An assessment of aquifer storage recovery using ground water flow models

Owing to increased demands on ground water accompanied by increased drawdowns, technologies that use recharge options, such as aquifer storage recovery (ASR), are being used to optimize available water resources and reduce adverse effects of pumping. In this paper, three representative ground water flow models were created to assess the impact of hydrogeologic and operational parameters/factors on recovery efficiency of ASR systems. Flow/particle tracking and solute transport models were used to track the movement of water during injection, storage, and recovery. Results from particle tracking models consistently produced higher recovery efficiency than the solute transport models for the parameters/properties examined because the particle tracking models neglected mixing of the injected and ambient water. Mixing between injected and ambient water affected recovery efficiency. Results from this study demonstrate the interactions between hydrogeologic and operational parameters on predictions of recovery efficiency. These interactions are best simulated using coupled numerical ground water flow and transport models that include the effects of mixing of injected water and ambient ground water.