GROUNDWATER EVALUATION TOOLBOX (GET) AND ITS POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS IN THE SOUTHCENTRAL UNITED STATES

The High Plains aquifer and Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer are crucial sources of groundwater in the Southcentral region of the United States, primarily for irrigation. However, increasing groundwater withdrawals over time threaten the sustainability of this vital resource. To address this, groundwater models have been developed to simulate discrete changes within the overall system, providing valuable insights for groundwater managers regarding the availability of both groundwater and surface water. These models, which can simulate scenarios with or without specific stresses (e.g., adding a well or recharge), help determine the impacts of such changes on the overall hydrologic system.

Groundwater modeling typically involves numerous complex steps to be performed by trained experts. To simplify this process, cloud-based resources and platforms are being leveraged, enabling water managers and policymakers to use these sophisticated models more easily and efficiently. The Groundwater Evaluation Toolbox (GET) has been developed to facilitate interpretation, reduce time and costs, and provide meaningful answers using the best available science. GET can quickly generate water budgets, estimates of groundwater-surface water interactions, hydrographs, water level maps, and drawdown maps, tailored to the user’s needs. GET has been widely used in other critical groundwater areas in the United States such as California and Nebraska, so applications of this toolbox in the Southcentral United States can significantly aid in addressing various groundwater issues in this region.