Groundwater Transport (GWT) Model Input 189

strt—real value that defines the starting concentration for the reach.
aux—represents the values of the auxiliary variables for each reach. The values of auxiliary variables
must be present for each reach. The values must be specified in the order of the auxiliary variables
specified in the OPTIONS block. If the package supports time series and the Options block includes
a TIMESERIESFILE entry (see the “Time-Variable Input” section), values can be obtained from a
time series by entering the time-series name in place of a numeric value.
boundname—name of the reach cell. BOUNDNAME is an ASCII character variable that can contain
as many as 40 characters. If BOUNDNAME contains spaces in it, then the entire name must be
enclosed within single quotes.

Block: PERIOD

iper—integer value specifying the starting stress period number for which the data specified in the
PERIOD block apply. IPER must be less than or equal to NPER in the TDIS Package and greater
than zero. The IPER value assigned to a stress period block must be greater than the IPER value
assigned for the previous PERIOD block. The information specified in the PERIOD block will con-
tinue to apply for all subsequent stress periods, unless the program encounters another PERIOD
block.
rno—integer value that defines the reach number associated with the specified PERIOD data on the line.
RNO must be greater than zero and less than or equal to NREACHES.
reachsetting—line of information that is parsed into a keyword and values. Keyword values that can
be used to start the REACHSETTING string include: STATUS, CONCENTRATION, RAINFALL,
EVAPORATION, RUNOFF, and AUXILIARY. These settings are used to assign the concentration
of associated with the corresponding flow terms. Concentrations cannot be specified for all flow
terms. For example, the Streamflow Package supports a “DIVERSION” flow term. Diversion water
will be routed using the calculated concentration of the reach.
STATUS <status>
CONCENTRATION <concentration>
RAINFALL <rainfall>
EVAPORATION <evaporation>
RUNOFF <runoff>
INFLOW <inflow>
AUXILIARY <auxname> <auxval>

status—keyword option to define reach status. STATUS can be ACTIVE, INACTIVE, or CON-
STANT. By default, STATUS is ACTIVE, which means that concentration will be calculated for
the reach. If a reach is inactive, then there will be no solute mass fluxes into or out of the reach and
the inactive value will be written for the reach concentration. If a reach is constant, then the concen-
tration for the reach will be fixed at the user specified value.
concentration—real or character value that defines the concentration for the reach. The specified
CONCENTRATION is only applied if the reach is a constant concentration reach. If the Options
block includes a TIMESERIESFILE entry (see the “Time-Variable Input” section), values can be
obtained from a time series by entering the time-series name in place of a numeric value.
rainfall—real or character value that defines the rainfall solute concentration (M L−3 ) for the reach.
If the Options block includes a TIMESERIESFILE entry (see the “Time-Variable Input” section),
values can be obtained from a time series by entering the time-series name in place of a numeric
value.
190 MODFLOW 6 – Description of Input and Output

evaporation—real or character value that defines the concentration of evaporated water (M L−3 ) for
the reach. If this concentration value is larger than the simulated concentration in the reach, then
the evaporated water will be removed at the same concentration as the reach. If the Options block
includes a TIMESERIESFILE entry (see the “Time-Variable Input” section), values can be obtained
from a time series by entering the time-series name in place of a numeric value.
runoff—real or character value that defines the concentration of runoff (M L−3 ) for the reach. Value
must be greater than or equal to zero. If the Options block includes a TIMESERIESFILE entry (see
the “Time-Variable Input” section), values can be obtained from a time series by entering the time-
series name in place of a numeric value.
inflow—real or character value that defines the concentration of inflow (M L−3 ) for the reach. Value
must be greater than or equal to zero. If the Options block includes a TIMESERIESFILE entry (see
the “Time-Variable Input” section), values can be obtained from a time series by entering the time-
series name in place of a numeric value.
AUXILIARY—keyword for specifying auxiliary variable.
auxname—name for the auxiliary variable to be assigned AUXVAL. AUXNAME must match one of the
auxiliary variable names defined in the OPTIONS block. If AUXNAME does not match one of the
auxiliary variable names defined in the OPTIONS block the data are ignored.
auxval—value for the auxiliary variable. If the Options block includes a TIMESERIESFILE entry (see
the “Time-Variable Input” section), values can be obtained from a time series by entering the time-
series name in place of a numeric value.

Example Input File

BEGIN OPTIONS
AUXILIARY aux1 aux2
BOUNDNAMES
PRINT_INPUT
PRINT_CONCENTRATION
PRINT_FLOWS
SAVE_FLOWS
CONCENTRATION FILEOUT gwt_sft_02.sft.bin
BUDGET FILEOUT gwt_sft_02.sft.bud
OBS6 FILEIN gwt_sft_02.sft.obs
END OPTIONS

BEGIN PACKAGEDATA
# L STRT aux1 aux2 bname
1 0.00000000 99.00000000 999.00000000 REACH1
2 0.00000000 99.00000000 999.00000000 REACH2
3 0.00000000 99.00000000 999.00000000 REACH3
END PACKAGEDATA

BEGIN PERIOD 1
1 STATUS ACTIVE
2 STATUS ACTIVE
3 STATUS ACTIVE
END PERIOD 1

Available observation types

Streamflow Transport Package observations include reach concentration and all of the terms that con-
tribute to the continuity equation for each reach. Additional SFT Package observations include mass flow
 Groundwater Transport (GWT) Model Input 191

rates for individual reaches, or groups of reaches. The data required for each SFT Package observation type
is defined in table 25. Negative and positive values for sft observations represent a loss from and gain to the
GWT model, respectively. For all other flow terms, negative and positive values represent a loss from and gain
from the SFT package, respectively.

Table 25. Available SFT Package observation types.

Stress Observation ID ID2 Description

Package type
SFT concentration rno or – Reach concentration. If boundname is spec-
boundname ified, boundname must be unique for each
reach.
SFT flow-ja-face rno or rno or – Mass flow between two reaches. If a bound-
boundname name is specified for ID1, then the result
is the total mass flow for all reaches. If a
boundname is specified for ID1 then ID2 is
not used.
SFT storage rno or – Simulated mass storage flow rate for a reach
boundname or group of reaches.
SFT constant rno or – Simulated mass constant-flow rate for a
boundname reach or group of reaches.
SFT from-mvr rno or – Simulated mass inflow into a reach or
boundname group of reaches from the MVT package.
Mass inflow is calculated as the product of
provider concentration and the mover flow
rate.
SFT to-mvr rno or – Mass outflow from a reach, or a group of
boundname reaches that is available for the MVR pack-
age. If boundname is not specified for ID,
then the outflow available for the MVR
package from a specific reach is observed.
SFT sft rno or iconn Mass flow rate for a reach or group of
boundname or – reaches and its aquifer connection(s). If
boundname is not specified for ID, then
the simulated reach-aquifer flow rate at a
specific reach connection is observed. In
this case, ID2 must be specified and is the
connection number iconn for reach rno.
SFT rainfall rno or – Rainfall rate applied to a reach or group of
boundname reaches multiplied by the rainfall concentra-
tion.
SFT evaporation rno or – Simulated evaporation rate from a reach or
boundname group of reaches multiplied by the evapora-
tion concentration.
192 MODFLOW 6 – Description of Input and Output

Table 25. Available SFT Package observation types.—Continued

Stress Observation ID ID2 Description

Package type
SFT runoff rno or – Runoff rate applied to a reach or group of
boundname reaches multiplied by the runoff concentra-
tion.
SFT ext-inflow rno or – Mass inflow into a reach or group of reaches
boundname calculated as the external inflow rate multi-
plied by the inflow concentration.
SFT ext-outflow rno or – External outflow from a reach or group of
boundname reaches to an external boundary. If bound-
name is not specified for ID, then the exter-
nal outflow from a specific reach is observed.
In this case, ID is the reach rno.

Example Observation Input File

BEGIN options
DIGITS 7
PRINT_INPUT
END options

BEGIN continuous FILEOUT gwt_lkt02.lkt.obs.csv

sft-1-conc CONCENTRATION 1
sft-1-extinflow EXT-INFLOW 1
sft-1-rain RAINFALL 1
sft-1-roff RUNOFF 1
sft-1-evap EVAPORATION 1
sft-1-stor STORAGE 1
sft-1-const CONSTANT 1
sft-1-gwt1 SFT 1 1
sft-1-gwt2 SFT 1 2
sft-2-gwt1 SFT 2 1
sft-1-mylake1 SFT MYREACHES
sft-1-fjf FLOW-JA-FACE 1 2
sft-2-fjf FLOW-JA-FACE 2 1
sft-3-fjf FLOW-JA-FACE 2 3
sft-4-fjf FLOW-JA-FACE 3 2
sft-5-fjf FLOW-JA-FACE MYREACH1
sft-6-fjf FLOW-JA-FACE MYREACH2
sft-7-fjf FLOW-JA-FACE MYREACH3
END continuous
 Groundwater Transport (GWT) Model Input 193

Lake Transport (LKT) Package

Lake Transport (LKT) Package information is read from the file that is specified by “LKT6” as the file
type. There can be as many LKT Packages as necessary for a GWT model. Each LKT Package is designed to
work with flows from a single corresponding GWF LAK Package. By default MODFLOW 6 uses the LKT
package name to determine which LAK Package corresponds to the LKT Package. Therefore, the package
name of the LKT Package (as specified in the GWT name file) must match with the name of the corresponding
LAK Package (as specified in the GWF name file). Alternatively, the name of the flow package can be spec-
ified using the FLOW PACKAGE NAME keyword in the options block. The GWT LKT Package cannot be
used without a corresponding GWF LAK Package.
The LKT Package does not have a dimensions block; instead, dimensions for the LKT Package are set
using the dimensions from the corresponding LAK Package. For example, the LAK Package requires speci-
fication of the number of lakes (NLAKES). LKT sets the number of lakes equal to NLAKES. Therefore, the
PACKAGEDATA block below must have NLAKES entries in it.

