results for the neighbouring reservoirs Těrlicko and Žermanice,” concluded Slíva.
Marek Síbrt,
marek.sibrt@okd.cz