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Aquifer Storage and Recovery, or “ASR,” is a program in which a groundwater basin is used as an underground reservoir. High quality water is injected into the ground through a well when available in the winter and during wet years, and then pumped out through the same well when demand is high in the summer and during dry years.
Monte Vista Water District began injecting water into the Chino Groundwater Basin in June 2007, initiating the first-ever ASR program in the Basin.
"Graphic Illustration of the ASR Process"
ASR is an innovative new strategy for sustainably managing water resources in California. Not only does ASR help to replace water pumped out of the basin on an annual basis, but the high quality water injected into the basin improves the overall groundwater quality. Nitrate, a salt contaminant left over from past agricultural fertilizers, will be diluted over time by Monte Vista Water District’s injection program.
Model Results of Nitrate Reduction Following Injection 2000-2020
(CDM, Groundwater Recharge Facility Feasibility Study, 2003)
Click Image for Better Viewing
Over the next several years, the District will construct two additional wells and modify one existing well to become ASR wells that both inject as well as pump. Annual injection of imported water is anticipated to be approximately 4,000 acre-feet, or over 1.3 billion gallons! The District obtained a $4.3 million loan from the California Department of Water Resources to assist with the financing of the program.
The ASR Program was the recipient of the "2005 Integrated Project of the Year Award" from the Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority. |
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For more information on Monte Vista Water District’s ASR Program, read the following fact sheet and the special issue of Cross Currents linked below, or call (909) 624-0035 ext. 111.
Printable ASR Fact Sheet
Cross Currents Vol. 3, No. 1, Spring 2006
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