Week 6 Assignment Water Resource Plan
Jeff White
SCI275
January 22, 2012

Week 6 Assignment Water Resource Plan
Groundwater consists of surface water of lakes and streams and the underground aquifers that feed them. Because groundwater is believed to be infinitely renewable in many areas of the world, the threat to it is not recognized. This is extremely dangerous because, in reality, groundwater cannot be naturally replenished and plans must be formed to protect it.
Many above ground reservoirs that are used as municipal water sources are feed by what are classified as “fossil aquifers”. These aquifers hold water that is, in some cases, hundreds of thousands of years old and they are minimally recharged if at all by surface precipitation that must penetrate hundreds of feet to reach the aquifer. It is estimated that up to 30% of water can be removed from lakes, rivers, and aquifers and not adversely affect the replenishment rate. Based on declining world precipitation estimates and with current and future municipal water consumption, there is no way these water sources can survive indefinitely.
One of the key elements of insuring that groundwater will be available in the future is by developing a replenishment plan. Because of the precipitation estimates, natural replenishment seems unreliable and therefore a human methodical process must be employed to make wastewater, meaning municipally treated water that just goes down the drain, useable again. This is known as Artificial Recharge of Reclaimed Municipal Water and there are two types. The most common, simplest, oldest, and generally cost-effective is known as an Infiltration Basin where treated municipal water is put into a spreading basin at ground level. The water percolates through the soil to the unsaturated ground water level where it can replenish the groundwater. This is most often used in large