Click the link to read the article on the Northglenn Thornton Sentinel website (Scott Taylor):
“Normally what we do is pump our water from Berthound Pass into Standley Lake, but there are evaporative losses there,” said Northglenn Water Resource Administrator Silas Adams. “What we’re testing is storing this water in case we need it. You say you plan for a rainy day, but we’re trying to set some water aside in case we have a dry day — or an extended drought period.”
Crews were set to begin drilling into the aquifers at the city’s 2350 W. 112th Ave. water treatment facility in the Northwest Open Space during the first week of January. Drilling should be finished in April…Denver Water has tested underground storage, but Northglenn is the first northern metro community to try it. The plan is to test the water’s quality before pumping it underground, beginning in April. The tests will look for trace elements, minerals and potential pollutants. Then, water will be pumped out from the aquifer a year or more later and will be tested again…
Colorado’s Front Range sits atop several aquifers, from Wyoming south to Colorado Springs — the Dawson, Denver, Arapahoe, Laramie/Fox Hills and the Pike Rampart aquifers. Adams said Northglenn’s goal is to pump water it gets from Berthoud Pass via Clear Creek into the Arapahoe and Laramie/Fox Hills aquifers. The Arapahoe aquifer covers some 4,700 square miles and is as deep as 1,700 feet below ground. More than 1,000 wells have been drilled into the aquifer, including several Colorado municipalities. The deeper Laramie/Fox Hills aquifer covers 6,700 square miles and is 2,400 feet below ground at its deepest points — the deepest of the Front Range aquifers. Adams said Northglenn crews will need to drill about 500 feet down to reach the Arapahoe aquifer and 1,400 feet to reach the Laramie/Fox Hills aquifer…Northglenn already has the rights to pump a limited amount of water from the aquifers, but Adams said there is no limit to how much water it can pump in and then pump back out.