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PROVO — Provo residents conserved 700 million gallons of water last year. Combine that with the runoff from a record-breaking snowpack, and that's a lot of water that Provo officials need to store.
Provo city water resources manager Ryan York says the solution to this problem lies underground.
Aquifers store water underground
Aquifers are naturally occurring underground layers of rock or other materials, such as silt, that can easily store and transmit water. The city already has a large network of aquifers, according to Provo water managers.
"We've got large, underground aquifers that hold this water. Then, when we have droughts or times of need, we can pump that water out and use it," York said.
As rain, melted snow, or irrigation water seeps into the earth, it becomes naturally filtered and then stored in the aquifers. Because they are underground there is less risk of losing water to evaporation or contamination.
"Utah Lake has a tremendous amount of evaporation lost every year," explains York.
Evaporation claims over half of Utah Lake's annual inflow. And only 5%-7% of evaporation from both Utah Lake and the Great Salt Lake returns to Utah as precipitation.
Stored underground, the water remains cool, clean and available.
Benefits of aquifers in Provo
Most of Provo's water comes from the ground through wells and springs.
Because of Utah's long drought over the last few decades, water levels in Provo's aquifers have dropped. So for the past several years, Provo city has been piloting an aquifer recharge program.
"Provo is trying to get that water in times of excess and put it back into the ground in strategic locations that benefit the city and surrounding communities by increasing the water levels in our aquifers," said York.
The city has found several specific locations where water placed at the surface will seep into the earth and raise the level of the aquifer below.
Now, Provo is looking to expand their program to "not only save that water in the ground but also use available sources such as the excess water in the Provo River," to provide water for future generations, York says.
