Artificial-recharge tests in Upper Black Squirrel Creek basin, Jimmy Camp Valley, and Fountain Valley, El Paso County, Colorado

Artificial-recharge tests were conducted in the alluvium in upper Black Squirrel Creek basin, the alluvium in Jimmy Camp Valley, and in the alluvium overlying the Widefield aquifer which is located in an ancestral channel in Fountain Valley, Colo. Nine artificial-recharge pits with areas of approximately 9,200 square feet each were excavated in the unsaturated zones above the three aquifers. Each artificial-recharge site was instrumented to measure inflow, stage fluctuations, and water-table fluctuations. Artificial-recharge tests of approximately 10 days ' duration were conducted at each of the nine artificial-recharge sites and one extended test of approximately 30 days ' duration was conducted in each of the three study areas. Periphyton growth, present in most of the artificial-recharge ponds, was insufficient to cause noticeable decline in the rate of infiltration. (Woodard-USGS)