Laserfiche WebLink
• <br />Bredehoeft and Hinckley used the flow model JDB -2D /3D <br />(Bredehoeft, 1990) to investigate the dynamics of the groundwater <br />build -up in the mound. The model results indicate that the system is <br />still not -in equilibrium and that there is approximately 75 cfs going <br />into storage. The model predicted that in the year 2018 approximately <br />50 cfs would still be going into storage. The amount going into storage <br />was defined as that amount of water in excess of that which returns to <br />surface streams or is consumed by evaporation or crop consumption. <br />The model has also shown that the growth of the mound has altered <br />groundwater divides and groundwater gradients, which has increased <br />the amount of groundwater flowing out of the Platte River basin to the <br />Republican and Little Blue River Basins. The flow of groundwater <br />from the Platte Basin to the Republican and Little Blue River Basins is <br />a result of natural geologic conditions because the Platte basin is <br />higher in elevation and there is no geologic barrier to flow between the <br />basins. The Platte River, therefore, naturally loses water to the <br />Republican and Little Blue River Basins. Since the development of the <br />groundwater mound, however, there is additional transbasin <br />groundwater movement because of increased saturated thickness and <br />the gradient. The model predicts that an additional 20 cfs of <br />groundwater is flowing into the Republican River Basin to the south of <br />the mound area, and into the Little Blue River Basin to the south and <br />east of the mound. This increased transbasin groundwater export, as <br />opposed to the underlying groundwater export that occurs naturally <br />regardless of the existence of the mound, could potentially be targeted <br />to reduce natural groundwater exports from the basin. Reductions in <br />transbasin exports has implications both in terms of quantity and <br />quality in the Republican and Little Blue River watersheds. Water <br />quantity is at issue in litigation between Kansas and Nebraska over the <br />Republican River, therefore, this alternative could have legal <br />obstacles. <br />Yield <br />Based on the results of the Bredehoeft and Hinckley report, the mound <br />will still be gaining in storage at a rate of 50 cfs in 2018 and the <br />amount of groundwater being exported to the Republican and Little <br />Blue Rivers will also be increasing. As such, there exists an <br />opportunity to pump from the mound and return water to either the <br />South Platte River or Platte River. Pumping the mound at a rate of 50 <br />8 -G -56 <br />