Refilling Aquifers - Water Augmentation

In the Denver Post on Monday, October 1, 2007, there is an article entitled "Experts keen on refilling aquifers," written by Steve Lipsher. Water in aquifers is known as groundwater.

Within Forest Park HOA, there is a water augmentation (managed recharge) plan in place that pumps water from a dep aquifer to replace water in the aquifers that the owners within Forest Park HOA are pumping out of for use. This augmentation program was put in place to help keep water tables up in those aquifers that are being widely used.

In the article it describes that water within the Denver Basin, one of several aquifers under the Denver metro area, is dropping in some areas by as much as an inch a day. When these aquifer levels drop, it requires deeper wells to be drilled. With deeper wells, costs increase.

To help keep the water tables up, managed recharge has been going on for quite awhile in some areas. The Centennial Water District has been doing this for over a decade. So where is this water coming from to recharge the aquifers? It's filtered waste water in many cases and instead of moving it into an above ground reservior, more and more areas within Colorado will begin placing this water into the aquifers where there is less evaporation and the areas underground can serve as an additional, natural filtration system.

Something to think about when there has been concerns voiced over the supply of water over the long-term for municipalities, small acreages, farmers, and more within Colorado.