Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Skip to content

SEAWAT Model of Flow and Chloride Transport in the 1,500-Foot, 2,400-Foot, and 2,800-Foot Sands of the Baton Rouge Area, Louisiana

Metadata Updated: July 6, 2024

An updated three-dimensional, groundwater-flow and chloride-transport model (SEAWAT) of the Southern Hills regional aquifer system in southeastern Louisiana and southwestern Mississippi was developed to examine the effects of groundwater withdrawals on the rate and pathways of saltwater migration in the “1,500-foot” sand, “2,400-foot” sand, and “2,800-foot” sand. New interpretations of stratigraphic correlations amongst geophysical well logs were utilized to revise a hydrogeologic-framework that delineates the depth and thickness variations of aquifers and confining units in the Southern Hills regional aquifer system. Regional groundwater flow throughout the Southern Hills regional aquifer system was first simulated with MODFLOW, and flow-model parameters were calibrated to 8,810 water levels observed through 2016 with the parameter-estimation code PEST++. Saltwater transport was subsequently simulated for the “1,500-foot” sand, “2,400-foot” sand, and “2,800-foot” sand with the variable-density code, SEAWAT. Chloride-concentration measurements were used as a proxy for the saltwater to formulate the concentration initial conditions and calibrate the transport-model parameters. Three hypothetical groundwater management scenarios are included in the archive. These scenarios simulate the future water levels and chloride concentrations within the “1,500-foot” sand, “2,400-foot” sand, and “2,800-foot” sand if groundwater withdrawals were to continue at 2016 rates or if one of two proposed modifications to the 2016 withdrawals from the “1,500-foot” sand or “2,800-foot” sand were to be enacted. The model was calibrated to water levels measured in aquifers beneath the “400-foot” sand, and water levels simulated in these aquifers could be used for various purposes, including predicting the effects of changing pumping rates. Water planners and managers need additional knowledge about the effects of groundwater withdrawals on the rate and pathways of saltwater migration and a tool to assess possible management strategies that could control further saltwater encroachment in the Baton Rouge area. 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/sir20195102).

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.

Downloads & Resources

Dates

Metadata Created Date May 31, 2023
Metadata Updated Date July 6, 2024

Metadata Source

Harvested from DOI EDI

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date May 31, 2023
Metadata Updated Date July 6, 2024
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Maintainer
@Id http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/7ea8a9393e00d8279558ca810f7671dd
Identifier USGS:047b61a0-31c1-486b-b92c-620fb841723e
Data Last Modified 20201117
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://datainventory.doi.gov/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 e2f3a42c-b62e-4854-90b5-d27775f3fef0
Harvest Source Id 52bfcc16-6e15-478f-809a-b1bc76f1aeda
Harvest Source Title DOI EDI
Metadata Type geospatial
Old Spatial -91.915925,30.242934,-90.447555,31.337561
Publisher Hierarchy White House > U.S. Department of the Interior > U.S. Geological Survey
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash 48e80c1bcecfd1e6baddc4bb12f00c464d8b9fe4c3b364cf1d6c9301313acbf3
Source Schema Version 1.1
Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": -91.915925, 30.242934, -91.915925, 31.337561, -90.447555, 31.337561, -90.447555, 30.242934, -91.915925, 30.242934}

Didn't find what you're looking for? Suggest a dataset here.