Application of the simulation-optimization approach to groundwater management: Pease Air Force Base case study

A simulation-optimization approach is used to establish the minimum pumping rates that provide hydraulic containment of a contaminant plume and are protective of a nearby water-supply well. Hydraulic containment and protection of the nearby water-supply well are enforced by requiring inward flow to the managed extraction wells. Minimization of pumping costs is achieved by minimizing the total extraction pumping rate. To solve this groundwater management problem, a hydraulic approach is adopted wherein both the hydraulic constraints and objective function depend on extraction rates at seven candidate well locations.