Structure of Blocks
BEGIN OPTIONS
[FLOW_PACKAGE_NAME <flow_package_name>]
[AUXILIARY <auxiliary(naux)>]
[FLOW_PACKAGE_AUXILIARY_NAME <flow_package_auxiliary_name>]
[BOUNDNAMES]
[PRINT_INPUT]
[PRINT_CONCENTRATION]
[PRINT_FLOWS]
[SAVE_FLOWS]
[CONCENTRATION FILEOUT <concfile>]
[BUDGET FILEOUT <budgetfile>]
[TS6 FILEIN <ts6_filename>]
[OBS6 FILEIN <obs6_filename>]
END OPTIONS

BEGIN PACKAGEDATA
<lakeno> <strt> [<aux(naux)>] [<boundname>]
<lakeno> <strt> [<aux(naux)>] [<boundname>]
...
END PACKAGEDATA

BEGIN PERIOD <iper>

<lakeno> <laksetting>
<lakeno> <laksetting>
...
END PERIOD

Explanation of Variables
Block: OPTIONS

flow package name—keyword to specify the name of the corresponding flow package. If not spec-
ified, then the corresponding flow package must have the same name as this advanced transport
package (the name associated with this package in the GWT name file).
auxiliary—defines an array of one or more auxiliary variable names. There is no limit on the number
of auxiliary variables that can be provided on this line; however, lists of information provided in
subsequent blocks must have a column of data for each auxiliary variable name defined here. The
194 MODFLOW 6 – Description of Input and Output

number of auxiliary variables detected on this line determines the value for naux. Comments cannot
be provided anywhere on this line as they will be interpreted as auxiliary variable names. Auxiliary
variables may not be used by the package, but they will be available for use by other parts of the
program. The program will terminate with an error if auxiliary variables are specified on more than
one line in the options block.
flow package auxiliary name—keyword to specify the name of an auxiliary variable in the corre-
sponding flow package. If specified, then the simulated concentrations from this advanced trans-
port package will be copied into the auxiliary variable specified with this name. Note that the flow
package must have an auxiliary variable with this name or the program will terminate with an error.
If the flows for this advanced transport package are read from a file, then this option will have no
effect.
BOUNDNAMES—keyword to indicate that boundary names may be provided with the list of lake cells.
PRINT INPUT—keyword to indicate that the list of lake information will be written to the listing file
immediately after it is read.
PRINT CONCENTRATION—keyword to indicate that the list of lake concentration will be printed to the
listing file for every stress period in which “HEAD PRINT” is specified in Output Control. If there
is no Output Control option and PRINT CONCENTRATION is specified, then concentration are
printed for the last time step of each stress period.
PRINT FLOWS—keyword to indicate that the list of lake flow rates will be printed to the listing file for
every stress period time step in which “BUDGET PRINT” is specified in Output Control. If there is
no Output Control option and “PRINT FLOWS” is specified, then flow rates are printed for the last
time step of each stress period.
SAVE FLOWS—keyword to indicate that lake flow terms will be written to the file specified with “BUD-
GET FILEOUT” in Output Control.
CONCENTRATION—keyword to specify that record corresponds to concentration.
concfile—name of the binary output file to write concentration information.
BUDGET—keyword to specify that record corresponds to the budget.
FILEOUT—keyword to specify that an output filename is expected next.
budgetfile—name of the binary output file to write budget information.
TS6—keyword to specify that record corresponds to a time-series file.
FILEIN—keyword to specify that an input filename is expected next.
ts6 filename—defines a time-series file defining time series that can be used to assign time-varying
values. See the “Time-Variable Input” section for instructions on using the time-series capability.
OBS6—keyword to specify that record corresponds to an observations file.
obs6 filename—name of input file to define observations for the LKT package. See the “Observation
utility” section for instructions for preparing observation input files. Tables 30 and 31 lists observa-
tion type(s) supported by the LKT package.

Block: PACKAGEDATA

lakeno—integer value that defines the lake number associated with the specified PACKAGEDATA data
on the line. LAKENO must be greater than zero and less than or equal to NLAKES. Lake informa-
tion must be specified for every lake or the program will terminate with an error. The program will
also terminate with an error if information for a lake is specified more than once.
 Groundwater Transport (GWT) Model Input 195

strt—real value that defines the starting concentration for the lake.
aux—represents the values of the auxiliary variables for each lake. The values of auxiliary variables
must be present for each lake. The values must be specified in the order of the auxiliary variables
specified in the OPTIONS block. If the package supports time series and the Options block includes
a TIMESERIESFILE entry (see the “Time-Variable Input” section), values can be obtained from a
time series by entering the time-series name in place of a numeric value.
boundname—name of the lake cell. BOUNDNAME is an ASCII character variable that can contain
as many as 40 characters. If BOUNDNAME contains spaces in it, then the entire name must be
enclosed within single quotes.

Block: PERIOD

iper—integer value specifying the starting stress period number for which the data specified in the
PERIOD block apply. IPER must be less than or equal to NPER in the TDIS Package and greater
than zero. The IPER value assigned to a stress period block must be greater than the IPER value
assigned for the previous PERIOD block. The information specified in the PERIOD block will con-
tinue to apply for all subsequent stress periods, unless the program encounters another PERIOD
block.
lakeno—integer value that defines the lake number associated with the specified PERIOD data on the
line. LAKENO must be greater than zero and less than or equal to NLAKES.
laksetting—line of information that is parsed into a keyword and values. Keyword values that can be
used to start the LAKSETTING string include: STATUS, CONCENTRATION, RAINFALL, EVAP-
ORATION, RUNOFF, and AUXILIARY. These settings are used to assign the concentration of
associated with the corresponding flow terms. Concentrations cannot be specified for all flow terms.
For example, the Lake Package supports a “WITHDRAWAL” flow term. If this withdrawal term is
active, then water will be withdrawn from the lake at the calculated concentration of the lake.
STATUS <status>
CONCENTRATION <concentration>
RAINFALL <rainfall>
EVAPORATION <evaporation>
RUNOFF <runoff>
EXT-INFLOW <ext-inflow>
AUXILIARY <auxname> <auxval>

status—keyword option to define lake status. STATUS can be ACTIVE, INACTIVE, or CONSTANT.
By default, STATUS is ACTIVE, which means that concentration will be calculated for the lake.
If a lake is inactive, then there will be no solute mass fluxes into or out of the lake and the inactive
value will be written for the lake concentration. If a lake is constant, then the concentration for the
lake will be fixed at the user specified value.
concentration—real or character value that defines the concentration for the lake. The specified
CONCENTRATION is only applied if the lake is a constant concentration lake. If the Options block
includes a TIMESERIESFILE entry (see the “Time-Variable Input” section), values can be obtained
from a time series by entering the time-series name in place of a numeric value.
rainfall—real or character value that defines the rainfall solute concentration (M L−3 ) for the lake.
If the Options block includes a TIMESERIESFILE entry (see the “Time-Variable Input” section),
values can be obtained from a time series by entering the time-series name in place of a numeric
value.
196 MODFLOW 6 – Description of Input and Output

evaporation—real or character value that defines the concentration of evaporated water (M L−3 )
for the lake. If this concentration value is larger than the simulated concentration in the lake, then
the evaporated water will be removed at the same concentration as the lake. If the Options block
includes a TIMESERIESFILE entry (see the “Time-Variable Input” section), values can be obtained
from a time series by entering the time-series name in place of a numeric value.
runoff—real or character value that defines the concentration of runoff (M L−3 ) for the lake. Value
must be greater than or equal to zero. If the Options block includes a TIMESERIESFILE entry (see
the “Time-Variable Input” section), values can be obtained from a time series by entering the time-
series name in place of a numeric value.
ext-inflow—real or character value that defines the concentration of external inflow (M L−3 ) for the
lake. Value must be greater than or equal to zero. If the Options block includes a TIMESERIES-
FILE entry (see the “Time-Variable Input” section), values can be obtained from a time series by
entering the time-series name in place of a numeric value.
AUXILIARY—keyword for specifying auxiliary variable.
auxname—name for the auxiliary variable to be assigned AUXVAL. AUXNAME must match one of the
auxiliary variable names defined in the OPTIONS block. If AUXNAME does not match one of the
auxiliary variable names defined in the OPTIONS block the data are ignored.
auxval—value for the auxiliary variable. If the Options block includes a TIMESERIESFILE entry (see
the “Time-Variable Input” section), values can be obtained from a time series by entering the time-
series name in place of a numeric value.

Example Input File

BEGIN OPTIONS
AUXILIARY aux1 aux2
BOUNDNAMES
PRINT_INPUT
PRINT_CONCENTRATION
PRINT_FLOWS
SAVE_FLOWS
CONCENTRATION FILEOUT gwt_lkt_02.lkt.bin
BUDGET FILEOUT gwt_lkt_02.lkt.bud
OBS6 FILEIN gwt_lkt_02.lkt.obs
END OPTIONS

BEGIN PACKAGEDATA
# L STRT aux1 aux2 bname
1 0.00000000 99.00000000 999.00000000 MYLAKE1
2 0.00000000 99.00000000 999.00000000 MYLAKE2
3 0.00000000 99.00000000 999.00000000 MYLAKE3
END PACKAGEDATA

BEGIN PERIOD 1
1 STATUS ACTIVE
2 STATUS ACTIVE
3 STATUS ACTIVE
END PERIOD 1

Available observation types

Lake Transport Package observations include lake concentration and all of the terms that contribute to the
continuity equation for each lake. Additional LKT Package observations include mass flow rates for individ-
 Groundwater Transport (GWT) Model Input 197

ual outlets, lakes, or groups of lakes (outlet). The data required for each LKT Package observation type is
defined in table 26. Negative and positive values for lkt observations represent a loss from and gain to the
GWT model, respectively. For all other flow terms, negative and positive values represent a loss from and gain
from the LKT package, respectively.

