Pyhätunturi seeks ninefold water allowance after years of overpumping

Pyhätunturi Oy is seeking permission to pump nine times its current allowance from Lake Pyhäjärvi for snowmaking, after pumping about five times the permitted amount in recent years, Yle reports.

The ski resort company has applied to Finland’s Permit and Supervisory Authority to pump up to 360,000 cubic metres of water annually between October and May. A permit issued in 1997 allows it to take 40,000 cubic metres a year.

The company’s application says it pumped an average of about 200,000 cubic metres annually from 2020 to 2025. Matti Parviainen, who recently left his role leading slope operations at Ruka and Pyhä, said the company had been preparing its application for several years and that the excess pumping was noticed before 2020.

The authority says the proposed increase cannot be handled as a simple change to the existing permit and requires a new assessment under Finland’s Water Act. It is also investigating the past excess pumping. An environmental specialist said the amounts taken each season were small compared with the lake’s total volume and that an initial assessment found no significant impact on the lake’s condition.

Parviainen said the company had not been contacted by the previous supervising authority over the permit breach. Under the Water Act, permit violations can result in fines unless another law provides for a more severe penalty.

The company says nine hectares of new slope area have been added over the past 15 years, leaving its current water allowance insufficient even for present needs. It says the limit also prevents planned expansion and hopes to receive the new permit for the coming season.

The Lapland district of the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation wants the application rejected, citing risks to groundwater and nature. Pelkosenniemi municipality supports the development of the resort’s slope operations but has called for a stormwater management plan. It says expansion near a local detailed-plan area could leave the municipality responsible for building additional drainage infrastructure.

The Pyhäjärvi water owners’ cooperative says the application does not assess the effects of slope construction or runoff from melting snow. It points to a master plan that includes 26 hectares of new slopes and has called for measures to limit erosion and, if necessary, filter water before it reaches the lake. The cooperative also wants to know whether additives are used in snowmaking or slope maintenance, but does not oppose increased pumping.

Tags: Pyhätunturi, snowmaking, water permits