The Urbandale Water Utility (UWU) has been issued A Finding of No Significant Impact (FNSI) for a Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) project, an Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) Well. The documentation will be made available online at Iowa Economic Development & Finance Authority and by clicking here. A 30-day comment period regarding the project is open through July 23rd, 2025 and comments may be sent to SRF-PC@dnr.iowa.gov.
Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) Well at 170th Street Water Tower in Northwestern Urbandale
The City of Urbandale continues to experience residential and economic growth with increased water demands. The Urbandale Water Utility (UWU) needs to ensure that the current and future water demands of the community will be met by the water supply system. A new ASR well and associated support facilities in the City of Urbandale’s water distribution system will support the community’s economic growth, reliability, drought resilience, and water rate stability.
With the construction of the ASR well UWU will be able to store excess water underground in an aquifer during the low-water demand winter months and extract it during the high-water demand summer months. The ASR well will provide an important tool for UWU to manage peak water usage and to ensure UWU has ample supply for meeting the water needs of our growing community. Figure 1 below shows a visual representation of an ASR well operation for your reference.
In 2024, the UWU completed preliminary engineering for this project and anticipates engineering design to begin in fall 2025, followed by construction in 2027. Site work on the new ASR well will include drilling a 2,500-feet deep well along with associated site work and will last for approximately five months. Phase 2 of the project consists of constructing the well control building and installing chemical feed equipment and electrical equipment. Construction of the new well will not have any direct effect on neighboring homes and properties. It will, however, create additional noise. UWU will require the project contractor to mitigate the noise generated during construction. This project is being coordinated with Central Iowa Water Works, a newly established regional water authority in the Des Moines Metro. As a member of Central Iowa Water Works, UWU’s construction of this this ASR well brings a benefit to the region, contributing to water availability and reliability.
If you have any questions concerning the project, please contact Matthew Jacob – Distribution Manager at 515-331-6836 or mjacob@urbandalewater.org