Hydrologic Modeling in Arid Systems

Purpose

This repository documents a one-month self-directed curriculum focused on defensible groundwater and hydrologic modeling in arid and semi-arid systems, with an emphasis on:

• Sparse data environments
  
• Groundwater-dominated basins
  
• Recharge uncertainty
  
• Open-source modeling tools

The goal is not to produce “perfect” models, but to understand, explain, and defend modeling assumptions, consistent with real-world consulting practice.

Audience

• Early-career hydrologists
• Graduate students
• Practitioners transitioning into modeling-heavy roles

Tools

• MODFLOW 6
• FloPy
• ModelMuse
• Python / Jupyter
• Quarto

Structure

The curriculum is organized into four weeks, each combining:

• Conceptual grounding
• Hands-on modeling
• Uncertainty analysis
• Professional communication