Numerical Groundwater Modeling
Tuba City, Arizona
Western Water & Land developed and constructed a numerical groundwater model for over 65 square miles of terrain near Tuba City, Arizona. The work was conducted for MACTEC-ERS, the prime contractor for the U.S. Department of Energy Grand Junction Projects Office. The project involved the development of a local-scale model (Phase II) from a previously completed site-scale model (Phase I). The purpose of the project was to develop a steady-state local-scale model that would be used to evaluate the effect of hydrologic stresses associated with remediation of the Tuba City UMTRA Site on surrounding area wells and hydrologic features, as well as the effect of surrounding stresses in the UMTRA Site. The Tuba City UMTRA Site is a uranium mill tailings repository that has developed a groundwater contaminant plume as a result of transient drainage from the tailings repository. The scope of work included compilation of all relevant hydrological data (well and pumping records, precipitation data, and stream and spring flow data, etc.), development of the model domain and hydrologic conceptual model and water balance, construction of the numerical model, implementation of model calibration and sensitivity analysis, and project report preparation. Groundwater Vistas™ was used as the graphic user interface, and MODFLOW was used as the model computer. It is anticipated that future modeling work will include the development of a transient model and may include contaminant transport modeling.
Tuba City, Arizona
Western Water & Land developed and constructed a numerical groundwater model for over 65 square miles of terrain near Tuba City, Arizona. The work was conducted for MACTEC-ERS, the prime contractor for the U.S. Department of Energy Grand Junction Projects Office. The project involved the development of a local-scale model (Phase II) from a previously completed site-scale model (Phase I). The purpose of the project was to develop a steady-state local-scale model that would be used to evaluate the effect of hydrologic stresses associated with remediation of the Tuba City UMTRA Site on surrounding area wells and hydrologic features, as well as the effect of surrounding stresses in the UMTRA Site. The Tuba City UMTRA Site is a uranium mill tailings repository that has developed a groundwater contaminant plume as a result of transient drainage from the tailings repository. The scope of work included compilation of all relevant hydrological data (well and pumping records, precipitation data, and stream and spring flow data, etc.), development of the model domain and hydrologic conceptual model and water balance, construction of the numerical model, implementation of model calibration and sensitivity analysis, and project report preparation. Groundwater Vistas™ was used as the graphic user interface, and MODFLOW was used as the model computer. It is anticipated that future modeling work will include the development of a transient model and may include contaminant transport modeling.