Injection at Raft River -- An Environmental Concern?
- Key words
- Environmental; Injection; Moderate Temperature; USA; Idaho; Raft River; Water Quality; Ground Water; Closed Basin; Fracture Flow; Monitoring Wells; Fluid Disposal; Alternatives; Injection Tests; US DOE; EG&G Idaho
- Location
- Raft River, Idaho
- Conference
- Geothermal Resources Council Transactions
- Year
- 1979
- Session
- Environmental aspects; Injection; Water quality; Hydrogeolog
- Language
- English
Abstract
Injection is an acceptable disposal method for geothermal fluid; however, use of injection can be limited by environmental considerations. This is the case in Raft River. The primary concern is that injection will affect either the quality or quantity of irrigation water in the closed groundwater basin. Data indicate that there in as natural migration of geothermal fluids into shallower aquifers and this migration is thought to be fracture controlled. A series of wells have been drilled to monitor the response of shallow aquifers to intermediate depth injection. Several of these monitor wells have shown marked pressure response to injection in RRGI-4 and RRGI-6. These data will be used to evaluate both current injection practices and fluid disposal alternatives in Raft River.
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