Table 26. Available LKT Package observation types.

Stress Observation ID ID2 Description

Package type
LKT concentration lakeno or – Lake concentration. If boundname is spec-
boundname ified, boundname must be unique for each
lake.
LKT flow-ja-face lakeno or lakeno Mass flow between two lakes connected by
boundname or – an outlet. If more than one outlet is used to
connect the same two lakes, then the mass
flow for only the first outlet can be observed.
If a boundname is specified for ID1, then the
result is the total mass flow for all outlets for
a lake. If a boundname is specified for ID1
then ID2 is not used.
LKT storage lakeno or – Simulated mass storage flow rate for a lake
boundname or group of lakes.
LKT constant lakeno or – Simulated mass constant-flow rate for a lake
boundname or group of lakes.
LKT from-mvr lakeno or – Simulated mass inflow into a lake or group
boundname of lakes from the MVT package. Mass
inflow is calculated as the product of
provider concentration and the mover flow
rate.
LKT to-mvr outletno or – Mass outflow from a lake outlet, a lake,
boundname or a group of lakes that is available for
the MVR package. If boundname is not
specified for ID, then the outflow available
for the MVR package from a specific lake
outlet is observed. In this case, ID is the
outlet number, which must be between 1 and
NOUTLETS.
LKT lkt lakeno or iconn Mass flow rate for a lake or group of lakes
boundname or – and its aquifer connection(s). If boundname
is not specified for ID, then the simulated
lake-aquifer flow rate at a specific lake con-
nection is observed. In this case, ID2 must
be specified and is the connection number
iconn for lake lakeno.
LKT rainfall lakeno or – Rainfall rate applied to a lake or group of
boundname lakes multiplied by the rainfall concentra-
tion.
198 MODFLOW 6 – Description of Input and Output

Table 26. Available LKT Package observation types.—Continued

Stress Observation ID ID2 Description

Package type
LKT evaporation lakeno or – Simulated evaporation rate from a lake or
boundname group of lakes multiplied by the evaporation
concentration.
LKT runoff lakeno or – Runoff rate applied to a lake or group of
boundname lakes multiplied by the runoff concentration.
LKT ext-inflow lakeno or – Mass inflow into a lake or group of lakes cal-
boundname culated as the external inflow rate multiplied
by the inflow concentration.
LKT withdrawal lakeno or – Specified withdrawal rate from a lake or
boundname group of lakes multiplied by the simulated
lake concentration.
LKT ext-outflow outletno or – External outflow from a lake outlet, a lake, or
boundname a group of lakes to an external boundary. If
boundname is not specified for ID, then the
external outflow from a specific lake outlet
is observed. In this case, ID is the outlet
number outletno.

Example Observation Input File

BEGIN options
DIGITS 7
PRINT_INPUT
END options

BEGIN continuous FILEOUT gwt_lkt02.lkt.obs.csv

lkt-1-conc CONCENTRATION 1
lkt-1-extinflow EXT-INFLOW 1
lkt-1-rain RAINFALL 1
lkt-1-roff RUNOFF 1
lkt-1-evap EVAPORATION 1
lkt-1-wdrl WITHDRAWAL 1
lkt-1-stor STORAGE 1
lkt-1-const CONSTANT 1
lkt-1-gwt1 LKT 1 1
lkt-1-gwt2 LKT 1 2
lkt-2-gwt1 LKT 2 1
lkt-1-mylake1 LKT MYLAKE1
lkt-1-fjf FLOW-JA-FACE 1 2
lkt-2-fjf FLOW-JA-FACE 2 1
lkt-3-fjf FLOW-JA-FACE 2 3
lkt-4-fjf FLOW-JA-FACE 3 2
lkt-5-fjf FLOW-JA-FACE MYLAKE1
lkt-6-fjf FLOW-JA-FACE MYLAKE2
lkt-7-fjf FLOW-JA-FACE MYLAKE3
END continuous
 Groundwater Transport (GWT) Model Input 199

Multi-Aquifer Well Transport (MWT) Package

Multi-Aquifer Well Transport (MWT) Package information is read from the file that is specified by
“MWT6” as the file type. There can be as many MWT Packages as necessary for a GWT model. Each MWT
Package is designed to work with flows from a corresponding GWF MAW Package. By default MODFLOW 6
uses the MWT package name to determine which MAW Package corresponds to the MWT Package. There-
fore, the package name of the MWT Package (as specified in the GWT name file) must match with the name
of the corresponding MAW Package (as specified in the GWF name file). Alternatively, the name of the flow
package can be specified using the FLOW PACKAGE NAME keyword in the options block. The GWT MWT
Package cannot be used without a corresponding GWF MAW Package.
The MWT Package does not have a dimensions block; instead, dimensions for the MWT Package are set
using the dimensions from the corresponding MAW Package. For example, the MAW Package requires spec-
ification of the number of wells (NMAWWELLS). MWT sets the number of wells equal to NMAWWELLS.
Therefore, the PACKAGEDATA block below must have NMAWWELLS entries in it.

Structure of Blocks
BEGIN OPTIONS
[FLOW_PACKAGE_NAME <flow_package_name>]
[AUXILIARY <auxiliary(naux)>]
[FLOW_PACKAGE_AUXILIARY_NAME <flow_package_auxiliary_name>]
[BOUNDNAMES]
[PRINT_INPUT]
[PRINT_CONCENTRATION]
[PRINT_FLOWS]
[SAVE_FLOWS]
[CONCENTRATION FILEOUT <concfile>]
[BUDGET FILEOUT <budgetfile>]
[TS6 FILEIN <ts6_filename>]
[OBS6 FILEIN <obs6_filename>]
END OPTIONS

BEGIN PACKAGEDATA
<mawno> <strt> [<aux(naux)>] [<boundname>]
<mawno> <strt> [<aux(naux)>] [<boundname>]
...
END PACKAGEDATA

BEGIN PERIOD <iper>

<mawno> <mwtsetting>
<mawno> <mwtsetting>
...
END PERIOD

Explanation of Variables
Block: OPTIONS

flow package name—keyword to specify the name of the corresponding flow package. If not spec-
ified, then the corresponding flow package must have the same name as this advanced transport
package (the name associated with this package in the GWT name file).
auxiliary—defines an array of one or more auxiliary variable names. There is no limit on the number
of auxiliary variables that can be provided on this line; however, lists of information provided in
subsequent blocks must have a column of data for each auxiliary variable name defined here. The
200 MODFLOW 6 – Description of Input and Output

number of auxiliary variables detected on this line determines the value for naux. Comments cannot
be provided anywhere on this line as they will be interpreted as auxiliary variable names. Auxiliary
variables may not be used by the package, but they will be available for use by other parts of the
program. The program will terminate with an error if auxiliary variables are specified on more than
one line in the options block.
flow package auxiliary name—keyword to specify the name of an auxiliary variable in the corre-
sponding flow package. If specified, then the simulated concentrations from this advanced trans-
port package will be copied into the auxiliary variable specified with this name. Note that the flow
package must have an auxiliary variable with this name or the program will terminate with an error.
If the flows for this advanced transport package are read from a file, then this option will have no
effect.
BOUNDNAMES—keyword to indicate that boundary names may be provided with the list of well cells.
PRINT INPUT—keyword to indicate that the list of well information will be written to the listing file
immediately after it is read.
PRINT CONCENTRATION—keyword to indicate that the list of well concentration will be printed to the
listing file for every stress period in which “HEAD PRINT” is specified in Output Control. If there
is no Output Control option and PRINT CONCENTRATION is specified, then concentration are
printed for the last time step of each stress period.
PRINT FLOWS—keyword to indicate that the list of well flow rates will be printed to the listing file for
every stress period time step in which “BUDGET PRINT” is specified in Output Control. If there is
no Output Control option and “PRINT FLOWS” is specified, then flow rates are printed for the last
time step of each stress period.
SAVE FLOWS—keyword to indicate that well flow terms will be written to the file specified with “BUD-
GET FILEOUT” in Output Control.
CONCENTRATION—keyword to specify that record corresponds to concentration.
concfile—name of the binary output file to write concentration information.
BUDGET—keyword to specify that record corresponds to the budget.
FILEOUT—keyword to specify that an output filename is expected next.
budgetfile—name of the binary output file to write budget information.
TS6—keyword to specify that record corresponds to a time-series file.
FILEIN—keyword to specify that an input filename is expected next.
ts6 filename—defines a time-series file defining time series that can be used to assign time-varying
values. See the “Time-Variable Input” section for instructions on using the time-series capability.
OBS6—keyword to specify that record corresponds to an observations file.
obs6 filename—name of input file to define observations for the MWT package. See the “Observation
utility” section for instructions for preparing observation input files. Tables 30 and 31 lists observa-
tion type(s) supported by the MWT package.

