When it comes to groundwater treatment, state-of-the-art tools and techniques can save installations vast amounts of money. The Groundwater Modeling System and Support Center provides technical expertise to installations and other users of groundwater modeling technologies.

To provide groundwater modeling technical expertise to installations and other users of groundwater modeling technologies.

State-of-the-art modeling can save vast amounts of money, as can a system to help ensure that proper remedial actions are carried out.

Army installations and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers districts.

The Groundwater Modeling Technical Support Program, sustained jointly by the U.S. Army Environmental Command (USAEC) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Military Programs Office (CE-MP), has been assisting agencies and Army installations for several years. The program is administered by the Groundwater Modeling Technical Support Center at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center-Waterways Experiment Station (WES) and is overseen by a technical advisory group from the funding agencies. The program has provided technical expertise and products to a rapidly expanding group of users, evidenced by 1,894 successfully answered support calls over the last three years. The technical expertise made available through the program has led to more efficient remediation projects.

Many of the calls have come from Army installations looking for Department of Defense Groundwater Modeling System (GMS) support. The GMS was developed specifically to address groundwater remediation projects in the U.S. Army. Although USAEC has been the largest supporter of the system, other agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Energy (DOE), have recently followed the Army lead by supporting GMS technology.

Consequently, several federal and local government agencies have accepted GMS as their standard modeling system for addressing groundwater remediation. The GMS has 622 users in the United States and is accepted by the EPA's Superfund and Wellhead Protection programs. The EPA also uses GMS in all 10 of its regional offices.

The rapid increase in technical support requests demonstrates widespread acceptance of GMS technology. The acceptance is largely based on the system's advanced technology, and because government institutions such as USAEC, CE-MP, WES and the EPA have led its development. Equally significant are the high quality-control standards and technical support programs that ensure the maintenance and improvements necessary for software longevity - an important consideration for installations where cleanup actions can take many years.

• Continued providing groundwater modeling technology transfer assistance to Army users. This support included the distribution of the GMS software and manuals, and providing training as needed.
• Provided telephone support and on-site technical assistance, as necessary, to installations conducting groundwater remediation activities. Site assistance was typically limited to less than one man-week of labor (per site) and travel costs.
• Demonstrated the utility of optimization in reducing the inherent costs of pump-and-treat remediation systems.
• Demonstrated the capability and cost-effectiveness of natural attenuation modeling in reducing remediation costs. This was accomplished by reducing the number of years required for active remediation systems such as pump-and-treat.
• Distributed results from the demonstration projects to installation personnel to ensure technology transfer within the Army.

Due to resource limitations, not all installations have been able to receive assistance from the center.

The institutional support provided by USAEC is necessary for the continued success of the program.

• U.S. Army Environmental Command
• U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center-Waterways Experiment Station
• U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center-Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory
• Headquarters, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

• Groundwater Modeling System, Version 2.1.