Recharge Projects

Construction Year: 2012

Recharge Seasons: 2012 - Present

Construction Year: 2014

Recharge Seasons: 2013 - Present

 Aquifer Recharge Sites Map

Chuckhole Aquifer Recharge Site

Construction Year: 2015

Recharge Seasons: 2016 - Present

 Aquifer Recharge Sites Map

Construction Year: 2013

Recharge Seasons: 2017 - Present

 Aquifer Recharge Sites Map

Fruitvale Aquifer Recharge Site

Construction Year: 2015

Recharge Seasons: 2017 - Present

 Aquifer Recharge Sites Map

Gallagher Aquifer Recharge Site

Construction Year: 2017

Recharge Seasons: 2018 - Present

The Gallagher Aquifer Recharge Site installed an infiltration basin and an infiltration gallery (IG) along Dugger Creek approximately 0.5 miles SE of Umapine.  This location was selected because of proposed irrigation efficiency work and to improve surface flows in Dugger Creek, which flows into Pine Creek a steelhead stream.  The aquifer recharge project is expected to help improve flows in Dugger Creek, Pine Creek and the lower Walla Walla River as well as regional groundwater levels.  As groundwater levels decline, the gradient between surface water and groundwater increases thereby increasing seepage loss from the WW River and other streams/creeks.  The reverse is true as well, as groundwater levels increase, the gradient between surface water and groundwater decreases limiting seepage loss and potentially creating gaining surface flow conditions.  The site can recharge approximalely 200 gallons per minute (gpm) or 0.35 cubic feet per second (cfs).

 Aquifer Recharge Sites Map

Johnson Aquifer Recharge Site

(Formerly known as the HBDIC Aquifer Recharge Site)

Construction Years: 2004-06, 2009 & 2010-11

Recharge Seasons: 2004 - Present

The Johnson AR site, formerly known as the Hudson Bay site, has been operating since 2004.  The Johnson site has grown in three phases since operations began.  The initial 2 phases are described extensively in the final report for the first limited license.  The site currently has the capacity for approximately 16 to 17 cubic feet per second (cfs) of infiltration into approximately 3 acres of infiltration basins (spreading basins) and 3 infiltration galleries. Per the Oregon Water Resources Departments (OWRD) Limited License, water allocated to this project is sourced from the Walla Walla River using an irrigation diversion and canal delivery system that originates in the town of Milton-Freewater, OR.  The limited license requires a minimum flow amount to remain in the mainstem Walla Walla River, water quality testing, and monitoring of local surface water and groundwater hydrology.

The Johnson site was originally constructed with three spreading basins.  The three original basins were constructed in the winter/spring of 2004.  These basins were increased in size during 2005 to almost triple their area.  Phase II included adding an up-gradient spreading basin in 2006 and the addition of four infiltration galleries in the winter of 2009.  Water for the new up-gradient basin was fed through the original diversion with water being “pushed” into it from the first basin.  Phase III included the addition of four additional basins on the lower end of the property, a new out-flow measurement weir, a new pipeline that feeds water to each individual basin, a telemetry system to remote monitor the site and an alternate method to deliver water to the up-gradient basin.

During Phase II, four infiltration galleries (IG) were installed at the Johnson site for testing purposes.  IG #1 was constructed of corrugated 4” perforated pipe, IG #2 was constructed of 4” drain field pipe, IG #3 was 4” drain field pipe inside Stormtech stormwater chambers and IG #4 was drain field pipe inside Atlantis stormwater devices.  During the first season of testing IG #1 clogged up and has not been utilized since.  IG #2, IG #3 and IG #4 have all continued to function and have been operated during each recharge season.  The four different infiltration gallery designs were installed to create a cost-benefit analysis of the different design types and to determine each design’s longevity.  

 Aquifer Recharge Sites Map

Locust Road Aquifer Recharge Site

Construction Year: 2016

Recharge Seasons: 2017 - Present

 Aquifer Recharge Sites Map

Miller Road Aquifer Recharge Site

Construction Year: 2020

Recharge Seasons: 2021 - Present

The Miller Road site consists of one infiltration gallery along the edge of an orchard.  The Miller Road site is located east of Milton-Freewater, immediately adjacent to and north of Miller Road.  Water will be delivered to the site from the Walla Walla River Irrigation District’s Eastside irrigation water delivery pipeline.  The site can recharge approximalely 700 gallons per minute (gpm) or 1.5 cubic feet per second (cfs).

