Each year, power plants in the United States collectively kick out enough coal combustion waste (CCW) to fill a train of coal cars stretching from Manhattan to Los Angeles and back three and a half times. It’s stored in lagoons next to power plants, buried in old coal mines and sometimes just piled up in the open where it gets washed into an aroyo or leach into the ground.

The Albuquerque city-county water utility is investigating the effectiveness of recharging the aquifer by dumping river water into an arroyo, where it will seep into the ground naturally. The method could be a good way to store water underground--a savings account of sorts that could be tapped later.

The Albuquerque-Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority is trying to recharge the aquifer beneath Albuquerque. A small research project will examine how the area can take advantage of extra water that can be saved for the future. The $985,000 project, will divert water from the Rio Grande into an arroyo, where it will seep into the ground.