A finite-volume Eulerian-Lagrangian local adjoint method for solution of the advection-dispersion equation is developed and discussed. The method is mass conservative and can solve advection-dominated ground-water solute-transport problems accurately and efficiently. An integrated finite-difference approach is used in the method. A key component of the method is that the integral representing the mass-storage term is evaluated numerically at the current time level. Integration points, and the mass associated with these points, are then forward tracked up to the next time level. The number of integration points required to reach a specified level of accuracy is problem dependent and increases as the sharpness of the simulated solute front increases. Integration points are generally equally spaced within each grid cell. For problems involving variable coefficients it has been found to be advantageous to include additional integration points at strategic locations in each well. These locations are determined by backtracking. Forward tracking of boundary fluxes by the method alleviates problems that are encountered in the backtracking approaches of most characteristic methods. A test problem is used to illustrate that the new method offers substantial advantages over other numerical methods for a wide range of problems.
