Groundwater-Surface Water Interaction to Increase Groundwater Availability

This study develops procedures for using surface water to increase groundwater availability and sustainable yield, and for evaluating impacts on surface water. Increasing sustainable groundwater yield requires reducing the gap between the volumes of discharge from versus recharge to an aquifer. The study presents procedure for water user(s) to help increase groundwater availability. Toward that end, this study simulates and evaluates: a) aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) of water diverted from Red Butte Creek in Salt Lake Valley, Utah for subsequent turf irrigation; b) ASR injection of residential runoff from daily rainfall for subsequent extraction to irrigate turf; and c) stream-aquifer seepage and aquifer recharge from use of grass swales (green infrastructure). Employed groundwater and/or surface water modeling tools include finite difference numerical flow and solute transport simulation models, and statistical expressions. Utilized simulation and/or optimization tools show how to best use surface water to increase aquifer recharge and quantify its impacts on stream-aquifer seepage and streamflow