Three-dimensional groundwater flow model use and application : Bishop Basin, Owens Valley, California

• Main Author: Radell, Mary Jo.
• Other Authors: Maddock III, Thomas
• Language: en
• Published: The University of Arizona. 1989
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10150/192011

Groundwater models used appropriately, are useful tools in water management decisions. For this study, input parameter sensitivity was analyzed for a three-dimensional groundwater model which depicted effects of pumping and varying recharge on water levels in northern Owens Valley. Sensitivity analysis determined that transmissivity, total recharge, and increases in stream and canal recharge significantly affected results in the Bishop Basin model. Vertical conductance, changes in evapotranspiration, flowing well production, and added precipitation were insensitive parameters. Groundwater pumping affected water levels in both confined and unconfined aquifers in the vicinity of production wells and, to a lesser extent, in areas away from well fields. Water level recovery occurred with above-normal runoff, but remained depressed with insufficient recharge to the groundwater system.