Groundwater is a critically important resource that is vital to the economy and environment of the arid West. Western States recognize the importance and role of comprehensive groundwater planning in overall water management. The conditions affecting groundwater supplies, demands, and quality vary considerably across our individual member States. States have exclusive authority over the allocation and administration of rights to the use of the groundwater located within their borders and are primarily responsible for allocating, protecting, managing and otherwise controlling the resource. States are in the best position to protect groundwater quality and quantity. Western States understand and have demonstrated effective and comprehensive groundwater management policies, programs, and projects.
Aquifer Recharge in the West
In the 1990’s, the WSWC worked with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to evaluate legal and institutional issues related to a number of groundwater recharge demonstration projects. Groundwater recharge projects are very site specific for hydrologic, geologic, economic, legal, and regulatory reasons. Projects are generally undertaken at a private or local government level to augment
water supplies and ensure the reliability of existing water supplies. The highly variable and uncertain nature of natural precipitation and snowpack runoff in the West is often both a reason for and an obstacle to successful recharge projects. Not all aquifers are suitable candidates for groundwater recharge. Project sponsors must take into consideration the porosity or fractured nature of the underlying sediments or bedrock; the timing of the intended storage and recovery and whether the water will stay in the desired location or migrate; and the chemistry of the recharge water, the receiving water, and the surrounding aquifer geology. Project costs for upfront capital financing have generally been recovered through general tax revenues or water and sewer user fees. Unit costs of water are sensitive to such factors as project scale and production levels, and municipal projects have historically had a higher probability of success given the economies of scale and higher water values. In the West, water rights are similar to property rights, and state water laws regarding beneficial use and the administration and allocation of water can impose some constraints on the intended benefits of groundwater recharge projects. Local planning and zoning requirements can substantially increase the costs of municipal recharge projects.
State and federal laws protecting the quality of existing groundwater resources, particularly where those resources are used for drinking water, can also constrain groundwater recharge projects. Additional details are contained in the two reports below: