PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR:

Dr. Aly El-Kadi, Water Resources Research Center/Geology, University of Hawaii at Manoa

SPONSOR:

WRRIP 2007

PROJECT PERIOD:

03/01/07 - 02/28/08

ABSTRACT:

The objective of this study is to investigate the influence of swells and wave setup on low-frequency water-table variations in a coastal aquifer and to utilize wave setup in hydraulic parameter estimation. The proposed research will contribute to advances in hydrogeological science by addressing an area that is insufficiently investigated. The approach is expected to be beneficial to many high-permeability coastal environments, such as volcanic islands and atolls. The technique will also provide a practical approach for aquifer parameter estimation as an important step towards managing our Hawaii valuable ground-water resources. Different techniques of signal processing will be applied to available data to filter out other environmental impacts, such as barometric and tidal influences, to limit the water-table fluctuations to wave setup. Correlation between wave setup data and observed inland head changes will be investigated. Analytical solutions for tides will be adapted to wave set-up and their accuracywill be tested through comparison against numerical modeling of transient head.

After review of the site investigation report and conducting a site visit, the State of Hawaii Department of Health (DOH) indicated that additional information was required to meet the requirements of their Technical Guidance Manual to facilitate their decision process for the site. In accordance with DOH regulations, the owners and operators of USTs shall clean up contaminated soil and groundwater to levels that are protective of human health and the environment.

A numerical model of the regional hydrogeology at the Red Hill Fuel Storage Facility (RHFSF) shall be created to support the development of a comprehensive fate and transport model to provide supporting data for risk assessment. This model shall simulate the fate and transport of potential contamination from the site and the effect on the saltwater/freshwater transition zone of various pumping scenarios.

The Groundwater Modeling System (GMS) model developed for the State of Hawaii Department of Health, Safe Drinking Water Branch's Source Water Assessment Program (SWAP) by WRRC shall be modified to assess flow and transport of potential contamination from the bulk fuel storage facility.