Page 2 Underground water (continued from page 1) quantity of this water is stored where it is needed most, in the sand and gravel deposits which underlie the population centers along the Wasatch Front, including the Ogden area. These deposits constitute our ground water reservoirs, termed aquifers by iscientists. This water occurs in the tiny open spaces between particles of sand and gravel, not in underground rivers or large lake-size openings in the subsurface. The quantity of water in these aquifers is difficult to determine with any exactness, but scientists believe that it exceeds by several times over the quantity of water stored in Utah’s surface reservoirs. In addition, these underground reservoirs created by natural geologic processes do not tose water by evaporation, they have no dams to fail, no valuable surface property to be excluded from other uses, no initial large investment is needed to build them and they do not silt up with time. The conclusions summarized above concerning our supply of groundwater have been documented by hairman and| Directo Econo At the o table of e Aving bet forth with ikely out country < months. V SE lisregarde elp shape new l “ nembers F jwe are nev ime to tim he econorn _ luring tha eferred | ture.’”’ Li s the sum par 1977. | e have a frowth ex] Wear. : reports published by Federal, state and University scientists who have conducted studies in Utah. But, because most people do not read this type of report and because this water is hidden from view, the general public is unaware of the magnitude and importance of this vast potential supply of water. The water in our aquifers fits into two categories. The first category consists of the quantity of water that is added to, and removed from the aquifer every year as natural recharge and discharge of the aquifer system. The second category consists of a much larger quantity that has been stored in the aquifer for thousands of years. The first category can be compared to a_ person’s monthly paycheck; the second category would be comparable to a bank vault completely filled with money after years of making bank deposits. The first category of ground water is added to the aquifer every year by seepage into the ground from the beds of streams and from precipitation directly on the recharge areas. When the aquifer system is in its natural state, usually the same amount that enters it each year also leaves it by discharging into Great Salt Lake or emerging as springs or in marshes along the edges of the lake. Much of this water could be intercepted by wells and used by man without reducing the amount of the water stored in the basin. (The situation would be analogous to putting money in the already full bank storage vault; in order to put some in, you have to take some out). During 1975, water levels in the region between Bountiful and Brigham City rose despite pumping from wells in the region. This indicates that during that period of time more water entered the aquifer than was discharged from it for the year. Only when the pumpage and the resulting reduced natural discharge from the aquifer equals the annual year directly or : _ . = CON Dr. E. Fred Pashley overlooks natural recharge area at mouth of Weber Canyon. important an is source of being collected is far from sufficient; valley The second category consists of very large quantities of water that collection agencies need to be increased so that these activities can be testified to by large and deep gravel pits at the mouth of Weber Canyon. have accumulated in the aquifer over upgraded. thousands of years. This is water that Each : scree the budgets of the responsible data aacer ean i prot could be pumped in time of drought. Ground-water Utah in experts estimate there are 72 million acre feet These time a well is drilled in the state there exists an opportunity, at little gravel for the building industry as is additional cost, collect to detailed information concerning the natural fate pits do not interfere with gravel the after their witimnare but recharge supply 1s portance to replenishment of ground water supplies. These pits consti of this category of water stored within 500 feet of the ground surface, most of it along the Wasatch Front. depth to and thickness of aquifers, the quality of water they contain, their potential for yielding water, and the potential tes for areficial See harge if diverted eels ie nea anto these pits, would rapidly per- pump 1.5 million acre feet per year have on-other wells aed water levels TERE pumped annually, is similar in formation needed to plan a well field Potentially: it would-be poseibie-to’ effect that pumping in them wit for fifty years. This quantity of water, in the area. This is the type of in- quantity to the total yearly amount which can most efficiently driveways, and pump = oe <2" rene! Oem | ENE | ee Basin Project: tested Gus concept ing —_ me arsed pits and concluded = ae recharge ~ thera fuyire ara emphasized Hial_inshe; ) tificial recharge would be of eatial ndergroun CS ca for Teduee fo “makeup fontinued# thal recharge. They also suggested full after Utah to available development of Utah’s share of the Colorado River. Pumping water in this quantity from the ground would constitute ‘mining’? water and it could not be ground-water on a sustained basis. There is need to delineate the locations of the recharge areas for the aquifers to assure that other uses of these areas are compatible with their natural functions. Construction of done on a sustained basis, however it streets, could be done during times of drought if the aquifer were allowed to recover by natural and artificial recharge during normal wet years. this ground-water Unfortunately these areas makes them impervious and cuts down the amount of natural recharge. In the Ogden area the main recharge areas that have been recognized are located along the Second-class postage paid at Ogden, Utah, published five times ee - ieee. a oe ciitorial offices (fom gravel for a westward Canyon Weber distance of 1.5 miles, and along the in the Alummi Office, Ogden, Utah 84408. Vol. 9, No. 4, April 1, 1977. lized as | ‘si0n’s tras potential has only partially been realized and will do little to reduce this summer’s water shortage. The © Weber River from the houses mouth of be mountain front in the gravel deposits developed on a crash basis because its located complex involves development technical, legal and social problems - 4,800 and 5,200 feet. In Ogden Valley to the east there is ground water supply cannot that must be worked out first. between an artesian the elevations aquifer that has of been Binjic owne (continued on Page 3) on : Peni, ar the mc b necessar buld alway r artificia Often whe 2 Weber | COMMENTis mailed at no charge rpose, we eee to akan Te ‘Alumni Board of Directors -~ Executive Committee Douglas G. Brian, President 7 vee eee fills wou d result in iter in the Whe rech. Its development will require careful supplying the city of Ogden with about say oe regional planning which should involve both surface water and ground half of its domestic supply for most of the century. The recharge area for ‘ant eae Alan E. Hall, Executive Director untain fro Ogden this aquifer forms a belt around the valley which hugs the edge of the Directors Seene brent Prgoing ext ects of th mountains. Mar garet F avero Ronald Geor ge + quantity River presents an especially complex problem for planners. The river pocaiguptarcings Stephen K2 Frazier caer MCark hot taken inning pro water studies. Success will depend upon the quality and quantity of information concerning the ground- water system collected. At present the quantity and quality of the information available and currently The recharge area along the Weber sewed Maser JetFlamm | fitering the