MODFLOW One-Water Hydrologic Flow Model—Conjunctive Use Simulation Software (MF-OWHM)

Documentation | Program History | Downloads and Documentation | Superseded Versions | Training | Package Support

The MODFLOW One-Water Hydrologic Flow Model (MF-OWHM; Boyce and others, 2020; Hanson and others, 2014) is a MODFLOW-2005 based integrated hydrologic model designed for the analysis of conjunctive-use management. The term “integrated” refers to the tight coupling of groundwater flow, surface-water flow, landscape processes, aquifer compaction and subsidence, reservoir operations, and conduit (karst) flow. This fusion results in a simulation software capable of addressing water-use and sustainability problems, including conjunctive-use, water-management, water-food-security, and climate-crop-water scenarios.

Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details

MF-OWHM is based on the Farm Process for MODFLOW-2005 (MF-FMP2, Schmid and Hanson, 2009) that includes Surface-water Routing Process (SWR, Hughes and others, 2012), Seawater Intrusion (SWI, Bakker and others, 2013),Riparian Evapotranspiration (RIP-ET, Maddock III and others, 2012), and Conduit Flow (CFP Shoemaker and others, 2008). MF-OWHM contains all the previously available solvers and the new solvers such as Newton-Raphson (NWT, Niswonger and others, 2011) and the nonlinear preconditioned conjugate gradient (PCGN, Naff and Banta, 2008). 

As a second core version of MODFLOW-2005, MF-OWHM maintains backward compatibility with existing MODFLOW-2005 versions. Existing models developed using MODFLOW-2005 (Harbaugh, 2005), MODFLOW-NWT (Niswonger and others, 2011), MODFLOW-CFP (Shoemaker and others, 2008), and MODFLOW-FMP (Schmid and others, 2006; Schmid and Hanson, 2009) can also be simulated using MF-OWHM. 

The improvements, new features, modifications to MODFLOW-2005, and newly developed processes continue the MF-OWHM philosophy of retaining and tracking as much water as is feasible in the simulation domain. This philosophy provides the scientific and engineering community with confidence in the water accounting and a technically sound foundation to address broad classes of problems for the public.  

Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details

• Process-based simulation 
  • Saturated groundwater flow(three-dimensional) 
  • Surface-water flow(one- and two-dimensional) 
    • Stream and river flow 
    • Lake and reservoir storage 
  • Landscape simulation and irrigated agriculture 
    • Land-use and crop simulation 
    • Root uptake of groundwater 
    • Precipitation 
    • Actual evapotranspiration 
    • Runoff 
    • Infiltration 
    • Estimated irrigation demand 
  • Reservoir operations 
  • Aquifer compaction and subsidence by vertical model-grid deformation 
  • Seawater intrusion by a sharp-interface assumption 
  • Karst-aquifer and fractured-bedrock flow 
  • Turbulent and laminar-pipe network flow 
  • Unsaturated groundwater flow (one-dimensional) 
• Internal linkages among the processes that couple hydraulic head, flow, and deformation. 
• Redesigned code for 
  • Faster simulation runtime 
  • Increased user-input options 
  • Easier for model updates 
  • Robust error reporting 

MF-OWHM uses a physically based simulation that is connected to a supply and demand framework. This framework starts with the landscape’s demand for water consumption that originates from either an administrative requirement—such as urban consumption or managed aquifer recharge—or from the landscape surface’s potential evaporation and transpiration. This “landscape water demand” is then satisfied from available supplies of water—such as precipitation, surface water, groundwater, and imported water. Water supply can be limited due to physical constraints from the natural and engineered water systems. These constraints occur due to the physics of natural groundwater and surface water flow and to physical limits of engineered systems, such as diversion canals or well-production capacity. The landscape water demand can affect both surface water and groundwater due to their interconnectivity. Further, the supply of groundwater and surface water can be controlled by water rights, managed through reservoir operations, or limited due to regulations. 

Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details

Documentation

• The official USGS reports describe the theory and input instructions at the time the distributions were first released. If you use of this software, please cite the reports in any associated publications and reports.

  Boyce, S.E., 2022, MODFLOW One-Water Hydrologic Flow Model (MF-OWHM) Conjunctive Use and Integrated Hydrologic Flow Modeling Software, version 2.2.0: U.S. Geological Survey Software Release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9P8I8GS            

  Boyce, S.E., Hanson, R.T., Ferguson, I., Schmid, W., Henson, W., Reimann, T., Mehl, S.M., and Earll, M.M., 2020, One-Water Hydrologic Flow Model: A MODFLOW based conjunctive-use simulation software: U.S. Geological Survey Techniques and Methods 6–A60, 435 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/tm6A60

  Hanson, R.T., Boyce, S.E., Schmid, Wolfgang, Hughes, J.D., Mehl, S.M., Leake, S.A., Maddock, Thomas, III, and Niswonger, R.G., 2014, One-Water Hydrologic Flow Model (MODFLOW-OWHM): U.S. Geological Survey Techniques and Methods 6-A51, 120 p., http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/tm6A51

• Online MODFLOW-OWHM v1 User's Guide:
  
  Packages and processes often evolve over time. The User's Guide includes the most up-to-date input instructions and related details.

Downloads and Documentation

General Information

If you wish to be included in our email list to be notified when updates occur, please send an email to modflow_owhm@usgs.gov with the word "add" in the title or check regularly at the download and source repository homepage:

• https://code.usgs.gov/modflow/mf-owhm

Software Downloads

• Current Release Version Download
• Previous Release Versions

Superseded Versions

The following software is not actively supported by the USGS. The software has been superseded by MODFLOW-OWHM Version 2. The software versions below are provided online for historical reference only, and the pages may contain outdated information or broken links.

• MODFLOW-OWHM Version 1
• MODFLOW-FMP1
• MODFLOW-FMP2
• MODFLOW-LGR2

Training

The following links are to USGS internal-only training resources

• Groundwater Resources Association GRACast Web Seminar: Land Subsidence, Part 1: Subsidence Impacts from Groundwater Extraction (8/8/2014) 
• 2014-15 Program on Mathematical and Statistical Ecology (ECOL), SAMSI: Examples of Large Integrated Hydrologic Models using MODFLOW-OWHM (8/20/14, Raleigh, N.C.) 

MODFLOW-OWHM Process and Packages Support

The Online Guide to MODFLOW-OWHM (v1) provides quick access to the key documentation for MODFLOW-OWHM processes and packages:

• Report: The official USGS report describes the theory and input instructions at the time the package or process was first released.
• Online Guide: Packages and processes often evolve over time. The Online User's Guide includes the most up-to-date input instructions and related details.