MODFLOW 6 and MODPATH 7 model data sets used for the update of the groundwater-flow model for the Great Miami Buried Valley Aquifer in the vicinity of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio

A previously constructed numerical model (https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/2007/1737a/) simulating the regional groundwater-flow system in the vicinity of the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) near Dayton, Ohio, was updated to incorporate current hydrologic stresses and conditions and improve the usefulness of the model for water-supply planning and protection. The Great Miami Buried Valley Aquifer was designated a sole-source aquifer in 1988 and provides the supply for the substantial water use needs in the Dayton area. Hydrogeologic investigations of groundwater flow in the nearby WPAFB have been ongoing since the early 1990s, when the USGS first partnered with WPAFB to model groundwater flow near the Base in an effort to identify and control migration of environmental contamination that may have resulted from past disposal practices. Effective source water protection strategies depend on an up-to-date delineation of the areas that contribute groundwater to withdrawal sites that rely on the Great Miami Buried Valley Aquifer. The original model, which used MODFLOW-2000 to simulate average steady-state conditions from 1997 to 2001, was reconstructed and converted to use MODFLOW 6 groundwater modeling software and recalibrated to represent average groundwater flow conditions for October 2018. The steady-state, three-dimensional, three-layer MODFLOW 6 model of the aquifer, in conjunction with the particle-tracking program MODPATH7, was used to generate time-of-travel flow paths for groundwater particles in three scenarios: (1) backtracking particles intercepted by thirteen existing groundwater withdrawal sites servicing WPAFB, (2) backtracking particles intercepted by eight prospective groundwater withdrawal sites, and (3) forward tracking particles released at eight potential locations near WPAFB. This USGS data release contains all the input and output files for the simulations described in the associated model documentation report (https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20215115)

[
  "010:12"
]

[
  "geospatial"
]