Block: PACKAGEDATA

mawno—integer value that defines the well number associated with the specified PACKAGEDATA data
on the line. MAWNO must be greater than zero and less than or equal to NMAWWELLS. Well
information must be specified for every well or the program will terminate with an error. The pro-
gram will also terminate with an error if information for a well is specified more than once.
 Groundwater Transport (GWT) Model Input 201

strt—real value that defines the starting concentration for the well.
aux—represents the values of the auxiliary variables for each well. The values of auxiliary variables
must be present for each well. The values must be specified in the order of the auxiliary variables
specified in the OPTIONS block. If the package supports time series and the Options block includes
a TIMESERIESFILE entry (see the “Time-Variable Input” section), values can be obtained from a
time series by entering the time-series name in place of a numeric value.
boundname—name of the well cell. BOUNDNAME is an ASCII character variable that can contain
as many as 40 characters. If BOUNDNAME contains spaces in it, then the entire name must be
enclosed within single quotes.

Block: PERIOD

iper—integer value specifying the starting stress period number for which the data specified in the
PERIOD block apply. IPER must be less than or equal to NPER in the TDIS Package and greater
than zero. The IPER value assigned to a stress period block must be greater than the IPER value
assigned for the previous PERIOD block. The information specified in the PERIOD block will con-
tinue to apply for all subsequent stress periods, unless the program encounters another PERIOD
block.
mawno—integer value that defines the well number associated with the specified PERIOD data on the
line. MAWNO must be greater than zero and less than or equal to NMAWWELLS.
mwtsetting—line of information that is parsed into a keyword and values. Keyword values that can
be used to start the MWTSETTING string include: STATUS, CONCENTRATION, RAINFALL,
EVAPORATION, RUNOFF, and AUXILIARY. These settings are used to assign the concentration
of associated with the corresponding flow terms. Concentrations cannot be specified for all flow
terms. For example, the Multi-Aquifer Well Package supports a “WITHDRAWAL” flow term. If
this withdrawal term is active, then water will be withdrawn from the well at the calculated concen-
tration of the well.
STATUS <status>
CONCENTRATION <concentration>
RATE <rate>
AUXILIARY <auxname> <auxval>

status—keyword option to define well status. STATUS can be ACTIVE, INACTIVE, or CONSTANT.
By default, STATUS is ACTIVE, which means that concentration will be calculated for the well.
If a well is inactive, then there will be no solute mass fluxes into or out of the well and the inactive
value will be written for the well concentration. If a well is constant, then the concentration for the
well will be fixed at the user specified value.
concentration—real or character value that defines the concentration for the well. The specified
CONCENTRATION is only applied if the well is a constant concentration well. If the Options
block includes a TIMESERIESFILE entry (see the “Time-Variable Input” section), values can be
obtained from a time series by entering the time-series name in place of a numeric value.
rate—real or character value that defines the injection solute concentration (M L−3 ) for the well. If the
Options block includes a TIMESERIESFILE entry (see the “Time-Variable Input” section), values
can be obtained from a time series by entering the time-series name in place of a numeric value.
AUXILIARY—keyword for specifying auxiliary variable.
auxname—name for the auxiliary variable to be assigned AUXVAL. AUXNAME must match one of the
auxiliary variable names defined in the OPTIONS block. If AUXNAME does not match one of the
auxiliary variable names defined in the OPTIONS block the data are ignored.
202 MODFLOW 6 – Description of Input and Output

auxval—value for the auxiliary variable. If the Options block includes a TIMESERIESFILE entry (see
the “Time-Variable Input” section), values can be obtained from a time series by entering the time-
series name in place of a numeric value.

Example Input File

BEGIN OPTIONS
AUXILIARY aux1 aux2
BOUNDNAMES
PRINT_INPUT
PRINT_CONCENTRATION
PRINT_FLOWS
SAVE_FLOWS
CONCENTRATION FILEOUT gwt_mwt_02.mwt.bin
BUDGET FILEOUT gwt_mwt_02.mwt.bud
OBS6 FILEIN gwt_mwt_02.mwt.obs
END OPTIONS

BEGIN PACKAGEDATA
# L STRT aux1 aux2 bname
1 0.00000000 99.00000000 999.00000000 MYWELL1
2 0.00000000 99.00000000 999.00000000 MYWELL2
3 0.00000000 99.00000000 999.00000000 MYWELL3
END PACKAGEDATA

BEGIN PERIOD 1
1 STATUS ACTIVE
2 STATUS ACTIVE
3 STATUS ACTIVE
END PERIOD 1

Available observation types

Multi-Aquifer Well Transport Package observations include well concentration and all of the terms that
contribute to the continuity equation for each well. Additional MWT Package observations include mass
flow rates for individual wells, or groups of wells; the well volume (volume); and the conductance for a well-
aquifer connection conductance (conductance). The data required for each MWT Package observation type
is defined in table 27. Negative and positive values for mwt observations represent a loss from and gain to the
GWT model, respectively. For all other flow terms, negative and positive values represent a loss from and gain
from the MWT package, respectively.

Table 27. Available MWT Package observation types.

Stress Observation ID ID2 Description

Package type
MWT concentration mawno or – Well concentration. If boundname is spec-
boundname ified, boundname must be unique for each
well.
MWT storage mawno or – Simulated mass storage flow rate for a well
boundname or group of wells.
MWT constant mawno or – Simulated mass constant-flow rate for a well
boundname or group of wells.
 Groundwater Transport (GWT) Model Input 203

Table 27. Available MWT Package observation types.—Continued

Stress Observation ID ID2 Description

Package type
MWT from-mvr mawno or – Simulated mass inflow into a well or group
boundname of wells from the MVT package. Mass
inflow is calculated as the product of
provider concentration and the mover flow
rate.
MWT mwt mawno or iconn Mass flow rate for a well or group of wells
boundname or – and its aquifer connection(s). If boundname
is not specified for ID, then the simulated
well-aquifer flow rate at a specific well con-
nection is observed. In this case, ID2 must
be specified and is the connection number
iconn for well mawno.
MWT rate mawno or – Simulated mass flow rate for a well or group
boundname of wells.
MWT fw-rate mawno or – Simulated mass flow rate for a flowing well
boundname or group of flowing wells.
MWT rate-to-mvr well or – Simulated mass flow rate that is sent to the
boundname MVT Package for a well or group of wells.
MWT fw-rate-to-mvr well or – Simulated mass flow rate that is sent to the
boundname MVT Package from a flowing well or group
of flowing wells.

Example Observation Input File

BEGIN options
DIGITS 12
PRINT_INPUT
END options

BEGIN continuous FILEOUT gwt_mwt_02.mwt.obs.csv

mwt1mwt MWT 1 1
mwt2mwt MWT 2 1
mwt3mwt MWT 3 1
mwt4mwt MWT 4 1
mwt1conc CONCENTRATION 1
mwt2conc CONCENTRATION 2
mwt3conc CONCENTRATION 3
mwt4conc CONCENTRATION 4
mwt1stor STORAGE 1
mwt2stor STORAGE 2
mwt3stor STORAGE 3
mwt4stor STORAGE 4
mwt1cnst CONSTANT 1
mwt2cnst CONSTANT 2
mwt3cnst CONSTANT 3
204 MODFLOW 6 – Description of Input and Output

mwt4cnst CONSTANT 4
mwt1fmvr FROM-MVR 1
mwt2fmvr FROM-MVR 2
mwt3fmvr FROM-MVR 3
mwt4fmvr FROM-MVR 4
mwt1rate RATE 1
mwt2rate RATE 2
mwt3rate RATE 3
mwt4rate RATE 4
mwt1rtmv RATE-TO-MVR 1
mwt2rtmv RATE-TO-MVR 2
mwt3rtmv RATE-TO-MVR 3
mwt4rtmv RATE-TO-MVR 4
mwt1fwrt FW-RATE 1
mwt2fwrt FW-RATE 2
mwt3fwrt FW-RATE 3
mwt4fwrt FW-RATE 4
mwt1frtm FW-RATE-TO-MVR 1
mwt2frtm FW-RATE-TO-MVR 2
mwt3frtm FW-RATE-TO-MVR 3
mwt4frtm FW-RATE-TO-MVR 4
END continuous FILEOUT gwt_mwt_02.mwt.obs.csv
 Groundwater Transport (GWT) Model Input 205

Unsaturated Zone Transport (UZT) Package

Unsaturated Zone Transport (UZT) Package information is read from the file that is specified by “UZT6”
as the file type. There can be as many UZT Packages as necessary for a GWT model. Each UZT Package is
designed to work with flows from a corresponding GWF UZF Package. By default MODFLOW 6 uses the
UZT package name to determine which UZF Package corresponds to the UZT Package. Therefore, the pack-
age name of the UZT Package (as specified in the GWT name file) must match with the name of the corre-
sponding UZF Package (as specified in the GWF name file). Alternatively, the name of the flow package can
be specified using the FLOW PACKAGE NAME keyword in the options block. The GWT UZT Package can-
not be used without a corresponding GWF UZF Package.
The UZT Package does not have a dimensions block; instead, dimensions for the UZT Package are set
using the dimensions from the corresponding UZF Package. For example, the UZF Package requires spec-
ification of the number of cells (NUZFCELLS). UZT sets the number of UZT cells equal to NUZFCELLS.
Therefore, the PACKAGEDATA block below must have NUZFCELLS entries in it.

