Presenting on Recharge and Water Supply Resilience
The 2020 Annual WateReuse Symposium, Reaching New Heights in Water Reuse, is taking place virtually from September 13 to September 16, 2020. DBS&A Hydrogeologist Amy Ewing, PG is presenting Managed Aquifer Recharge and Water Supply Resilience in Albuquerque, New Mexico, prepared in conjunction with DBS&A Geochemist Christopher Wolf, PG, and Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority Water Resources Division Manager Katherine Yuhas. The Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority has developed a 100-year water resource management plan, which includes implementing managed aquifer recharge projects as a supply alternative. This talk will discuss the DWTP Large-Scale Recharge Demonstration project and testing, as well as future plans.
Presentation abstract:
The Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority (Water Authority) has developed a water resource management strategy titled Water 2120: Securing Our Water Future to plan for meeting water needs for the next century. The strategy emphasizes water conservation and the addition of surface water for water supply. Surface water is now being used as the primary source of water supply when it is available, with groundwater being used as the supplemental source of supply.
The strategy includes implementing managed aquifer recharge projects as a supply alternative. Recharge projects are currently being implemented for conjunctive management of surface water and groundwater resources using imported San Juan-Chama (SJC) Project water diverted from the Rio Grande. These projects are being implemented to address increased variability and uncertainty of the water supply in the future. They allow for the storage of surplus water supply when it is available and recovery of the stored water in times of shortage, allowing for drought resiliency.
The Water Authority has completed demonstration testing of their Drinking Water Treatment Plant Large-Scale Recharge Demonstration Project, which includes a new aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) well. The project is permitted to recharge up to 5,000 acre-feet per year, with a goal of building a storage account of up to 50,000 acre-feet in the aquifer. The new well, ASR-01, is completed to 1,240 feet in sediments of the Santa Fe Group that are considered part of the Middle Rio Grande Basin. ASR-01 has a pumping capacity of 3,500 gallons per minute (gpm) and injection capacity of 1,750 gpm. During demonstration testing, recovered water, which is a mixture of groundwater and treated surface water, met New Mexico groundwater quality standards.
This talk will discuss the DWTP Large-Scale Recharge Demonstration project and testing, as well as future plans.