Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District Aquifer Storage and Recovery System October 1999 The Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District was issued Class V Underground Injection Control (UIC) Area Permit UTU500005 to operate an aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) system as an integral part of their public water supply system. Under UAC R317-7-5.1 and UAC R317-7-5.5 the Executive Secretary of the Utah Water Quality Board is authorized to call for a permit for any Class V injection well that may endanger an underground source of drinking water. Since the source waters may be subject to spills or deliberate dumping of contaminants, it is the determination of the Executive Secretary that the proposed injection of water as described above should be permitted. The purpose of the ASR system is to:
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- Capture high quality mountain stream runoff water that is unstored and otherwise uncaptured, treat it, and store it underground for later use;
- Release stored Deer Creek Reservoir water during the winter months that would otherwise spill during the subsequent spring and cause excessively high flows in the downgradient channel, convey the water to a treatment plant, treat it, and store it underground for later use;
- Increase the peak demand delivery capacity within Salt Lake County; and
- Stabilize the declining elevation of ground water in the aquifer in southeastern Salt Lake County.
This aquifer recharge and recovery system includes 19 wells to inject water into the unconfined zone of the principal aquifer of the Salt Lake Valley. The project is located between 700 to 2700 East and 6800 to 9800 South in southeastern Salt Lake County. Water is taken from Deer Creek Reservoir, the Provo River, and six Salt Lake County mountain streams, and then treated via a combination of four water treatment plants prior to injecting it.
The bulk of the injected water will be recovered during periods of high demand during the summer months. This project was important because it allowed JVWCD to successfully recharge the drinking water aquifer and stabilize declining ground water levels in southeast Salt Lake County. Since the success of this ASR project, a Class V UIC permit for an ASR project was issued to the town of Leamington, in April 2008, and Cache County and the City of Layton have expressed interest in obtaining Class V UIC permits for ASR projects.