USGS Monthly Groundwater News and Highlights: June 1, 2016

Featured Product: Improving River and Reservoir Management through Better Modeling Tools

Conceptual model of MODSIM-MODFLOW. From Morway and others, 2016.

Efforts to address the growing divide between water supply and water demands around the Nation are complicated by uncertain water supplies as a result of climate variability, growing water demands, over-allocation of water resources, and other challenges. Due to the time delays of groundwater response to groundwater and surface-water management actions, the effects of a new water management decision can take days to decades to propagate through a connected river/aquifer system. Water managers need better tools to represent changes in groundwater resources and how those changes affect and are affected by rivers and reservoirs over time.

A new software tool has been developed that can help water managers better represent how groundwater and surface water interact, and use that information to inform river operations. MODSIM-MODFLOW is a new software program that combines the river operations model MODSIM with MODFLOW, the world's most widely used groundwater modeling program. As a result, mangers can better evaluate the potential consequences of new or changed water management plans. Learn More:

USGS Groundwater-Related Press Releases

Animation of Groundwater Watch Active Water Level Network, 30 days

The USGS Active Groundwater Level Network includes about 20,000 wells that have been measured by the USGS or USGS cooperators at least once within the past 13 months. The animation shows a daily snapshot of water-level statistics in the network for May 2016. Credit: USGS. The image is in the public domain.

Pharmaceuticals Commonly Detected in Small Streams in the Southeastern United States (May 25, 2016)

New Tool Aims to Help Balance Supply and Demand of Water Resources (May 23, 2016)

Public Advisory: USGS and UNR to Present Results of the Snake Valley Water-Resource Study in June (May 20, 2016)

Changing California Land Uses will Shape Water Demands in 2062 (May 18, 2016)

Media Advisory: Scientists and Officials Celebrate 40 Years of Groundbreaking Science in Lakewood (May 16, 2016)

Evidence of Unconventional Oil and Gas Wastewater Found in Surface Waters near Underground Injection Site (May 9, 2016)

More than Half of Streamflow in the Upper Colorado River Basin Originates as Groundwater (May 9, 2016)

Fireworks Likely Caused Water Contamination at Mount Rushmore (May 2, 2016)

USGS Groundwater-Related Publications

Potential effects of sea-level rise on the depth to saturated sediments of the Sagamore and Monomoy flow lenses on Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Purgeable organic compounds at or near the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho, 2015

Response of selenium concentrations in groundwater to seasonal canal leakage, lower Gunnison River Basin, Colorado, 2013

The presence of rapidly degrading permafrost plateaus in southcentral Alaska

Toward improved simulation of river operations through integration with a hydrologic model

Groundwater geochemical and selected volatile organic compound data, Operable Unit 1, Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Division Keyport, Washington, July 2015

Building science-based groundwater tools and capacity in Armenia for the Ararat Basin

Regional oxygen reduction and denitrification rates in groundwater from multi-model residence time distributions, San Joaquin Valley, USA

Preliminary investigation of groundwater flow and trichloroethene transport in the Surficial Aquifer System, Naval Industrial Reserve Ordnance Plant, Fridley, Minnesota

The importance of base flow in sustaining surface water flow in the Upper Colorado River Basin

Mid-latitude shrub steppe plant communities: Climate change consequences for soil water resources

Evaluation of background concentrations of selected chemical and radiochemical constituents in water from the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer at and near the Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho

Numerical simulation of the groundwater-flow system of the Kitsap Peninsula, west-central Washington

Hydrologic exchanges and baldcypress water use on deltaic hummocks, Louisiana, USA

USGS Groundwater-Related Software Updates and New Releases

ModelMuse v3.7.0

Field Photo: Water Sampling from Well in Armenia

Photo of USGS scientist collecting groundwater sample

Credit: USGS/Joshua Valder. Photo is in the public domain. Click on photo for larger version.

Did you know the USGS collaborates with other federal agencies, as well as with governments in other countries to share science and improve our understanding of groundwater resources? In this photo, Mark Anderson, Director of the USGS South Dakota Water Science Center, demonstrates how to collect a stable isotope sample from a flowing well near Sis, Armenia.

The USGS and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) began a study in 2016 to help build science-based groundwater tools and capacity for the Ararat Basin in Armenia. The growth of aquaculture and other uses in the Ararat Basin has been accompanied by increased withdrawals of groundwater, which has resulted in decreased springflow, well discharges, and water levels, including loss of flowing wells in many places. This study is in partnership with USAID/Armenia in the implementation of its Science, Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (STIP) effort through the Advanced Science and Partnerships for Integrated Resource Development (ASPIRED) program and associated partners, including the Government of Armenia, Armenia's Hydrogeological Monitoring Center, and the USAID Global Development Lab and its GeoCenter. Scientific tools will be developed through this study that groundwater-resource managers in Armenia can use to understand and forecast the consequences of their resource management decisions.

Archive of Past Highlights:

Past monthly summaries are available online.