Sort of. It’s so much more complicated, though. If you send water to an aquifer you didn’t mean to, you’re basically giving up your right to that water. If it happens a lot, you do lose it.

Where water comes from and goes in this part of the country is a big deal with many details.

Towns mismanaging it to this extent is more like a feature than a bug. Speculators get morons elected so the town loses their water and then the water is up for grabs. It’s happening all over southern Colorado right now.

Sure, it’s just a matter of how long it takes to filter through and return to the aquifer.

It can take years or centuries, depending on what the water has to filter through among other variables like capillary action.

If you want to use the water in the near future, it’s best to not let it return to the aquifer.

If we stop sucking it out.