Is there a way to pump water back into the ground?

Question

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subsidence

I was just thinking about the flooding in the midwest which is obviously saturated right now and about surrounding areas (desert and those which have experienced subsidence due to groundwater pumping, mining, natural gas extraction, etc.

it seems that if this were possible, we could reuse that water in some way beneficial to others who don't have it, helping with groundwater contamination and protecting one of our most valuable resources.

Is there already a method of doing this? Is it even physically possible?

I look at that photo of subsidence in the San Joaquin valley epicting the ground levels from 1925 - 1977 and wonder just how much the ground has subsided since then.

Answer 1

Yes sir,I have sent a suggestion to our water board to a scheme that will help to send the rain water then and there to the earth in the year 2003 itself .The scheme was studied by them and appreciated my idea.But they have not yet implemented yet. This will give several benefits like avoid road damage,improve water table,reduce mosquito menace .

Answer 2

The problem is getting the excess water to the area that doesn't have enough water.  That has always been the problem.  Pulling a floating iceberg to drought-stricken Africa was even considered at one time.

Even if it were possible to "recharge" a drought area with flood waters (and that is being considered), think of the logistics problems.  If a pipeline is built, then would it be in the correct location for the next usage?

That being said, research is being conducted on this very topic.  See:

http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/e...

Answer 3

Yes, it's possible, in theory.

But buy yourself a sense of proportion!

Even neglecting the issue of polluting the aquifer,

have you any idea of the amount of energy you're talking about

to move any significant volume of water, or the limits in

flow posed by the permiability of the aquifer?

Answer 4

It is called water-banking and cities like Las Vegas already have a program in place to bank water for dry months.  

In desert cities like Vegas, most of the annual rain comes in 3 to 4 large events that cause flooding.   The flood waters are pumped (or allowed to drain) into a sandy formation beneath the city which used to be an aquifer but was pumped dry.

Then the water is drawn back out of the formation during the August/Sept. dry months and used to suppliment the city water supply.

Some cities in the San Joaquin Valley of California are also looking into water banking as an alternative to building dams and reserviors, since water banks don't lose water to evaporation.

The reason why flood water from back east isn't exported to California or the southwest is the sheer amount of electricity that would be needed to pump it up-hill over the rockies and deposit it in the west, not to mention the cost to build a pipeline that long.