Numerical Flow Modeling III
Interlachen, Oregon groundwater contamination Intermediate – Multi-layer aquifer modeling; source water tracking; contaminant tracking. Background: A small community pumps groundwater from a confined sandstone aquifer for their drinking water supply. A recent monitoring study, however, shows that the aquifer is contaminated by a TCE plume near the Boeing and Cascade sites upgradient (see below). Although the well water is currently not contaminated, the citizens are extremely concerned since groundwater is their exclusive source of water supply. (Numerical Flow Modeling III- 20)  
Impact Analysis of Infrastructure Development on Groundwater-fed Wetlands ADVANCED – Integrated groundwater modeling project; flow tracking; infrastructure impact analysis. Background: Under consideration is the construction of a permanent facility at Fort Custer Training Center (FCTC) in southwest Michigan, which may potentially impact the existing environmental conditions. Regulations require that an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) be conducted and this hydrologic analysis is an integral component of that larger study. In particular, the FCTC has multiple groundwater-fed streams and wetlands, including the globally unique and sensitive prairie fen wetland distinction. Groundwater-fed water resources are desirable for numerous reasons; especially from an ecological perspective. This is due to their extreme biodiversity as prairie fens serve as a habitat for rare, threatened, or endangered species. (Numerical Flow Modeling III- 20)  
Dewatering Impact Analysis Dune Shores LLC is proposing to construct a 17 ft deep boat marina near Lake Mishigamaa at the mouth of the Gitchi River. But they are running into fierce opposition from the local community and environmental activists who argue that the excavation of the new marina will cause the surrounding water table to decline, including in the area of several important interdunal wetland ecosystems. You be the judge … would the proposed plan by the developer work? Should permits be issued by the Army Corps of Engineers and the DEQ? (Numerical Flow Modeling III- 20)  
East Bay Township Plume Clean-up Project - HONORS Advanced - Multi-week integrated groundwater project. Flow modeling; contaminant remediation. Background: A subsurface contaminant plume has been identified in East Bay Township, a residential area adjacent to Traverse City, Michigan and home to the Cherry Capital Airport. Prompted by complaints of odors and foaming water in domestic water well supplies in the residential area along Avenue E near East Grand Traverse Bay, the Department of Public Health detected organic substances in the groundwater – including benzene, toluene, xylene, and other compounds characteristic of solvents, cleaning agents, and fuel substances. These chemicals are known to be harmful if ingested by humans. (Numerical Flow Modeling III- 20)  
East Bay Township Plume Clean-up Project Advanced - Multi-week integrated groundwater project. Flow modeling; contaminant remediation. Background. A subsurface contaminant plume has been identified in East Bay Township, a residential area adjacent to Traverse City, Michigan and home to the Cherry Capital Airport. Prompted by complaints of odors and foaming water in domestic water well supplies in the residential area along Avenue E near East Grand Traverse Bay, the Department of Public Health detected organic substances in the groundwater – including benzene, toluene, xylene, and other compounds characteristic of solvents, cleaning agents, and fuel substances. These chemicals are known to be harmful if ingested by humans. (Numerical Flow Modeling III- 20)  
Woburn, MA superfund site project Advanced - Integrated project; multi-layer aquifer modeling; source water tracking; contaminant tracking; groundwater-surface water interaction. Background: In 1972, in the working-class town of Woburn, Massachusetts (population ~40,000), 13 children in 8 different families had contracted a rare form of childhood cancer (acute lymphocytic leukemia). The inflicted families suspected that the drinking water - long known for its for its color and bad taste – had become contaminated by nearby industrial activity in Woburn. For seven years, however, the inflicted families struggled to convince anyone that there was a serious problem with the drinking water. (Numerical Flow Modeling III- 20)  
Lake Augmentation Home owners from a beautiful lake community faced a water problem: their lake was ‘sick’ – it was losing water and lake levels were getting lower. An expert "fixed" the problem by pumping deep groundwater directly into the lake. But years layer, the same problems returned. A second expert says the plan never really worked in the first place. Determine if the lake augmentation project was doomed from the beginning. (Numerical Flow Modeling III- 20)  
