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c ha pte r one

Introduction
D a v i d r . M a i dm e n t

Why Arc Hydro for groundwater?

F r e s h wat e r is o n e o f t h e e a r t h s m o s t p r e c i o u s r e s o u r c e s , v i ta l t o

human life and to plant and animal life. The volume of groundwater is much larger
than the volume of water in rivers and lakes, but it lies hidden beneath the land surface
in aquifers. About 90 percent of the earths readily available freshwater is stored as
groundwater, slowly percolating through the pore spaces and fractures of rocks near
the earths surface. Large regions of the world depend on groundwater for their water
supply, particularly in rural areas, because aquifers are spatially extensive.
Groundwater has not been a traditional area of application of geographic information
systems (GIS) to water resources, in part because groundwater resources are less visible
and readily mapped compared to streams, rivers, lakes, and watersheds. Also, groundwater is inherently a 3D phenomenon because the depth at which water is found in a well
is a critical measure of its accessibility. As a well is drilled, its borehole passes through
many subsurface strata laid down in layers over geologic time. The spatial extent of these
layers is much larger than is their vertical thickness, much like sheets of paper, so 2D
GIS mapping of well locations and aquifer boundaries is the normal point of departure
for groundwater projects. The core framework of the Arc Hydro data model supports
2D mapping of groundwater resources, and the extensions of this model support 3D
representations of boreholes and hydrogeologic strata.

Chapter 1: Introduc tion

We use a number of terms to define different

aspects of Arc Hydro. The name Arc Hydro refers to
the overall data model for representing hydrology,
including surface water and groundwater. Within
this book we refer to this general model as the Arc
Hydro data model, or simply as Arc Hydro. The
first version of Arc Hydro mainly described surface water systems including drainage, river networks, and time series. This work was published
in a book titled Arc Hydro: GIS for Water Resources
(Maidment 2002). The original Arc Hydro has been
redesigned to include a simplified framework for
representing the basic surface water and groundwater features. Within this book we refer to the
framework data model as the Arc Hydro Framework, or simply as the framework. You can add
surface water and groundwater components to the
Arc Hydro Framework to describe different aspects

of hydrologic systems (the framework data model

and the components are described in chapter 2).
We refer to the groundwater components of the
data model as Arc Hydro Groundwater, or simply
as the groundwater data model, which is the focus
of Arc Hydro Groundwater: GIS for Hydrogeology.
Arc Hydro is not just a set of data models. Rich
sets of tools have been developed to help ArcGIS
users implement the data model, organize their
data, and create GIS products. These tools make
use of the standard data structures and the relationships between features within the data model
to enhance the capabilities of ArcGIS for the management and analysis of water resources. For
surface water analysis, a set of tools named Arc
Hydro Tools has been developed by Esri. These
tools are available on the Esri Web site (www.esri.
com/archydro). For groundwater analysis a set of

Figure 1.1 The hydrologic cycle depicts the circulation of the waters of the earth.

What makes water different when it comes to GIS?

tools named Arc Hydro Groundwater Tools has

been developed by collaboration between Aquaveo, a water resources engineering consulting firm
in Provo, Utah, and Esri, and are available on the
Aquaveo Web site (www.aquaveo.com/archydro).

Hydro design. These books describe something

more than geographic data models for surface
and groundwater

they describe a geographic

data framework for water, with particular components to depict different aspects of surface and
groundwater systems.

What makes water different when it

comes to GIS?
GIS is applied to many fields of endeavor, indeed to
any field in which data can be depicted geospatially.
So, what makes water different? Why do we need
special geographic data models for water? First of
all, water is a subtle substance. It flows from one
place to another on the land surface and through
the subsurface; water evaporates and travels great
distances rapidly in the atmosphere and then
returns to the earth again as precipitation. It flows
in streams and rivers and accumulates in lakes,
bays, and estuaries to form the blue features on
topographic maps. Water movement through the
hydrologic cycle (figure1.1) is extremely complex
and is still not completely understood.
Using GIS to describe natural water systems
requires a means to describe the connectivity of
water flow through the landscape. It is not enough
to know that there are geographic data layers of
water features like streams, aquifers, and wells. It
also matters which streams contribute water to
a particular aquifer and which wells are drilled
into that aquifer to supply water for domestic
consumption or irrigation. Only in this way can
we understand the inflow and outflow of water,
in particular groundwater systems, and thus
manage these systems wisely. This book, Arc Hydro
Groundwater: GIS for Hydrogeology, describes a geographic data model for hydrogeology, using the
Edwards Aquifer in Texas as a vehicle for developing and explaining concepts. The surface water
components are described in the book Arc Hydro:
GIS for Water Resources (Maidment 2002), which
is planned to be updated to reflect the new Arc
3

Chapter 1: Introduc tion

Edwards Aquifer
Aquifer systems are vital to the regions that overlie
them. The Edwards Aquifer (figure1.2) underlies
the cities of San Antonio, San Marcos, and Austin
in south-central Texas. San Antonio is the largest

city in the United States whose water supply

comes principally from groundwater, distributed
throughout the city after being pumped from hundreds of wells drilled into the Edwards Aquifer.
Water from these wells supports a population of
more than 2 million people.
Courtesy of Gregg Eckhardt

Figure 1.2 Map of the Edwards Aquifer region showing the zones within the aquifer and the recharge zone contributing
surface water to the aquifer.

