A. GENERAL INFORMATION:

Project Title: A Retrospective and Critical Review of Aquifer Storage and Recovery Sites and Frameworks Within the Upper Floridan Aquifer in South Florida
Project Start Date: October 1, 1999 Project End Date: September 30, 2005
Project Funding: USGS Place-Based Studies Initiative
Principal Investigator: Ronald S. Reese
Email address: rsreese@usgs.gov
Phone: 305-717-5821 Fax: 305-717-5801
Mail address: U.S.Geological Survey, 9100 NW 36^th St, Suite 107, Miami, Florida 33178

Other Investigator(s): None

Project Summary: Aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) has been described as "the storage of water in a suitable aquifer through a well during times when water is available, and recovery of the water from the same well during times when it is needed." Water can be stored in aquifers with poor water quality. ASR in South Florida is proposed in the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) as a cost-effective water-supply alternative that can help meet needs of agricultural, municipal, and recreational users while providing the water critical for Everglades ecosystem restoration. In CERP, plans have been made to utilize ASR in the Floridan aquifer system on an unprecedented scale.

Precedence for ASR in southern Florida has been set by wells constructed at over 30 ASR sites, mostly by local municipalities or counties in coastal areas. The Upper Floridan aquifer, the aquifer used at most of these sites, is brackish to saline in South Florida, which can have a large impact on the recovery of the fresh or potable water recharged and stored. Few regional investigations of the Floridan aquifer system hydrogeology in South Florida have been conducted, and the focus of those studies was not on ASR. Rather than the hydrogeologic framework, ASR well sites in South Florida have been primarily located based on factors such as land availability, source-water quality, and source-water proximity (preexisting surface-water bodies, surficial aquifer system well fields, or water treatment plants). Little effort has been made to link information collected from each site to a regional hydrogeologic analysis.

Project Objectives and Strategy: The objectives of this study are to: (1) inventory and assess the strengths and weaknesses of available hydrogeologic, hydraulic, hydrochemical, well construction, and cycle test information at existing ASR sites, (2) conduct a critical review of the hydrogeology on a site-by-site basis and relate to existing regional hydrogeology frameworks, allowing for the delineation of hydrogeologic factors that may be important to recovery efficiency, (3) identify hydrogeologic, design, and management factors which locally or regionally constrain the efficient storage and recovery of fresh water within the Upper Floridan aquifer, and (4) conduct a comparative analysis of the performance of all ASR sites having adequate data.

This study is divided into two phases, the first of which was two years long. The first phase laid the groundwork for data inventory, review, and analysis, and the second will allow for collection of additional data as it becomes available, expand the delineation of the hydrogeologic framework at each site, and perform a more complete comparative analysis of ASR sites.

Potential Impacts and Major Products: Results of this study will help CERP managers in locating, designing, constructing, and cycle testing ASR wells. These results will also help establish a standard cycle testing protocol that can be used to measure the performance of individual CERP wells or clusters of wells.

The major products from this study are two USGS Water-Resources Investigation Reports, one for each phase. The first of these, "Inventory and review of aquifer storage and recovery in southern Florida," WRIR 02-4036, was published in May 2002. It includes sections on factors affecting recovery of freshwater, the hydrogeology of the Upper Floridan aquifer, inventory of well and test data, and case studies of four selected ASR sites.

Collaborators: Associated/Linked projects include the CERP ASR Regional "Preliminary Hydrogeologic Framework"; PBS/CERP ASR Coordination Activity; and CERP ASR Regional "Geochemistry Data and Literature Search and Review"

Clients: CERP ASR Regional and Pilot Studies Project Development Teams, USACE, SFWMD, local municipalities and counties, and consulting firms involved with ASR.

B. WORK PLAN

Title of Task 1: Data collection and inventory
Task Funding: USGS Place-Based Studies Initiative
Task Leaders: Ron Reese
Phone: 305-717-5821
FAX: 305-717-5801
Task Status: Active
Task priority: High
Task Personnel: Student
Task Summary and Objectives: Collect and inventory data from new and existing ASR facilities, including hydraulic, hydrochemical, well construction, and cycle test information. Objective is to develop, maintain and expand databases used for site evaluations.

