Wood River Valley Groundwater-Flow Model

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Water right changes made under the provisions of a drought declaration expire at the end of the current year unless extended or terminated by the IDWR Director.

The Wood River Valley Groundwater-Flow Model Project was initiated to provide a scientific foundation for the management of aquifers underlying the Wood River Valley. In 2008, the Idaho legislature approved House Bill 428 and House Bill 644 establishing the Statewide Comprehensive Aquifer Planning and Management Program (Idaho Code § 42-1779) and the Aquifer Planning and Management Fund (Idaho Code § 42-1780). This legislation authorized the Idaho Water Resource Board (IWRB) to begin comprehensive aquifer management planning (CAMP).

The Aquifer Planning and Management Program is designed to provide the IWRB and IDWR with the necessary information to develop plans for managing ground and surface water resources into the future. This phase of the program for the Wood River Valley began with the technical component of developing a groundwater-flow model.

IDWR and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) partnered to develop a groundwater-flow model of Idaho’s Wood River Valley aquifer system. The initial model development was completed in 2016, but model upgrades are forthcoming.

Purpose and Objectives

The model is constructed to simulate the effects of climate and human activities on the aquifer system with an emphasis on the interaction of the surface and groundwater system. This work incorporates the increased knowledge about the aquifer system which was developed in the past several years. USGS reports can be found on the Reference Material page. USGS staff is working with local communities and organizations to gather information and analyze the aquifer system. This increased understanding of the groundwater system, described in several technical papers published by USGS, are the base for the model development.

Groundwater-flow models are developed to represent our understanding of the aquifer system and can be used to manage and plan for the water needs and uses of the region. The Wood River Valley groundwater-flow model is designed to further the basic understanding of the aquifer system and ultimately to examine effects on the groundwater system and its interaction with the Big Wood River because of changes in water use, recharge, or discharge.

A technical advisory committee was established to provide the modeling team with input during the model construction.

Upcoming Meetings

No event found!

USGS References

Reports

Warm Springs and Trail Creek Temperature Probe Seepage Monitoring – December 2021
Trail Creek Seepage Surveys – June 2020
Summary of Ground Water Conditions in the Big Wood River Ground Water Management Area (2019 Update)
Trail Creek Seepage Survey – November 2017
Warm Springs Creek Seepage Survey – July 2017
Silver Creek Discharge Measurements – January 2019

Other References

Hydrologic Evaluation of the Big Wood River and Silver Creek Watersheds Phase 1 – January 31, 2012
Hydrologic Evaluation of the Big Wood River and Silver Creek Watersheds Phase 2 – January 31, 2012

Current Files

Legacy Files

The Wood River Valley Modeling Technical Advisory Committee (MTAC) meets as needed.

Meeting dates, places, or times are subject to change.

