An underground water storage system is installed with directional drilling techniques to dispose water conveying conduits within an aquifer. By conducting a pre-installation investigation of the aquifer, the conduits may be placed within the aquifer to increase the flow efficiency into the aquifer, such as orienting the position of the conduits to coincide with the orientation of the aquifer. The invention may have a system for preventing water invasion into the near surface soil layers, thereby preventing water instrusion which may be detrimental to desired surface uses for the land, such as agricultural, recreational, residential or commercial uses.