Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

MODFLOW-NWT and MODPATH5 models used to identify potential flow paths from San Juan Mine to hydrologic receptors, San Juan County, New Mexico

Published by U.S. Geological Survey | Department of the Interior | Catalog Last Checked: July 13, 2026 at 06:35 PM | Dataset Last Updated: November 17, 2020 at 12:00 AM
Coal combustion by-products (CCBs, in the form of ash) produced at the coal-fired San Juan Generating Station in San Juan County, New Mexico, have been buried in former surface-mine pits at the San Juan Coal Mine since power-generation operations began in the early 1970s. A groundwater flow model was developed by the USGS to estimate the timing of groundwater recovery after the cessation of mining and to identify potential pathways and advective travel times for groundwater transport of metals that may be leached from stored CCBs to arrive at hydrologic receptors after mining operations cease. The USGS numerical modeling package MODFLOW-NWT with MODPATH particle-tracking software was used. This USGS data release contains all of the input and output files for the simulations described in the associated model documentation report (https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20175155).

Resources

2 resources available

Find Related Datasets

data.gov

An official website of the GSA's Technology Transformation Services

Looking for U.S. government information and services?
Visit USA.gov