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EFFECTS OF ARTIFICIAL RECHARGE ON GROUND WATER QUALITY AND AQUIFER STORAGE RECOVERY 1
Author(s) -
Ma Li,
Spalding Roy F
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
jawra journal of the american water resources association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.957
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1752-1688
pISSN - 1093-474X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1752-1688.1997.tb03532.x
Subject(s) - groundwater recharge , hydrology (agriculture) , aquifer , water table , environmental science , depression focused recharge , water quality , groundwater , infiltration (hvac) , surface runoff , geology , geography , ecology , meteorology , geotechnical engineering , biology
Ground water nitrate contamination and water level decline are common concern in Nebraska. Effects of artificial recharge on ground water quality and aquifer storage recovery (ASR) were studied with spreading basins constructed in the highly agricultural region of the Central Platte, Nebraska. A total of 1.10 million m 3 of Platte River water recharged the aquifer through 5000 m 2 of the recharge basins during 1992, 1993, and 1994. This is equivalent to the quantity needed to completely displace the ground water beneath 34 ha of the local primary aquifer with 13 m thickness and 0.25 porosity. Successful NO 3 ‐N remediation was documented beneath and downgradient of the recharge basins, where NO 3 ‐N declined from 20 to 2 mg L ‐1 . Ground water atrazine concentrations at the site decreased from 2 to 0.2 mg L ‐1 due to recharge. Both NO 3 ‐N and atrazine contamination dramatically improved from concentrations exceeding the maximum contaminant levels to those of drinking water quality. The water table at the site rose rapidly in response to recharge during the early stage then leveled off as infiltration rates declined. At the end of the 1992 recharge season, the water table 12 m downgradient from the basins was elevated 1.36 m above the preproject level; however, at the end of the 1993 recharge season, any increase in the water table from artificial recharge was masked by extremely slow infiltration rates and heavy recharge from precipitation from the wettest growing season in over 100 years. The water table rose 1.37 m during the 1994 recharge season. Resultant ground water quality and ASR improvement from the artificial recharge were measured at 1000 m downgradient and 600 m upgradient from the recharge basins. Constant infiltration rates were not sustained in any of the three years, and rates always decreased with time presumably because of clogging. Scraping the basin floor increased infiltration rates. Using a pulsed recharge to create dry and wet cycles and maintaining low standing water heads in the basins appeared to reduce microbial growth, and therefore enhanced infiltration.