Aspect’s Dan Haller Weighs in on Water for Washington’s French-Fry Boomtown

Aspect’s Dan Haller was recently quoted in a Washington Post story about Othello, central Washington’s self-proclaimed french-fry “boomtown.” As climate change has impacted the potato business in other parts of the country, Othello has become an industry leader, but the key to sustaining this success going forward will be water.

Groundwater supply concerns have been in the news this summer (notably in this comprehensive New York Times article). Only a few years ago, Othello’s water future seemed in doubt, as the city faced decreasing yields from its wells. Aspect was brought in to evaluate the City’s well yield and determine the causes of declining groundwater supplies. Working with the City, the Washington State Department of Ecology, Office of Columbia River, and the US Bureau of Reclamation (BOR), Aspect helped develop an Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) program that would support long-term growth and provide stable water supplies. The ASR program, which was first tested in 2021, operates by diverting and treating canal water to drinking water standards, then introducing (recharging) that water to the declining aquifer using existing wells. This artificially recharged and stored water combats the declining groundwater issues and can be later recovered by the City for municipal supply.

This work has been vital to Othello’s success, but as Dan points out in the Post article, the well system that farmers rely on was only ever supposed to be a temporary solution. Othello’s use of BOR canal supplies is a step towards the original vision for primary water use in the region: transitioning away from groundwater and connecting to the Columbia Basin Project, a government-funded program that stores Snake and Columbia river supplies. As Othello’s wells begin to run dry, this water will be critical to the town’s survival. The good news is there’s plenty of supply to be had; according to the Post article, the Columbia has only been tapped for 3 percent of its available water flow. Building out this infrastructure will be essential for Othello’s continued reign at the top of the french-fry world.

Why a Record-Breaking Winter Doesn’t Solve Western Water Issues

Did this year’s record-breaking snowpack officially end the megadrought? (Spoiler alert: it did not.) What solutions exist to face the challenges of western water management?

 Animas River in Durango, Colorado flowing in May 2023

A Record-breaking Winter in Western US

It’s no secret that winter 2022/2023 was exceptionally snowy, and - quite literally - record-breaking in the western US. Throughout the winter we read news headlines that quickly progressed from “epic snow year” to “potentially record-shattering” and finally to “largest-ever snowpack”. These bold headlines in the media were validated by the US National Resource Conservation Service’s (NRCS) SNOTEL network, which revealed that  snow water equivalent (SWE) values sky-rocketed well above normal in nearly all western US basins. This positive outlook continues through late spring for southern states in the west — the snapshot from late May shows an above-normal snowpack for many basins in Oregon, Nevada, Utah, and Colorado.

Western US Snow Water Equivalent values are above normal for southern states in the West and below normal for northern states.

Digging Out From a Big Hole

This prodigious snowpack couldn’t have come at a more desperate time. Last summer, drought conditions across the western US reached all-time severity with numerous regions reaching D3 (Extreme) and D4 (Exceptional) drought stages. Many states experienced major losses to crops and pastures, and numerous water shortages and restrictions were put into place. With winter 2023 in the rear view mirror and summer just ahead, it’s difficult to imagine that, in just a few months’ time, much of the western US will return to a dry, drought-stricken landscape, but unfortunately, that’s the reality we face. Even a record-breaking snowpack cannot make up for numerous years of back-to-back drought conditions.

The tension created between the ongoing drought and this year’s snowfall demonstrates the challenges of western water management and how one good snow year can create an illusion of water security.

The Endless Winter Fights Back

While this extraordinary winter won’t completely erase the megadrought, the short-term drought outlook has improved significantly.  A drought summary posted by the National Drought Mitigation Center on May 23, 2023 shows a dramatic improvement for most of the western US over the last year, with most area’s drought classifications downgraded by one or more classes.

Changes in drought classifications across the US.

But as welcome as this improvement is, it’s going to take more than one good snow year to dig ourselves out from the deep hole we are in. Much of the US is still categorized as either D0 (Abnormally Dry) or D1 (Moderate Drought) with some select regions continuing to worsen, even after this winter. The following two images show recorded drought conditions almost exactly one year apart.

Drought conditions comparing May 2022 to May 2023.

The New and Fragile Normal for Water Supply

Water managers rely on forecasts to predict the volume of available water supply for the upcoming spring and summer months. Generally, a bigger snow year means a better forecast and more water availability. But total snowfall is only one piece of the water supply puzzle, and other factors, mainly brought about by a more volatile climate and our changing society, can create additional challenges.

Some of the challenges today’s water managers face include:

  • Higher overall demand for water and more consumptive uses brought about by population growth.

  • Difficulty with the management of the timing of runoff (earlier melting) – warmer-than-average spring temps and more dust-on-snow events (which expedites melting) are causing severe flooding and other adverse impacts. Overall, severe runoff is less beneficial for water supplies as it overwhelms water storage infrastructure and is difficult to capture (something stormwater experts are grappling with as they look to design infrastructure for a changing climate).  

