Going Beyond MODFLOW For Surface/Groundwater Interaction

There is a growing awareness in the hydrological community that the interaction between surface water and groundwater has been overlooked in the management of our water resources. This interaction is vital for understanding the complex hydrologic impacts of land use and climate change particularly in an environment where the demand for water exceeds the availability of the resource. A generation of groundwater modellers have grown up with MODFLOW as their tool for planning and management of groundwater resources. Whilst this model has performed well when considering groundwater in isolation, there is growing recognition that the interaction between surface water and groundwater requires modelling tools that go beyond its capability.

DHI offer tools and knowledge to help move beyond MODFLOW with the two most widely-used tools for advanced surface\groundwater interaction modelling, MIKE SHE and FEFLOW.

MIKE SHE is a user-friendly modelling tool that can simulate the entire land phase of the hydrologic cycle. It is particularly relevant for evaluating wetland management, surface water impact from groundwater withdrawal, landuse and climate change impacts, environmental flows assessment and water quality. Numerous independent reviews (provided upon request) rank MIKE SHE as the world’s most comprehensive, and scientifically sound model for surface water - groundwater interaction.

FEFLOW is the most advanced finite element model available for simulating density-dependent groundwater flow with mass and heat transport. Since the initial development over 20 years ago, FEFLOW has evolved into one of the most powerful modelling software packages available and is now used by leading consultants, government agencies and educational institutions around the world. FEFLOW is well suited for 2-D and 3-D flow and transport modelling applications, and excels in cases that involve complex geological formations, unsaturated flow, density-dependent flow or thermal convection. FEFLOW’s ability to be coupled to MIKE11 makes it ideal for examining fully dynamic interactions between rivers and groundwater.

MIKE SHE and FEFLOW are currently being applied across Australia in areas as diverse as river and ground water interaction in the Northern Territory, salinity\drainage management in Western Australia, groundwater related urban flooding in New South Wales, plantation and wetland interactions in South Australia and land use impacts (ACT). Internationally the models have been applied in areas such as the world’s largest ecological restoration project (Florida Everglades), the largest Ramsar wetland (Okavango Delta) and the second largest river in Poland (Odra Delta Nature Park).

If you are ready to take your modelling projects beyond MODFLOW you should contact DHI to take advantage of special pricing for a limited time. If you are going to change the way you have worked in the past you will need to advance your capabilities and upgrade your technology tools to a face a changing world.

For further information please contact Dr Graeme Cox at gjc@dhigroup.com.