NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competencies and with regard for appropriate balance.
This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.
Support for this project was provided by the Bureau of Reclamation Grant No. 1-FG-81-18250, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Grant No. CX-818588-01-0, West Basin Municipal Water District, Water Replenishment District of Southern California, Orange County Water District, and National Water Research Institute.
Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 94-66774
International Standard Book Number 0-309-05142-8
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Copyright 1994 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Original cover art by Marilyn Kirkman, Arati Artists Gallery, Colorado Springs, Colorado
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COMMITTEE ON GROUND WATER RECHARGE
JULIAN ANDELMAN, Chair,
University of Pittsburgh
HERMAN BOUWER,
U.S. Water Conservation Laboratory, Phoenix, Arizona
RANDALL CHARBENEAU,
University of Texas at Austin
RUSSELL CHRISTMAN,
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
JAMES CROOK,
Black & Veatch, Cambridge, Massachusetts
ANNA FAN,
California Environmental Protection Agency, Berkeley
DENISE FORT,
University of New Mexico
WILFORD GARDNER,
University of California, Berkeley
WILLIAM JURY,
University of California, Riverside
DAVID MILLER,
Geraghty & Miller, Inc., Plainview, New York
ROBERT PITT,
University of Alabama at Birmingham
GORDON ROBECK, Water Consultant,
Laguna Hills, California (until February 1993, see page vii)
HENRY VAUX, JR.,
University of California, Berkeley
JOHN VECCHIOLI,
U.S. Geological Survey, Tallahassee, Florida
MARYLYNN YATES,
University of California, Riverside
National Research Council Staff
CHRIS ELFRING, Study Director
ANITA HALL, Project Assistant
ETAN GUMERMAN, Research Intern
ROSEANNE PRICE, Editor
WATER SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY BOARD
DANIEL A. OKUN, Chair,
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
A. DAN TARLOCK, Vice Chair,
Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago-Kent College of Law
J. DAVID ALLEN,
Chevron U.S.A., Inc., New Orleans, Loiusiana
PATRICK L. BREZONIK,
University of Minnesota, St. Paul
KENNETH D. FREDERICK,
Resources for the Future, Washington, D.C.
DAVID L. FREYBERG,
Stanford University, Stanford, California
WILFORD R. GARDNER,
University of California, Berkeley
LYNN R. GOLDMAN,
California Department of Health Services, Emeryville, California
WILLIAM L. GRAF,
Arizona State University, Tempe
THOMAS M. HELLMAN,
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, New York, New York
ROBERT J. HUGGETT,
College of William and Mary, Gloucester Point, Virginia
CHARLES C. JOHNSON, Jr.,
U.S. Public Health Service, Washington, D.C. (Retired)
WILLIAM M. LEWIS, JR.,
University of Colorado, Boulder
CAROLYN H. OLSEN,
Brown and Caldwell, Atlanta, Georgia
CHARLES R. O'MELIA,
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
STAVROS S. PAPADOPULOS,
S. S. Papadopulos & Associates, Inc., Rockville, Maryland
BRUCE E. RITTMANN,
Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois
JOY B. ZEDLER,
San Diego State University, San Diego
Staff
STEPHEN D. PARKER, Director
SHEILA D. DAVID, Senior Staff Officer
CHRIS ELFRING, Senior Staff Officer
GARY KRAUSS, Staff Officer
JACQUELINE MACDONALD, Staff Officer
JEANNE AQUILINO, Administrative Specialist
ANITA A. HALL, Administrative Assistant
GREGORY NYCE, Senior Project Assistant
MARY BETH MORRIS, Senior Project Assistant
ANGELA BRUBAKER, Project Assistant
ETAN GUMERMAN, Research Intern
COMMISSION ON GEOSCIENCES, ENVIRONMENT, AND RESOURCES
M. GORDON WOLMAN, Chair,
The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
PATRICK R. ATKINS,
Aluminum Company of America, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
PETER EAGLESON,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
EDWARD A. FRIEMAN,
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California
W. BARCLAY KAMB,
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
JACK E. OLIVER,
Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
FRANK L. PARKER,
Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee
RAYMOND A. PRICE,
Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario
THOMAS A. SCHELLING,
University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland
LARRY L. SMARR,
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
STEVEN M. STANLEY,
The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
VICTORIA J. TSCHINKEL,
Landers and Parsons, Tallahassee, Florida
WARREN WASHINGTON,
National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado
EDITH BROWN WEISS,
Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, D.C.
