MODFLOW One-Water Hydrologic Flow Model—Conjunctive Use Simulation Software (MF-OWHM)
The MODFLOW One-Water Hydrologic Flow Model (MF-OWHM) – Conjunctive Use Simulation Software (Boyce, 2022; Boyce and others, 2020; Hanson and others, 2014) builds upon the MODFLOW-2005 framework for the simulation and analyses of conjunctive-use, water-management, and climate-crop-water scenario problems.
Documentation | Program History | Downloads and Documentation | Superseded Versions | Training | Package Support
The MODFLOW One-Water Hydrologic Flow Model (MF-OWHM; Boyce and others, 2020; Hanson and others, 2014) is a MODFLOW-2005 based integrated hydrologic model designed for the analysis of conjunctive-use management. The term “integrated” refers to the tight coupling of groundwater flow, surface-water flow, landscape processes, aquifer compaction and subsidence, reservoir operations, and conduit (karst) flow. This fusion results in a simulation software capable of addressing water-use and sustainability problems, including conjunctive-use, water-management, water-food-security, and climate-crop-water scenarios.
MF-OWHM is based on the Farm Process for MODFLOW-2005 (MF-FMP2, Schmid and Hanson, 2009) that includes Surface-water Routing Process (SWR, Hughes and others, 2012), Seawater Intrusion (SWI, Bakker and others, 2013),Riparian Evapotranspiration (RIP-ET, Maddock III and others, 2012), and Conduit Flow (CFP Shoemaker and others, 2008). MF-OWHM contains all the previously available solvers and the new solvers such as Newton-Raphson (NWT, Niswonger and others, 2011) and the nonlinear preconditioned conjugate gradient (PCGN, Naff and Banta, 2008).
As a second core version of MODFLOW-2005, MF-OWHM maintains backward compatibility with existing MODFLOW-2005 versions. Existing models developed using MODFLOW-2005 (Harbaugh, 2005), MODFLOW-NWT (Niswonger and others, 2011), MODFLOW-CFP (Shoemaker and others, 2008), and MODFLOW-FMP (Schmid and others, 2006; Schmid and Hanson, 2009) can also be simulated using MF-OWHM.
The improvements, new features, modifications to MODFLOW-2005, and newly developed processes continue the MF-OWHM philosophy of retaining and tracking as much water as is feasible in the simulation domain. This philosophy provides the scientific and engineering community with confidence in the water accounting and a technically sound foundation to address broad classes of problems for the public.
- Process-based simulation
- Saturated groundwater flow(three-dimensional)
- Surface-water flow(one- and two-dimensional)
- Stream and river flow
- Lake and reservoir storage
- Landscape simulation and irrigated agriculture
- Land-use and crop simulation
- Root uptake of groundwater
- Precipitation
- Actual evapotranspiration
- Runoff
- Infiltration
- Estimated irrigation demand
- Reservoir operations
- Aquifer compaction and subsidence by vertical model-grid deformation
- Seawater intrusion by a sharp-interface assumption
- Karst-aquifer and fractured-bedrock flow
- Turbulent and laminar-pipe network flow
- Unsaturated groundwater flow (one-dimensional)
- Internal linkages among the processes that couple hydraulic head, flow, and deformation.
- Redesigned code for
- Faster simulation runtime
- Increased user-input options
- Easier for model updates
- Robust error reporting
MF-OWHM uses a physically based simulation that is connected to a supply and demand framework. This framework starts with the landscape’s demand for water consumption that originates from either an administrative requirement—such as urban consumption or managed aquifer recharge—or from the landscape surface’s potential evaporation and transpiration. This “landscape water demand” is then satisfied from available supplies of water—such as precipitation, surface water, groundwater, and imported water. Water supply can be limited due to physical constraints from the natural and engineered water systems. These constraints occur due to the physics of natural groundwater and surface water flow and to physical limits of engineered systems, such as diversion canals or well-production capacity. The landscape water demand can affect both surface water and groundwater due to their interconnectivity. Further, the supply of groundwater and surface water can be controlled by water rights, managed through reservoir operations, or limited due to regulations.
Documentation
The official USGS reports describe the theory and input instructions at the time the distributions were first released. If you use of this software, please cite the reports in any associated publications and reports.
Boyce, S.E., 2022, MODFLOW One-Water Hydrologic Flow Model (MF-OWHM) Conjunctive Use and Integrated Hydrologic Flow Modeling Software, version 2.2.0: U.S. Geological Survey Software Release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9P8I8GS
Boyce, S.E., Hanson, R.T., Ferguson, I., Schmid, W., Henson, W., Reimann, T., Mehl, S.M., and Earll, M.M., 2020, One-Water Hydrologic Flow Model: A MODFLOW based conjunctive-use simulation software: U.S. Geological Survey Techniques and Methods 6–A60, 435 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/tm6A60
Hanson, R.T., Boyce, S.E., Schmid, Wolfgang, Hughes, J.D., Mehl, S.M., Leake, S.A., Maddock, Thomas, III, and Niswonger, R.G., 2014, One-Water Hydrologic Flow Model (MODFLOW-OWHM): U.S. Geological Survey Techniques and Methods 6-A51, 120 p., https://dx.doi.org/10.3133/tm6A51
- Online MODFLOW-OWHM v1 User's Guide:
Packages and processes often evolve over time. The User's Guide includes the most up-to-date input instructions and related details.
