MODFLOW-NWT and MODPATH5 models used to identify potential flow paths from San Juan Mine to hydrologic receptors, San Juan County, New Mexico
Dates
Release Date
2017-01-01
Start Date
1971-01-01
Publication Date
2023-09-15
Citation
Stewart, A.M., 2017, MODFLOW-NWT and MODPATH5 models used to identify potential flow paths from San Juan Mine to hydrologic receptors, San Juan County, New Mexico: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/F75719JV.
Summary
Coal combustion by-products (CCBs, in the form of ash) produced at the coal-fired San Juan Generating Station in San Juan County, New Mexico, have been buried in former surface-mine pits at the San Juan Coal Mine since power-generation operations began in the early 1970s. A groundwater flow model was developed by the USGS to estimate the timing of groundwater recovery after the cessation of mining and to identify potential pathways and advective travel times for groundwater transport of metals that may be leached from stored CCBs to arrive at hydrologic receptors after mining operations cease. The USGS numerical modeling package MODFLOW-NWT with MODPATH particle-tracking software was used. This USGS data release contains all of the [...]
Summary
Coal combustion by-products (CCBs, in the form of ash) produced at the coal-fired San Juan Generating Station in San Juan County, New Mexico, have been buried in former surface-mine pits at the San Juan Coal Mine since power-generation operations began in the early 1970s. A groundwater flow model was developed by the USGS to estimate the timing of groundwater recovery after the cessation of mining and to identify potential pathways and advective travel times for groundwater transport of metals that may be leached from stored CCBs to arrive at hydrologic receptors after mining operations cease. The USGS numerical modeling package MODFLOW-NWT with MODPATH particle-tracking software was used. This USGS data release contains all of the input and output files for the simulations described in the associated model documentation report (https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20175155).
The groundwater model was developed to estimate quantitatively the time required for the groundwater system in the vicinity of San Juan Mine to return to the pre-industrial steady state after cessation of dewatering for mining and oil-and-gas production, and to identify groundwater flow paths and associated travel times from CCB storage pits to arrive at hydrologic receptors. The development of the model input and output files included in this data release are documented in the U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5155 (https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20175155)
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Image of the model domain and active area of the model.