CHALLENGES OF USING GROUNDWATER FLOW MODELS TO MANAGE GROUNDWATER USE IN WISCONSIN (Invited Presentation)

Groundwater flow models are powerful tools that are often utilized to guide water management decisions. Within a regulatory setting, the development and application of these models often requires creative and defensible approaches to complicating factors such as public perception, legal framework, data availability, and limited time. Groundwater models are one of the tools used by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to evaluate the impacts of high-capacity pumping on wells, streams, lakes, and wetlands. In this presentation, we will discuss some of the challenges associated with using groundwater models to support the management of water use and provide examples of how we have approached these challenges.