Wayne Belcher
Science and Products
An update of the Death Valley regional groundwater flow system transient model, Nevada and California
Since the original publication of the Death Valley regional groundwater flow system (DVRFS) numerical model in 2004, more information on the regional groundwater flow system in the form of new data and interpretations has been compiled. Cooperators such as the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the...
Belcher, Wayne R.; Sweetkind, Donald S.; Faunt, Claudia C.; Pavelko, Michael T.; Hill, Mary C.
Comment on “An unconfined groundwater model of the Death Valley Regional Flow System and a comparison to its confined predecessor” by R.W.H. Carroll, G.M. Pohll and R.L. Hershey [Journal of Hydrology 373/3–4, pp. 316–328]
Carroll et al. (2009) state that the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Death Valley Regional Flow System (DVRFS) model, which is based on MODFLOW, is “conceptually inaccurate in that it models an unconfined aquifer as a confined system and does not simulate unconfined drawdown in transient pumping simulations.” Carroll et al. (2009) claim...
Faunt, Claudia C.; Provost, Alden M.; Hill, Mary C.; Belcher, Wayne R.
Death Valley regional groundwater flow system, Nevada and California-Hydrogeologic framework and transient groundwater flow model
A numerical three-dimensional (3D) transient groundwater flow model of the Death Valley region was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey for the U.S. Department of Energy programs at the Nevada Test Site and at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Decades of study of aspects of the groundwater flow system and previous less extensive groundwater flow models...
Belcher, Wayne R.; Sweetkind, Donald S. Interbasin flow in the Great Basin with special reference to the southern Funeral Mountains and the source of Furnace Creek springs, Death Valley, California, U.S.
Interbasin flow in the Great Basin has been established by scientific studies during the past century. While not occurring uniformly between all basins, its occurrence is common and is a function of the hydraulic gradient between basins and hydraulic conductivity of the intervening rocks. The Furnace Creek springs in Death Valley, California are...
Belcher, W.R.; Bedinger, M.S.; Back, J.T.; Sweetkind, D.S.
Technical Review of Water-Resources Investigations of the Tule Desert, Lincoln County, Southern Nevada
The Nevada State Engineer in Ruling No. 5181 required Lincoln County and Vidler Water Company, Inc., to provide results from additional water-resources studies of Tule Desert in southern Nevada to support water-rights application 64692. As outlined by the ruling, the additional studies were to include the determination of the amount of ground...
Berger, David L.; Halford, K.J.; Belcher, Wayne R.; Lico, Michael S.
Ground-Water Flow Modeling by the U.S. Geological Survey in Nevada: Uses and Approaches
Belcher, Wayne R.; Welch, Alan H.
Ground-water modeling of the Death Valley Region, Nevada and California
The Death Valley regional ground-water flow system (DVRFS) of southern Nevada and eastern California covers an area of about 100,000 square kilometers and contains very complex geology and hydrology. Using a computer model to represent the complex system, the U.S. Geological Survey simulated ground-water flow in the Death Valley region for use...
Belcher, W.R.; Faunt, C.C.; Sweetkind, D.S.; Blainey, J.B.; San Juan, C. A.; Laczniak, R.J.; Hill, M.C. Death Valley regional ground-water flow system, Nevada and California -- hydrogeologic framework and transient ground-water flow model
A numerical three-dimensional (3D) transient ground-water flow model of the Death Valley region was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey for the U.S. Department of Energy programs at the Nevada Test Site and at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Decades of study of aspects of the ground-water flow system and previous less extensive ground-water flow...
Belcher, Wayne R. A three-dimensional numerical model of predevelopment conditions in the Death Valley regional ground-water flow system, Nevada and California
In the early 1990's, two numerical models of the Death Valley regional ground-water flow system were developed by the U.S. Department of Energy. In general, the two models were based on the same basic hydrogeologic data set. In 1998, the U.S. Department of Energy requested that the U.S. Geological Survey develop and maintain a ground-water flow...
D'Agnese, Frank A.; O'Brien, G. M.; Faunt, C.C.; Belcher, W.R.; San Juan, C. Probability distributions of hydraulic conductivity for the hydrogeologic units of the Death Valley regional ground-water flow system, Nevada and California
The use of geologic information such as lithology and rock properties is important to constrain conceptual and numerical hydrogeologic models. This geologic information is difficult to apply explicitly to numerical modeling and analyses because it tends to be qualitative rather than quantitative. This study uses a compilation of hydraulic-...
Belcher, Wayne R.; Sweetkind, Donald S.; Elliott, Peggy E. Three-dimensional hydrogeologic framework model for use with a steady-state numerical ground-water flow model of the Death Valley regional flow system, Nevada and California
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Department of Energy and other Federal, State, and local agencies, is evaluating the hydrogeologic characteristics of the Death Valley regional ground-water flow system. The ground-water flow system covers an area of about 100,000 square kilometers from latitude 35? to 38?15' North to longitude...
Belcher, Wayne R.; Faunt, Claudia C.; D'Agnese, Frank A. Hydraulic-property estimates for use with a transient ground-water flow model of the Death Valley regional ground-water flow system, Nevada and California
The Death Valley regional ground-water flow system encompasses an area of about 43,500 square kilometers in southeastern California and southern Nevada, between latitudes 35? and 38?15' north and longitudes 115? and 117?45' west. The study area is underlain by Quaternary to Tertiary basin-fill sediments and mafic-lava flows; Tertiary volcanic,...
Belcher, Wayne R.; Elliott, Peggy E.; Geldon, Arthur L.