Application of the finite element groundwater model FEWA to three regional aquifers

This report documents the calibration with field data and predictive application of a finite element model of water through aquifers (FEWA). FEWA was described in a report written by G.T. Yeh and D.D. Huff in 1983. The model was first compared with the United States Geological Survey (USGS) two-dimensional model and found superior in treating anisotropic media when the coordinates cannot be made to coincide with the principal directions of hydraulic conductivities. In addition, there was no necessity to define nodal points outside the region, as required by the USGS model. FEWA was next calibrated with measured potentiometric surfaces from the Love Canal area in New York and the Conesville area in Ohio. There were satisfactory matches between computed results and available field data. The calibration and predictive runs of FEWA were then accomplished with the Hialeah-Preston well field data over the Biscayne aquifer in south Florida. The calibration run yielded two values of hydraulic conductivity in the area, and the predictive run gave results that matched well with available data. 18 refs., 28 figs.