Mixed local and regional-scale groundwater flow modelling

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Groundwater simulation models are used at both the regional scale and local scale to understand and predict groundwater migration subject to environmental or engineered changes in surface water flow, groundwater recharge, and/or groundwater pumping. To understand how much groundwater is available, how irrigation management decisions or climate change affect our water supply, and how these decisions and natural changes affect groundwater movement and availability at the local scale, we need more accurate and robust regional simulation models. These models are used as the basis for water resources management decisions, such as how much water to withdraw from an aquifer, how to regulate water levels in wetland or lake systems, or where to install new pumping wells such that negative environmental impacts are minimized.   In this research program, new computational methods for simultaneously simulating regional scale (>1,000 sq. km.) and local scale (<100 sq. km.) groundwater flow will be developed, tested, and applied to Canadian watersheds. Existing models can simulate either very large systems at a low resolution or small systems at high resolution; therefore, they cannot accurately assess the effects of massive changes in withdrawal from or recharge to an aquifer (regional causes) upon local surface water flow in an adjacent watershed (local effects). The methods proposed herein will use a novel combination of exact and approximate mathematical simulation techniques to breach this divide. These advances will allow the scientific community to develop better models for predicting effects of climate change on groundwater resources, developing sustainable groundwater/surface water management policies, and promoting better understanding of groundwater hydrology at the regional scale.