Two-Day Short Course in Calgary!

I'm very pleased to announce a two-day short course entitled Aquifer Testing for Improved Hydrogeologic Site Characterization Featuring AQTESOLV and the In-Situ LevelTROLL that will be held on August 16 and 17, 2007 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

This offering will reprise the very well-received course that we presented in Ft. Collins last year. The workshop covers both pumping tests and slug tests and combines lectures on state-of-the-art aquifer testing methods with hands-on use of AQTESOLV in the analysis of test data.

In addition to myself (Glenn Duffield, president of HydroSOLVE, Inc. and author of AQTESOLV), instructors for the course will include Jim Butler (2007 NGWA Darcy Lecturer and author of The Design, Performance, and Analysis of Slug Tests) and Chris Neville (Vice President and Senior Hydrogeologist with S.S. Papadopulos & Associates).

For more information, please visit the Midwest Geosciences Group web site. This course is offered in collaboration with Aquatic Life Ltd.

Horizontal Wells in AQTESOLV

One of the new features introduced in AQTESOLV/Pro v4.0 is a solution for a pumping test conducted in an anisotropic confined aquifer with a horizontal well (Daviau et al. 1985). With this solution, you may analyze drawdown data from fully or partially penetrating observation wells to determine the following aquifer properties: T (transmissivity), S (storativity) and Kz/Kr (hydraulic conductivity anisotropy ratio).

The horizontal well solution in AQTESOLV has been benchmarked against published well function values (Clonts and Ramey 1986) as shown in the accompanying figure.

AQTESOLV provides options for uniform-flux and infinite-conductivity conditions at the horizontal well as well as variable rates, recovery, multiple horizontal wells and multiple observation wells.

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.

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!

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.

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!

Hello from Sunny San Diego!

Tomorrow starts our three-day short course entitled "Advanced Aquifer Testing Analysis Featuring AQTESOLV: New Concepts, Field Methods and Data Analysis Procedures" at the University of San Diego, CA.

This is our second offering of this popular course which uses AQTESOLV as a teaching tool to illustrate important concepts and principles discussed in lecture presentations. Last year, we held the workshop at the University of Miami in Miami, FL. The course covers topics relating to slug tests and pumping tests.

This year, we're pleased and privileged to have two outstanding lecturers contributing to the course: Jim Butler, the 2007 NGWA Darcy Lecturer and author of "The Design, Performance and Analysis of Slug Tests," and Shlomo Neuman, Regents' Professor of Hydrology and Water Resources at the University of Arizona. Both Butler and Neuman have made significant contributions to the well hydraulics literature. I will also present lectures and lead hands-on use of the AQTESOLV software in solving applied aquifer testing problems.

The warm and sunny weather predicted for San Diego this week is quite a contrast to the conditions I left behind yesterday in northern VA (a so-called "wintery mix" consisting of snow, sleet, freezing rain and rain). With some luck, I'll bring back some of San Diego's weather with me to VA!