Selecting Suitable MODFLOW Packages to Model Pond–Groundwater Relations Using a Regional Model

Abstract

In large-scale regional models, used for the management of underground resources, it is quite common to find that relationships between the regional aquifer and small wetlands are not included. These models do not consider this connection because of the small amount of water involved, but they should consider the potential for significant ecological impacts if the groundwater resources in the ecosystems associated with these wetlands are mismanaged. The main objective of this work is to investigate the possibilities offered by MODFLOW LGR-V2 to represent (at small scale) the Santa Olalla pond, located in the Doñana Natural Park (South of Spain), and its relationship with the Almonte-Marismas regional aquifer. As a secondary objective, we propose to investigate the advantages and disadvantages that DRAIN, RIVER and LAKE MODFLOW packages offer within the MODFLOW LGR-V2 discretizations. The drain boundary condition with a coarse discretization implemented through ModelMuse allows the most adequate performance of the groundwater levels in the environment of the pond. However, when using lake boundary condition, the use of the MODFLOW LGR-V2 version is particularly useful. The present work also gives some guidelines to employ these packages with the MODFLOW graphical user’s interface, ModelMuse 4.2.

Ecological Impact Prediction of Groundwater Change in Phreatic Aquifer under Multi-Mining Conditions

“…Groundwater was simulated to predict changes in groundwater level in the basin under the combined exploitation of multiple underground mines and to study the change in groundwater resources using the simulated water level. The circulation of the groundwater system was simulated using the MODFLOW groundwater model, based on Darcy's law and the foundation of Dupuit, which are widely used in groundwater research [52,53]. MODFLOW was implemented in the GMS software platform to simulate the watershed.…”