Program History
Version Highlights
MF-OWHM v2.2 introduced a ZoneBudget v3.2 and includes enhancements to the Farm Process (FMP), Newton Solver (NWT), Head Observation (HOB), Subsidence package (SUB), and the Basic package (BAS).
MF-OWHM v2.1 introduced the Surface Water Operations (SWO) process for dynamic reservoir operations and S Interpretive Language (Slang) for Customizable User Input.
MF-OWHM v2.0 is the second major release of MF-OWHM. This version involved a total rewrite of the Farm Process (FMP), inclusion of the Conduit Flow Process (CFP Shoemaker and others, 2008), and modifications that improved all the base MODFLOW packages.
MF-OWHM v1.0 was the first major release of MF-OWHM that is a unification of the many separate versions of MODFLOW that have evolved for various classes of hydrologic issues. In addition to this, modifications were made to the MF2005 source code that improve stability, accuracy and make the resulting software more "user friendly". MF-OWHM v1.00 is now considered legacy code with minimal support.
Version Information and Notes
Downloads and Documentation
General Information
If you wish to be included in our email list to be notified when updates occur, please send an email to modflow_owhm@usgs.gov with the word "add" in the title or check regularly at the download and source repository homepage:
Software Downloads
Superseded Versions
The following software is not actively supported by the USGS. The software has been superseded by MODFLOW-OWHM Version 2. The software versions below are provided online for historical reference only, and the pages may contain outdated information or broken links.
Training
The following links are to USGS internal-only training resources
- Groundwater Resources Association GRACast Web Seminar: Land Subsidence, Part 1: Subsidence Impacts from Groundwater Extraction (8/8/2014)
- 2014-15 Program on Mathematical and Statistical Ecology (ECOL), SAMSI: Examples of Large Integrated Hydrologic Models using MODFLOW-OWHM (8/20/14, Raleigh, N.C.)
MODFLOW-OWHM Process and Packages Support
The Online Guide to MODFLOW-OWHM (v1) provides quick access to the key documentation for MODFLOW-OWHM processes and packages:
- Report: The official USGS report describes the theory and input instructions at the time the package or process was first released.
- Online Guide: Packages and processes often evolve over time. The Online User's Guide includes the most up-to-date input instructions and related details.
The MODFLOW One-Water Hydrologic Flow Model (MF-OWHM) – Conjunctive Use Simulation Software (Boyce, 2022; Boyce and others, 2020; Hanson and others, 2014) builds upon the MODFLOW-2005 framework for the simulation and analyses of conjunctive-use, water-management, and climate-crop-water scenario problems.
Documentation | Program History | Downloads and Documentation | Superseded Versions | Training | Package Support
The MODFLOW One-Water Hydrologic Flow Model (MF-OWHM; Boyce and others, 2020; Hanson and others, 2014) is a MODFLOW-2005 based integrated hydrologic model designed for the analysis of conjunctive-use management. The term “integrated” refers to the tight coupling of groundwater flow, surface-water flow, landscape processes, aquifer compaction and subsidence, reservoir operations, and conduit (karst) flow. This fusion results in a simulation software capable of addressing water-use and sustainability problems, including conjunctive-use, water-management, water-food-security, and climate-crop-water scenarios.
MF-OWHM is based on the Farm Process for MODFLOW-2005 (MF-FMP2, Schmid and Hanson, 2009) that includes Surface-water Routing Process (SWR, Hughes and others, 2012), Seawater Intrusion (SWI, Bakker and others, 2013),Riparian Evapotranspiration (RIP-ET, Maddock III and others, 2012), and Conduit Flow (CFP Shoemaker and others, 2008). MF-OWHM contains all the previously available solvers and the new solvers such as Newton-Raphson (NWT, Niswonger and others, 2011) and the nonlinear preconditioned conjugate gradient (PCGN, Naff and Banta, 2008).
As a second core version of MODFLOW-2005, MF-OWHM maintains backward compatibility with existing MODFLOW-2005 versions. Existing models developed using MODFLOW-2005 (Harbaugh, 2005), MODFLOW-NWT (Niswonger and others, 2011), MODFLOW-CFP (Shoemaker and others, 2008), and MODFLOW-FMP (Schmid and others, 2006; Schmid and Hanson, 2009) can also be simulated using MF-OWHM.
The improvements, new features, modifications to MODFLOW-2005, and newly developed processes continue the MF-OWHM philosophy of retaining and tracking as much water as is feasible in the simulation domain. This philosophy provides the scientific and engineering community with confidence in the water accounting and a technically sound foundation to address broad classes of problems for the public.