Drinking Water Contamination Dispute Homeowners in a small community filed a lawsuit against a nearby food processing plant for the contamination of their water wells with heavy metals. They claimed that the source of the problem is the food processing company’s spray irrigation of its waste water at four large fields in the vicinity. But the food processing company denied the charges, arguing that even if the water from the spray irrigation is a problem, it cannot possibly reach most of the water wells because they are outside the impact area of the spray irrigation. You be the judge… is the company responsible?!? (Numerical Flow Modeling III- 20)  
Groundwater Model Calibration Exercise - Fluxes and SWLs Planning to install a new 250 GPM well at their main facility, a small manufacturer hires you to determine whether their proposed well will cause any problems with the stream and an existing well and whether the new well or the existing well would likely become contaminated by a nearby TCE plume as a result of the operation of the new well. The new well will be operated continuously. The party responsible for the TCE plume has only recently been notified that they must remediate this plume. The State DEQ expects that it will be several years before this happens since it appears the State will have to go to court to force compliance. ​ (Numerical Flow Modeling III- 20)  
Bank Filtration and Well Field Design for a Large-scale Water Supply The possibility of developing a well field taking advantage of bank filtration for large scale water supply is being studied for the unconfined aquifer. The aquifer is developed in the alluvial sand deposits of perennial river. Using the provided information and MAGNET, develop a preliminary groundwater model for assessing the aquifer’s potential and designing the pumping network. (Numerical Flow Modeling III- 20)  
Mapping Groundwater-Dependent-Ecosystems (GDEs) With increasing groundwater development around the world, a method is required to identify and map groundwater dependent ecosystems (GDEs) across broad landscape scales. Discuss how MAGNET, especially combined with its hierarchical modeling capabilities and the now widely available 1m lidar DEM data, can be used to identify or to guide field inventory of groundwater dependent ecosystems. (Numerical Flow Modeling III- 20)  
Quick Identification of Groundwater-fed Surface Water Bodies A research team of hydrologists is attempting to understand the role of a series of ponds and bogs on the regional hydrologic water balance. The immediate objective is to assess which surface water bodies are points of recharge and which are points of discharge, and to make calculations of the monthly and annual gains or losses to the groundwater systems. Outline a field measurement program that would satisfy the immediate objectives at one pond. (Numerical Flow Modeling III- 20)  
Construction Dewatering - Confined and Unconfined Aquifer Transitioning An extraction well on a large river island has been considered for a temporary lowering of the piezometric surface for construction purposes. The island's sandy aquifer, which is naturally confined, will have to undergo a change to unconfined conditions at the construction site because of the requirement that the piezometric surface must be kept at 1.5 meters below the aquifer top during the construction. Find the pumping rate at the well that will satisfy this requirement for safe constriction. Use both an analytical approach and numerical approach. (Numerical Flow Modeling III- 20)  
Groundwater Flow into Tunnels There is probably no engineering project that requires a more compatible marriage between hydrogeology and engineering than the construction of a tunnel. The prediction of groundwater inflow into a tunnel is important for designing the tunnel drainage system and to minimize environmental impacts and the risk of tunnel instabilities and subsidence damage. Use MAGNET to simulate the groundwater flow into the given tunnel configurations. (Numerical Flow Modeling III- 20)  
Drinking Water, Food Safety, and Arsenic Groundwater Contamination Groundwater withdrawals have increased significantly in developing parts of the world to support growing populations and increased domestic food production. But in some of these areas, the groundwater is dangerously contaminated with heavy metals like arsenic, raising concerns over the safety of the food and water being consumed by the population. Investigate a site in the Munshiganj district in Bangladesh and analyze impact of drinking water wells and irrigation wells with respect to the groundwater-surface water interactions that drive the arsenic groundwater contamination problem. (Numerical Flow Modeling III- 20)