R-2153 - ACRE-Box Elder ASR Pilot Facility Final Design and Commissioning

Phase 1- Investigations and the Phase II- Transmissivity and Source Water Investigations are complete and indicated the feasibility of storing between 7,800 and 8,600 acre-ft of water in the alluvial aquifer within the ACRE property and supported further testing of ASR through piloting at a larger scale. A Box Elder ASR Pilot Facility 60% Design has been completed and is attached (Attachment 5) to the RFP.
 
Source water for the pilot facility should be from new groundwater wells in each of the Upper Arapahoe and Lower Arapahoe aquifers. Recharge should be through a surface infiltration recharge basin.
 
Aurora Water’s goal is to demonstrate dominion and control of stored water. In this case, “dominion and control” is the ability to track, account for, and recover water recharged into the alluvial aquifer.  The pilot facility is to demonstrate storing and subsequently recovering approximately 200 acre-ft of water over an approximate 15–18-month pilot period. The actual amount water recharged will be based on the yield from the Denver Basin wells and infiltration capacity of the basin.
 
Recharged water should be recovered using a single vertical alluvial well. The quality of the Box Elder alluvial groundwater and source water (Upper and Lower Arapahoe aquifer groundwater) are believed contrasting enough to support the use of intrinsic (natural) tracers for spatial monitoring of recharged source water during pilot testing.
 
It is currently assumed that the Substitute Water Supply Plan (SWSP) associated with the pilot operations will be prepared and covered under a separate contract.