Structure of Blocks
BEGIN OPTIONS
[FLOW_PACKAGE_NAME <flow_package_name>]
[AUXILIARY <auxiliary(naux)>]
[FLOW_PACKAGE_AUXILIARY_NAME <flow_package_auxiliary_name>]
[BOUNDNAMES]
[PRINT_INPUT]
[PRINT_CONCENTRATION]
[PRINT_FLOWS]
[SAVE_FLOWS]
[CONCENTRATION FILEOUT <concfile>]
[BUDGET FILEOUT <budgetfile>]
[TS6 FILEIN <ts6_filename>]
[OBS6 FILEIN <obs6_filename>]
END OPTIONS

BEGIN PACKAGEDATA
<uzfno> <strt> [<aux(naux)>] [<boundname>]
<uzfno> <strt> [<aux(naux)>] [<boundname>]
...
END PACKAGEDATA

BEGIN PERIOD <iper>

<uzfno> <uztsetting>
<uzfno> <uztsetting>
...
END PERIOD

Explanation of Variables
Block: OPTIONS

flow package name—keyword to specify the name of the corresponding flow package. If not spec-
ified, then the corresponding flow package must have the same name as this advanced transport
package (the name associated with this package in the GWT name file).
auxiliary—defines an array of one or more auxiliary variable names. There is no limit on the number
of auxiliary variables that can be provided on this line; however, lists of information provided in
subsequent blocks must have a column of data for each auxiliary variable name defined here. The
206 MODFLOW 6 – Description of Input and Output

number of auxiliary variables detected on this line determines the value for naux. Comments cannot
be provided anywhere on this line as they will be interpreted as auxiliary variable names. Auxiliary
variables may not be used by the package, but they will be available for use by other parts of the
program. The program will terminate with an error if auxiliary variables are specified on more than
one line in the options block.
flow package auxiliary name—keyword to specify the name of an auxiliary variable in the corre-
sponding flow package. If specified, then the simulated concentrations from this advanced trans-
port package will be copied into the auxiliary variable specified with this name. Note that the flow
package must have an auxiliary variable with this name or the program will terminate with an error.
If the flows for this advanced transport package are read from a file, then this option will have no
effect.
BOUNDNAMES—keyword to indicate that boundary names may be provided with the list of unsaturated
zone flow cells.
PRINT INPUT—keyword to indicate that the list of unsaturated zone flow information will be written to
the listing file immediately after it is read.
PRINT CONCENTRATION—keyword to indicate that the list of UZF cell concentration will be printed to
the listing file for every stress period in which “HEAD PRINT” is specified in Output Control. If
there is no Output Control option and PRINT CONCENTRATION is specified, then concentration
are printed for the last time step of each stress period.
PRINT FLOWS—keyword to indicate that the list of unsaturated zone flow rates will be printed to the list-
ing file for every stress period time step in which “BUDGET PRINT” is specified in Output Control.
If there is no Output Control option and “PRINT FLOWS” is specified, then flow rates are printed
for the last time step of each stress period.
SAVE FLOWS—keyword to indicate that unsaturated zone flow terms will be written to the file specified
with “BUDGET FILEOUT” in Output Control.
CONCENTRATION—keyword to specify that record corresponds to concentration.
concfile—name of the binary output file to write concentration information.
BUDGET—keyword to specify that record corresponds to the budget.
FILEOUT—keyword to specify that an output filename is expected next.
budgetfile—name of the binary output file to write budget information.
TS6—keyword to specify that record corresponds to a time-series file.
FILEIN—keyword to specify that an input filename is expected next.
ts6 filename—defines a time-series file defining time series that can be used to assign time-varying
values. See the “Time-Variable Input” section for instructions on using the time-series capability.
OBS6—keyword to specify that record corresponds to an observations file.
obs6 filename—name of input file to define observations for the UZT package. See the “Observation
utility” section for instructions for preparing observation input files. Tables 30 and 31 lists observa-
tion type(s) supported by the UZT package.

Block: PACKAGEDATA

uzfno—integer value that defines the UZF cell number associated with the specified PACKAGEDATA
data on the line. UZFNO must be greater than zero and less than or equal to NUZFCELLS. Unsatu-
rated zone flow information must be specified for every UZF cell or the program will terminate with
 Groundwater Transport (GWT) Model Input 207

an error. The program will also terminate with an error if information for a UZF cell is specified
more than once.
strt—real value that defines the starting concentration for the unsaturated zone flow cell.
aux—represents the values of the auxiliary variables for each unsaturated zone flow. The values of aux-
iliary variables must be present for each unsaturated zone flow. The values must be specified in the
order of the auxiliary variables specified in the OPTIONS block. If the package supports time series
and the Options block includes a TIMESERIESFILE entry (see the “Time-Variable Input” section),
values can be obtained from a time series by entering the time-series name in place of a numeric
value.
boundname—name of the unsaturated zone flow cell. BOUNDNAME is an ASCII character variable
that can contain as many as 40 characters. If BOUNDNAME contains spaces in it, then the entire
name must be enclosed within single quotes.

Block: PERIOD

iper—integer value specifying the starting stress period number for which the data specified in the
PERIOD block apply. IPER must be less than or equal to NPER in the TDIS Package and greater
than zero. The IPER value assigned to a stress period block must be greater than the IPER value
assigned for the previous PERIOD block. The information specified in the PERIOD block will con-
tinue to apply for all subsequent stress periods, unless the program encounters another PERIOD
block.
uzfno—integer value that defines the UZF cell number associated with the specified PERIOD data on
the line. UZFNO must be greater than zero and less than or equal to NUZFCELLS.
uztsetting—line of information that is parsed into a keyword and values. Keyword values that can be
used to start the UZTSETTING string include: STATUS, CONCENTRATION, INFILTRATION,
UZET, and AUXILIARY. These settings are used to assign the concentration of associated with the
corresponding flow terms. Concentrations cannot be specified for all flow terms.
STATUS <status>
CONCENTRATION <concentration>
INFILTRATION <infiltration>
UZET <uzet>
AUXILIARY <auxname> <auxval>

status—keyword option to define UZF cell status. STATUS can be ACTIVE, INACTIVE, or CON-
STANT. By default, STATUS is ACTIVE, which means that concentration will be calculated for the
UZF cell. If a UZF cell is inactive, then there will be no solute mass fluxes into or out of the UZF
cell and the inactive value will be written for the UZF cell concentration. If a UZF cell is constant,
then the concentration for the UZF cell will be fixed at the user specified value.
concentration—real or character value that defines the concentration for the unsaturated zone flow
cell. The specified CONCENTRATION is only applied if the unsaturated zone flow cell is a con-
stant concentration cell. If the Options block includes a TIMESERIESFILE entry (see the “Time-
Variable Input” section), values can be obtained from a time series by entering the time-series name
in place of a numeric value.
infiltration—real or character value that defines the infiltration solute concentration (M L−3 ) for
the UZF cell. If the Options block includes a TIMESERIESFILE entry (see the “Time-Variable
Input” section), values can be obtained from a time series by entering the time-series name in place
of a numeric value.
208 MODFLOW 6 – Description of Input and Output

uzet—real or character value that defines the concentration of unsaturated zone evapotranspiration
water (M L−3 ) for the UZF cell. If this concentration value is larger than the simulated concentra-
tion in the UZF cell, then the unsaturated zone ET water will be removed at the same concentration
as the UZF cell. If the Options block includes a TIMESERIESFILE entry (see the “Time-Variable
Input” section), values can be obtained from a time series by entering the time-series name in place
of a numeric value.
AUXILIARY—keyword for specifying auxiliary variable.
auxname—name for the auxiliary variable to be assigned AUXVAL. AUXNAME must match one of the
auxiliary variable names defined in the OPTIONS block. If AUXNAME does not match one of the
auxiliary variable names defined in the OPTIONS block the data are ignored.
auxval—value for the auxiliary variable. If the Options block includes a TIMESERIESFILE entry (see
the “Time-Variable Input” section), values can be obtained from a time series by entering the time-
series name in place of a numeric value.

Example Input File

BEGIN OPTIONS
AUXILIARY aux1 aux2
BOUNDNAMES
PRINT_INPUT
PRINT_CONCENTRATION
PRINT_FLOWS
SAVE_FLOWS
CONCENTRATION FILEOUT gwt_02.uzt.bin
BUDGET FILEOUT gwt_02.uzt.bud
OBS6 FILEIN gwt_02.uzt.obs
END OPTIONS

BEGIN PACKAGEDATA
# L STRT aux1 aux2 bname
1 0.00000000 99.00000000 999.00000000 MYUZFCELL1
2 0.00000000 99.00000000 999.00000000 MYUZFCELL2
3 0.00000000 99.00000000 999.00000000 MYUZFCELL3
END PACKAGEDATA

BEGIN PERIOD 1
1 STATUS ACTIVE
2 STATUS ACTIVE
3 STATUS ACTIVE
END PERIOD 1

Available observation types

Unsaturated Zone Transport Package observations include UZF cell concentration and all of the terms that
contribute to the continuity equation for each UZF cell. Additional UZT Package observations include mass
flow rates for individual UZF cells, or groups of UZF cells. The data required for each UZT Package obser-
vation type is defined in table 28. Negative and positive values for uzt observations represent a loss from and
gain to the GWT model, respectively. For all other flow terms, negative and positive values represent a loss
from and gain from the UZT package, respectively.
 Groundwater Transport (GWT) Model Input 209

Table 28. Available UZT Package observation types.

