A Conceptual Framework for Managed Aquifer Recharge in the Columbia River Basalts of the Lower Yakima River Basin
Date published: May 2023
Authors: Bethany Kharrazi, funded in part by the YBIP GWSC
Reference:
Kharrazi, Bethany. “A Conceptual Framework for Managed Aquifer Recharge in the Columbia River Basalts of the Lower Yakima River Basin.” All Master’s Theses, 1882, Central Washington University, Spring 2023, https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/etd/1882.
Abstract:
This study focuses on the areas around Rattlesnake Ridge east of Yakima, Washington. The region consists of east-west trending folds and faults of the Yakima Fold Belt with bedrock composed of the Grande Ronde, Wanapum, and Saddle Mountain formations of the Columbia River Basalt Group, and sedimentary interbeds of the Ellensburg Formation. The basalt aquifers are targets for MAR due to the immense thicknesses and vast spatial extent of the formations, the water-bearing vesicular flow tops and interbeds, and the structural controls of the Yakima Fold Belt.
Informed by the 2011 study of the Columbia Plateau Regional Aquifer System by the U.S. Geological Survey, this research quantifies the groundwater storage available for MAR in the Wanapum and Saddle Mountain Basalt aquifers through reconstructions of subsurface stratigraphy and analysis of historical groundwater level changes. This research finds that there has been nearly 100,000 acre-feet of groundwater storage lost annually in the basalt aquifers of the study area in the last fifty years. Because the Wanapum aquifer is thickest (typically over 1,000 ft thick) and experienced the most groundwater storage loss, it is the best candidate for MAR in the study area, although all basalt aquifers are suitable for a successful MAR program.
Contact person/agency: Bethany Kharrazi
File Format: pdf
Associated Data:
- none