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Using high hydraulic conductivity nodes to simulate seepage lakes.
Mary P Anderson1, Randall J Hunt, James T Krohelski
1Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 53706, USA. andy@geology.wisc.edu
Ground Water
|March 28, 2002
Summary
Simulating groundwater flow with lakes is improved by using high hydraulic conductivity (K) nodes. This method accurately represents lake levels, offering an alternative to traditional specified head nodes in groundwater models.
Area of Science:
- Hydrogeology
- Environmental Modeling
- Water Resource Management
Background:
- Traditional groundwater flow models require predefined lake levels (specified head nodes), limiting their application.
- Previous methods used high hydraulic conductivity (K) zones to simulate lakes, assuming simulated head reflects actual lake level.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the sensitivity of high-K lake node simulations to the chosen K value.
- To assess the accuracy and efficiency of the high-K method compared to established lake simulation packages.
Main Methods:
- Developed a hypothetical groundwater/lake system model to test the high-K method.
- Varied the contrast in hydraulic conductivity (K) between aquifer and lake nodes.
- Applied the high-K method to a real-world case study: Pretty Lake, Wisconsin.
- Compared results with MODFLOW's lake package (Merritt and Konikow 2000).
Main Results:
- Higher K contrast between aquifer and lake nodes reduced head differences across the lake.
- A contrast of four orders of magnitude yielded a head difference of 0.001 m.
- The high-K method produced results comparable to MODFLOW's lake package for both hypothetical and real-world systems.
Conclusions:
- The high-K method provides an accurate simulation of lake levels in groundwater models.
- While effective, the high-K method involves more complex postprocessing and longer simulation run times compared to specialized lake packages.