- Process-based simulation
- Saturated groundwater flow(three-dimensional)
- Surface-water flow(one- and two-dimensional)
- Stream and river flow
- Lake and reservoir storage
- Landscape simulation and irrigated agriculture
- Land-use and crop simulation
- Root uptake of groundwater
- Precipitation
- Actual evapotranspiration
- Runoff
- Infiltration
- Estimated irrigation demand
- Reservoir operations
- Aquifer compaction and subsidence by vertical model-grid deformation
- Seawater intrusion by a sharp-interface assumption
- Karst-aquifer and fractured-bedrock flow
- Turbulent and laminar-pipe network flow
- Unsaturated groundwater flow (one-dimensional)
- Internal linkages among the processes that couple hydraulic head, flow, and deformation.
- Redesigned code for
- Faster simulation runtime
- Increased user-input options
- Easier for model updates
- Robust error reporting
MF-OWHM uses a physically based simulation that is connected to a supply and demand framework. This framework starts with the landscape’s demand for water consumption that originates from either an administrative requirement—such as urban consumption or managed aquifer recharge—or from the landscape surface’s potential evaporation and transpiration. This “landscape water demand” is then satisfied from available supplies of water—such as precipitation, surface water, groundwater, and imported water. Water supply can be limited due to physical constraints from the natural and engineered water systems. These constraints occur due to the physics of natural groundwater and surface water flow and to physical limits of engineered systems, such as diversion canals or well-production capacity. The landscape water demand can affect both surface water and groundwater due to their interconnectivity. Further, the supply of groundwater and surface water can be controlled by water rights, managed through reservoir operations, or limited due to regulations.
Documentation
The official USGS reports describe the theory and input instructions at the time the distributions were first released. If you use of this software, please cite the reports in any associated publications and reports.
Boyce, S.E., 2022, MODFLOW One-Water Hydrologic Flow Model (MF-OWHM) Conjunctive Use and Integrated Hydrologic Flow Modeling Software, version 2.2.0: U.S. Geological Survey Software Release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9P8I8GS
Boyce, S.E., Hanson, R.T., Ferguson, I., Schmid, W., Henson, W., Reimann, T., Mehl, S.M., and Earll, M.M., 2020, One-Water Hydrologic Flow Model: A MODFLOW based conjunctive-use simulation software: U.S. Geological Survey Techniques and Methods 6–A60, 435 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/tm6A60
Hanson, R.T., Boyce, S.E., Schmid, Wolfgang, Hughes, J.D., Mehl, S.M., Leake, S.A., Maddock, Thomas, III, and Niswonger, R.G., 2014, One-Water Hydrologic Flow Model (MODFLOW-OWHM): U.S. Geological Survey Techniques and Methods 6-A51, 120 p., https://dx.doi.org/10.3133/tm6A51
- Online MODFLOW-OWHM v1 User's Guide:
Packages and processes often evolve over time. The User's Guide includes the most up-to-date input instructions and related details.
Program History
Version Highlights
MF-OWHM v2.2 introduced a ZoneBudget v3.2 and includes enhancements to the Farm Process (FMP), Newton Solver (NWT), Head Observation (HOB), Subsidence package (SUB), and the Basic package (BAS).
MF-OWHM v2.1 introduced the Surface Water Operations (SWO) process for dynamic reservoir operations and S Interpretive Language (Slang) for Customizable User Input.
MF-OWHM v2.0 is the second major release of MF-OWHM. This version involved a total rewrite of the Farm Process (FMP), inclusion of the Conduit Flow Process (CFP Shoemaker and others, 2008), and modifications that improved all the base MODFLOW packages.
MF-OWHM v1.0 was the first major release of MF-OWHM that is a unification of the many separate versions of MODFLOW that have evolved for various classes of hydrologic issues. In addition to this, modifications were made to the MF2005 source code that improve stability, accuracy and make the resulting software more "user friendly". MF-OWHM v1.00 is now considered legacy code with minimal support.
Version Information and Notes
Downloads and Documentation
General Information
If you wish to be included in our email list to be notified when updates occur, please send an email to modflow_owhm@usgs.gov with the word "add" in the title or check regularly at the download and source repository homepage:
Software Downloads
Superseded Versions
The following software is not actively supported by the USGS. The software has been superseded by MODFLOW-OWHM Version 2. The software versions below are provided online for historical reference only, and the pages may contain outdated information or broken links.
Training
The following links are to USGS internal-only training resources
- Groundwater Resources Association GRACast Web Seminar: Land Subsidence, Part 1: Subsidence Impacts from Groundwater Extraction (8/8/2014)
- 2014-15 Program on Mathematical and Statistical Ecology (ECOL), SAMSI: Examples of Large Integrated Hydrologic Models using MODFLOW-OWHM (8/20/14, Raleigh, N.C.)
MODFLOW-OWHM Process and Packages Support
The Online Guide to MODFLOW-OWHM (v1) provides quick access to the key documentation for MODFLOW-OWHM processes and packages:
- Report: The official USGS report describes the theory and input instructions at the time the package or process was first released.
- Online Guide: Packages and processes often evolve over time. The Online User's Guide includes the most up-to-date input instructions and related details.