Truncating Cross-Sectional Groundwater Models under Wetlands
Publication: Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 15, Issue 7
Abstract
Cross-sectional models, which represent two-dimensional flow in the vertical plane, tend to have problematic aspect ratios since the aquifer thickness is often small compared to the lateral extent of the flow domain. For that reason, the model domain is usually limited to the immediate area of interest, for instance the aquifer section underneath a dam. We propose a Cauchy boundary condition to represent flow from remote wetlands that are left out of the truncated model. The resistance to flow inherent to such a boundary depends on the aquifer properties and the resistance to flow through the wetland bottom. While the Cauchy boundary condition is based on the Dupuit-Forchheimer approximation to flow underneath the remote wetlands, the error appears to be negligible (less than 0.6%) for most practical cases, including flow in stratified aquifers. For the case of multiple aquifers underneath the wetlands, the total flow in the truncated model can be a few percent in error, which is typically acceptable for most engineering applications. The approach is illustrated with an application near a levee-borrow canal setting in the Florida Everglades.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
Anderson, M. P., and Woessner, W. W. (1992). Applied groundwater modeling, Academic Press, San Diego.
Bear, J., and Verruijt, A. (1987). Modeling groundwater flow and pollution, Reidel, Dordrecht, The Netherlands.
Bruggeman, G. A. (1999). Analytical solutions of geohydrological problems, Elsevier, Amsterdam, N.Y.
Chahar, B. R. (2007). “Analysis of seepage from polygon channels.” J. Hydraul. Eng., 133(4), 451–460.
Chin, D. A. (1990). “A method to estimate canal leakage to the Biscayne aquifer, Dade County, Florida.” U.S. Geological Survey Water Resources Investigations Rep. No. 90-4135, Books and Open-File Reports Section, U.S. Geological Survey, Federal Center, Denver.
Fish, J. E., and Stewart, M. (1991). “Hydrogeology of the surficial aquifer system, Dade County, Florida.” USGS Water Resources Investigation Rep. No. 90-4108, U.S. Geological Survey, Denver.
Haitjema, H. M. (1995). Analytic element modeling of groundwater flow, Academic Press, San Diego.
Harr, M. E. (1962). Groundwater and seepage, McGraw-Hill, New York.
Hunt, R. J., Haitjema, H. M., Krohelski, J., and Feinstein, D. (2003). “Simulating groundwater–lake interactions: Approaches, analyses, and insights.” Ground Water, 41(2), 227–237.
McDonald, M. G., and Harbaugh, A. W. (1988). “A modular three-dimensional finite-difference groundwater flow model.” U.S. Geological Survey Techniques of Water Resources Investigations, USGS Open File Rep. No. 83-875, Book 6, Chapter A1, 586.
Merritt, M. L. (1995). “Simulation of the water table altitude in the Biscayne aquifer, Southern Dade County, Florida, Water Years 1945–1989.” USGS Open File Rep. No. 95-337, U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, 160.
Verruijt, A. (1970). Theory of groundwater flow, Gordon and Breach Science, New York.
Wilsnack, M. M., and Kelson, V. A. (2007). “An application of the analytic element method to the cross sectional modeling of levee seepage from the Everglades National Park, Florida.” Proc., 2007 ASCE World Water and Environmental Resources Congress: Restoring Our Natural Habitat, Tampa, Fla., ASCE, Reston, Va., 1–12.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
© 2010 ASCE.
History
Received: Nov 12, 2008
Accepted: Oct 13, 2009
Published online: Oct 22, 2009
Published in print: Jul 2010
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.