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<br />I <br />I. <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />Ie <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I. <br />I <br />I <br /> <br />1.0 Purpose of the Phase 1 Study <br /> <br />Senate BiB 96-153 authorizes a study on the economic life of the Denver Basin aquifers. <br />The S.B. 96-153 work is divided into Phase 1 and Phase 2. At the conclusion of a competitive <br />proposal and interview process, HRS Water Consultants, Inc. was awarded the contract to <br />perfonn the Phase 1 work. S.B. 96-153 states that Phase 1 may include: 1) a survey of the <br />adequacy of groundwater flow models; 2) an analysis of the availability of well pumping data; 3) <br />the identification of key questions to be resolved by the Phase 2 analysis; and 4) the development <br />of the Phase 2 work plan. <br /> <br />Discussions concerning the economic life of the Denver Basin aquifers have occurred for <br />more than 20 years. Denver Basin aquifer hydrogeologists realize that production from the <br />Denver Basin aquifer wells will decline over time due to a reduction of the aquifers' saturated <br />thickness caused by pumping. If a certain population is served with Denver Basin aquifer <br />groundwater, the cost of delivering the groundwater will increase as more water wells are <br />required to meet the population's water demand. An unknown at this time is how water well <br />production rates will decline and how the cost of Denver Basin aquifer groundwater production <br />will increase over time. The work in S.B. 96-153 is meant to address these two very important <br />questions. <br /> <br />Determining the economic life of the Denver Basin aquifers is a complicated problem. <br />Analysis of the problem involves: groundwater hydrology, hydrogeology, geology, water well <br />hydraulics, analytical and numerical groundwater flow modeling, borehole geophysics, current and <br />future Denver Basin aquifer groundwater demands, population projections, economic analysis, <br />Colorado Water law, and knowledge of water well installation and equipping. <br /> <br />The analysis of production and drawdown in a Denver Basin aquifer well is made more <br />complicated by the fact that aquifers are composed of interbedded layers of sandstone, siltstone <br />and shale. Denver Basin aquifer water wells are constructed such that well screens are placed <br />adjacent to the saturated sandstone/siltstone layers. An aquifer with ten 20-foot sandstone layers <br /> <br />1 <br /> <br />HRS WATER CONSULTANTS, INC <br />