Model evaluation of the hydrogeology of the Cypress Creek well field in west-central Florida

The Cypress Creek well field is being developed to help supply a rapidly growing population in west-central Florida. The ground-water system in the Cypress Creek well-field area consists of a surficial sand aquifer, a semiconfining clay layer ranging from 2 to 25 feet in thickness, and a sequence of carbonate rocks, approximately 1,000 feet thick, called the Floridan aquifer. All recharge to the Floridan aquifer in the local area is derived from the overlying surficial sand aquifer by downward percolation through the semiconfining clay bed. The major proportion of water supplied to municipal wells open to the Floridan aquifer comes from a dolomitic section of the Avon Park Limestone containing two major cavernous zones. The hydrogeology of the well-field area was evaluated by digital model simulation. Model runs were made to analyze sensitivity of the model to variations in selected hydrologic parameters. The model was tested further by attempting to simulate the potentiometric surface of the Floridan aquifer under actual pumping stresses during the January 1976 dry period.