Stress Observation ID ID2 Description

Package type
UZT concentration uztno or – uzt cell concentration. If boundname is spec-
boundname ified, boundname must be unique for each
uzt cell.
UZT flow-ja-face uztno or uztno Mass flow between two uzt cells. If a bound-
boundname or – name is specified for ID1, then the result
is the total mass flow for all uzt cells. If a
boundname is specified for ID1 then ID2 is
not used.
UZT storage uztno or – Simulated mass storage flow rate for a uzt
boundname cell or group of uzt cells.
UZT from-mvr uztno or – Simulated mass inflow into a uzt cell or
boundname group of uzt cells from the MVT package.
Mass inflow is calculated as the product of
provider concentration and the mover flow
rate.
UZT uzt uztno or iconn Mass flow rate for a uzt cell or group of
boundname or – uzt cells and its aquifer connection(s). If
boundname is not specified for ID, then the
simulated uzt-aquifer flow rate at a specific
uzt cell connection is observed. In this case,
ID2 must be specified and is the connection
number for the uzt cell.
UZT infiltration uztno or – Infiltration rate applied to a uzt cell or group
boundname of uzt cells multiplied by the infiltration
concentration.
UZT rej-inf uztno or – Rejected infiltration rate applied to a uzt
boundname cell or group of uzt cells multiplied by the
infiltration concentration.
UZT uzet uztno or – Unsaturated zone evapotranspiration rate
boundname applied to a uzt cell or group of uzt cells
multiplied by the uzt cell concentration.
UZT infiltration uztno or – Rejected infiltration rate applied to a uzt
boundname cell or group of uzt cells multiplied by the
infiltration concentration that is sent to the
mover package.

Example Observation Input File

BEGIN options
210 MODFLOW 6 – Description of Input and Output

DIGITS 7
PRINT_INPUT
END options

BEGIN continuous FILEOUT gwt_02.uzt.obs.csv

mwt-1-conc CONCENTRATION 1
mwt-1-stor STORAGE 1
mwt-1-gwt1 UZT 1 1
mwt-1-gwt2 UZT 2 2
mwt-2-gwt1 UZT 3 3
END continuous
 Groundwater Transport (GWT) Model Input 211

Flow Model Interface (FMI) Package

Flow Model Interface (FMI) Package information is read from the file that is specified by “FMI6” as the
file type. The FMI Package is optional, but if provided, only one FMI Package can be specified for a GWT
model.
For most simulations, the GWT Model needs groundwater flows for every cell in the model grid, for all
boundary conditions, and for other terms, such as the flow of water in or out of storage. The FMI Package is
the interface between the GWT Model and simulated groundwater flows provided by a corresponding GWF
Model that is running concurrently within the simulation or from binary budget files that were created from a
previous GWF model run. The following are several different FMI simulation cases:

• Flows are provided by a corresponding GWF Model running in the same simulation—in this case, all
groundwater flows are calculated by the corresponding GWF Model and provided through FMI to the
transport model. This is a common use case in which the user wants to run the flow and transport models
as part of a single simulation. The GWF and GWT models must be part of a GWF-GWT Exchange that
is listed in mfsim.nam. If a GWF-GWT Exchange is specified by the user, then the user does not need to
specify an FMI Package input file for the simulation, unless an FMI option is needed. If a GWF-GWT
Exchange is specified and the FMI Package is specified, then the PACKAGEDATA block below is not
read or used.

• There is no groundwater flow and the user is interested only in the effects of diffusion, sorption, and
decay or production—in this case, FMI should not be provided in the GWT name file and the GWT
model should not be listed in any GWF-GWT Exchanges in mfsim.nam. In this case, all groundwater
flows are assumed to be zero and cells are assumed to be fully saturated. The SSM Package should not be
activated in this case, because there can be no sources or sinks of water. Likewise, none of the advanced
transport packages (LKT, SFT, MWT, and UZT) should be specified in the GWT name file. This type of
model simulation without an FMI Package is included as an option to represent diffusion, sorption, and
decay or growth in the absence of any groundwater flow.

• Flows are provided from a previous GWF model simulation—in this case FMI should be provided in the
GWT name file and the head and budget files should be listed in the FMI PACKAGEDATA block. In this
case, FMI reads the simulated head and flows from these files and makes them available to the transport
model. There are some additional considerations when the heads and flows are provided from binary files.

– The binary budget file must contain the simulated flows for all of the packages that were
included in the GWF model run. Saving of flows can be activated for all packages by specifying
“SAVE FLOWS” as an option in the GWF name file. The GWF Output Control Package must also
have “SAVE BUGET ALL” specified. The easiest way to ensure that all flows and heads are saved
is to use the following simple form of a GWF Output Control file:
BEGIN OPTIONS
HEAD FILEOUT mymodel.hds
BUDGET FILEOUT mymodel.bud
END OPTIONS

BEGIN PERIOD 1
SAVE HEAD ALL
SAVE BUDGET ALL
END PERIOD

– The binary budget file must have the same number of budget terms listed for each time step. This
will always be the case when the binary budget file is created by MODFLOW 6.
212 MODFLOW 6 – Description of Input and Output

– The advanced flow packages (LAK, SFR, MAW, and UZF) all have options for saving a detailed
budget file the describes all of the flows for each lake, reach, well, or UZF cell. These budget files
can also be used as input to FMI if a corresponding advanced transport package is needed, such as
LKT, SFT, MWT, and UZT. If the Water Mover Package is also specified for the GWF Model, then
the the budget file for the Water Mover Package will also need to be specified as input to this FMI
Package.
– The binary heads file must have heads saved for all layers in the model. This will always be the case
when the binary head file is created by MODFLOW 6. This was not always the case as previous
MODFLOW versions allowed different save options for each layer.
– If the binary budget and head files have more than one time step for a single stress period, then the
budget and head information must be contained within the binary file for every time step in the sim-
ulation stress period.
– The binary budget and head files must correspond in terms of information stored for each time step
and stress period.
– If the binary budget and head files have information provided for only the first time step of each
stress period, then this information will be used for all time steps in the GWT model run for that
stress period. This makes it possible to provide flows, for example, from a steady state GWF stress
period and have those flows used for all steps in the GWT simulation. With this option, it is possible
to have smaller time steps in the GWT model than the time steps used in the GWF model. Note that
this cannot be done when the GWF and GWT models are run in the same simulation, because in
that case, both models are solved for each time step in the stress period, as listed in the TDIS Pack-
age. This option for reading flows from a previous GWF simulation may offer an efficient alterna-
tive to running both models in the same simulation, but it comes at the cost of having potentially
very large budget files.

Determination of which FMI use case to invoke requires careful consideration of the different advantages
and disadvantages of each case. For example, running GWT and GWF in the same simulation can often be
faster because GWF flows are passed through memory to the GWT model instead of being written to files.
The disadvantage of this approach is that the same time step lengths must be used for both GWF and GWT.
Ultimately, it should be relatively straightforward to test different ways in which GWF and GWT interact and
select the use case most appropriate for the particular problem.

Structure of Blocks

BEGIN OPTIONS
[SAVE_FLOWS]
[FLOW_IMBALANCE_CORRECTION]
END OPTIONS

BEGIN PACKAGEDATA
<flowtype> FILEIN <fname>
<flowtype> FILEIN <fname>
...
END PACKAGEDATA

Explanation of Variables
Block: OPTIONS
 Groundwater Transport (GWT) Model Input 213

SAVE FLOWS—keyword to indicate that FMI flow terms will be written to the file specified with “BUD-
GET FILEOUT” in Output Control.
FLOW IMBALANCE CORRECTION—correct for an imbalance in flows by assuming that any residual
flow error comes in or leaves at the concentration of the cell. When this option is activated, the
GWT Model budget written to the listing file will contain two additional entries: FLOW-ERROR
and FLOW-CORRECTION. These two entries will be equal but opposite in sign. The FLOW-
CORRECTION term is a mass flow that is added to offset the error caused by an imprecise flow
balance. If these terms are not relatively small, the flow model should be rerun with stricter conver-
gence tolerances.

Block: PACKAGEDATA

flowtype—is the word GWFBUDGET, GWFHEAD, GWFMOVER or the name of an advanced GWF
stress package. If GWFBUDGET is specified, then the corresponding file must be a budget file from
a previous GWF Model run. If an advanced GWF stress package name appears then the correspond-
ing file must be the budget file saved by a LAK, SFR, MAW or UZF Package.
FILEIN—keyword to specify that an input filename is expected next.
fname—is the name of the file containing flows. The path to the file should be included if the file is not
located in the folder where the program was run.

Example Input File

BEGIN OPTIONS
FLOW_IMBALANCE_CORRECTION
END OPTIONS

BEGIN PACKAGEDATA
GWFBUDGET FILEIN ../flow/mygwfmodel.bud
GWFHEAD FILEIN ../flow/mygwfmodel.hds
GWFMOVER FILEIN ../flow/mygwfmodel.hds
LAK-1 FILEIN ../flow/mygwfmodel.lak.bud
SFR-1 FILEIN ../flow/mygwfmodel.sfr.bud
MAW-1 FILEIN ../flow/mygwfmodel.maw.bud
UZF-1 FILEIN ../flow/mygwfmodel.uzf.bud
LAK-2 FILEIN ../flow/mygwfmodel-2.lak.bud
END PACKAGEDATA
214 MODFLOW 6 – Description of Input and Output

Mover Transport (MVT) Package

Mover Transport (MVT) Package information is read from the file that is specified by “MVT6” as the file
type. Only one MVT Package can be specified for a GWT model.
The MVT Package is used to route solute mass according to flows from the GWF Water Mover (MVR)
Package. This MVT Package must be activated by the user if the MVR Package was active for the GWF
Model. Flows from the GWF MVR Package must be available to the GWT model either through activation
of a GWF-GWT Exchange or through specification of “GWFMOVER” in the PACKAGEDATA block of the
GWT FMI Package.