  • Thirsty soils – already dry soils take up less water than saturated soils, leading to more runoff and less water supply capture.

  • Previously depleted groundwater resources and surface water reservoirs – “digging out of a hole”.

Water Managers Look to Variety of Strategies to Harness Retimed and Excess Water

These challenges, combined with a volatile climate, mean that one wet winter won’t be enough, and leave water managers facing a difficult task.

Fortunately, solutions such as water banking, watershed planning, and aquifer storage and recovery (ASR), can be deployed to combat these challenges and capitalize on the periods of excess runoff water. And thanks to the unprecedented volume of available funding opportunities for water sustainability, conservation, and efficiency projects, these solutions are becoming more widespread and are proving to have effective implementation.

Aspect is heavily involved in water banking, watershed planning, and ASR, helping western clients with short-term and long-term water supply projects. Additional detail about Aspect’s past and current involvement with these strategies can be found below:

Aspect Talks Reclaimed Water, ASR, and Walla Walla Basin at 2019 AWWA

Andrew Austreng, Jon Turk, and John Warinner will be presenting Thursday and Friday May 2 and 3rd at the American Water Works Association (AWWA) ‘River Runs Through It’ 2019 Section Conference in Vancouver, WA. Andrew will present on the Othello, WA Aquifer Storage and Recovery project; Jon Turn will showcase groundwater recharge strategies for a unique project involving reclaimed water in Kitsap County; and John Warinner will discuss challenges and opportunities of managing groundwater across two state lines in the Walla Walla subbasin.

The annual AWWA conference is one of the largest conferences for water professionals in the Pacific Northwest.

Aspect Talks Water at AWWA Conference

Tim Flynn and Dan Haller will both be presenting Friday April 27th at the AWWA ‘Just Add Water’ 2018 Section Conference in Tacoma. Friday morning, Tim’s presentation will focus on the City of Othello’s unique approach to source development by securing new supplies using irrigation canals, reclaimed water and ASR.

Aspect’s Andrew Austreng will be moderating the afternoon Water Resources technical session during which Dan Haller will be presenting an overview of water rights and water banking in WA.

Chris Augustine Presents on Key Concepts in Thermal ASR Systems at AWWA

Aspect’s Senior Hydrogeologist Chris Augustine will be presenting on his work on developing a thermal Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) system at this year’s annual Pacific Northwest Section American Water Works Association (AWWA) conference in Kennewick, WA.

While at another firm, and collaborating with Boise White Paper, LLC (Boise) and the Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology), Chris worked on a Wallula, Washington project that would store cold Columbia River water in the winter and spring months and then recover the stored water during the summer months when the temperature of the Columbia River becomes warmer. 

His presentation will focus on the goal of the project to reduce operational costs for cooling of process water and reduce surface water diversion during the summer to meet the target yield of 4,000 gallons per minute.

Learn more here: American Water Works Association

Aspect President, Tim Flynn, to Guest Lecture at Seattle University Law School

Aspect President, Tim Flynn, has been invited by Michael O’Connell, former partner at Stoel Rives LLP and Adjunct Professor at Seattle University, to guest lecture at Seattle University’s Water Law course this November. Tim is excited to share what he’s learned in the decades of providing water rights and aquifer storage and recovery services to clients throughout Washington’s diverse landscapes.

Tim Flynn talks Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) at the NGWA Conference in Portland

This September 8-9 the National Groundwater Association will host the “Connecting the Dots…Groundwater, Surface Water, and Climate Connections” conference in Portland, Oregon.  This 2-day conference will focus on the connections between groundwater, surface water, and climate in the area encompassing Washington, Idaho, Oregon, northern California, and British Columbia.

Aspect’s president and principal hydrogeologist Tim Flynn will present on day two of the conference in the Drought Resilience/Water Availability/Scarcity portion of the conference. He will be presenting on Aquifer Storage and Recovery and will examine the challenges and opportunities of ASR. Learn more about the conference HERE.

Aquifer Storage and Recovery: An Innovative Approach to Water Storage

After years of work, Aspect recently finished a pilot test that will help the City of White Salmon (City) implement one of only a handful of Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) systems in the state. ASR—essentially taking advantage of natural geology, man-made wells, and climate patterns to create an underground reservoir—is an attractive water supply concept. It’s relatively low-cost (compared to building an above ground reservoir), has a small environmental footprint, and in arid climates reduces losses from evaporation. However, permitting of an ASR system involves overcoming technical operational hurdles that hinge on two key questions:

  1. How much water are you getting back? (recoverability)
  2. Will injection or withdrawal affect water quality? (Washington State Department of Ecology’s (Ecology) antidegradation policy)

During Aspect’s monthly technical exchange series, Aspect’s Tim Flynn, Joe Morrice, and Jared Bean gave a presentation and explained Aspect’s experience with ASR in the state and what it means for future water supply.