Meeting Materials

Date	Event	Location	Materials
20251210December 10, 2025	IDWR MTAC Meeting	Boise	Calibration Update
20250408April 8, 2025	IDWR MTAC Meeting	Hailey	Calibration Update and Various Changes
20231025October 25, 2023	IDWR MTAC Meeting	Hailey	Agenda Attendees Preliminary Water Budget for WRV 1.2 Proposed upper hydraulic conductivity bounds Updated reach gain targets Preliminary reach gain targets on Warm Springs Creek and Trail Creek Mapping Stream Aquifer Interaction at the Riverine Segment Scale
20230419April 19, 2023	IDWR/USGS MTAC Meeting	Boise/Zoom	Agenda WRV 1.2 Model Development Update Wood River Groundwater Monitoring Update Proposed soil moisture reservoir in recharge and pumping estimates
20220303March 3, 2022	IDWR/USGS MTAC Meeting	Boise/Zoom	Attendees Agenda Groundwater Monitoring Update Tributary Monitoring Update Model development recommendations for Version 1.2
20190117January 17, 2019	IDWR/USGS MTAC Meeting	Hailey	Agenda MTAC Sign-in Sheet New Monitoring Well in Quigley Canyon Trail Creek Seepage Survey Warm Springs Creek Seepage Survey Fall 2018 Groundwater Level Synoptic Wood River Valley Model Recalibration
20181114November 14, 2018	IDWR/USGS MTAC Meeting	Hailey	CANCELLED
20180517May 17, 2018	IDWR/USGS MTAC Meeting	Hailey	Agenda MTAC Sign-in Sheet Wood River Dry Bed Wood River Valley Model Recalibration Wood River Valley Monitoring Well Network
20171115November 15, 2017	IDWR/USGS MTAC Meeting	Hailey	Agenda MTAC Sign-in Sheet 2017 Wood River Valley Groundwater Trends USGS Data Collection 2017-2018 Seepage Surveys of Warm Springs Creek and Trail Creek Preliminary Calibration Run
20170524May 24, 2017	IDWR/USGS MTAC Meeting	Hailey	Agenda USGS stream gages, Wood River Valley Idaho Observation Wells for Recalibration May Calibration Run Preliminary updated water budget for calibration of Wood River Valley groundwater model version 1.1 Transient stage data for the Big Wood River
20170524May 24, 2017	Wood River Valley Water Supply Bank	Hailey
20161005October 5, 2016	Wood River Valley Scenario Training	Boise	Running the WRV Model from the Command Prompt Model Files USGS Training on Running the Model using R
20160714July 14, 2016	Wood River Valley "Model Rollout" Meeting	Hailey
20151203December 3, 2015	IDWR/USGS MTAC Meeting	Hailey	Agenda Example Scenario: Wood River Valley Groundwater-Flow Model Preliminary Water Budget from December Calibration Run December Calibration Run Example Predictive Uncertainty Analysis Current Monitoring Plan Going Forward
20151001October 1, 2015	IDWR/USGS MTAC Meeting	Hailey	Agenda Water Budget from October Calibration Run October Calibration Run Predictive Uncertainty Data Gathering
20150806August 6, 2015	IDWR/USGS MTAC Meeting	Hailey	Agenda August Calibration
20150604June 4, 2015	IDWR/USGS MTAC Meeting	Hailey	Agenda Preliminary Calibration Run Hydraulic Conductivity
20150402April 2, 2015	IDWR/USGS MTAC Meeting	Hailey	Agenda Reach Gains Reach Gains Appendix A
20150205February 5, 2015	IDWR/USGS MTAC Meeting	Hailey	Agenda Transient River Stage Status of Model Construction Status of Calibration Runs using PEST Big Wood Transient Stage Data WRV Model WRV Datasets WRV Manual
20141204December 4, 2014	IDWR/USGS MTAC Meeting	Hailey	Agenda Additional Stream Gaging on Silver Creek Updates to Water-Level Monitoring Network WRV Datasets WRV Manual WRV Process (Draft) Design Document: Calculating Incidental Recharge and Groundwater Pumping Demand on Irrigated and Semi-Irrigated Lands Updates to Anthropogenic Recharge for Wood River Valley Groundwater Model Wood River Valley Model Construction Update
20141002October 2, 2014	IDWR/USGS MTAC Meeting	Hailey	Agenda Tributary Volumetric Flux Estimates and Seasonal Distribution of Flux WRV Manual WRV Process WRV Datasets Recharge and Pumping for Irrigated and Semi-Irrigated Lands Preliminary Calibration Run Recharge on Non-Irrigated Lands
20140812August 12, 2014	IDWR/USGS MTAC Meeting	Hailey	Agenda Drain Template File Pilot Point Template Files River Template File Tributary Underflow Estimates and Seasonal Distribution of Flux (Draft 2) Tributary Underflow Estimates and Seasonal Distribution of Flux (Draft 3) Tributary Under Flow Presentation Calibration Using PEST Model Construction Update Initial Calibration Runs Using PEST Initial Calibration Water Budget Observation Wells
20140605June 5, 2014	IDWR/USGS MTAC Meeting	Hailey	Agenda Model Construction Update Tributary Volumetric Flux Estimates Incorporating Seasonality Irrigation Wells Update on ET, Recharge, Precipitation, and Winter Precipitation
20140403April 3, 2014	IDWR/USGS MTAC Meeting	Hailey	Agenda Update on Evapotranspiration, Precipitation, and Recharge Design Document Package Vignette - Process the Groundwater-Flow Model of the Wood River Valley Updates of Design Document and Processing of ET and Recharge Data Files Introduction to Model Calibration using PEST
20140206February 6, 2014	IDWR/USGS MTAC Meeting	Hailey	Agenda Meeting Notes Municipal & Domestic Water Use Model Process Diagram and Model Construction to Date Calibration Flow Diagram River & Drain Locations
20131205December 5, 2013	IDWR/USGS MTAC Meeting	Hailey	Agenda Meeting Notes Revised Design Objectives Draft Previous Work Document Tributary Valley Flux New Model Boundaries ET on Irrigated Lands Next Steps
20131003October 3, 2013	IDWR/USGS MTAC Meeting	Hailey	Agenda Field Trip Materials Meeting Notes Groundwater Pumping for Mixed Source Lands Irrigation Wells Winter ET and Area Recharge Wood River Valley Input File Processing
20130801August 1, 2013	IDWR/USGS MTAC Meeting	Hailey	Agenda Altitude of Bedrock Surface Map; Revision and Use in the Groundwater-Flow Model Wood River Valley Modeling Technical Advisory Committee: Model Boundaries / MODFLOW-USG Wood River Groundwater Model Development: Options for Estimating Precipitation and Evapotranspiration (Continued) Wood River Valley Streamflow Measurements for Gaining and Losing Reaches Preliminary Reach Gain Calculations: Wood River Valley Groundwater-Flow Model Wood River Valley Modeling Technical Advisory Committee Response to Comments on Draft Modeling Objectives Meeting Notes
20130606June 6, 2013	IDWR/USGS MTAC Meeting	Hailey	Agenda Wood River Valley Groundwater-Flow Model: Project Timeline Irrigation Wells Comparison of Stream Stats to Measured Flows at Five New and Reactivated Gages in the Wood River Valley Big Wood Groundwater Model Development: Options for Estimating Evapotranspiration and Precipitation Wood River Valley Modeling Technical Advisory Committee: Preliminary Model Construction
20130411April 11, 2013	IDWR/USGS MTAC Meeting	Hailey	Agenda MTAC Roles and Responsibilities MTAC Modeling Objectives Wood River Valley Aquifer System: Previous Work and Data Wood River Valley Aquifer System: Previous Work and Data Overview of Model Development Process Model Construction to Date Meeting Notes
20130319March 19, 2013	Groundwater Model Development for the Wood River Valley	Hailey	Project Presentation Design Objectives

