Symposium Recap

David Pyne Recharges ASR/AR Symposium Attendees

by Todd Jarvis, Associate Director, OSU Institute for Water and Watersheds

Co-convened by the Oregon Water Resources Department and the Institute for Water & Watersheds at Oregon State University, the one day symposium focusing on obstacles and opportunities to ground water recharge in Oregon at the LaSells Stewart Center at Oregon State University on February 28, 2008 was attended by over 170 attendees and not a moment too soon.   The symposium was opened by OWRD Director Phil Ward who announced that the Oregon Legislature had approved Senate Bill 1069 in the closing hours of the special session that ended February 22.  SB 1069 appropriated $750,000 to study the feasibility of replenishing ground water in the Umatilla basin.  IWW Director Michael E. Campana echoed the legislative momentum by stating that the gathering of technical, social, and legal experts at the symposium could not have been better timed.

Thirteen oral and four poster presentations covered a wide variety of ASR and AR issues: legal, regulatory, hydrogeologic, engineering, water quality, aesthetic, and social.

Internationally-renowned managed recharge expert David Pyne of ASR Systems and author of the seminal book Aquifer Storage and Recovery, 2nd Edition, served as the keynote speaker for the event.  He made it clear that while there were over 80 managed recharge projects underway in the United States, the international water community was quickly embracing the technology and beginning to develop innovative technologies and policies that the United States should consider integrating into their programs.  On the basis of the “buzz” overheard during the breaks, the concept of using in-situ treatment of injected water through Aquifer Storage, Treatment and Recovery (ASTR) currently used in Australia, and the emerging development of “leasing” underground space for ASR, captured the attention of many attendees.  On the basis of the abstracts submitted for the upcoming National Ground Water Association conference on Non-Renewable Ground Water scheduled for October in Portland, Oregon, there is some crossover of topics between managed recharge and the use of non-renewable ground water.

Contrary to popular belief, Aquifer Storage and Recovery and Artificial Recharge are not the same thing in Oregon.  OWRD Ground Water Section Manager Doug Woodcock and Hydrogeologist Donn Miller carefully explained the differences from a regulatory perspective.  Their take-home message was simple – if in doubt, or if one has any questions, don’t hesitate to call OWRD for help – they are open for business.

Building upon her M.S. thesis that went above and beyond the call of duty and was completed under a partnership between OWRD and OSU Geosciences hydrogeologist, Roy Haggerty, Jen Woody described the numerous state-wide opportunities that exist for ASR/AR in Oregon.  Jen now works for OWRD and introduced a new Web-based managed recharge tool that is currently being developed to supplement the already user-friendly interactive mapping program found on the OWRD Web site.  Jen indicated the unveiling of the new tool will be sometime in 2009.

Several Oregon-based case studies from sites in the Pacific Northwest, ranging in geographic extent from the Willamette to the Umatilla basins, as well as from Washington, were presented.  David Winship from the City of Beaverton described that city’s ASR operation. It is probably the most famous in Oregon due to its ongoing success in assisting a municipality in meeting the growing demands for drinking water where the “footprints” for above-ground storage are few and far between in an urban setting.  Showcasing some of Oregon’s homegrown ASR technology, Kent Madison of Madison Farms in Echo described the design and use of his famous downhole valve which is being used in the Umatilla Basin in an agricultural application.  Bob Anderson and Alyssa Neir of Golder Associates presented a convincing case study of the value of “pre-assessment” for ASR programs, especially through the use of predictive computer modeling and the value of revisiting the “ancient” concepts of Stream Depletion Factors linked to modeling in the Yakima Basin in Washington.  Jason Pulley from the City of Salem showcased a previous career as a comedian as he described the early successes, later “failures” and the “rising Phoenix” of the first Oregon-licensed ASR project as ASR reemerges as a water supply management tool in Salem, Oregon.  The take-home message from the case studies generally focused on the importance of the “appearance” of ASR projects to the public which typically revolves around the design of the wellhouses for the injection and recovery wells – “design matters” in ASR, so we can anticipate some architectural wonders arising from the increased use of ASR projects in the Pacific Northwest!

One of the largest concerns revolving around the use of ASR and AR in the US is the chemical and biological quality of the stored water.  Phil Richerson of the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality showcased a simple spreadsheet-based tool to assess the analysis of pesticides in source water.  David Metge of the U.S. Geological Survey underscored the need to better assess the fate of bacteria, virus and protozoan pathogens that may be introduced into the subsurface.  He also reiterated the need for good conceptual models of the aquifer systems and the appropriate use of computer models built around the conceptual models as opposed to using models “off the shelf”.  Dennis Nelson of the Oregon Department of Human Services provided a “PHREEQy” tutorial of low temperature aqueous geochemistry and the chemical reactions that result from the mixing of stored waters with native ground waters.  The take-home message from these presentations is that water quality considerations are clearly an area for emerging academic and policy research.

What set this symposium apart from other discourses on managed recharge was the emphasis on social challenges facing the growing use of ASR and AR.  Connie Ozawa, Professor of Urban Studies and Planning at Portland State University, apprised the audience that the apparent “silence” from the public does not tacitly imply an acceptance of managed recharge, but rather may reflect the silence associated with the lull before the storm.  Clearly, Connie's presentation underscored the need for more work on "listening" and planning for conflict in the managed recharge arena.  Martha Pagel of Schwabe, Williamson and Wyatt and former OWRD Director described the history of the laws and policies surrounding ASR and AR in Oregon, which in a nutshell can be described as “squishy”.  And Cat Shrier, Ph.D. of Watercat Consulting and member of the National Research Council Committee on Managed Underground Storage of Recoverable Water, presented an overview of the recently released report and invited attendees to a follow-up Forum on Policy, Regulatory and Economic Issues identified in the 2008 NRC report, Prospects for Managed Underground Storage of Recoverable Water. The forum is scheduled for March 19, 2008, in Washington, DC, and is sponsored by the Ground Water Protection Council.

The program and abstracts, are available as a PDF file as are copies of slides shown during the oral presentations.

The “customer satisfaction survey” of the symposium was very favorable with many requests and suggestions for additional local and regional water-related conferences. 

Thanks to all of the presenters, sponsors, and vendors who made the symposium a success.