--> Development of Regional Groundwater Availability Models of the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer in Texas, Van Kelley, Neil Deeds, Dennis Fryar, and Rainer Senger, #90093 (2009)
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Development of Regional Groundwater Previous HitAvailabilityNext Hit Models

of the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer in Texas
 

Van Kelley, Neil Deeds, Dennis Fryar, and Rainer Senger
 

INTERA Inc., 1812 Centre Creek Dr., Austin, Texas  78754

 

ABSTRACT

 

The Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer is classified as a major aquifer in Texas ranking third in the state for Previous HitwaterNext Hit use (450,000 acre-ft/yr) in 2003 behind the Gulf Coast Aquifer and the Ogallala Aquifer.  The aquifer extends from the Rio Grande in South Texas to East Texas and continues into Louisiana and Arkansas.  The Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer provides Previous HitwaterNext Hit to all or parts of 60 Texas counties.  In Texas, the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer is comprised of hydraulically connected sands from the Wilcox Group and the Carrizo Formation of the Claiborne Group of fluvio-deltaic origin.  Deposition has been influenced by regional crustal subsidence, salt tectonics, episodes of sediment inflow from areas outside of the Gulf Coastal Plain, and eustatic sea-level change.

 

In 1999 with the approval of Senate Bill 2, the 77th Texas Legislature directed that Section 16.012 of the Previous HitWaterNext Hit Code be amended to require that the Texas Previous HitWaterNext Hit Development Board (TWDB) obtain or develop groundwater Previous HitavailabilityNext Hit models (GAMs) for Texas major and minor aquifers.  The purpose of the TWDB GAM Program is to develop state-of-the-art numerical groundwater flow models for each of the major and minor aquifers in the State of Texas.  The purpose of the GAMs is to provide reliable and timely information on groundwater Previous HitavailabilityNext Hit to the citizens of Texas to ensure adequate supplies or recognize inadequate supplies over a 50-year planning period.  The TWDB has developed and implemented the GAM Program to include:  (1) substantial stakeholder involvement; (2) standardized, thoroughly documented, and publicly available numerical groundwater flow models and supporting data; and (3) predictions of groundwater Previous HitavailabilityNext Hit based on current projections of groundwater demands during drought-of-record conditions.

 

Because of the aquifer’s large extent in Texas (600 mi of outcrop), the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer was divided for modeling purposes into three regions, each being modeled separately.  The three Carrizo-Wilcox GAMs are the Northern Carrizo-Wilcox GAM, the Central Carrizo-Wilcox GAM, and the Southern Carrizo-Wilcox GAM.  The models extend from the outcrop to the downdip extent of the Wilcox growth fault trend.

 

This paper will discuss the successes and challenges of developing regional models in a clastic coastal aquifer system.  Issues such as grid scale, parameterization of hydraulic properties, and aquifer recharge and discharge processes will be discussed.  This work adds to the body of knowledge in the gulf coast coastal aquifers that was started by the U.S. Geological Survey Regional Aquifer-System Analysis Program (RASA).  Many of the challenges faced and lessons learned are directly applicable to other investigators in similar aquifer systems.

 

Kelley, V., N. Deeds, D. Fryar, and R. Senger, 2009, Development of regional groundwater Previous HitavailabilityTop models of the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer in Texas:  Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies Transactions, v. 59, p. 401-410.

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AAPG Search and Discover Article #90093 © 2009 GCAGS 59th Annual Meeting, Shreveport, Louisiana