Underground water storage is the subject of this article from the Pueblo Chieftain. From the article, "Arkansas Valley water users need to quickly begin looking at the potential for underground water storage, a state expert told the Arkansas Basin Roundtable this week...
"The state has completed a survey of groundwater storage sites, finding a large potential for both alluvial and bedrock aquifer storage in both the South Platte and Arkansas basins. Those areas of the state face the largest growth and have the greatest need for more storage, [Ralf Topper of the Colorado Geological Survey] said. The current push to evaluate underground storage potential comes from SB193, passed this year by the Colorado Legislature. The bill directs the Colorado Water Conservation Board to determine the best sites for aquifer storage by March 2007. Topper said area water roundtables should provide their comments to the effort...
"Topper said the benefits of underground storage include reducing loss from evaporation, meeting legal or interstate compact obligations, improving water quality, recharging aquifers and protecting the environment. There are several ways to recharge aquifers, including: Surface infiltration, or allowing water to seep into the ground through ponds, canals or fields; Subsurface infiltration, providing routes for groundwater recharge at the edges of impermeable surfaces; Subsurface dams, that back up water underground, the same way a surface reservoir would; Deep injection wells, that replace water in depleted wells by putting treated water into them...
"Topper acknowledged lawns and parks are beneficial to recharging aquifers, saying return flows have kept the alluvial aquifer in the South Platte at stable levels despite development over the past 30 years. In the Arkansas Basin, Colorado Springs is testing aquifer storage on a small scale in some wells as alternative storage north of the city. The Arkansas Groundwater Users Association, a well augmentation group, has some aquifer recharge on the Excelsior Ditch east of Pueblo. Gary Barber, of the El Paso County Water Authority, has suggested it as well for municipal well recharge."
Category: Colorado Water
6:10:46 AM 
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