| A new option for Local Time-Stepping (LTS) was developed to use in conjunction with the multiple-refined-area grid capability of the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) groundwater modeling program, MODFLOW-LGR (MF-LGR). The LTS option allows each local, refined-area grid to simulate multiple stress periods within each stress period of a coarser, regional grid. This option is an alternative to the current method of MF-LGR whereby the refined grids are required LGR method for simulating multiple-refined grids essentially defines each grid as a complete model, then for each coarse grid time-step, iteratively runs each model until the head and flux changes at the interfacing boundaries of the models are less than some specified tolerances.;Use of the LTS option is illustrated in two hypothetical test cases consisting of a dual well pumping system and a hydraulically connected stream aquifer system, and one field application. Each of the hypothetical test cases was simulated with multiple scenarios including an LTS scenario, which combined a monthly stress period for a coarse grid model with a daily stress period for a refined grid model. Several other scenarios were also simulated for various combinations of grid spacing and temporal refinement using standard MODFLOW model constructs. The field application simulated an irrigated corridor along the Lower Rio Grande River in New Mexico, with refinement of a small agricultural area in the irrigated corridor.;The results from the LTS scenarios for the hypothetical test cases closely replicated the results from the true scenarios in the refined areas of interest. The head errors of the LTS scenarios were much smaller than from the other scenarios in relation to the true solution, and the run times for the LTS models were three to six times faster than the true models for the dual well and stream-aquifer test cases, respectively. The results of the field application show that better estimates of daily stream leakage can be made with the LTS simulation, thereby improving the efficiency of daily operations for an agricultural irrigation system. |
