Application of advanced borehole geophysical logging to managed aquifer recharge investigations

Communities and water utilities are increasingly being forced to implement more hydrogeologically complex alternative water supply and storage options to meet increasing freshwater demands. The performance of managed aquifer recharge projects, including aquifer storage and recovery, is controlled by the movement and mixing of stored freshwater and native groundwater, and fluid–rock interactions, which, in turn, are strongly influenced by aquifer heterogeneity. Advanced borehole geophysical logging techniques developed for the oil and gas industry such as neutron-gamma ray spectroscopy, microresistivity imaging, and nuclear magnetic resonance, can provide hitherto unavailable fine-scale data on porosity (total and effective), hydraulic conductivity, salinity, and the mineralogical composition of aquifers. Data on aquifer heterogeneity obtained from advanced borehole geophysics logs, combined with information on larger-scale aquifer hydraulics obtained from pumping tests, have the potential for improving aquifer characterization and modeling needed for feasibility assessments and the design and optimization of the operation of managed aquifer recharge systems.