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<br />Problems and Needs <br /> <br />e <br /> <br />The drought in South Dakota from 1974 to 1976, the near-drought conditions in 1980 to <br />1981, and the drought in 1988 to 1989 resulted in increased demands on the groundwater <br />resources within many of the heavy agricultural areas of the James River basin (figure 1). <br />These increases in demand for irrigation water from the glacial aquifers and continued <br />requests to the State of South Dakota for additional irrigation well permits created a need <br />for a systematic water management program of the glacial aquifer complex in the James <br />River basin. An extensive observation well network was established to monitor the long- <br />term effects of pumpage on the aquifers in the State. This water level monitoring program <br />identified a number of aquifer areas in the James River basin which have experienced <br />groundwater level declines from pumping. The water level declines continued into the late <br />1980's, with little or no groundwater recovery. <br /> <br />In addition to irrigation wells, the City of Huron also has a municipal well field in this area <br />(figure 2). The well field is currently used as a 'backup" water supply to the James River, <br />the city's primary water source. The well field was developed in the 1920's but saw very <br />little use from the 1940's until the drought years of the 1970's with low flows in the James <br />River. The well field is presentiy used as a water source for Hurun Juring late winter <br />before the ice breakup and during the low flow period of late summer and early fall. <br />Anticipated increases in the demand for municipal, industrial, and irrigation water, and <br />uncertainty of flow in the James River (especially during periods of drought), may require <br />the city to rely more heavily on groundwater to meet municipal demands. <br /> <br />Project Objectives <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />The Huron Recharge Project represents a unique opporhmity to evaluate the recharge <br />potential of buried glacial aquifers. Briefly, the concept of the project is to use high flows <br />from the James River during the spring runoff period as a source of water, treat this water <br />in the City of Huron's water treatment plant, pipe the water to the Huron well field using <br />the city's existing pipeline, and inject the water into the Warren aquifer, a buried glacial <br />aquifer. The use of treated water, combined with extensive water quality monitoring of <br />. both injectate and groundwater, greatly mitigat~s the chance of degradation or the aquirer's <br />water quality and may in ract improve the water quality or the aquirer. The evaluation of <br />the recharge potential of glacial aquifers is particularly important to South Dakota because <br />glacial aquifers serve as a primary water source for much of the eastern part of the State as <br />well as other parts of the United States where glacial deposits are significant sources of <br />water. This study will provide important verification of whether these glacial aquifers can <br />be recharged. An anticipated side benefit of the recharge is the potential for improving the <br />existing groundwater quality through dilution-an issue that may be of significant <br />importance given the recent attention paid to groundwater contamination. <br /> <br />Approach <br /> <br />Several tasks were undertaken to meet the project objectives. First, the geohydrology of the . <br />site was characterized to determine the areal extent, hydraulic properties, and water level <br /> <br />2 <br />