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Level of Arapahoe aquifer drops 20-40 feet per year, experts say
Inconsistency in the Denver Basin aquifers, which supply much of Douglas County's water, means that despite the basin's estimated volume of 259,000,000 acre-feet of H2O, users must conserve.
By By: Sean Hadden
Inconsistency in the Denver Basin aquifers, which supply much of Douglas County's water, means that despite the basin's estimated volume of 259,000,000 acre-feet of H2O, users must conserve.
It is also important to develop renewable water sources.
These were the messages Franktown residents received from the county's water consultant and the state engineer's office Oct. 20 at a meeting at Franktown Elementary School.
Despite the seemingly endless supply of water, the level of the Arapahoe aquifer is dropping 20-40 feet per year, said Douglas County water consultant Bruce Lytle.
Arapahoe's is the aquifer of choice for most water users in the Franktown and Parker areas, he said. These areas sit atop the very deepest levels of the Denver Basin, which reaches down about 2,500 feet.
Aquifers are not recharged through precipitation, so the water they contain is considered nonrenewable.
The best way to conserve nonrenewable groundwater is to use it more efficiently, Lytle said.
Some ways to use the water more efficiently are the formation of special districts - areas where taxes are assessed to construct water distribution infrastucture - such as cluster wells and reusing wastewater.
Lytle described a cluster well system as a group of wells drilled into a productive area of an aquifer, but away from a service area. As the water is drawn from the aquifer, the water would then be distributed throughout that area.
Reusing is "a little expensive," but as pressure mounts on the Denver Basin from growth, the reuse of wastewater might become a viable renewable water source, he said.
Reusing works like this: Wastewater is treated and then added to local surface water sources, such as streams. An equal amount of water can then be taken from shallow wells that tap into the shallow alluvial aquifers connected to surface water sources, Lytle said.
Another important point made to residents was that when users are granted the right to drill a water well into one of the Denver Basin aquifers, they should drill it to the deepest level of that aquifer, he said.
This gives a well a longer life as more wells are drilled and aquifer levels drop, he said.
It is also important to develop renewable water sources.
These were the messages Franktown residents received from the county's water consultant and the state engineer's office Oct. 20 at a meeting at Franktown Elementary School.
Despite the seemingly endless supply of water, the level of the Arapahoe aquifer is dropping 20-40 feet per year, said Douglas County water consultant Bruce Lytle.
Arapahoe's is the aquifer of choice for most water users in the Franktown and Parker areas, he said. These areas sit atop the very deepest levels of the Denver Basin, which reaches down about 2,500 feet.
Aquifers are not recharged through precipitation, so the water they contain is considered nonrenewable.
The best way to conserve nonrenewable groundwater is to use it more efficiently, Lytle said.
Some ways to use the water more efficiently are the formation of special districts - areas where taxes are assessed to construct water distribution infrastucture - such as cluster wells and reusing wastewater.
Lytle described a cluster well system as a group of wells drilled into a productive area of an aquifer, but away from a service area. As the water is drawn from the aquifer, the water would then be distributed throughout that area.
Reusing is "a little expensive," but as pressure mounts on the Denver Basin from growth, the reuse of wastewater might become a viable renewable water source, he said.
Reusing works like this: Wastewater is treated and then added to local surface water sources, such as streams. An equal amount of water can then be taken from shallow wells that tap into the shallow alluvial aquifers connected to surface water sources, Lytle said.
Another important point made to residents was that when users are granted the right to drill a water well into one of the Denver Basin aquifers, they should drill it to the deepest level of that aquifer, he said.
This gives a well a longer life as more wells are drilled and aquifer levels drop, he said.
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