Date	Type	Title
20170124January 2017	Design Document	Precipitation and Snowmelt Timing for Areal Recharge
20150331March 2015	Design Document	ReachGains
20150331March 2015	Design Document	ReachGains Appendix A
20150205February 2015	Model Documentation	WRV-Model
20150205February 2015	Model Documentation	WRV-Datasets
20150205February 2015	Model Documentation	WRV-Manual
20141230December 2014	Design Document	Transient River Stage
20141204December 2014	Design Document	Calculating Incidental Recharge and Groundwater Pumping Demand on Irrigated and Semi-Irrigated Lands
20141204December 2014	Model Documentation	WRV Datasets
20141204December 2014	Model Documentation	WRV Manual
20141204December 2014	Model Documentation	WRV Process
20140925September 2014	Design Document	Tributary Volumetric Flux Estimates and Seasonal Distribution of Flux
20140925September 2014	Model Documentation	WRV-manual
20140925September 2014	Model Documentation	WRV-process
20140925September 2014	Model Documentation	WRV-datasets
20140814August 2014	Design Document	Tributary Volumetric Flux Estimates and Seasonal Distribution of Flux
20140805August 2014	Design Document	Tributary Volumetric Flux Estimates and Seasonal Distribution of Flux
20140624June 2014	Design Document	Drain Template File
20140624June 2014	Design Document	Pilot Point Template Files
20140624June 2014	Design Document	River Template File
20140528May 2014	Design Document	Calculating Evapotranspiration during the Growing Season
20140528May 2014	Design Document	Estimating Non-growing Season ET
20140528May 2014	Design Document	Reach Gain Calibration Targets for the Big Wood River and Silver Creek
20140528May 2014	Design Document	Reach Gains: Appendix B
20140528May 2014	Design Document	Calculating Incidental Recharge and Groundwater Pumping Demand on Irrigated and Semi-Irrigated Lands
20140527May 2014	Design Document	Tributary Volumetric Flux Estimates and Seasonal distribution of Flux
20140526May 2014	Design Document	Processing Instructions for the Groundwater-Flow Model of the Wood River Valley Idaho
20140131January 2014	Design Document	Design Objectives: Wood River Valley Aquifer System Groundwater-Flow Model
20131126November 2013	Design Document	Tributary Volumetric Flux Estimates and Seasonal distribution of Flux
20130805August 2013	Design Document	Assigning Pumping to Model Layers
20130801August 2013	Design Document	Altitude of Bedrock Surface Map Example

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Wood River Valley Groundwater-Flow Model

Hydrologic Projects

Purpose and Objectives

Upcoming Meetings

USGS References

Reports

Other References

Current Files

Legacy Files

Meeting Materials