Structure of Blocks

BEGIN OPTIONS
[PRINT_INPUT]
[PRINT_FLOWS]
[SAVE_FLOWS]
[BUDGET FILEOUT <budgetfile>]
END OPTIONS

Explanation of Variables
Block: OPTIONS

PRINT INPUT—keyword to indicate that the list of mover information will be written to the listing file
immediately after it is read.
PRINT FLOWS—keyword to indicate that the list of lake flow rates will be printed to the listing file for
every stress period time step in which “BUDGET PRINT” is specified in Output Control. If there is
no Output Control option and “PRINT FLOWS” is specified, then flow rates are printed for the last
time step of each stress period.
SAVE FLOWS—keyword to indicate that lake flow terms will be written to the file specified with “BUD-
GET FILEOUT” in Output Control.
BUDGET—keyword to specify that record corresponds to the budget.
FILEOUT—keyword to specify that an output filename is expected next.
budgetfile—name of the binary output file to write budget information.

Example Input File

BEGIN OPTIONS
PRINT_INPUT
PRINT_FLOWS
SAVE_FLOWS
BUDGET FILEOUT mygwtmodel.mvt.bud
END OPTIONS
 Iterative Model Solution 215

Iterative Model Solution

An iterative model solution (IMS) is specified within the SOLUTIONGROUP block in the simulation
name file. The model solution will solve all of the models that are added to it, as specified in the simulation
name file, and will include Numerical Exchanges, if they are present. The iterative model solution requires
specification of both nonlinear and linear settings.

Structure of Blocks

BEGIN OPTIONS
[PRINT_OPTION <print_option>]
[COMPLEXITY <complexity>]
[CSV_OUTER_OUTPUT FILEOUT <outer_csvfile>]
[CSV_INNER_OUTPUT FILEOUT <inner_csvfile>]
[NO_PTC [<no_ptc_option>]]
[ATS_OUTER_MAXIMUM_FRACTION <ats_outer_maximum_fraction>]
END OPTIONS

BEGIN NONLINEAR
OUTER_DVCLOSE <outer_dvclose>
OUTER_MAXIMUM <outer_maximum>
[UNDER_RELAXATION <under_relaxation>]
[UNDER_RELAXATION_GAMMA <under_relaxation_gamma>]
[UNDER_RELAXATION_THETA <under_relaxation_theta>]
[UNDER_RELAXATION_KAPPA <under_relaxation_kappa>]
[UNDER_RELAXATION_MOMENTUM <under_relaxation_momentum>]
[BACKTRACKING_NUMBER <backtracking_number>]
[BACKTRACKING_TOLERANCE <backtracking_tolerance>]
[BACKTRACKING_REDUCTION_FACTOR <backtracking_reduction_factor>]
[BACKTRACKING_RESIDUAL_LIMIT <backtracking_residual_limit>]
END NONLINEAR

BEGIN LINEAR
INNER_MAXIMUM <inner_maximum>
INNER_DVCLOSE <inner_dvclose>
INNER_RCLOSE <inner_rclose> [<rclose_option>]
LINEAR_ACCELERATION <linear_acceleration>
[RELAXATION_FACTOR <relaxation_factor>]
[PRECONDITIONER_LEVELS <preconditioner_levels>]
[PRECONDITIONER_DROP_TOLERANCE <preconditioner_drop_tolerance>]
[NUMBER_ORTHOGONALIZATIONS <number_orthogonalizations>]
[SCALING_METHOD <scaling_method>]
[REORDERING_METHOD <reordering_method>]
END LINEAR

Explanation of Variables
Block: OPTIONS

print option—is a flag that controls printing of convergence information from the solver. NONE
means print nothing. SUMMARY means print only the total number of iterations and nonlinear
residual reduction summaries. ALL means print linear matrix solver convergence information to the
solution listing file and model specific linear matrix solver convergence information to each model
listing file in addition to SUMMARY information. NONE is default if PRINT OPTION is not spec-
ified.
216 MODFLOW 6 – Description of Input and Output

complexity—is an optional keyword that defines default non-linear and linear solver parameters. SIM-
PLE - indicates that default solver input values will be defined that work well for nearly linear mod-
els. This would be used for models that do not include nonlinear stress packages and models that
are either confined or consist of a single unconfined layer that is thick enough to contain the water
table within a single layer. MODERATE - indicates that default solver input values will be defined
that work well for moderately nonlinear models. This would be used for models that include non-
linear stress packages and models that consist of one or more unconfined layers. The MODERATE
option should be used when the SIMPLE option does not result in successful convergence. COM-
PLEX - indicates that default solver input values will be defined that work well for highly nonlinear
models. This would be used for models that include nonlinear stress packages and models that con-
sist of one or more unconfined layers representing complex geology and surface-water/groundwater
interaction. The COMPLEX option should be used when the MODERATE option does not result
in successful convergence. Non-linear and linear solver parameters assigned using a specified com-
plexity can be modified in the NONLINEAR and LINEAR blocks. If the COMPLEXITY option is
not specified, NONLINEAR and LINEAR variables will be assigned the simple complexity values.
CSV OUTER OUTPUT—keyword to specify that the record corresponds to the comma separated values
outer iteration convergence output.
FILEOUT—keyword to specify that an output filename is expected next.
outer csvfile—name of the ascii comma separated values output file to write maximum dependent-
variable (for example, head) change convergence information at the end of each outer iteration for
each time step.
CSV INNER OUTPUT—keyword to specify that the record corresponds to the comma separated values
solver convergence output.
inner csvfile—name of the ascii comma separated values output file to write solver convergence
information. Comma separated values output includes maximum dependent-variable (for example,
head) change and maximum residual convergence information for the solution and each model (if
the solution includes more than one model) and linear acceleration information for each inner itera-
tion.
NO PTC—is a flag that is used to disable pseudo-transient continuation (PTC). Option only applies to
steady-state stress periods for models using the Newton-Raphson formulation. For many problems,
PTC can significantly improve convergence behavior for steady-state simulations, and for this rea-
son it is active by default. In some cases, however, PTC can worsen the convergence behavior, espe-
cially when the initial conditions are similar to the solution. When the initial conditions are similar
to, or exactly the same as, the solution and convergence is slow, then the NO PTC FIRST option
should be used to deactivate PTC for the first stress period. The NO PTC ALL option should also
be used in order to compare convergence behavior with other MODFLOW versions, as PTC is only
available in MODFLOW 6.
no ptc option—is an optional keyword that is used to define options for disabling pseudo-transient
continuation (PTC). FIRST is an optional keyword to disable PTC for the first stress period, if
steady-state and one or more model is using the Newton-Raphson formulation. ALL is an optional
keyword to disable PTC for all steady-state stress periods for models using the Newton-Raphson
formulation. If NO PTC OPTION is not specified, the NO PTC ALL option is used.
ats outer maximum fraction—real value defining the fraction of the maximum allowable outer iter-
ations used with the Adaptive Time Step (ATS) capability if it is active. If this value is set to zero by
the user, then this solution will have no effect on ATS behavior. This value must be greater than or
 Iterative Model Solution 217

equal to zero and less than or equal to 0.5 or the program will terminate with an error. If it not spec-
ified by the user, then it is assigned a default value of one third. When the number of outer iterations
for this solution is less than the product of this value and the maximum allowable outer iterations,
then ATS will increase the time step length by a factor of DTADJ in the ATS input file. When the
number of outer iterations for this solution is greater than the maximum allowable outer iterations
minus the product of this value and the maximum allowable outer iterations, then the ATS (if active)
will decrease the time step length by a factor of 1 / DTADJ.

Block: NONLINEAR

outer dvclose—real value defining the dependent-variable (for example, head) change criterion
for convergence of the outer (nonlinear) iterations, in units of the dependent-variable (for exam-
ple, length for head). When the maximum absolute value of the dependent-variable change at all
nodes during an iteration is less than or equal to OUTER DVCLOSE, iteration stops. Commonly,
OUTER DVCLOSE equals 0.01. The keyword, OUTER HCLOSE can be still be specified instead
of OUTER DVCLOSE for backward compatibility with previous versions of MODFLOW 6 but
eventually OUTER HCLOSE will be deprecated and specification of OUTER HCLOSE will cause
MODFLOW 6 to terminate with an error.
outer maximum—integer value defining the maximum number of outer (nonlinear) iterations – that is,
calls to the solution routine. For a linear problem OUTER MAXIMUM should be 1.
under relaxation—is an optional keyword that defines the nonlinear under-relaxation schemes
used. Under-relaxation is also known as dampening, and is used to reduce the size of the calculated
dependent variable before proceeding to the next outer iteration. Under-relaxation can be an effec-
tive tool for highly nonlinear models when there are large and often counteracting changes in the
calculated dependent variable between successive outer iterations. By default under-relaxation is not
used. NONE - under-relaxation is not used (default). SIMPLE - Simple under-relaxation scheme
with a fixed relaxation factor (UNDER RELAXATION GAMMA) is used. COOLEY - Cooley
under-relaxation scheme is used. DBD - delta-bar-delta under-relaxation is used. Note that the
under-relaxation schemes are often used in conjunction with problems that use the Newton-Raphson
formulation, however, experience has indicated that they also work well for non-Newton problems,
such as those with the wet/dry options of MODFLOW 6.
under relaxation gamma—real value defining either the relaxation factor for the SIMPLE scheme
or the history or memory term factor of the Cooley and delta-bar-delta algorithms. For the SIM-
PLE scheme, a value of one indicates that there is no under-relaxation and the full head change is
applied. This value can be gradually reduced from one as a way to improve convergence; for well
behaved problems, using a value less than one can increase the number of outer iterations required
for convergence and needlessly increase run times. UNDER RELAXATION GAMMA must be
greater than zero for the SIMPLE scheme or the program will terminate with an error. For the Coo-
ley and delta-bar-delta schemes, UNDER RELAXATION GAMMA is a memory term that can
range between zero and one. When UNDER RELAXATION GAMMA is zero, only the most
recent history (previous iteration value) is maintained. As UNDER RELAXATION GAMMA is
increased, past history of iteration changes has greater influence on the memory term. The mem-
ory term is maintained as an exponential average of past changes. Retaining some past history
can overcome granular behavior in the calculated function surface and therefore helps to over-
come cyclic patterns of non-convergence. The value usually ranges from 0.1 to 0.3; a value of 0.2
works well for most problems. UNDER RELAXATION GAMMA only needs to be specified if
UNDER RELAXATION is not NONE.
218 MODFLOW 6 – Description of Input and Output

