Patent ID: 7972080

Claim:
A method for storing water in underground alluvial deposits, the method comprising the steps of: (a) constructing underground a first substantially impermeable man-made barrier defining a first portion of a closed boundary for a bank-sided porosity storage reservoir, wherein the first substantially impermeable man-made barrier extends from a surface level into an aquiclude beneath the underground alluvial deposits so that a bottom surface of the first substantially impermeable man-made barrier is keyed into the aquiclude to form a substantially impermeable water seal between the first substantially impermeable man-made barrier and the aquiclude; (b) keying a first end of the first substantially impermeable man-made barrier into a natural soils and/or bedrock of a natural channel bank at a first location; and (c) keying a second end of the first substantially impermeable man-made barrier into the natural soils and/or bedrock of the natural channel bank at a second location, wherein the natural channel bank located between the first and second ends of the first substantially impermeable man-made barrier forms a substantially impermeable natural barrier, wherein the substantially impermeable natural barrier defines a second portion of the closed boundary for the bank-sided porosity storage reservoir that encloses the underground alluvial deposits; whereby the underground alluvial deposits within the closed boundary are hydraulically separated from underground alluvial deposits outside of the closed boundary but hydraulically connected via the natural channel bank to natural groundwater within the natural channel bank.