What makes water different when it comes to GIS?

In San Marcos and Austin, beautiful springs

discharge water from the Edwards Aquifer.
Figure1.3 shows the pool overlying San Marcos
Springs. The deep water is perfectly clearyou
can even see sand grains jumping on the bedrock as the groundwater discharges over them.
This peaceful haven in San Marcos has sustained
people for thousands of years and is considered
to be one of the oldest continuously inhabited
places in North America.
The Edwards Aquifer is not just an environment
of water and rocks. It is home to creatures such
as the blind salamander, an almost transparent
amphibian perfectly adapted to its life in the
perpetual darkness of the aquifers underground

cavities. Indeed, it is the necessity to sustain

the spring flow and support the populations of
endangered species such as the blind salamander
that triggers restrictions on water pumping from
the aquifer when water levels are low. The pressure of population growth bears down upon the
Edwards Aquifer. New housing developments,
shops, offices, and roads are spreading where
once there was a quiet forest. Bacteria and chemicals washed down with runoff waters are invading the pristine aquifer environment. Careful
management of both water quantity and quality
in the aquifer are needed to preserve this precious asset to sustain future generations as it has
sustained those of the past.
Courtesy of Gregg Eckhardt

Figure 1.3 Tourists get a picturesque view of the abundant plant and fish life in the San Marcos Springs through a glassbottom boat.

Chapter 1: Introduc tion

Groundwater is strongly related with surface

water in the Edwards Aquifer. Water seeping
through the limestone rock of the aquifer has created a karst landscape with many caves, fractures,
and sinkholes that allow fast movement of water
from the surface into the aquifer formation and
within the subsurface (figure1.4).
The groundwater discharge from the San
Marcos Springs forms the flow of the San Marcos
River. As this river meanders downstream, it is
joined by the Blanco River, whose flow is derived
mostly from surface runoff, and these in turn are
tributaries of the Guadalupe River, which carries
their waters to the Gulf of Mexico. Normally a
quiet, slow-moving river, the Guadalupe can turn
into a raging torrent during severe storms and
devastate the surrounding countryside.
To accurately describe the water resources of
the region, we must map both groundwater and
surface water features together (figure 1.5) and
define the relationships between them. This is part
of the new design of Arc Hydro, which includes
a framework data model with basic surface water
and groundwater features and additional components describing unique aspects of surface water
and groundwater.

Groundwater datasets
In the United States, data depicted on blue lines,
the color of surface water features on topographic
maps, have been compiled by the Unites States
Geological Survey (USGS) into seamless national
hydrography datasets at scales of 1:100,000 and
1:24,000, but no equivalent national hydrogeology dataset exists. Subsurface hydrogeologic data
are measured and archived by many federal, state,
and local groundwater agencies in a fragmented
way without a common means of data access and

Courtesy of the Edwards Aquifer Authority

Surface water and groundwater

Figure 1.4 On top is a limestone bedrock with dissolution

features. Over time, water slowly dissolves the rock and
creates fractures and recharge features. The bottom figure
shows a 70-foot-deep vertical shaft recharging water into
the aquifer.

synthesis. The lack of a systematic organization of

hydrogeologic and groundwater data means that
their formats vary from state to state, from location to location, and from project to project. A new
groundwater investigation can be like an Easter
egg hunt, where you search around for the basic
data needed to support the investigation, coping
with many disparate data types and formats from
different data sources.
We envisage that the adoption of the Arc Hydro
Groundwater data model will lead to better organization of groundwater data so that standardized groundwater and hydrogeologic datasets

Groundwater datasets

can be systematically compiled and maintained. However, this is now being supplemented by
Since hydrogeology is a subfield of geology, it ArcGIS Server and ArcGIS Online, by which comis appropriate that Arc Hydro Groundwater has piled Arc Hydro datasets can be published on the
a geology component to allow for incorporating Internet as maps and data services. This emergexisting geologic maps and data into Arc Hydro ing services-oriented architecture for geospaGroundwater datasets.
tial information is an important way for separate
The ArcGIS Desktop software system is the key organizations to publish geographically distributed
means by which groundwater information is com- groundwater datasets in a manner that facilitates
piled and synthesized in Arc Hydro Groundwater. their assembly and integration over a region.
Map data AND Automotive Navigation Data; Courtesy of Tele Atlas North America, Inc.,
U.S. National Park Service, Texas Water Development Board, and U.S. Geological Survey

Figure 1.5 The Edwards Aquifer (in brown) and the Guadalupe River Basin (with the watershed in green and rivers in blue)
are located in Central Texas. A strong connectivity exists between surface water recharging the aquifer through streams
flowing over the outcrop of the aquifer and groundwater discharging through springs.

