Estonia receives about 500 requests a year regarding well coordinates
In Estonia, the Environmental Agency receives around 500 requests each year to correct data on the location of boreholes on state maps. Inaccuracies in registers can create difficulties for property owners when planning construction, ERR News reports.
Restrictions due to inaccurate data
One family encountered a problem when the Environmental Board rejected its notification to install a septic tank. The agency stated that the planned structure would supposedly be located above a borehole marked on the map.
The borehole on the property does exist: it was constructed and properly registered in the 1990s. At the same time, its actual location did not match the data in the register. According to Timo Torp, a leading specialist in the Environmental Agency’s environmental use department, such discrepancies are often discovered during planning or construction work, when a borehole marked on the map imposes restrictions on development nearby.
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Historical records
The Environmental Agency maintains the register, while data on the location of boreholes fall under the responsibility of the Environmental Board. Triin Mägi, director of the water department, noted that the registers contain information on tens of thousands of wells and boreholes that require constant verification and updating.
According to Torp, the register contains data on approximately 60,000 boreholes, including an estimated 40,000 household wells. The Estonian Geological Survey transferred these data to the Environmental Agency in 2010. The oldest records date back to the 19th century, when coordinate determination was less accurate; some information also comes from Soviet-era paper maps.
In some cases, the inaccuracy amounts to several meters, while at times a borehole marked on the map does not exist at all. Torp said that the accuracy of data created before the widespread use of GPS in the second half of the last century is questionable.
