{"id":27984,"date":"2017-02-23T13:55:19","date_gmt":"2017-02-23T19:55:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=27984"},"modified":"2017-02-23T13:55:19","modified_gmt":"2017-02-23T19:55:19","slug":"to-keep-future-droughts-at-bay-oklahoma-looks-to-store-water-underground-before-it-flows-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2017\/02\/23\/to-keep-future-droughts-at-bay-oklahoma-looks-to-store-water-underground-before-it-flows-away\/","title":{"rendered":"To Keep Future Droughts at Bay, Oklahoma Looks to Store Water Underground Before it Flows Away"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_11636\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 620px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11636\" alt=\"Mill Creek, southwest of Ada's Byrd's Mill Creek in south-central Oklahoma, also originates from the Arbuckle-Simpson Aquifer. \" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2012\/11\/MillCreek-e1487878585333.jpg\" width=\"620\" height=\"465\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2012\/11\/MillCreek-e1487878585333.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2012\/11\/MillCreek-e1487878585333-500x375.jpg 500w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2012\/11\/MillCreek-e1487878585333-150x113.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2012\/11\/MillCreek-e1487878585333-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2012\/11\/MillCreek-e1487878585333-536x402.jpg 536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Logan Layden \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mill Creek, southwest of Ada&#39;s Byrd&#39;s Mill Creek in south-central Oklahoma, also originates from the Arbuckle-Simpson Aquifer.<\/p>\n<\/div><p>The crippling five-year drought Oklahoma finally <a href=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2014\/09\/11\/drought-stricken-southwest-oklahoma-towns-look-for-more-water-underground\/\">broke out of in 2015<\/a> is still fresh in the memory of the state\u2019s water regulators, which is looking for ways the state can better withstand future dry spells<b>. <\/b>The Water Resources Board this week approved <a href=\"http:\/\/www.owrb.ok.gov\/util\/rules\/pdf_rul\/proposed\/2017\/Ch%2045%20NRI.pdf\">new rules<\/a> to allow water to be stored underground, in aquifers.<\/p><p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/309221124&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=false\" height=\"150\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p><p><!--more--><\/p><p>Byrd\u2019s Mill Creek is fed by Byrd\u2019s Mill Spring, the southeast Oklahoma community of Ada\u2019s primary source of drinking water. The cold, crystal clear water that flows over the mossy rocks of the streambed bubbles up from the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer, which is vital to this part of the state.<\/p><p>One problem: There\u2019s a limit to how much this and every other Oklahoma aquifer can give, and growing cities and booming agriculture and applying more pressure on the subterranean reservoirs. But Ada Mayor, groundwater researcher, and East Central University Professor Guy Sewell thinks he knows a way to reverse the depletion of aquifers: Build leaky ponds.<\/p><p>\u201cWe refer to it as advanced aquifer recharge,\u201d Sewell says.<\/p><p>When lots of rain falls, the porous ponds would speed water back down into the aquifer much faster than it takes to soak through the ground on its own. Sewell says it\u2019s a lot better than watching storm-flow rush down the rivers \u2014 and out of Oklahoma. He expects Ada to embrace aquifer storage and recovery in the near future.<\/p><p>\u201cI\u2019ll go further than that: I think as a nation we\u2019ll be doing this on a large scale,\u201d Sewell says. \u201cIt\u2019s really the only tool we have left to enhance availability of water during dry periods, whether that\u2019s a summer or a dry year. This is all we\u2019ve got.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Not new, but new to us<\/h3><p>Aquifer storage and recovery isn\u2019t new. Oklahoma lags behind other western states already using the water-saving technique.<\/p><p>\u201cOur motto is to boldly go where Kansas, Texas, Arizona, and California, and half a dozen other states have already gone before,\u201d says Saba Tahmassebi, a chief engineer with the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality.<\/p><p>Tahmassebi says Oklahoma towns and cities have traditionally relied on lakes for public water supplies, but in some ways it\u2019s impractical and expensive to build new above-ground reservoirs.<\/p><p>\u201cWhen the temperatures are hot and then there\u2019s not enough precipitation, not enough water will go to these lakes,\u201d Tahmassebi says. \u201cAlso, these lakes act as evaporation basins. You lose a lot of water through evaporation.\u201d<\/p><p>Tahmassebi envisions Oklahoma communities using wells, not to pump water out of aquifers, but put it back in.<\/p><p>\u201cThis is where you get an alternate source of water,\u201d he says. \u201cFor example, if you have periods of high precipitation and rain, maybe that water can be diverted and treated and injected back into the ground so the water can be used for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Clearing a path for aquifer storage<\/h3><p>So why is a drought-prone state like Oklahoma behind in the aquifer storage game? There are no rules or regulations to allow it, state and local officials say. Aquifer recharge and storage creates unique challenges for state rulemakers: Who owns water injected into aquifers? And to what level does it need to be treated and cleaned first? State water planners are working to fill that regulatory void.<\/p><p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gwpc.org\/sites\/default\/files\/event-sessions\/Smith_Tory.pdf\">Legislation over the past two years led to a working group<\/a> that included the Department of Environmental Quality, Water Resources Board, community leaders and state lawmakers to write rules for aquifer storage. The Water Resources Board on Feb. 21 unanimously approved new regulations based on the working group\u2019s recommendations.<\/p><p>The Water Board\u2019s interim director Julie Cunningham says the framework has been set, but there\u2019s more work to do. DEQ and the Water Board have more rules to write. Aquifer storage is complicated, and has to be done properly.<\/p><p>\u201cWe want to make sure that any particular project is not going to contaminate groundwater. That\u2019s our number one concern,\u201d Cunningham says. \u201cSo as we\u2019re trying to increase storage capacity, we want to make sure that raw groundwater is protected since there\u2019s people and families, that have wells directly into the aquifer.\u201d<\/p><p>Once all the rules have been written, it will be up to the state legislature to give them final approval. That likely won\u2019t happen until next year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The crippling five-year drought Oklahoma finally broke out of in 2015 is still fresh in the memory of the state\u2019s water regulators, which is looking for ways the state can better withstand future dry spells. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":11636,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[491],"tags":[429,509,561,423,444,427],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27984"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27984"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27984\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27994,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27984\/revisions\/27994"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}