Chapter 1: Introduc tion

Wells provide the most abundant source of

groundwater information. Many large tabular
databases describing wells exist, both as well
logs that describe the details of well construction
and the subsurface materials encountered while
drilling, and as observations that describe the
water level and sometimes the chemical properties of the well water indexed by time. This information is sparse both in space and in time: sparse
in space because each well is an individual entity,
and they are drilled relatively far apart from one
another; sparse in time because groundwater conditions change slowly, and most wells are manually sampled infrequently over periods of months
or years. Figure1.6 shows an artesian groundwater well, with water flowing freely from the subsurface. This is common to the artesian zones of
the Edwards Aquifer.
This sparse information must be interpreted and
interpolated to generate spatial maps of groundwater properties, in particular to produce piezometric head maps that describe the spatial patterns
of groundwater levels (or pressures) in aquifers. If
piezometric head maps are constructed for successive periods of time and subtracted one from the
next, a picture of the rise and fall of groundwater
conditions through time can be obtained. The Arc
Hydro Groundwater tools include geoprocessing
tools and models for accomplishing this task (see
chapter 7).

Courtesy of the Edwards Aquifer Authority

Groundwater wells

Figure 1.6 Groundwater under pressure flows freely from a

confined aquifer to the surface of this flowing artesian well.

Groundwater strata

Groundwater strata
Understanding groundwater systems requires
being able to depict their horizontal extent and also
their vertical structure, usually visualized as crosssections cut through the various hydrogeologic
strata (figure1.7).
In Arc Hydro Groundwater, tabular information
from well logs about the contact points at which

the well driller encountered each new subsurface

layer is translated within ArcGIS into a 3D vertical
representation of the borehole. Cross-sections can
be drawn by connecting a sequence of boreholes
or by cutting directly through a geovolume representation of the 3D structure of these hydrogeologic units. A special extension of the Arc Hydro
Groundwater tools called Subsurface Analyst can
be used to perform these functions.
Courtesy of Gregg Eckhardt

Figure 1.7 A typical cross section of the Edwards Aquifer describes strata, hydrogeologic units, and features such as faults
and wells within the subsurface.

Chapter 1: Introduc tion

The various data arrays in a MODFLOW model

are like the pages in a groundwater system book.
Because groundwater systems are largely hidden As you view them one by one, you see the spatial
from sight, groundwater simulation models are extent and physical properties of the aquifer, such
used to infer the properties of groundwater sys- as its thickness, porosity, and hydraulic conductems and to simulate the flow and storage of water tivity (figure 1.8). You see the pumping stresses,
within the subsurface under variable conditions, flow patterns, and recharge and discharge volincluding natural conditions and human-made umes, and you see the piezometric head map that
influences such as pumping. The most widely depicts the levels of water within the different
used groundwater simulation model is MOD- layers of the groundwater system.
FLOW, produced by the USGS, which is as much
The Arc Hydro Groundwater tools include a
of a standard in the groundwater field as ArcGIS special extension called MODFLOW Analyst that
is a standard for geographic information systems. enables MODFLOW descriptions of groundwater

Groundwater modeling

Courtesy of Lindgren et al. 2004, U.S. Geological Survey

Figure 1.8 Simulated distribution of horizontal hydraulic conductivity for a calibrated MODFLOW model of the southern
part of the Edwards Aquifer. Warmer colors represent higher conductivity and faster movement of water within the aquifer. The linear features within the model represent conduits with very high conductivity.

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Scope of the book

systems to be viewed and mapped in ArcGIS, thus

enabling a much larger audience to understand
the behavior of groundwater systems simulated
with MODFLOW (see chapter 8).

Scope of the book

The book is divided into nine chapters. The first
three chapters introduce the subject, describe the
core framework data model, and present an exposition of how to represent 3D objects in ArcGIS.
The next three chapters present components of
the groundwater data model for geological mapping, wells and aquifers, and 3D hydrostratigraphy. The final three chapters describe time series,
groundwater modeling, and implementation of
the groundwater data model in ArcGIS.
It is important to understand some of the
limitations of this book

we are describing an
information model for groundwater data. This is
not a book about groundwater simulation modeling. Arc Hydro Groundwater can be used to help
create groundwater simulation models and to
store the results of groundwater simulations, but
Arc Hydro Groundwater is not itself a groundwater simulation model. Likewise, although we
devote considerable attention to hydrogeology,
Arc Hydro Groundwater is not intended to capture
all the detailed cartographic aspects of geologic
and hydrogeologic mapping. Our focus is on the
groundwater environment and on the properties
of the water flowing through that environment.

References
Lindgren, R. J., A. R. Dutton, S. D. Hovorka, S. R. H. Worthington, and P. Scott. 2004. Conceptualization and simulation of
the Edwards aquifer, San Antonio region, Texas: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 20045277, 143 p.
Maidment, D. R., ed. 2002. Arc Hydro: GIS for Water Resources.
Redlands, California: Esri Press.

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