| 1/15/2007 9:02:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article | Experts discuss possible study
by Jason Starr
Mail Staff Writer
Government officials and water managers from throughout the area convened Thursday at the Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District offices in Salida to discuss a potential study of ground water in the Upper Arkansas River Valley.
Hydrologist Ken Watts of the United States Geologic Survey presented preliminary ideas as to what information a study could uncover and the methods he and his colleagues would use.
The water district partnered with the USGS earlier this decade to study shallow parts of the aquifer. A second study would investigate deeper levels of groundwater and provide a basis for growth and development planning within the basin.
Groundwater supports growth by supplying well water to homes located in unincorporated parts of Chaffee County. The water district is responsible for replacing the water drawn by wells back into the Arkansas River to satisfy downstream water rights.
Water district manager Terry Scanga said the study would help define the size of the aquifer and the rate at which it is recharged.
"You have to know what demands it can sustain," Scanga said.
Chaffee County Commissioners treated the presentation as a special meeting of their board. They hope more knowledge of the aquifer can help them determine which areas of the county can handle new homes and which cannot.
Representatives from Lake County, Round Mountain Water in Custer County, the Colorado School of Mines, the Town of Buena Vista, the Colorado Geologic Survey, the City of Salida, Fremont County and Penrose attended.
Watts did not present a detailed proposal for the study. Rather, he outlined areas that should be investigated, including measuring inflow and outflow to determine change in depth of the aquifer and identifying inactive and active recharge areas.
He also said identifying the properties of underground rock - including porosity, thickness and permeability - would be helpful. Any fault lines that interrupt the flow of groundwater could also be mapped, he said.
"There's a lot that could be done," Watts said. "What do we want to do is the question."
Scanga urged Watts to draft a preliminary proposal that district and county representatives can take to the Arkansas Basin Roundtable for a funding request.
"We have to figure out who wants to participate," Scanga said. "If we are going to take this to the roundtable, we have to make sure it has area-wide importance and area-wide impact."
A group of two representatives from Lake, Custer, Fremont and Chaffee counties plans to meet to discuss the USGS preliminary proposal. Scanga hopes to have a funding request before the roundtable by May 1.
The study would likely take several years to complete. The previous study was completed in 2003 and cost more than $215,000, paid for by the USGS and UAWCD.
Another area of investigation would focus on underground water storage as an alternative to above-ground reservoirs. Water stored underground would be less subject to evaporative loss.
An aquifer study could identify areas that are suitable for underground water storage, such as those that are isolated, flat and deep that have non-permeable rock.
"You have to investigate a site fairly well to determine if it's a good project," Watts said.
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