Staff
STEPHEN RATTIEN, Executive Director
STEPHEN D. PARKER, Associate Executive Director
MORGAN GOPNIK, Assistant Executive Director
JEANETTE SPOON, Administrative Officer
SANDI FITZPATRICK, Administrative Associate
ROBIN ALLEN, Senior Project Assistant
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The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce Alberts and Dr. Robert M. White are chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.
Dedication
This volume is dedicated to Gordon Robeck, a member of the Committee on Ground Water Recharge, a former member of the Water Science and Technology Board, and a long-time leader in the water community, who passed away in February 1993. A member of the National Academy of Engineering and an internationally respected scientist and engineer, Mr. Robeck had a long and truly distinguished career. He was a pioneer in the provision of safe drinking water. Mr. Robeck will be greatly missed, but his contributions continue to benefit all.
Mr. Robeck spent most of his life in public service, first as a researcher with the U.S. Public Health Service and later as director of the Environmental Protection Agency's Drinking Water Research Division. During his exceptional career, he received many awards, including the Meritorious Service Award from the Public Health Service in 1971; the American Water Works Association Medal for Outstanding Service in 1979; and the EPA Gold Medal for Exceptional Service in 1978. As noted by his friend James M. Symons:
"Gordon received many professional honors, and he enjoyed them, but he never sought them, nor thought them too important. What he did think was important was to have an impact—to make a difference... And he did make a difference: for me, for Cincinnati, for the field, and for all those people who now have better quality drinking water thanks to his efforts."
Preface
Water is increasingly in short supply, especially in the arid and semiarid West, and we as a nation are in a continual search for innovative ways to improve the efficiency with which we manage this critical resource. The growing demand for water, both in the United States and elsewhere around the world, has brought an increasing appreciation for the earth's vast ground water supplies. We look to underground aquifers not just as sources of supply, but as vast storage facilities that give us great management flexibility at relatively affordable cost. One element of a strategy to improve our management of ground water resources is the use of artificial recharge—where excess water is directed purposely into the ground to rebuild or augment ground water supplies. As artificial recharge has increased in popularity, managers have begun to search for additional sources of recharge water. A critical question is whether we might be able to use waters of impaired quality—given appropriate pretreatment, posttreatment, and treatment gained from sod and aquifer processes—to expand our capability to carry out artificial recharge and whether the water recovered from such systems is suitable for potable as well as nonpotable uses.
The Committee on Ground Water Recharge was established by the Water Science and Technology Board of the National Research Council to study the potential of artificial recharge of ground water using source waters of impaired quality, specifically treated municipal wastewater, stormwater runoff, and irrigation return flow. The issues addressed include source water characteristics, treatment technologies, health effects, fate and transport of contaminants, and the sustainability of recharge systems. This report is our attempt to compile a general guide that might be of assistance to federal, state, and local officials and
water managers as they face decisions about the feasibility of proposed recharge projects.
The Committee on Ground Water Recharge consisted of 15 members with experience in engineering, soil science, hydrology, public health, microbiology, economics, law, and other related fields. We gained insights from a far larger group by inviting guests to our meetings, conducting case studies, and reviewing the literature at great length. Appendix A acknowledges some of the community who assisted our project. In particular, however, I want to express my great appreciation to each committee member—each gave significant time and energy to create this report. I also want to thank the staff of the Water Science and Technology Board, especially Chris Elfring, study director, and Anita Hall, project assistant. I would also like to thank the study's sponsors: the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the Water Replenishment District of Southern California, California's Orange County Water District, California's West Basin Municipal Water District, and the National Water Research Institute. Without this support, the study could not have been completed.
The committee's deliberations touch on many issues. The recommendations focus on broad issues, rather than the site-specific details associated with the great variety of possible recharge locations, source waters, and regions. We hope that our report will help move the nation forward in its ability to benefit from the potential offered by artificial recharge.
Julian Andelman, Chair
Committee on Ground Water Recharge