Work to be undertaken during the proposal year and a description of the methods and procedures: Visit ASR facilities and water treatment plants, obtain monthly operating reports and daily operational data, and obtain well completion and cycle testing reports from consulting firms. Inventory data using spreadsheets. Input well location and construction data into the GWSI module of NWIS.

Planned Outreach: Develop and maintain contacts with local and county municipalities, state regulators, and consulting firms involved with ASR. Attend meetings on ASR. Serve as member of CERP ASR Regional and Pilot Project Development Teams, and provide comments to Florida Department of Environmental Protection's Underground Injection Control Program as a member of the Technical Advisory Committee on permits for ASR wells and facilities in southern Florida.

Title of Task 2: Hydrogeologic delineation
Task Leaders: Ron Reese
Task Funding: USGS Place-Based Studies Initiative
Phone: 305-717-5821
FAX: 305-717-5801
Task Status: Active
Task priority: High
Task Personnel: Student
Task Summary and Objectives: Conduct a critical review of the hydrogeology on a site-by-site basis and relate to existing regional hydrogeology frameworks. The objective is to delineate hydrogeology on a site-by-site basis and relate to the regional hydrogeology, allowing for the delineation of hydrogeologic factors that may be important to recovery efficiency.

Work to be undertaken during the proposal year and a description of the methods and procedures: Geologic and hydrogeologic tops, flow zones, ambient salinity, and hydraulic properties will be determined at each site using geophysical logs, lithology, pump test, and other data. These interpretations and results will be related to the regional hydrogeologic framework of the Upper Floridan aquifer developed in previous or concurrent studies, including the regional structural and stratigraphic setting and distribution of salinity and permeability. During phase 1 of this project cycle test data from several sites suggested that salinity, transmissivity, and geologic structure can affect the efficient recovery of recharged freshwater, and salinity and transmissivity in the Upper Floridan aquifer are related to structure and stratigraphy.

Planned Outreach: Same as for task 1.

Title of Task 3: Evaluation
Task Leaders: Ron Reese
Task Funding: USGS Place-Based Studies Initiative
Phone: 305-717-5821
FAX: 305-717-5801
Task Status: Active
Task priority: High
Task Personnel: Student
Task Summary and Objectives: Analyze and evaluate data collected and interpretations made in tasks 1 and 2. Objective is to identify and document hydrogeologic, design, and management factors that most control the efficient storage and recovery of freshwater. This will allow CERP ASR managers to locate future ASR wells with a greater degree of confidence in success.

Work to be undertaken during the proposal year and a description of the methods and procedures: Evaluate available cycle testing data (rates, volumes, storage periods, and salinity of recovered water). Determine recovery efficiencies by two different methods (on a per cycle basis and on a cumulative basis) and construct plots showing volumes recharged and recovered with time and the variation of salinity during recovery for each cycle. Relate recovery efficiencies to hydrogeologic, design, and management factors from task 1 and 2, including any operational problems that are occurring at a site. Conduct a comparative analysis of all ASR sites having adequate data using the factors determined to be most important. Determine the trend of recovery efficiency with cumulative water recharged at each site, and relate these trends for all sites.

Planned Outreach: Same as for task 1.

Title of Task 4: Report preparation and publishing
Task Leaders: Ron Reese
Task Funding: USGS Place-Based Studies Initiative
Phone: 305-717-5821
FAX: 305-717-5801
Task Status: Active
Task priority: High
Task Personnel: Student, Mike Deacon, and Kim Swidarsky
Task Summary and Objectives: Publish a Water Resources Investigation Report by the end of FY05. This report will include an updated inventory of well and test data, case studies on recent ASR sites including site-specific hydrogeology, and a comparative analysis of the performance of all ASR sites having adequate data.

Work to be undertaken during the proposal year and a description of the methods and procedures: Write topical and annotated outlines and rough draft of report. Prepare and draft illustrations using graphics software. Have report reviewed and revise. Obtain report approval and publish and distribute.

Planned Outreach: Same as for task 1. Additionally, give oral presentation on findings at a CERP ASR PDT meeting.

C. BRIEF DESCRIPTION ON HOW PROJECT TASKS SUPPORT THE DOI AND USGS EVERGLADES RESTORATION SCIENCE PLANS