11/8/23 AEG Event: Scalable Groundwater Model Workflow

ABSTRACT

Changes in legislation and legal requirements have added additional scrutiny to groundwater flow models for Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR) sites. The additional scrutiny of these projects emphasizes the importance of a model development framework that is both well-defined and defendable.  WSP has developed a scalable workflow for creating groundwater models that can be used to support multiple planning phases for Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR) projects, including CCR impoundment closure design, construction dewatering, corrective action, and litigation support.  Each model incorporates a high level of detail and complexity, where necessary, while maintaining flexibility for future updates and modifications.  The scalable nature of the workflow allows it to be used for a wide range of model scales and complexities (for example, contaminant plume delineation and remediation, slope stability analysis, mine dewatering, stormwater basin design, and aquifer test analysis).

The workflow includes:

•        Hydrogeologic database and 3-D Conceptual Site Model construction.
•        Large regional model domain construction with area(s) of high-resolution grid refinement.
•        Mapping of stratigraphic surfaces and lithologic voxel-based data directly                                         to Boundary Conditions, model grid and property zones.
•        Model calibration through a combination of manual and automated techniques.
•        Predictive modeling based on proposed engineering designs.
•        Rigorous internal and external model review.

Each model is subjected to rigorous internal and external peer review process to ensure it meets client and industry guidelines, including a recent Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) model construction guidelines.  The standardization and streamlining of data collection for model building has allowed the modeling team to accurately build out model grids and environments with a defendable level of accuracy, despite the project size or scope.  Lessons learned from CCR specific models have been transferable to simpler model builds.
 
BIOGRAPHY
William (Bill) Gottobrio is a senior hydrogeologist and technical principal at WSP with over 20 years of experience in the industry.  He provides technical leadership for environmental, mining and power sector projects throughout the US and internationally. He specializes in quantitative hydrogeologic analyses, including aquifer test analysis, 3D conceptual site model development, geologic modeling, and analytical and numerical groundwater flow and contaminant fate and transport modeling.  He also provides senior level support for a wide variety of geological, geotechnical, geophysical, and hydrogeological field investigations.