Surface Water and Recharge Section

The Surface Water and Recharge Section of the Hydrology Division provides support for several ADWR programs in the form of technical hydrologic reviews of applications.  Hydrologic expertise is also provided to special projects that the Department has been tasked with.

Recharge Program Technical Support

The Underground Water Storage and Recovery Program relies on the Surface Water and Recharge Section to review Underground Storage Facilities (USF) and recharge recovery well applications for technical correctness.  These reviews include all hydrologic aspects of an application such as the area of impact modeling, mounding analysis, regional and local geology, infiltration rates and recharge methodology.  A project’s or well’s impact on regional water levels and water quality as well as the hydrologic monitoring proposed by the applicant are closely scrutinized as part of the review process.  The Surface Water and Recharge section writes the USF and recovery well permits and reviews all quarterly and annual reporting submitted to ADWR as required by those permits.  Section staff also performs pre-recharge inspections of facilities in order to ensure consistency with their permit.  The Section also provides support in the development and drafting of recharge program policies.

Instream Flow Water Right Technical Support

The Surface Water and Recharge Section reviews for technical correctness the data analysis provided by applicants for Instream Flow Water Rights.  This includes a review of how the data was collected, tabulated, and converted from monthly flows in cubic feet per second to acre-feet per year.  The review also includes an evaluation of the requested beneficial uses and amount of water applied for.  Field visits with the applicant are conducted to assure uniformity of field measurements and compliance with the December 1991 Guide to Filing Applications for Instream Flow Water Rights in Arizona.

Arizona Water Protection Fund Technical Support

The Surface Water and Recharge Section reviews the hydrologic aspects of all applications submitted to the Arizona Water Protection Fund.  The Section evaluates the appropriateness of the proposed methodology and monitoring, potential impacts to groundwater and surface water in the project area, relationship of proposed project to any known contamination sites and the possibility of impacting those sites, and provides input regarding any further hydrologic aspects that could affect a particular grant award.

Special Projects

The Section is also involved with many special projects within ADWR.  The tasks include the development of Hydrologic Map Series reports, technical support of the Drought Task Force, involvement with the Statewide Monitoring Task Force, and miscellaneous projects such as an investigation of the effects of the 2004-2005 winter flood on water levels within the Phoenix AMA.

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