Hydrology Groundwater Modeling

The Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) encourages the informed, long-term management of the State's groundwater and surface water resources through a better understanding of the potential impacts of local and regional aquifers.

Groundwater flow modeling is a tool that can be used to simulate the past, present and future impacts of water use on aquifers. Groundwater modeling has become an important tool in the management of Arizona’s water supplies, particularly in meeting the 1980 Groundwater Management Act’s goal of achieving Safe Yield in Active Management Areas (AMAs).  Groundwater modeling allows water resource planners to make long-term management decisions based on the potential impacts of future water uses on the state’s groundwater resources.

04/16/2014 - Version 3.0 of the SRV Model Update (1983 - 2006) MODFLOW datasets and ESRI geodatabase is now available on the SRV Homepage. Version 3.0 includes an updated recharge package that redistributes agricultural recharge from 2003 - 2006.

03/31/2014 - Uploaded the Prescott AMA Groundwater Flow Model Update Report – 2014 (Modeling Report 25). The report is available on the Prescott Homepage.

02/24/2014 - Uploaded the Final Pinal AMA Groundwater Flow Model Report No. 26. The uploaded information includes the report and a zipped file that contains MODFLOW files. The files are available on the Pinal Homepage.

05/1/2013 - Release of Modeling Report No. 24 "Regional Groundwater Flow Model of the Tucson Active Management Area, Arizona: Model Update and Calibration." The report documents an update of the Department's Tucson AMA groundwater flow model. The model now simulates the Tucson regional aquifer from 1940 to 2010, and model updates include a number of design improvements that enhance the model's ability to simulate the Tucson area regional aquifer. The model report and model data files are available on the Tucson Homepage.

09/13/2011 - Presentation to the Tucson AMA GUAC on preliminary results of the Tucson AMA Model update. The update is currently undergoing peer review and is expected to be released in December 2011.

12/08/2010 - Uploaded the report "Geologic Update for the Combined SRV and Hassayampa Regional Groundwater Flow Model Areas in the Phoenix AMA" (Modeling Report No. 23). The uploaded information includes the report and a zipped Access database of the geology per model node.  Please be aware this data is subject to change as the calibration on the transient simulation progresses.  The files are available on the SRV Homepage.

12/08/2010 - Uploaded the report "Salt River Valley Groundwater Flow Model Application. 100-year Predictive Scenarios used for the Determination of Physical Availability in the Phoenix Active Management Area" (Modeling Report No. 22). The uploaded information includes the report and a zipped file that includes MODFLOW files and other documents associated with this report.  The files are available on the SRV Homepage.

05/17/2010 - Uploaded the report "Risk Analysis of Pumping Impacts on Simulated Groundwater Flow in the Santa Cruz Active Management Area" (Modeling Report No. 21).  The report is available on the Santa Cruz Homepage.

06/11/2009 - Updated Model Files for the Tucson AMA Model (Modeling Report 13) have been added.  The data includes updated files for a combined steady-state and transient simulation.  The zip file containing those files is now available on the Tucson Homepage.

05/13/2009 - The SRV Technical Report related to Version 2.0 MODFLOW and ESRI datasets is now available on the SRV Homepage.

04/27/2009 - The Tucson AMA Model is currently undergoing updates and is scheduled to be completed in late 2009. Updates include completion of the Layer 3 bottom elevations and updated pumpage and recharge.

04/27/2009 - Version 2.0 of the SRV Model Update (1983-2006) MODFLOW datasets and ESRI geodatabase is now available on the SRV Homepage.  The SRV Technical Report is currently undergoing internal review and is expected to be released in the coming weeks.

01/11/2009 - Uploaded the Provisional Geology Report for the Pinal AMA Regional Groundwater Flow Model (Modeling Report 20).  The uploaded data includes the provisional report and a zipped Access database of the geology per model node.  Please be aware this data is subject to change as the calibration on the transient simulation progresses.  The files are available on the Pinal Homepage.

Curious as to how groundwater models function and what they represent? Take a look at the Modeling Basics page for an explanation of the different types of models used to simulate Arizona's water supply.

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The Modeling Section develops regional models to simulate Arizona's water supply and the future demands it may encounter. The regional models developed by the Modeling Section include: Prescott, Salt River Valley, Santa Cruz, Tucson, Pinal, Upper San Pedro, Yuma, San Simon and the Wilcox model.

The Modeling Section is always looking for additional measured data in support of model development. If you have any measured data such as aquifer tests, geologist's logs, or geophysical logs please contact the Modeling Section at [email protected]