 Aquifer Recharge Sites Map

Construction Year: 2015

Recharge Seasons: 2017 - Present

 Aquifer Recharge Sites Map

North Sunquist Aquifer Recharge Site

Construction Year: 2018

Recharge Seasons: Not yet operational

The North Sunquist Aquifer Recharge Project installed an infiltration basin adjacent to and joining with the Fruitvale Ditch approximately 2.1 miles northeast of Umapine. The Fruitvale Ditch is within the Middle Mud Creek system.  The recharge rate for this site is not yet known.

 Aquifer Recharge Sites Map

Construction Year: 2013

Recharge Seasons: 2014 - Present

 Aquifer Recharge Sites Map

Ruby Lane Aquifer Recharge Site

Construction Year: 2017

Recharge Seasons: 2021 - Present

Ruby Lane Aquifer Recharge Site consisits of one infiltration gallery to run adjacent to Ruby Lane which is located north of Milton-Freewater, Oregon. The gallery is installed along the edge of a vineyard, just south of Ruby Lane. Water will be delivered to the site from the West Crockett Branch of the East Little Walla Walla River.  The site can recharge approximalely 30 gallons per minute (gpm) or 0.06 cubic feet per second (cfs).

 Aquifer Recharge Sites Map

Construction Year: 2016

Recharge Seasons: 2017 - Present

 Aquifer Recharge Sites Map

Construction Year: 2012

Recharge Seasons: 2013 - Present

The Trumbull Aquifer Recharge site was constructed in October 2012 using a combination of Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) and Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB) funding.  The site consists of three 8” perforated pipes running approximately 300 feet.  These pipes are buried 6 feet under the ground with ~1-2 foot of cleaned gravel under them and ~0.5-1 feet of cleaned gravel on top of them (see designs).  Water for this site is delivered down the Hudson Bay Ditch Improvement Company’s (HBDIC) system.  The Trumbull site’s water is sourced from the structure that splits the HBDIC canal into the Hyline pipeline and the Richardz ditch.  The site has its own turnout and valve so it can operate independent of the Richartz ditch or Hyline pipeline.  The site was designed to operate at a recharge rate of ~2-3 cubic feet per second (cfs).  The site was operated for a short duration during the end of the 2013 recharge season and had an average recharge rate of just over 2 cfs.

 Aquifer Recharge Sites Map

Construction Year: 2013

Recharge Seasons: 2018 - Present

 Aquifer Recharge Sites Map

Construction Year: 2006

Recharge Seasons: 2006 - 2009

Shallow aquifer recharge (SAR) has been conducted seasonally at the Hall-Wentland (H-W) Site during the 2006-2009 winter-spring seasons. During this time SAR did successfully recharge the underlying, shallow alluvial aquifer system. Furthermore, H-W Site SAR activities did not noticeably degrade local groundwater quality. H-W Site SAR has been using passive infiltration focusing simply on letting water delivered to the site spread out across it, sink into the ground, and infiltrate through the vadose zone to the underlying alluvial aquifer system water table. The primary site improvement done for the project focused on the water delivery system (ditches) through which water reaches it. Sediment and vegetative debris was periodically removed from them. Ditches, trenches, and other structures that might have been dug on-site to facilitate infiltration of water into the ground were not dug at the H-W Site in any of the four SAR seasons. Water volumes delivered to the H-W Site were estimated from flow measurements collected at two locations, one where water was diverted from Wells Ditch into the ditch leading to the H-W Site (Branch Ditch) and one where the Branch Ditch enters the H-W Site. In the first SAR season, March and April 2006, the two water flow measurement points consisted of rectangular weirs. In subsequent SAR seasons, December 2006 through April 2007, April 2008, and February through April 2009, E-Z Flow® portable ramp flumes were installed at the upper end and lower end of the Branch Ditch to measure water flow. For all four SAR seasons, water flow through the measurement structures was calculated from stage (water depth) data recorded by a pressure transducer-datalogger installed on the upstream sides of the measurement structures. Water volumes estimated to have been diverted to the H-W Site in each of the four SAR seasons are as follows:

• 82 acre-feet diverted from Wells Ditch, with 68 acre-feet r to the H-W Site in the 40 day-long 2006 SAR season. 

• 140 acre-feet diverted from Wells Ditch, with 106 acre-feet delivered to the H-W Site in the 116 day-long 2007 SAR season.

