BOARD00363

• Board Meeting Date: 5/24/2004
• Description: Artificial Recharge of Ground Water in Colorado - A Statewide Assessment
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

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Artificial Recharge of Ground Water in Colorado
A Statewide Assessment

This inventory has identified 19 active AR operations within the state (Table VI-I). The actual
number of specific points of recharge is much higher. For purposes of this inventory, AR
projects within common management regions such as the San Luis Valley and lower South Platte
River basin are treated as single operations because the objectives, technologies, and operations
within the regions are similar. Furthermore, the many individual sites within the two regions are
poorly documented and, therefore, difficult to inventory in detail.

Recharge volumes for all of the individual sites are not readily available. However, recharge
volumes have been obtained for AR operations in the Denver Basin, decreed ditch companies in
the San Luis Valley, and lower South Platte River basin. Total recharge volumes for these
operations over the period of 1992 through 2002 are listed in Table VI-2. As shown, the annual
recharge volumes range from just over 65,200 acre-feet (ac-ft) in 1992 to a high approaching
285,000 ac-ft in 1995. The total volume of water recharged by these operations alone for that
period is approximately 2.4 million ac-ft. The statewide total is likely to be somewhat higher
taking into account the individual sites for which records could not be obtained.

The following discussion will first address regional AR activity in the lower South Platte River
basin and San Luis Valley, both areas where many individual AR sites create large AR systems.
Next will be a brief discussion of emerging application of ASR technology in the Denver Basin.
Lastly, there are a number of relatively small AR operations at other locations in the state that
meet various objectives.

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