The large-scale groundwater model Rurscholle

A multilevel groundwater model was developed for the geological unit Rurscholle to forecast the impact of drainage from open pit mines on the groundwater balance and to evaluate measures to protect wetlands influenced by the drainage. The numerical model is based on a quasi-3D finite element scheme. Geological faults, wetlands, and the open pit mines are considered by a local mesh refinement. A special feature of the modelling of the open pit mines is the temporal change of the soil parameters caused by the mining process. The calibration challenges included the size of the modelling area and drainage wells with well filters in more than one aquifer. In order to reduce the number of calibration parameters, the soil parameters are divided into zones. The calibration results are presented and evaluated with examples.