Investigation of Integrated Modeling of Surface Water- Ground Water Using SWAT- MODFLOW Model

Hydrological models are useful tools in water resources planning, but some of them do not have satisfactory performance on a regional scale. Hydrological models are appropriate for a specific spatial scale and the lack of input data is a limiting factor in the modeling. One way to overcome this limitation is by using a flexible comprehensive model in different watersheds. Since surface and ground water have dynamic interaction in environmental ecosystems and form a combined water resources system so, the application of two general methods including fully integrated and coupled regions has been evaluated in this research. An investigation of these methods showed that the major focus in most studies is on increasing the accuracy of recharge and evapotranspiration rates in simulation. The results showed that the simultaneous use of SWAT and MODFLOW models to understand the hydrological conditions in a region has been able to cover the defects associated with the semi-distributional and distributive constraints of two models, simulating the surface-groundwater and the interaction between the aquifer and river. This method can provide useful information about the water balance of the basin and help to plan water resources more accurately