In addition, an applicant must meet any applicable requirements of the Department of Environmental Quality for the protection of water quality. Drinking water quality standards are not required to be met for purposes of artificial ground water recharge. Water users recharging ground water and using recharged ground water are required to maintain an accounting of the quantities of water stored and used. This ensures that the amount of water used does not exceed the net amount of water injected into the aquifer after accounting for seepage to other aquifers and other losses. A recharge project using water diverted from the Umatilla River into a recharge canal has been in operation for 20 years.
Water seeps from the canal into a shallow aquifer which is within a critical ground water area.
In addition, the Buell-Red Prairie Water District recharges ground water by injecting treated water from Gooseneck Creek into a well. Several years ago, the City of Hermiston obtained a permit to recharge a deep, basalt aquifer using water from a shallow, alluvial aquifer, but has not yet proceeded with the project.