About The Illinois State Water Survey

ENIGMMA: The Evolving Network of Illinois Groundwater Monitoring and Modeling Analyses

The groundwater flow models developed at the Illinois State Water Survey are often at widely varying scales, with local models linked to the regional models by shared, transient boundary conditions. Due to the ever expanding number of interdependent models, there is a need to streamline the process of entering pumping data (model inputs) and water levels (model calibration targets) into the models to allow for timely analyses of current groundwater conditions throughout the state. The need for more efficient processes is exacerbated by continued efforts of the Illinois Water Inventory Program staff to collect water use data from facilities via an on-line reporting tool. Similarly, telemetry stations deployed throughout the state allow for instantaneous analysis of water level data, either via a hydrograph or head-specified models. 

ENIGMMA is primarily developed using Python, although SQL and Matlab are also used where relevant. A number of Python functions are being developed by the ENIGMMA team, which is comprised of hydrologists, modelers, IWIP staff, computer engineers, and students. The current ENIGMMA priorities are codes that flag outliers and fill in data gaps in reported water use and import this "estimated" water use data set into the Illinois Groundwater Flow Model.

ENIGMMA provides the framework to automate flagging of outliers when water use is reported via the on-line tool, communicate IWIP data via web maps, and development of an estimated water usage data set for use in groundwater flow models that accounts for gaps in reporting.

The ISWS is moving toward displaying groundwater levels (depth to water, head) in real-time. The above trial plot demonstrates this capability at the ISWS/USGS monitoring well Champaign 08-09A. This hydrograph is updated every 30 minutes as a live draw from web services hosted by the USGS (https://nwis.waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?site_no=401654088212001).

The ISWS has a long-history of developing groundwater flow models throughout Illinois. ENIGMMA provides the mechanisms to link these models to IWIP water use data and real-time water level collection data. ENIGMMA will also be expanded to include linkages between regional and local scale models, providing the opportunity to foster a seamless model simulation that accounts for both regional stresses and local influences on the flow regime.