A model for flow through a glacial outwash aquifer in southeast Franklin County, Ohio

Abstract

Abstract: A glacial outwash aquifer of about 70 square miles in the Scioto River valley southeast of Columbus, Ohio, was modeled as a potentially major source of water. The model was constructed from available hydrologic data: Records of precipitation, well hydrographs, well logs, two ground-water level surveys, and analyses of six aquifer tests. Utilizing this array of data, water levels determined from a series of steady-state simulations of different hydraulic conductivity distributions were calibrated against measured (December 1977) ground-water levels. The simulations that provided the best matches used two hydraulic conductivity distributions: One was an areally varying hydraulic conductivity distribution; the other an areally uniform hydraulic conductivity (40 feet per day) distribution. After these more probable hydraulic conductivity distributions were found, they were utilized in steady state maximal pumping simulations. The maximal well-field yield of these simulations was 20.5 million gallons per day for the areally varying hydraulic conductivity distribution, and 11.3 million gallons per day for the areally uniform hydraulic conductivity. Sensitivity of well yield to changes in well position and streambed leakance changes was investigated also.