• 15.7 acre-feet diverted from Wells Ditch, with 14.9 acre-feet delivered to the H-W Site in the 14 day-long 2008 SAR season.

• 179.3 acre-feet diverted from Wells Ditch, with 171.8 acre-feet delivered to the HW Site in the 68 day-long 2009 SAR season.

 Aquifer Recharge Sites Map

Construction Year: 2015

Recharge Seasons: Has not operated

The Last Chance Road Aquifer Recharge project, constructed in 2015 with WDOE funding, is located west of Walla Walla, WA and approximately ½ mile south of the Walla Walla River and just west of the West Little Walla Walla River (WLWWR).  The project is located to the west of Last Chance Road north of Frog Hollow Road.  The project consists of one infiltration gallery and a ditch for passive recharge.  The site was designed for approximately 1 cfs of recharge water.  Water will be delivered to the site via a newly installed pipeline that conveys water from the WLWWR.  The project is primarily surrounded by agricultural farming land and low density rural residential plots.

 Aquifer Recharge Sites Map

LeFore Road Aquifer Recharge Site

Construction Year: 2014

Recharge Seasons: 2017 - 2020

 Aquifer Recharge Sites Map

Construction Year: 2007 & 2011

Recharge Seasons: 2007-2009 & 2011-2016

The Locher Road site, located at the intersection of Stateline Road and Locher Road, is a former gravel quarry that has been operated by Gardena Farms Irrigation District #13 (GFID) as an aquifer recharge (AR) site since 2007.  From 2006-2007 through the end of the 2010-2011 season, approximately 1/3 acre of the 4+ acre site was utilized for recharge.  In late 2011, the site was reconstructed to allow infiltration over a 2.5 acre portion of the site (see photos & designs).  Inflow volume rates at the site increased from approximately 1.3 cfs to 3.5-4 cfs.  

The Locher Road site has operated under successive one and two-year temporary use authorizations issued by Washington Department of Ecology.  In addition to the temporary use authorizations, in 2010 the Walla Walla Watershed Management Partnership (WWWMP), a locally led organization that co-manages Walla Walla Basin water resources with the State of Washington, passed a Local Water Plan (LWP) that allows GFID to utilize up to 5 cfs of its existing water right for the purpose of aquifer recharge (visit www.wallawallawatershed.org for more information about local water plans).  This authorization, like the temporary use authorization, is governed by the maintenance of minimum instream flows in the river (measured at the Detour Road stream gauge), water quality testing, and hydrologic monitoring in local wells and surface water points.    

 Aquifer Recharge Sites Map

Construction Year: 2015

Recharge Seasons: Has not operated

The WA Mud Creek Aquifer Recharge project, constructed in 2015 with WDOE and BPA funds, is located southeast of Lowden, WA approximately 1.5 miles south of the Walla Walla River and 0.25 miles from Mud Creek.    The project is located within Walla Walla County, Section 3, Township 6 North, Range 34 East.  This site consists of two different recharge areas.  One is an infiltration gallery fed from the Gardena Farms Canal.  The second is an infiltration area fed from the Lowden #2 ditch.  Each of the sites were constructed to have approximately 1 cfs of recharge water delivered to them. 

 Aquifer Recharge Sites Map

Construction Years: 2011 & 2013

Recharge Seasons: 2012, 2014-2017

The Stiller Pond alluvial aquifer recharge project is one of several projects in the Walla Walla Basin being done to evaluate alluvial aquifer recharge (AR) methods and effects. The objectives of the Project, like several of the other AR projects in the basin, are to gain experience and information on AR operations, collect information and data that can be used in evaluating the possible effects of AR on alluvial aquifer water levels, and to contribute recharge water to the alluvial aquifer system. Data collected from the Stiller Pond site will be used to address these issues in the immediate area of the Site and contribute to basin-wide planning and water resource management efforts.

The Stiller Pond site utilizes an existing basin on the north side of Mill Creek.  Water is delivered down a private irrigaiton system to the recharge basin.  During the 2014 recharge season, the site was recharge a little over 2 cfs (~1000 gallons per minute) and recharge ~300 acre-feet of water to the alluvial aquifer.  The Stiller Pond site operates under a Local Water Plan (LWP - vistit www.wallawallawatershed.org for more information on local water plans) and an Environmental Enhancement Project permit (EEP).

 Aquifer Recharge Sites Map