A cell-by-cell water budget output from USGS Kitsap Peninsula groundwater model for VELMA
The Issue: The Visualizing Ecosystem Land Management Assessments (VELMA) model is a spatially explicit, eco-hydrological watershed model that was developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The VELMA model can be used to examine a wide variety of environmental systems; however, an area where the model could be improved is in its accounting of the interaction of groundwater and surface water. Therefore, it would be desirable to augment the groundwater component of VELMA with information from a calibrated groundwater-flow model.
How USGS will help: The Suquamish Tribe is developing a VELMA model for the Kitsap Peninsula in west-central Washington to simulate the potential outcome of actions that could be taken to increase the resilience of area fish-bearing streams to climate change. A previously developed USGS MODFLOW groundwater flow model for the Kitsap Peninsula provides the opportunity to incorporate the best available regional characterization of groundwater processes into the VELMA model. The USGS, in cooperation with the Suquamish Tribe, will extract water budget components from this groundwater model, which can then be used to inform the VELMA model.
Problem: The strength of VELMA is in simulating the connection of ecosystems and surface hydrology at the watershed scale, but it is limited in its simulation of groundwater and its connection to surface water. A previously developed MODFLOW groundwater-flow model for the Kitsap Peninsula could be used to augment VELMA.
Objectives:
1. Extract groundwater budget components from the groundwater model in a format that will be useful as input to the groundwater-related aspects of VELMA.
2. Publish the groundwater model and groundwater budget outputs in a data release.
3. Advise and collaborate with the Suquamish Tribe in the task of applying the groundwater model outputs from Objective 1 and provide assistance in describing the groundwater aspects of the study in a publication led by the Tribe.
Relevance and Benefits: The proposed study is consistent with USGS priorities to build relationships with Native American Tribes through collaborative work, expanded dialogs, understanding Tribal science needs, and bolstering Tribal science capacity. This effort also meets national program objectives to develop predictive models of climatic changes and gain understanding of the impact of climate extremes on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.
Approach: First, a model archive for the groundwater model will be published as a data release. Next, existing model output will be post-processed to obtain the groundwater budget components on a cell-by-cell, monthly basis to be used as inputs for the VELMA model.
Kitsap Groundwater Model
The Issue: The Visualizing Ecosystem Land Management Assessments (VELMA) model is a spatially explicit, eco-hydrological watershed model that was developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The VELMA model can be used to examine a wide variety of environmental systems; however, an area where the model could be improved is in its accounting of the interaction of groundwater and surface water. Therefore, it would be desirable to augment the groundwater component of VELMA with information from a calibrated groundwater-flow model.
How USGS will help: The Suquamish Tribe is developing a VELMA model for the Kitsap Peninsula in west-central Washington to simulate the potential outcome of actions that could be taken to increase the resilience of area fish-bearing streams to climate change. A previously developed USGS MODFLOW groundwater flow model for the Kitsap Peninsula provides the opportunity to incorporate the best available regional characterization of groundwater processes into the VELMA model. The USGS, in cooperation with the Suquamish Tribe, will extract water budget components from this groundwater model, which can then be used to inform the VELMA model.
Problem: The strength of VELMA is in simulating the connection of ecosystems and surface hydrology at the watershed scale, but it is limited in its simulation of groundwater and its connection to surface water. A previously developed MODFLOW groundwater-flow model for the Kitsap Peninsula could be used to augment VELMA.
Objectives:
1. Extract groundwater budget components from the groundwater model in a format that will be useful as input to the groundwater-related aspects of VELMA.
2. Publish the groundwater model and groundwater budget outputs in a data release.
3. Advise and collaborate with the Suquamish Tribe in the task of applying the groundwater model outputs from Objective 1 and provide assistance in describing the groundwater aspects of the study in a publication led by the Tribe.
Relevance and Benefits: The proposed study is consistent with USGS priorities to build relationships with Native American Tribes through collaborative work, expanded dialogs, understanding Tribal science needs, and bolstering Tribal science capacity. This effort also meets national program objectives to develop predictive models of climatic changes and gain understanding of the impact of climate extremes on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.
Approach: First, a model archive for the groundwater model will be published as a data release. Next, existing model output will be post-processed to obtain the groundwater budget components on a cell-by-cell, monthly basis to be used as inputs for the VELMA model.