RECHARGE, ARTIFICIAL

The designed (as opposed to the natural or incidental) replenishment of ground water storage from surface water supplies. There exist five (5) common techniques to effect artificial recharge of a groundwater basin: (1) Water Spreading consisting of the basin method, stream-channel method, ditch method, and flooding method, all of which tend to divert surface water supplies to effect underground infiltration; (2) Recharge Pits designed to take advantage of permeable soil or rock formations; (3) Recharge Wells which work directly opposite of pumping wells although have limited scope and are better used for deep, confined aquifers; (4) Induced Recharge which results from pumping wells near surface supplies thereby inducing higher discharge towards the well; and (5) Wastewater Disposal which includes the use of secondary treatment wastewater in combination with spreading techniques, recharge pits, and recharge wells to reintroduce the water to deep aquifers thereby both increasing the available groundwater supply and also further improving the quality of the wastewater. Also referred to as Induced Recharge. Also see Natural Recharge, Incidental Recharge, Injection, and Perennial Yield.