Matt Webb, Hydrologist, Texas Water Development Board

The purpose of the presentation is to familiarize the audience with a technology called aquifer storage and recovery, or ASR. Conceptually, ASR involves taking source water when it is available and storing it via an injection well in an aquifer for later recovery at a time when other available water is scarce. ASR application can be beneficial for evaporation suppression and surface inundation mitigation. However, the technology also carries challenges that must be considered prior to attempting to implement the method. ASR activities, experimental and operational, have taken place in Texas since the 1940’s and today there are three ASR facilities in the state. Interest in the technology has increased markedly in the last several years. The TWDB is funding feasibility and demonstrations projects in Victoria, New Braunfels, and Corpus Christi.