Groundwater-Flow Budget for the Lower Apalachicola- Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin in Southwestern Georgia and Parts of Florida and Alabama, 2008–12
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
U.S. Geological Survey National Water Census and Water Availability and Use Science Program Groundwater-Flow Budget for the Lower Apalachicola- Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin in Southwestern Georgia and Parts of Florida and Alabama, 2008–12 Scientific Investigations Report 2017–5141 U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey Cover. Baltzell Spring no. 2, Chipola River drainage, Jackson County, Florida, August 2, 2008. Photograph by Alan M. Cressler, U.S. Geological Survey. Groundwater-Flow Budget for the Lower Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin in Southwestern Georgia and Parts of Florida and Alabama, 2008–12 By L. Elliott Jones, Jaime Painter, Jacob LaFontaine, Nicasio Sepulveda, and Dorothy F. Sifuentes U.S. Geological Survey National Water Census and Water Availability and Use Science Program Scientific Investigations Report 2017–5141 U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Department of the Interior RYAN K. ZINKE, Secretary U.S. Geological Survey William H. Werkheiser, Deputy Director exercising the authority of the Director U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia: 2017 For more information on the USGS—the Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources, natural hazards, and the environment—visit https://www.usgs.gov or call 1–888–ASK–USGS. For an overview of USGS information products, including maps, imagery, and publications, visit https://store.usgs.gov. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Although this information product, for the most part, is in the public domain, it also may contain copyrighted materials as noted in the text. Permission to reproduce copyrighted items must be secured from the copyright owner. Suggested citation: Jones, L.E., Painter, Jaime, LaFontaine, Jacob, Sepulveda, Nicasio, and Sifuentes, D.F., 2017, Groundwater-flow budget for the lower Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin in southwestern Georgia and parts of Florida and Alabama, 2008–12: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2017–5141, 76 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20175141. ISSN 2328-0328 (online) iii Contents Abstract ..........................................................................................................................................................1 Introduction.....................................................................................................................................................1 Purpose and Scope ..............................................................................................................................3 Approach ................................................................................................................................................4 Description of the Study Area ....................................................................................................................4 Precipitation...........................................................................................................................................4 Land Use .................................................................................................................................................6 Water Use ..............................................................................................................................................6 Physiography .........................................................................................................................................6 Hydrogeology.........................................................................................................................................7 Conceptualization of Hydrologic Flow ..............................................................................................7 Hydrologic Budget .........................................................................................................................................8 Discussion .....................................................................................................................................................12 Model Limitations.........................................................................................................................................16 Summary........................................................................................................................................................17 Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................................................18 References Cited..........................................................................................................................................18 Appendix 1. Model Construction and Calibration ...............................................................................21 Introduction..........................................................................................................................................21 Simulation Code ..................................................................................................................................22 Extent and Discretization ...................................................................................................................22 Boundary Conditions ..........................................................................................................................26 Specified Flux .............................................................................................................................26 Groundwater Pumping .....................................................................................................26 Recharge ............................................................................................................................26 Head-Dependent Flux ...............................................................................................................32 Stream-Aquifer Flow ........................................................................................................32 Lake-Aquifer Flow .............................................................................................................32 Wetlands ............................................................................................................................32 Lateral Groundwater Flow ...............................................................................................36 Hydraulic Properties...........................................................................................................................38 Model Calibration................................................................................................................................38 Model Fit ...............................................................................................................................................42 Sensitivity Analyses............................................................................................................................52 References Cited in Appendix 1 .......................................................................................................67 iv Figures 1. Map showing physiographic regions, land-surface altitude, counties, and municipalities within the study area in southwestern Georgia and adjacent parts of Florida and Alabama ................................................................................................................2 2. Diagram showing geologic and hydrogeologic units, and general groundwater quality in the lower Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin ...................................3 3. Bar charts showing mean monthly precipitation for the study area for 1981–2012 and 2008–12, and monthly total precipitation for the study area from January 2008 to December 2012 .........................................................................................................................5 4. Bar chart showing total monthly pumping rates from the Upper Floridan aquifer for the study area, 2008–12, including agricultural, municipal, and industrial water uses .....................................................................................................................................6 5. Conceptual diagram of the groundwater-flow system in the lower Apalachicola- Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin showing the groundwater-budget components simulated by the model ................................................................................................................8 6. Bar charts showing mean monthly recharge for the study area for 1981–2012 and 2008–12, and monthly total recharge for the study area from January 2008 to December 2012 ..............................................................................................................................9 7. Bar charts showing monthly simulated inflows and outflows for groundwater- budget components for the study area for January 2008 to December 2012 ...................11 8. Map showing the areal extent of watershed boundary dataset subbasins in the active flow model area ...................................................................................................13 9. Bar charts showing simulated average inflow and groundwater-storage loss and outflow and groundwater-storage gain for each subbasin in the study area from January 2008 to December