Thursday, March 22, 2007

Winding It Down in Vegas....

Yesterday we spent a full day visiting and learning about the proposed Yucca Mountain Repository near Las Vegas, Nevada. Dave Buesch from the USGS led an in-depth facility tour and crammed it with fascinating facts and details about the site's history, hydrogeologic investigations and modeling studies. In addition to inspecting exposures on and around the facility, we had the unique opportunity to enter the proposed tunnel and see it up-close and personal. Everyone came away feeling well informed!

Today (Thursday) marks our second and final day of lectures covering such diverse topics as solute transport, isotope applications, analysis of single-well tests, remediation techniques and demonstration of computer applications for fractured media.

The course concluded with a popular section which invites course participants to discuss their own problems in fractured rock hydrology. Instructors and course attendees shared their views and experiences to the benefit of all.

Monday, March 19, 2007

Viva Las Vegas!

This entry comes to you from sunny Las Vegas where for the next three days I'll be participating in a short course entitled "Improving Hydrogeologic Analysis of Fractured Bedrock Systems" being held at the University of Nevada Las Vegas.

The course, organized by the Midwest Geosciences Group, is a series of lectures and workshops intended to improve hydrogeologic analysis, enhance field observations and reduce uncertainty in projects involving fractured bedrock systems.

My contribution to the course includes presentations on the physics of fluid flow in fractured media, methods for analyzing aquifer tests in fractured rock and analysis of single-well tests as applied to fractured media.

In addition to myself, instructors for the course are Ken Bradbury (above), Maureen Muldoon, Chris Mulry, Dan Kelleher and Paul Kesich.

A highlight of the course is a trip inside the proposed Yucca Mountain repository on Wednesday. It promises to be an exciting three days!

Friday, March 2, 2007

All Good Things Must Come to an End...

Our three-day aquifer-testing workshop in San Diego, CA concluded on Thursday afternoon. A quick review of the course feedback forms showed that all who attended were very pleased with the course and the instructors: Jim Butler, Glenn Duffield and Shlomo Neuman (right).

Here's what some of the participants had to say about what portion of the course was most valuable to them:
  • "Dr. Neuman's new solution [for pumping tests in unconfined aquifers]"
  • "Jim Butler's presentation on slug testing was excellent"
  • "Glenn Duffield's discussion concerning pump tests"
  • "The exercises were most valuable"
  • "Ability to bring my own data set for analysis"
  • "Diagnostic approach to pump test interpretation especially derivative use (and limitations)"
  • "Pretty much all of it"
On behalf of the other course leaders, I would like to say how much of a pleasure it was to meet and interact with all of you who came to the University of San Diego to attend our course. Like previous courses, the lectures often stimulated some very lively discussions between the presenters and the audience. We also had an opportunity to sit down and work with some of you on your current projects. We hope that you enjoyed these experiences as much as we did. Let me conclude by thanking each and every one of you for contributing to the success of the course.

Thursday, March 1, 2007

From Slug Tests to Pumping Tests

For the past two days, scientists and engineers attending our course "Advanced Aquifer Testing Analysis Featuring AQTESOLV" in San Diego, CA, have been gaining state-of-the-art and practical knowledge that they can apply in the design, performance and analysis of pumping tests and slug tests. Each day has started with lectures by Jim Butler and Glenn Duffield that introduce important new concepts and principles useful to the practicing groundwater professional who is responsible for conducting aquifer tests. By the end of each day, course attendees have reinforced what they've learned by analyzing real-world test data with the AQTESOLV software.

Most of this year's course contingent come from cities across the US, but we are also pleased to have with us participants from Canada, Sweden and even Australia!

As always, Midwest Geosciences Group has done a marvelous job of organizing and facilitating the course. It has also been a pleasure to work with the University of San Diego who has provided us with an excellent facility.

Today will mark the final day of the course. We're looking forward to talks in the morning by Dr. Shlomo P. Neuman of the University of Arizona on the analysis of pumping tests in unconfined aquifers and also multiaquifer systems. It promises to another exciting day!