More MODFLOW 6 3D graphics to ponder

I could probably crash people's email boxes with the stuff that MODFLOW 6 has to offer

This is a an extra installment to today’s story on how Kinney County Groundwater Conservation District’s hydrologist, Dr. Bill Hutchison, has been telling us about his work with some really pricey software.

Here’s a screenshot of a page from his presentation papers describing his plans:

Here are screenshots from his August 2024 presentation showing 3D renditions of formations, or earth layers, under our feet. We’ve come a long way from what he called the 1962 “cartoon” drawing of our formations.

The cartoon shows Las Moras Springs and how water flows through the aquifers and comes up through the various formations to spring out of the ground.

Now look at these MODFLOW 6 drawings. Each one shows how layers of earth - formations - spread under our feet.

Some formations only occur in the southern part of the county while others spread all the way across. The different colors indicate thicknesses.

The Glen Rose Formation is simply shown as 600 feet thick to give the drawings a base. Keep it mind the Glen Rose also occurs in various thicknesses.

Alluvium is the loose soil and rocks that cover the surface of the earth in streams and rivers.

As of August 2024, he still had more to do. In the October 2024 board meeting, KCGCD General Manager Genell Hobbs said he planned to return in December after finishing up some geology work.

But he didn’t return and resigned this month.

Here’s a screenshot of some of what he still planned to do as of August 2024:

In his resignation letter, Hutchison mentioned work done by an outfit called LRE Water. I came across a letter in Hutchison’s presentation papers from April 2024 in a Google Drive link entitled “LRE geologic update.”

LRE Water is headed up by a geoscientist in Round Rock, who did stratigraphic work (the study of rock layers, although it’s way more involved than that) for the Kinney County Groundwater Conservation District. Here’s a copy of the letter:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1oIm1rgYUEdddx3hDfZRu4LvxSaO6vr2y

Here are screenshots of the letter. If this post is too long for your email box, Substack says to click “view entire message.”