Project Summary Sheet

Project: Coupling Surface-Water/Ground-Water Flow and Transport: SICS and TIME

Web Sites: http://time.er.usgs.gov/; http://sofia.usgs.gov/projects/sheet_flow/; http://sofia.usgs.gov/projects/time/

Location (Subregions & Counties): Central Everglades (including Florida Bay) & Southwest Coast/Big Cypress –Collier, Monroe, and Miami-Dade Counties

Funding (Source): USGS Place-Based Studies

Principal Investigator(s): Dr. Eric Swain; edswain@USGS.gov

Project Personnel: Melinda Wolfert, 305-717-5855, mwolfert@usgs.gov; David Garces, 305-717-5849, dgarces@usgs.gov; Marc Stewart, 305-717-5847, mastewar@usgs.gov

Supporting Organizations: U.S. Geological Survey and National Park Service/Everglades National Park

Associated / Linked Projects: Groundwater Flow and Transport for the SICS and TIME Models, Langevin; Tides and Inflows in the Mangroves of the Everglades, Schaffranek; Southern Inland and Coastal Systems (SICS) Model Development; Across Trophic Level System Simulation, DeAngelis; High Accuracy Elevation Data Collection, Desmond; Land Characteristics from Remote Sensing, Jones; Geophysical Mapping of Freshwater/Saltwater Interface, Fitterman; Evapotranspiration Measurements and Modeling, German; Groundwater-Surface Water Exchange Fluxes, Harvey; Freshwater Flows into Northeastern Florida Bay, Hittle; Water Flows and Nutrient Fluxes to Southwest Coast of ENP, Patino; Land Margin Ecosystem Program, Smith

Overview & Status: This project focuses on the implementation, verification, and validation of a system of coupling numerical models to represent the interaction between the ground-water and surface-water systems. The 2-dimensional dynamic wave model SWIFT2D was implemented with modifications to account for evapotranspiration and recharge. Field studies supplied land elevation, vegetative frictional resistance, evapotranspiration parameters, ground-water leakage estimates, and flows for comparison. The model was applied to the SICS area to represent surface-water flow and salinity transport. A more complete representation of the ground water and the ground-water interactions was developed next by adding the SEAWAT code for three-dimensional ground-water flow and salinity transport. The coupling of the two codes was accomplished by making them subroutines of FTLOADDS, a main routine that passes the necessary data between the two models to computed leakage and salinity flux. This resulted in improved SICS model capabilities, especially in representing surface-water salinity. Both the SWIFT2D and the SEAWAT input data for the TIME domain are under separate development. These models will then be coupled using the FTLOADDS code which has been refined for the SICS domain. A linkage of the SICS model which allows the use of boundary conditions generated by the South Florida Water Management Model (SFWMM) is in the process of being created. This linkage allows the examination of various restoration schemes represented in the SFWMM on the SICS area.

Needs & Products: Adequate field data is a must for a model development, especially for such a complex dynamic and coupled scheme as in this project. The projects which supplied land elevation, vegetative frictional resistance, evapotranspiration parameters, ground-water leakage estimates, and flows for comparison in the SICS area were invaluable. The current phase of the model development requires investigations in the western region of the TIME domain. Both ground-water and surface-water parameters are needed. Products from this project are numerous and varied. Conference papers, a report on the initial surface-water model, a users manual, and a journal article on the model coupling are all planned. The coastal flows information is being delivered to the South Florida Water Management for use as the coastal boundary in the SFWMM.

Application to Everglades Restoration: A critical goal in Everglades restoration is to get the water right. Both the SICS and TIME effort are designed for this specific purpose, to delineate flow patterns and quantities. All major project development phases were designed to forward to this objective: 1) Development of SICS surface-water model to integrate field studies, 2) Addition of ground-water model to improve representation of interactions, 3) Expansion to the TIME model domain to encompass more relevant hydrologic features, and 4) Linkage to SFWMM to represent effects of restoration scenarios on SICS area.