Title:
Groundwater modeling to evaluate interaquifer leakage in the Floridan aquifer system in coastal Georgia
Groundwater modeling to evaluate interaquifer leakage in the Floridan aquifer system in coastal Georgia
Authors
Cherry, Gregory S.
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Abstract
A regional groundwater-flow model was
used to determine the influence of pumping the Lower
Floridan aquifer (LFA) on the amount of leakage from the
Upper Floridan aquifer (UFA) at three sites in coastal
Georgia. At each site, steady-state simulations were performed
whereby newly constructed production wells tapping
the LFA at Hunter Army Airfield (HAAF), Fort
Stewart (FS), and the City of Pooler were pumped at a rate
of about one million gallons per day to evaluate the longterm
effects of pumping on the Floridan aquifer system.
Separate models were developed for each of the three
sites to simulate drawdown response and to quantify interaquifer
leakage in the UFA and LFA near the new LFA
production well. Existing model grid resolution, hydrogeologic
unit depth and thickness, and hydraulic properties
were adjusted based on aquifer test data from each of
the sites. Results of model simulations indicate that interaquifer
leakage from the UFA into the LFA accounted
for 49 percent of the flow to the well at HAAF, and 98
percent of the flow at FS and the City of Pooler. Sensitivity
analysis of hydraulic properties within the largest hydraulic
property zone, which includes HAAF and Pooler,
indicates that simulated head is most sensitive to changes
in horizontal hydraulic conductivity of an aquifer, and that
varying hydraulic properties had little effect on net inflow
from general head boundaries (recharge), lateral specified
head boundaries, and on interaquifer leakage between the
UFA and LFA.
Sponsor
Sponsored by: Georgia Environmental Protection Division; U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service; Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia Water Resources Institute; The University of Georgia, Water Resources Faculty.
Date Issued
2013-04
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