Artifical Recharge of Ground Water in Colorado

• Year: 2004
• Title: Artificial Recharge of Ground Water in Colorado
• Author: Colorado Geological Survey Department of Natural Resources
• Description: A Statewide Assessment 2004
• Publications - Doc Type: Other

Artificial Recharge of Ground Water in Colorado
A Statewide Assessment
Figure III -6. Denver Basin hydrographs and ASR operation.
Fig. III -6a A typical hydrograph from an Arapahoe Aquifer well in the Highlands Ranch area illustrate a
regional water level decline of approximately 30 feet per year; over a 16 -year period.
Fig. III -6b A seasonal cycle overprints the regional trend, where water levels fall through the summer as the aquifer
is stressed by pumping from nearby wells, and rise in the winter when nearby pumping decreases.
Fig. III -6c is from an active ASR well operated by the Centennial Water and Sanitation District that shows cycles
of water injection (blue points), extraction (red points), and recovery (white points). A projection of the
recovery cycles (white) suggests that, locally, the rate of water level decline is less than the regional rate,
nossiblu due to the aquifer restoration benefit of artificial recharge.
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400-
500 -
600 -'
4f
V 700 -
¢t
°J '
800
�.
o
900
-C
Q1000 j
I
1100
Time frame in figs. b & c
1200
1300 - - - - -- -
r- - -� -- - - -
Jan. 1985 Jan. 1990
- -- 1 - -- — - - - --
Jan. 1995 Jan.2000 Jan.2005
700- - -- -- - - — - --
800
900
i
v 1000
~�
1100
o
C 1200
Q
1300
— Overall
1400
trend line
1500-1- -F-
Jan. 1996 Jan. 1997
Jan. 1998
400 - - -- - - - -
—
500 -I
600
700
800
�
�y
� I
O 900
a 1000
v
1100 -
♦ Period of injection
1200 Period of recovery
• Period of extraction
1300 -� - -- -- -- - - - --
Jan. 1996 Jan. 1997
Jan. 1998
Figure III -6. Denver Basin hydrographs and ASR operation.
Fig. III -6a A typical hydrograph from an Arapahoe Aquifer well in the Highlands Ranch area illustrate a
regional water level decline of approximately 30 feet per year; over a 16 -year period.
Fig. III -6b A seasonal cycle overprints the regional trend, where water levels fall through the summer as the aquifer
is stressed by pumping from nearby wells, and rise in the winter when nearby pumping decreases.
Fig. III -6c is from an active ASR well operated by the Centennial Water and Sanitation District that shows cycles
of water injection (blue points), extraction (red points), and recovery (white points). A projection of the
recovery cycles (white) suggests that, locally, the rate of water level decline is less than the regional rate,
nossiblu due to the aquifer restoration benefit of artificial recharge.
13