Schematic of the artificial recharge process
Description of Study
The water supply for the city of Wichita, south-central Kansas, currently comes from the
Equus Beds aquifer and Cheney Reservoir. Because these sources are not expected to meet
projected city water needs into the 21st century (Warren and others, 1995), artificial
recharge of the Equus Beds aquifer is being investigated as one alternative to meet future
water-supply demands. An additional potential benefit of artificial recharge includes
preventing degradation of the water quality of the aquifer by saltwater plumes from the
Arkansas River to the southwest and the Burrton oil field to the northwest (Ziegler and others, 1999).
In 1995, the Equus Beds Groundwater Recharge Demonstration Project began evaluation of artificial
recharge techniques and their effects on water quality in the aquifer. The demonstration project was a
cooperative effort among the city of Wichita, Bureau of Reclamation (U.S. Department of the Interior),
and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
Water from the Little Arkansas River was diverted for artificial recharge when flow in the river exceeded
base flow in accordance with the Kansas Department of Agriculture, Division of Water Resources, permit
conditions (Burns and McDonnell, 1998). Water was artificially recharged to the Equus Beds aquifer, which
is part of the High Plains aquifer and consists of alluvial (river-deposited) sediments of sand and gravel
interbedded with clay and silt.
At the Halstead diversion well site, water was diverted from the Little Arkansas River by pumping a diversion
well completed immediately adjacent to the river that induces the surface water into the well. This diverted
source water then was pumped to the Halstead recharge site and recharged to the aquifer by basin, trench or
injection well. Artificial recharge of the Equus Beds aquifer began at the Halstead site in May 1997.
Recharge water for the Sedgwick recharge site was diverted directly from the Little Arkansas River. It was
treated to reduce turbidity (the cloudy appearance of water caused by suspended matter) and to remove organic
compounds, including the herbicide atrazine, using powder activated carbon (PAC). Artificial recharge of the Equus
Beds aquifer at the Sedgwick site began in April 1998.
Monitoring of the water quantity and quality has continued in the Little Arkansas River and at monitoring wells
throughout the study area since the completion of the demonstration phase of the Equus Recharge Project (May 2002).
An areal assessment for water quantity and water quality in the Equus Beds aquifer also began in November 2001.
The areal assessment monitoring wells are completed in both the shallow and deep zones of the Equus Beds aquifer
and cover approximately 300 square miles north of the Arkansas River and west of the Little Arkansas River.
Much of the water supply for the City of Wichita comes from the Equus Beds aquifer.
The available water supply for the city of Wichita must be increased to meet its future water needs
through 2050. In order to meet this need, the Equus Beds Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR)
Project Phase I began in 2006 “to inject groundwater into the Equus Beds Aquifer for the
purpose of storage and later recovery of the groundwater and to form a hydraulic barrier to a
known brine plume” (Kansas Underground Injection Control Area Permit Class V Injection Well,
Kansas Permit No. KS-05-079-001).
Detailed information regarding the water-quantity and water-quality in the Equus Beds
aquifer can be found in the “Highlights” section of this website.
For more detailed information on the Equus Beds Aquifer Storage and Recovery Program,
visit Wichita’s web site at
http://www.wichita.gov/CityOffices/WaterAndSewer/ProductionAndPumping/Equus.htm
|