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Groundwater Flow and Contaminant Transport Modeling

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Hydrogeology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 October 2025) | Viewed by 2212

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, USA
Interests: uncertainty quantification and data assimilation; subsurface flow and transport modeling; watershed hydrologic and biogeochemical modeling; spatial-temporal data analysis using machine learning; ecohydrology
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Understanding groundwater flow and the transport of constituents including contaminants is critical in addressing water quantity and quality challenges that impact public health and sustainable water resource management. This Special Issue aims to gather innovative research that advances the modeling efforts in this vital area. We welcome submissions addressing, but not limited to, the following topics:

  • Development and validation of new groundwater flow and transport models;
  • Numerical and analytical methods for groundwater modeling;
  • Contaminant transport mechanisms in subsurface environments;
  • Application of machine learning and AI in groundwater modeling;
  • Impacts of climate and environmental changes on groundwater resources;
  • Integration of surface water, land surface, and groundwater models;
  • Hydrobiogeochemical interactions affecting contaminant and organic matter mobility;
  • Managed aquifer recharge and its implications for groundwater quality;
  • Policy and management strategies for groundwater protection;
  • Understanding and reducing the uncertainty of complex subsurface systems.

Dr. Xingyuan Chen
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Water is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • groundwater hydrology
  • flow and reactive transport
  • numerical modeling
  • machine learning
  • disturbance impacts
  • surface water and groundwater interactions

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 1262 KB  
Article
Nanoremediation of Contaminated Aquifers: Injection Modeling for Field-Scale Design
by Federico Mondino, Carlo Bianco, Tiziana Tosco, Alessandro Casasso and Rajandrea Sethi
Water 2026, 18(6), 700; https://doi.org/10.3390/w18060700 - 17 Mar 2026
Viewed by 382
Abstract
The subsurface injection of nanoparticles dispersed in stabilizing suspensions has emerged in the last 20 years as an effective and efficient remediation technique. The stabilizing suspensions used to avoid particle aggregation are shear-thinning—and hence non-Newtonian—fluids. In addition, the relatively high groundwater velocities and [...] Read more.
The subsurface injection of nanoparticles dispersed in stabilizing suspensions has emerged in the last 20 years as an effective and efficient remediation technique. The stabilizing suspensions used to avoid particle aggregation are shear-thinning—and hence non-Newtonian—fluids. In addition, the relatively high groundwater velocities and the high fluid viscosity do not allow for the application of the Darcy’s law, which must be replaced with the Forchheimer’s law. For these reasons, the calculation of the pressure drop in porous media has so far been performed numerically. In this article, a novel analytical formula is derived through a series of simplifying assumptions, using the Cross–Carreau formulation to describe the shear-thinning rheological behavior of the injected fluid. The validity of the formula was assessed using the numerical model MNMs. Comparison between the analytical predictions and the numerical results showed good agreement, with a substantial overlap of the results. For these reasons, the explicit formula is considered a useful tool to support the field-scale design of injection interventions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Groundwater Flow and Contaminant Transport Modeling)
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30 pages, 12551 KB  
Article
Numerical Groundwater Flow Modeling in a Tropical Aquifer Under Anthropogenic Pressures: A Case Study in the Middle Magdalena Valley, Colombia
by Boris Lora-Ariza, Luis Silva Vargas, Juan Pescador, Mónica Vaca, Juan Landinez, Adriana Piña and Leonardo David Donado
Water 2025, 17(24), 3579; https://doi.org/10.3390/w17243579 - 17 Dec 2025
Viewed by 1196
Abstract
Groundwater is one of the main sources of water supply in tropical developing countries; however, its integrated management is often constrained by limited hydrogeological information and increasing anthropogenic pressures on aquifer systems. This study presents the numerical modeling of groundwater flow in the [...] Read more.
Groundwater is one of the main sources of water supply in tropical developing countries; however, its integrated management is often constrained by limited hydrogeological information and increasing anthropogenic pressures on aquifer systems. This study presents the numerical modeling of groundwater flow in the Neogene–Quaternary aquifer system of the Middle Magdalena Valley (Colombia), focusing on the rural area of Puerto Wilches, which is characterized by strong surface–groundwater interactions, particularly with the Yarirí wetland and the Magdalena River. A three-dimensional model was implemented and calibrated in FEFLOW v.8.1 under steady-state and transient conditions, integrating both primary and secondary data. The dataset included piezometric levels measured with water level meters and automatic loggers, hydrometeorological records, 21 physicochemical and microbiological parameters analyzed in 45 samples collected during three field campaigns under contrasting hydrological conditions, 79 pumping tests, detailed lithological columns from drilled wells, and complementary geological and geophysical models. The results indicate a predominant east–west groundwater flow from the Eastern Cordillera toward the Magdalena River, with seasonal recharge and discharge patterns controlled by the bimodal rainfall regime. Microbiological contamination (total coliforms in 69% of groundwater samples) and nitrate concentrations above 10 mg/L in 21% of wells were detected, mainly due to agricultural fertilizers and domestic wastewater infiltration. Particle tracking revealed predominantly horizontal flow paths, with transit times of up to 800 years in intermediate units of the Real Group and around 60 years in shallow Quaternary deposits, highlighting the differential vulnerability of the system to contamination. These findings provide scientific foundations for strengthening integrated groundwater management in tropical regions under agroindustrial and hydrocarbon pressures and emphasize the need to consolidate monitoring networks, promote sustainable agricultural practices, and establish preventive measures to protect groundwater quality. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Groundwater Flow and Contaminant Transport Modeling)
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