Groundwater Models 101: Choosing the Right Modeling Firm

Essential insights for water utility leaders to understand modeling’s critical role in decision making and groundwater project success, and how to choose the right partner to build your model

Utility managers and water district boards tasked with planning and funding large water projects may find the process stressful, expensive, and confusing. With significant financial and practical risks, and potentially catastrophic consequences if something goes wrong, the stakes involved with these large, complex groundwater projects are always high.

How can water utility managers make decisions with confidence and ensure project success?

The utility of groundwater models

Groundwater models enable informed decision-making for water agencies and utilities that rely on groundwater supplies. These models, particularly detailed, complex, and multifaceted numerical models, are critical tools for ongoing project planning, basin management, and reliable water production.

Comprehensive groundwater models can simulate multiple factors that affect water production and recharge projects including geology, hydrology, climate, land use, potential contamination sources, and more.

But getting the right model for your project or groundwater basin isn’t as simple as asking the first consultant or engineering firm that offers or submits a bid, particularly with the scarcity of established guidelines or standards governing groundwater basin model development and use.

Building a calibrated groundwater model requires specialized skills, tools, and competencies to ensure an accurate, useful, and defensible model.

Groundwater models are essential tools for accurate, successful groundwater project planning, but utility leaders and water district boards may not be sure how to choose the right firm to develop the model or know exactly what kind of model they need for their particular project.

Also, they may not know how much of their project budget should be used for model production, or be familiar with the risks associated with using a limited model or skipping groundwater model development all together.

Identifying the right resource

Utility managers and department heads often rely on specialized consultants to develop and operate these highly technical groundwater models.

While navigating a precarious landscape of financial constraints, essential requirements, and long-term obligations, utility managers must find a way to develop a model that supports informed decision making for sustainable groundwater management and project success within strict budgets.

Additionally, not all groundwater models are created equal.

The complexity of groundwater modeling requires deep knowledge of the fundamental mathematical equations governing numerical models, familiarity with how model codes operate, and how to assess model performance, as well as practical experience with appropriate model applications for real-world issues.

Reliance on external expertise can leave utility managers wondering if they may be wasting resources investing in a model that doesn’t accurately predict how their basin will respond under future conditions like a new drought, increased pumping, or water level changes from new recharge projects.

A knowledgeable groundwater modeling consultant can help a utility manager navigate these questions and challenges, while providing the dedicated resources and calibrated tools required to do the work, along with the ability to demonstrate their expertise and a winning litigation record.

Key areas to consider

Key considerations for deciding which firm can best support a utility or water board’s upcoming groundwater modeling needs include:

1. Are they known for groundwater modeling and is it core to their expertise? How many people in the firm are dedicated to groundwater modeling projects? How many active water resource modeling projects do they currently have?
2. Does the firm provide groundwater modeling projects for water resources, or is their practice focused on environmental and contamination work (and they’re branching out into a “clean water” practice)? Environmental firms use algorithms and models focused on contaminant fate and transport and may lack the expertise and tools to develop accurate, calibrated models integrating all the dynamic factors affecting water basins.
3. Do their groundwater basin models withstand legal scrutiny? After they develop or update your model will it withstand legal challenges? Have their models been tested by water rights litigation? If so, what was the outcome?
4. What do others say about them? Ask around. Have other utilities or water agencies worked with them? Water rights attorneys provide reliable references for groundwater modeling firm credentials and capabilities.

Your best outcome depends on choosing a groundwater modeling firm with validated tools, specialized professionals, and proven capabilities to deliver calibrated, accurate, defensible groundwater models.

Groundwater Modeling 101

This first post of our Groundwater Models 101 guide focused on the first step in this important process, choosing the right partner for your needs to facilitate groundwater project success.

The next post in the series will offer insights into the different kinds of groundwater models and applications for each.

Read about how Geoscience’s groundwater models helped communities in Southern California: Integrated Santa Ana River Model