What is a Groundwater Model?
A Groundwater Model is the tool used to represent or approximate the natural groundwater system. A mathematical or numerical model simulates groundwater flow of the natural system by using mathematical equations and procedures that describe the heads or flows along the boundaries of the model. Using the basic laws of physics that govern groundwater flow, we instruct the computer to consider the physical boundaries of the aquifer, recharge, pumping, interaction with rivers, or other phenomenon to model the behavior of the aquifer over time. A boundary can be defined as the conditions which establish the hydraulic characteristics of the system at its boundaries. Correctly identifying the boundary conditions in a model means that the boundary conditions in the model correspond adequately to those in the natural system to ensure that the response of model and natural system will match reasonably well. No model is perfect. However, with sufficient information, the assumptions made in the mo