Creating an Underground Reservoir

Essentially, this concept uses nature’s pre-built reservoirs (aquifers) to create an underground reservoir or tank to store water when it’s plentiful and withdraw it when it’s scarce. In water resources terminology, ASR typically uses seasonally available surface water to help recharge—or move water from the surface into the ground—an aquifer. It does this by capturing excess water during the winter and spring months, when surface water flows are generally high and water system demands low, and injecting that water via a well (or engineered infiltration basin) into the underground aquifer. During the dry summer season, water is withdrawn for use when surface water flows are low and water system demand is at its peak. 

Figure 1. ASR System Cycle
Source: www.groundwatergeek.com

The basic components of an ASR system include:

  • The right kind of Aquifer. Bedrock or unconsolidated aquifers may both be suitable for ASR, but ideally the target aquifer would be bounded by geologic faults or other barriers that limit the flow and loss of stored water in storage before it is recovered from the aquifer.
  • Source water of suitable quality. This is typically surface water from rivers or streams, but with the appropriate water quality treatment and permitting process can include stormwater runoff, remediated groundwater, reclaimed water, and industrial process water. These sources should be chemically compatible with ambient groundwater and do not contain constituents that would violate the State groundwater quality standards, including the antidegradation standard, or can be treated to meet these standards.
  • A way to put water in and to take it out. This means infrastructure for ASR source water diversion, treatment (as needed), conveyance, and injection to the subsurface through one or more wells, with subsequent pumping to recover stored water.

ASR in Washington State

Although ASR has been in practice for many years in other parts of the nation, it’s a fairly new concept to northwestern states that have typically relied on mountain snowpack as a form of water storage to provide supply during summer months. Because of Washington’s recent drought and the scarcity of water in many surface water basins, especially during summer low flows, ASR’s popularity is growing. In Washington state, there are approximately 9 projects in development. The existing policy framework for ASR in Washington state came about in the early 2000s with two developments:

  1. In 2000, the state’s expansion of the definition of “reservoir” to include “…underground geologic formation(s)… as part of an (ASR) project” (RCW 90.03.370); and
  2. In 2003, Ecology’s adoption of the ASR rule (WAC 173-157) which established standards for ASR projects, including standards related to water rights, water quality, water treatment, and geotechnical impacts.   

Aspect is currently working on three ASR projects in Washington, Arizona, and California. Our ASR projects locations in the PNW currently span western, central, and southern Washington and include both basalt (bedrock) and unconsolidated, glacial outwash host-aquifers.  

Figure 2. Groundwater Recharge Projects in Washington State
(ASR = Aquifer Storage and Recovery; SAR = Shallow Aquifer Recharge)
Source: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wr/asr/asr-home.html

City of White Salmon ASR

The City has historically relied on surface water from Buck Creek for the City’s water supply.  In 2002, the City switched to groundwater wells as their primary supply but with decreasing well yields and limited water rights along with the WA Department of Health issuing a moratorium on new connections the City is seeking new alternatives to boost their water supply. One of these alternatives is to explore the possibility of ASR.  Aspect has helped the City pursue this option by coordinating with Ecology throughout the process. After receiving an Ecology grant, and approval of the feasibility study, an AKART analysis was completed which secured Ecology approval for pilot testing.

The most recent pilot test involved the injection of 32 acre-feet of water over the span of 53 days (135 gallons per minute, or about 200,000 gallons per day).  With the current well and conveyance configuration the City can expect to inject, store and recover about 100 acre-feet per year, which provides approximately 25% of peak (summer) demand.  These numbers are with current operational constraints of a gravity fed non-continuous injection.  If the City upgrades to pressurized injection (continuous) then they can expect more than 300 acre-feet per year, or about 74 percent of peak summer demands.

Figure 3. Conceptual Hydrogeologic Model of White Salmon Project Area
Source: Aspect Consulting

One major concern is to make sure the quality of the water isn’t degraded while in ‘storage’.  The pilot test showed the formation of disinfection byproducts (DBPs) from treating the injected water with chlorine prior to injection.  Ecology’s antidegradation policy says injected water cannot impact native groundwater or source water quality. Groundwater quality monitoring throughout the pilot test showed that DBPs did form in the injection water, but quickly dissipated in the aquifer.

The other hurdle is the recoverable quantity of water or the amount of water recouped from what was originally injected, i.e., “recoverability”. Ecology requires that the same water that is stored be recovered, and any stored water that migrates past the capture zone of the recovery well is no longer available for use.  Aspect has estimated, based on water quality monitoring and aquifer hydraulic response to injection and recovery, that the White Salmon ASR system has 85% recoverability of injected water.

Aspect is engaged in ongoing discussions and interactions with Ecology’s water quality and water rights permitting programs regarding these issues and how to efficiently complete the required permitting while protecting groundwater quality and water rights, including instream flows for the City of White Salmon and other ASR projects.

The interpretation and understanding of water quality and water right permitting requirements for ASR projects is evolving as project proponents advance their plans through Ecology. Aspect will continue to work with clients across the state to use ASR as a viable option in providing water where and when it’s needed most.