ASR Regulatory Issues and Strategies

The need to ensure reliable and sustainable water supplies while meeting ecosystem needs is emerging globally as an increasingly high priority, particularly in water short areas.  Implementation of effective measures to achieve this goal requires a balancing of benefits, costs and risks. In many parts of the United States managed aquifer recharge (MAR) has emerged as a beneficial and relatively low cost option for achieving this goal.  ASR is an MAR tool that involves use of wells for recharging aquifers during times when water is most available.
During the past twenty years the development and implementation of ASR technology has accelerated nationwide.  Adjustments to the current Underground Injection Control (UIC) program are needed in order to accommodate the evolving and expanding applications of ASR.  
There exists a range of possible federal regulatory strategies for ASR such as 1) a new Class VII UIC category for ASR wells, clearly differentiating them from other Class V well categories, many  of which are associated with waste disposal ; 2) a new Class VII UIC category for all wells utilized for aquifer recharge, such as ASR wells, injection wells, vadose zone wells; 3) greater delegation of responsibilities to the states under existing UIC rules, accommodating their differing needs, constraints and opportunities; 4) redevelopment of the Limited Aquifer Exemption (LAE) process, which was tried 10 to 15 years ago but proved to be a failure; 5) deletion of ASR wells from the UIC program as part of a national policy and strategy to facilitate aquifer recharge, in recognition of the reality that this practice is beneficial and does not represent a real threat to interstate commerce, public health or the environment.  In essence this would allow individual states to develop their own UIC programs, paralleling how surface recharge projects are currently regulated.