Arapahoe wells dropping 12 feet a year!

Data from the Colorado Division of Water Resources indicates that the Arapahoe Aquifer is dropping 12 feet a year (Porttoff 2006). The data is from 65 individual wells. As the aquifer drops the yield from the wells also drop. An example is from Parker where Arapahoe wells produced 900 gallons per minute now produce only 600 gallons per minute. Water resources consultants Halepaska and Assoc. state that less than one percent of the aquifer has been depleted claiming, “the conundrum is that a very small portion of the water in storage is being used, yet water levels are dropping thirty feet per year” (Halepaska, 2003). The depletion of the aquifer is expected to continue until renewable sources of water are found.

Works cited:
Pottorff, E. (2006). Ground water levels in the Denver basin bedrock aquifers. Colorado
Division of Water Resources. Denver, CO.
John C. Halepaska and Associates, (2003). Geology and ground water resources of the South metro area of the Denver basin, Colorado. Littleton, CO