Groundwater investigation and modeling Außermontafon

The Department of Water Management of the Vorarlberg Provincial Government commissioned TK CONSULT with the investigation and modeling of the groundwater aquifer Außermontafon.

In a first step, a 3D model was built based on the hydrogeological model of the geological office GEOGNOS Bertle ZT GmbH. The model was calibrated using all available groundwater tables and surface water measurements from 2008 to 2019. Based on numerical simulations, groundwater isolines, groundwater level and aquifer thickness maps for various groundwater levels were generated and flow volumes could be quantified. Finally, the calibrated groundwater model was successfully applied to:

• Calculation of the catchment areas of existing and planned groundwater wells
• Calculation of thermal effects of groundwater usage for cooling and heating purposes

Future potential applications of the model are:

• Determination of the influence of river revitalization and widenings or power plant and flood protection projects
• Thermal modeling in the context of future groundwater usage and calculation of substance dispersion in groundwater
• Issues related to public water supply, private water use or water drainage at construction sites
• Determination of groundwater effects of structure works and development of measures