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Demonstration Project Results <br />The demonstration projects provided insight into technical and administrative issues <br />through practical experience in developing and operating recharge facilities. The program <br />successfully demonstrated the technical efficacy, economic efficiency, and financial <br />feasibility of artificially enhancing recharge across a broad spectrum of political, <br />geographic, and institutional boundaries, under circumstances where recharge technology <br />was previously unused or rarely applied. The demonstration project success is evident by <br />the continued interest of the project sponsors that have undertaken further studies or have <br />integrated groundwater recharge into ongoing water management operations. <br />The demonstration projects can serve as examples for future recharge efforts and provide <br />information and practical experience to draw on for policymaking. Some projects were <br />instrumental in testing water rights issues and improving legal mechanisms to allow for <br />groundwater recharge. The demonstration projects also proved valuable to overcome <br />economic barriers and gain support for recharge. This was especially true in agricultural <br />areas where the projects demonstrated recharge costs and benefits and improved public <br />perception of recharge. Expanded awareness of the needs and opportunities for recharge <br />and the effective protection of public safety, water quality, and environmental resources <br />could provide additional support for future recharge and conjunctive use efforts. <br />Six of the 14 demonstration projects were incorporated into full -scale recharge facilities or <br />paved the way for expanded recharge plans. Four projects had the possibility of continued <br />use in the future, and the other four demonstration projects either suggested or inspired <br />similar recharge efforts. The successful recharge projects provided impetus necessary for <br />investing in recharge, while less successful or problematic recharge projects pointed out <br />important pitfalls and ways problems might be avoided in future planning. <br />Recharge quantity was typically limited by the water available, either because the projects <br />depended on surplus water supplies in high water years, or because of environmental <br />issues, operating constraints, or other considerations. Recharge ranged from 4 acre -feet <br />(Turner - Hogeland, for one season) to 23,154 acre -feet (Southwest Irrigation District, for <br />the demonstration project period). Two projects did not reach the recharge operational <br />phase due to technical, economic, and institutional considerations. <br />Accurate assessment of economic benefits and costs was difficult to determine due to the <br />variety of conditions, technologies, and program- specific attributes. The demonstration <br />recharge costs coincided roughly with the basic categories of recharge operation, ranging <br />from active injection well operations to passive techniques. The smaller scale and variable <br />duration of the demonstration projects resulted in relatively high cost per volume of water <br />recharged, which may not be economically feasible without cost -share support. However, <br />if unappropriated water supplies are available for recharge, it may represent new water, <br />and the costs could be comparable to alternative water supplies. Costs are expected to be <br />lower with longer term, full -scale recharge operations. <br />E6 High Plains States Groundwater Demonstration Program <br />