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MODFLOW-NWT and MODPATH5 used to evaluate groundwater availability, geochemistry, and flow pathways to public-supply wells in the Atlantic Coastal Plain and bedrock aquifers, Aiken County and part of Lexington County, South Carolina, 2015-2019

Metadata Updated: September 15, 2025

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Aiken County; City of Aiken; Breezy Hill Water and Sewer Company, Inc.; Montmorenci-Couchton Water and Sewer District, Inc.; and Gilbert-Summit Rural Water District developed a model for use with MODFLOW-NWT and MODPATH5 to evaluate groundwater flow and advective transport under pre- and post-development conditions in the Atlantic Coastal Plain (ACP) and bedrock crystalline-rock aquifer in the Aiken County, SC area. Groundwater availability, geochemistry, and flow pathways to public-supply wells (PSW) were assessed between 2015 and 2019. A population increase by about 17.6 percent from 2000 to 2015 in Aiken County, as well as the current (2022) and potential economic development in the area, has led to an increased demand for water to meet drinking- or process-water needs. Most water demands, including public supply, domestic supply, irrigation, and industrial, are met by groundwater. To address the various concerns of public, private, and governmental users related to groundwater availability and geochemistry in the study area, a 3-dimensional, numerical groundwater-flow model, in conjunction with a groundwater-recharge model using the Soil-Water-Balance (SWB) model (https://doi.org/10.5066/P9WEOGCS), was constructed, and calibrated using historical groundwater levels and measurements of stream baseflows. The groundwater geochemistry investigation included the collection of groundwater samples, between 2015 and 2016, from 16 PSWs and 4 monitoring wells screened in the ACP aquifers or entirely or partially open to the bedrock aquifer. Basic physical properties and the chemical composition of the groundwater samples are reported along with the concentration of radium isotopes 226Ra and 228Ra, volatile organic compounds (VOC), stable isotopic composition of the groundwater, nitrates, and concentrations of CFCs and dissolved gases. A base simulation and water budgets for dry (2012) and wet (2015) year conditions, future (2017–2065) groundwater-demand scenarios based on three general circulation models (GCMs) of future climates, and future agricultural irrigation demands were simulated. The calibrated groundwater-flow model, and geochemical results of groundwater ages, were used in conjunction to simulate groundwater particle tracks to determine the direction and travel time of groundwater to a particular PSW. Model simulations are used in this study to provide information to facilitate the best management of the groundwater resources in Aiken County and part of Lexington County. This data release contains all the input and output files for the simulations described in the associated model documentation report. (https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20225036).

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

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Dates

Metadata Created Date September 12, 2025
Metadata Updated Date September 15, 2025

Metadata Source

Harvested from DOI USGS DCAT-US

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date September 12, 2025
Metadata Updated Date September 15, 2025
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Maintainer
Identifier http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/usgs-63224b63d34e71c6d67ab672
Data Last Modified 2023-05-26T00:00:00Z
Category geospatial
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 010:12
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Metadata Catalog ID https://ddi.doi.gov/usgs-data.json
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id 8d09dd9c-7455-4a20-964e-6a6868d6ae8a
Harvest Source Id 2b80d118-ab3a-48ba-bd93-996bbacefac2
Harvest Source Title DOI USGS DCAT-US
Metadata Type geospatial
Old Spatial -82.226371, 33.112741, -81.047340, 34.091000
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash dfc09a6224ee4292baa4847c72d76a57876b3a97c3847f40074388b829fff1a6
Source Schema Version 1.1
Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": -82.226371, 33.112741, -82.226371, 34.091000, -81.047340, 34.091000, -81.047340, 33.112741, -82.226371, 33.112741}

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