Evaluation of the Ground-Water Flow Model for Northern Utah Valley, Utah, Updated To
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Evaluation of the Ground-Water Flow Model for Northern Utah Valley, Utah, Updated to Conditions through 2002 r e v Riverton i Salt Draper R Lake Valley eek Cr Dry 15 Jordan Alpine Mountains River Fork Highland American Traverse W Camp asatch Williams Cedar Hills Northern American Mt Timpanogos Utah 11,750 feet Eagle Lehi Fork Mountain Valley 89 Pleasant Grove Saratoga Springs River Lindon Provo Range Vineyard Orem Cedar Valley Mountains Provo Utah Lake Lake Provo Bay Springville Hobble 15 Creek Spanish Spanish Fork Fork est River W Mountain 89 Scientific Investigations Report 2006–5064 Prepared in cooperation with the Central Utah Water Conservancy District; Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District representing Draper City; Highland Water Company; Utah Department of Natural Resources, Division of Water Rights; and the municipalities of Alpine, American Fork, Cedar Hills, Eagle Mountain, Highland, Lehi, Lindon, Orem, Pleasant Grove, Provo, Saratoga Springs, and Vineyard U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey Cover: View looking east toward American Fork Canyon in Utah County, Utah, March 2004. Evaluation of the Ground-Water Flow Model for Northern Utah Valley, Utah, Updated to Conditions through 2002 By Susan A. Thiros Prepared in cooperation with the Central Utah Water Conservancy District; Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District representing Draper City; Highland Water Company; Utah Department of Natural Resources, Division of Water Rights; and the municipalities of Alpine, American Fork, Cedar Hills, Eagle Mountain, Highland, Lehi, Lindon, Orem, Pleasant Grove, Provo, Saratoga Springs, and Vineyard Scientific Investigations Report 2006–5064 U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Department of the Interior Gale A. Norton, Secretary U.S. Geological Survey P. Patrick Leahy, Acting Director U.S. Geological Survey, Salt Lake City, Utah: 2006 For additional information write to: U.S. Geological Survey Director, USGS Utah Water Science Center 2329 W. Orton Circle Salt Lake City, UT 84119-2047 Email: [email protected] URL: http://ut.water.usgs.gov/ For product and ordering information: World Wide Web: http://www.usgs.gov/pubprod Telephone: 1-888-ASK-USGS For more information on the USGS--the Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources, natural hazards, and the environment: World Wide Web: http://www.usgs.gov Telephone: 1-888-ASK-USGS Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Although this report is in the public domain, permission must be secured from the individual copyright owners to reproduce any copyrighted materials contained within this report. iii Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................................................ 1 Introduction...................................................................................................................................................... 1 Purpose and Scope ............................................................................................................................... 3 Description of the Study Area ............................................................................................................. 3 Ground-Water Hydrology ..................................................................................................................... 3 Description of the Model ............................................................................................................................... 5 Update of the Model to Conditions through 2002 ...................................................................................... 8 Performance of the Updated Model ........................................................................................................... 8 Potential Revisions and New Data to Improve the Updated Model .................................................... 15 Summary......................................................................................................................................................... 19 References Cited........................................................................................................................................... 19 Figures Figure 1. Location of northern Utah Valley study area, Utah. ..................................................................... 2 Figure 2. Generalized block diagram showing the basin-fill deposits and ground-water system in northern Utah Valley, Utah. .............................................................................................................. 4 Figure 3. Grid for the model of the ground-water system in northern Utah Valley, Utah ...................... 6 Figure 4. Location of cells simulating recharge and discharge in the model of the ground-water system in northern Utah Valley, Utah. ............................................................................................ 7 Figure 5. Specified ground-water discharge from wells in the updated model of the ground-water system in northern Utah Valley, Utah, 1947–2002. ........................................................................ 9 Figure 6. Location of cells simulating flowing and pumping wells in 1981 and 2002 in the updated model of the ground-water system in northern Utah Valley, Utah. ......................................... 10 Figure 7. Annual streamflow in the American Fork and Provo Rivers and specified recharge to the ground-water system in the updated model of northern Utah Valley, Utah, 1947–2002. ......................................................................................................................................... 11 Figure 8. Location of wells with measured and computed water-level changes in the updated model of the ground-water system in northern Utah Valley, Utah. ......................................... 12 Figure 9. Measured water-level change for selected wells during 1981–2003 and computed water-level change for the corresponding model cell and layer in the updated model of the ground-water system in northern Utah Valley, Utah. ..................................................... 13 Figure 10. Computed water-level decline from the end of 1980 to the end of 2001 in layer 5 of the updated model of the ground-water system and measured water-level decline from March 1981 to March 2002 at 14 wells that correspond to layer 5 in northern Utah Valley, Utah ....................................................................................................................................... 16 Figure 11. Measured water-level altitude for selected wells during 1981–2003 and computed water-level altitude for the corresponding cell and layer in the updated model of the ground-water system in northern Utah Valley, Utah. ................................................................ 17 Figure 12. Simulated and specified ground-water recharge and discharge in the updated model of the ground-water system in northern Utah Valley, Utah, 1947–2002.................................. 18 iv Table Table 1. Conceptual ground-water budget for the basin-fill aquifer system in northern Utah Valley, Utah ........................................................................................................................................ 4 Conversion Factors and Datums Multiply By To obtain Length foot (ft) 0.3048 meter (m) mile (mi) 1.609 kilometer (km) Area square mile (mi2) 2.590 square kilometer (km2) Volume acre-foot (acre-ft) 1,233 cubic meter (m3) Flow rate acre-foot per year (acre-ft/yr) 1,233 cubic meter per year (m3/yr) Vertical coordinate information is referenced to the North American Vertical Datum of 1929 (NAVD 29). Horizontal coordinate information is referenced to the North American Datum of 1983 (NAD 83). Altitude, as used in this report, refers to distance above the vertical datum. Evaluation of the Ground-Water Flow Model for Northern Utah Valley, Utah, Updated to Conditions through 2002 By Susan A. Thiros Abstract The ability of the model to adequately simulate cli- matic extremes such as the wetter-than-normal conditions of This report evaluates the performance of a numerical 1982–84 and the drier-than-normal conditions of 1999–2002 model of the ground-water system in northern Utah Valley, indicates that the annual variation of recharge to the ground- Utah, that originally simulated ground-water conditions during water system based on streamflow entering the valley, which 1947–1980 and was updated to include conditions estimated in turn is primarily dependent upon precipitation, is appropri- for 1981–2002. Estimates of annual recharge to the ground- ate but can be improved. The updated transient-state model water system and discharge from wells in the area were added of the ground-water system in northern Utah Valley can be to the original ground-water flow model of the area. improved by making revisions on the basis of currently avail- The files used in the original transient-state model able data and information. of the ground-water flow system in northern Utah Valley were imported into MODFLOW-96, an updated version of MODFLOW. The main model input files modified as part of Introduction this effort were the well and recharge files. Discharge from pumping wells in northern Utah Valley was estimated on an Ground water is the primary source of drinking water in annual