Document Details

Evaluation of Ground-Water Flow and Solute Transport in the Lompoc Area, Santa Barbara County, California

Daniel J. Bright, David B. Nash, Peter Martin | July 1st, 1997


Ground-water quality in the Lompoc area, especially in the Lompoc plain, is only marginally acceptable for most uses. Demand for ground water has increased for municipal use since the late 1950’s and has continued to be high for irrigation on the Lompoc plain, the principal agricultural area in the Santa Ynez River basin. As use has increased, the quality of ground water has deteriorated in some areas of the Lompoc plain. The dissolved-solids concentration in the main zone of the upper aquifer beneath most of the central and western plains has increased from less than 1,000 milligrams per liter in the 1940’s to greater than 2,000 milligrams per liter in the 1960’s. Dissolved-solids concentration have remained relatively constant since the 1960’s.

A three-dimensional finite-difference model was used to simulate ground-water flow in the Lompoc area and a two-dimensional finite-element model was used to simulate solute transport to gain a better understanding of the ground-water system and to evaluate the effects of proposed management plans for the ground-water basin. The aquifer system was simulated in the flow model as four horizontal layers. In the area of the Lompoc plain, the layers represent the shallow, middle, and main zones of the upper aquifer, and the lower aquifer. For the Lompoc upland and Lompoc terrace, the four layers represent the lower aquifer. The solute transport model was used to simulate dissolved-solids transport in the main zone of the upper aquifer beneath the Lompoc plain.

The flow and solute-transport models were calibrated to transient conditions for 1941-88. A steady-state simulation was made to provide initial conditions for the transient-state simulation by using long-term average (1941-88) recharge rates. Model-simulated hydraulic heads generally were within 5 feet of measured heads in the main zone for transient conditions. Model-simulated dissolved-solids concentrations for the main zone generally differed less than 200 milligrams per liter from concentrations in 1988.

Keywords

Groundwater Exchange, modeling, water quality