under relaxation theta—real value defining the reduction factor for the learning rate (under-
relaxation term) of the delta-bar-delta algorithm. The value of UNDER RELAXATION THETA
is between zero and one. If the change in the dependent-variable (for example, head) is of oppo-
site sign to that of the previous iteration, the under-relaxation term is reduced by a factor of
UNDER RELAXATION THETA. The value usually ranges from 0.3 to 0.9; a value of 0.7
works well for most problems. UNDER RELAXATION THETA only needs to be specified if
UNDER RELAXATION is DBD.
under relaxation kappa—real value defining the increment for the learning rate (under-relaxation
term) of the delta-bar-delta algorithm. The value of UNDER RELAXATION kappa is between
zero and one. If the change in the dependent-variable (for example, head) is of the same sign
to that of the previous iteration, the under-relaxation term is increased by an increment of
UNDER RELAXATION KAPPA. The value usually ranges from 0.03 to 0.3; a value of 0.1
works well for most problems. UNDER RELAXATION KAPPA only needs to be specified if
UNDER RELAXATION is DBD.
under relaxation momentum—real value defining the fraction of past history changes that
is added as a momentum term to the step change for a nonlinear iteration. The value of
UNDER RELAXATION MOMENTUM is between zero and one. A large momentum term
should only be used when small learning rates are expected. Small amounts of the momentum
term help convergence. The value usually ranges from 0.0001 to 0.1; a value of 0.001 works
well for most problems. UNDER RELAXATION MOMENTUM only needs to be specified if
UNDER RELAXATION is DBD.
backtracking number—integer value defining the maximum number of backtracking iterations
allowed for residual reduction computations. If BACKTRACKING NUMBER = 0 then the back-
tracking iterations are omitted. The value usually ranges from 2 to 20; a value of 10 works well for
most problems.
backtracking tolerance—real value defining the tolerance for residual change that is allowed for
residual reduction computations. BACKTRACKING TOLERANCE should not be less than one to
avoid getting stuck in local minima. A large value serves to check for extreme residual increases,
while a low value serves to control step size more severely. The value usually ranges from 1.0 to
106 ; a value of 104 works well for most problems but lower values like 1.1 may be required for
harder problems. BACKTRACKING TOLERANCE only needs to be specified if BACKTRACK-
ING NUMBER is greater than zero.
backtracking reduction factor—real value defining the reduction in step size used for residual
reduction computations. The value of BACKTRACKING REDUCTION FACTOR is between
zero and one. The value usually ranges from 0.1 to 0.3; a value of 0.2 works well for most prob-
lems. BACKTRACKING REDUCTION FACTOR only needs to be specified if BACKTRACK-
ING NUMBER is greater than zero.
backtracking residual limit—real value defining the limit to which the residual is reduced with
backtracking. If the residual is smaller than BACKTRACKING RESIDUAL LIMIT, then further
backtracking is not performed. A value of 100 is suitable for large problems and residual reduction
to smaller values may only slow down computations. BACKTRACKING RESIDUAL LIMIT only
needs to be specified if BACKTRACKING NUMBER is greater than zero.

Block: LINEAR

inner maximum—integer value defining the maximum number of inner (linear) iterations. The number
typically depends on the characteristics of the matrix solution scheme being used. For nonlinear
 Iterative Model Solution 219

problems, INNER MAXIMUM usually ranges from 60 to 600; a value of 100 will be sufficient for
most linear problems.
inner dvclose—real value defining the dependent-variable (for example, head) change criterion
for convergence of the inner (linear) iterations, in units of the dependent-variable (for example,
length for head). When the maximum absolute value of the dependent-variable change at all nodes
during an iteration is less than or equal to INNER DVCLOSE, the matrix solver assumes con-
vergence. Commonly, INNER DVCLOSE is set equal to or an order of magnitude less than the
OUTER DVCLOSE value specified for the NONLINEAR block. The keyword, INNER HCLOSE
can be still be specified instead of INNER DVCLOSE for backward compatibility with previous
versions of MODFLOW 6 but eventually INNER HCLOSE will be deprecated and specification of
INNER HCLOSE will cause MODFLOW 6 to terminate with an error.
inner rclose—real value that defines the flow residual tolerance for convergence of the IMS linear
solver and specific flow residual criteria used. This value represents the maximum allowable resid-
ual at any single node. Value is in units of length cubed per time, and must be consistent with MOD-
FLOW 6 length and time units. Usually a value of 1.0 × 10−1 is sufficient for the flow-residual
criteria when meters and seconds are the defined MODFLOW 6 length and time.
rclose option—an optional keyword that defines the specific flow residual criterion used. STRICT–
an optional keyword that is used to specify that INNER RCLOSE represents a infinity-Norm (abso-
lute convergence criteria) and that the dependent-variable (for example, head) and flow convergence
criteria must be met on the first inner iteration (this criteria is equivalent to the criteria used by the
MODFLOW-2005 PCG package (Hill, 1990)). L2NORM RCLOSE–an optional keyword that is
used to specify that INNER RCLOSE represents a L-2 Norm closure criteria instead of a infinity-
Norm (absolute convergence criteria). When L2NORM RCLOSE is specified, a reasonable initial
INNER RCLOSE value is 0.1 times the number of active cells when meters and seconds are the
defined MODFLOW 6 length and time. RELATIVE RCLOSE–an optional keyword that is used
to specify that INNER RCLOSE represents a relative L-2 Norm reduction closure criteria instead
of a infinity-Norm (absolute convergence criteria). When RELATIVE RCLOSE is specified, a
reasonable initial INNER RCLOSE value is 1.0 × 10−4 and convergence is achieved for a given
inner (linear) iteration when ∆h ≤ INNER DVCLOSE and the current L-2 Norm is ≤ the prod-
uct of the RELATIVE RCLOSE and the initial L-2 Norm for the current inner (linear) iteration. If
RCLOSE OPTION is not specified, an absolute residual (infinity-norm) criterion is used.
linear acceleration—a keyword that defines the linear acceleration method used by the default
IMS linear solvers. CG - preconditioned conjugate gradient method. BICGSTAB - preconditioned
bi-conjugate gradient stabilized method.
relaxation factor—optional real value that defines the relaxation factor used by the incomplete
LU factorization preconditioners (MILU(0) and MILUT). RELAXATION FACTOR is unitless
and should be greater than or equal to 0.0 and less than or equal to 1.0. RELAXATION FACTOR
values of about 1.0 are commonly used, and experience suggests that convergence can be opti-
mized in some cases with relax values of 0.97. A RELAXATION FACTOR value of 0.0 will
result in either ILU(0) or ILUT preconditioning (depending on the value specified for PRECON-
DITIONER LEVELS and/or PRECONDITIONER DROP TOLERANCE). By default, RELAX-
ATION FACTOR is zero.
preconditioner levels—optional integer value defining the level of fill for ILU decomposition used
in the ILUT and MILUT preconditioners. Higher levels of fill provide more robustness but also
require more memory. For optimal performance, it is suggested that a large level of fill be applied (7
or 8) with use of a drop tolerance. Specification of a PRECONDITIONER LEVELS value greater
220 MODFLOW 6 – Description of Input and Output

than zero results in use of the ILUT preconditioner. By default, PRECONDITIONER LEVELS is
zero and the zero-fill incomplete LU factorization preconditioners (ILU(0) and MILU(0)) are used.

preconditioner drop tolerance—optional real value that defines the drop tolerance used to
drop preconditioner terms based on the magnitude of matrix entries in the ILUT and MILUT
preconditioners. A value of 10−4 works well for most problems. By default, PRECONDI-
TIONER DROP TOLERANCE is zero and the zero-fill incomplete LU factorization precondition-
ers (ILU(0) and MILU(0)) are used.

number orthogonalizations—optional integer value defining the interval used to explicitly recal-
culate the residual of the flow equation using the solver coefficient matrix, the latest dependent-
variable (for example, head) estimates, and the right hand side. For problems that benefit from
explicit recalculation of the residual, a number between 4 and 10 is appropriate. By default, NUM-
BER ORTHOGONALIZATIONS is zero.

scaling method—an optional keyword that defines the matrix scaling approach used. By default,
matrix scaling is not applied. NONE - no matrix scaling applied. DIAGONAL - symmetric matrix
scaling using the POLCG preconditioner scaling method in Hill (1992). L2NORM - symmetric
matrix scaling using the L2 norm.

reordering method—an optional keyword that defines the matrix reordering approach used. By
default, matrix reordering is not applied. NONE - original ordering. RCM - reverse Cuthill McKee
ordering. MD - minimum degree ordering.

IMS Default and Specified Complexity Values

The values that are assigned to the nonlinear and linear variables for the the simple, moderate,
and complex complexity options are summarized in table 29. The values defined for the simple complexity
option are assigned if the COMPLEXITY keyword is not specified in the OPTIONS block.
 Iterative Model Solution 221

Table 29. IMS variable values for the available complexity options..

Nonlinear Variable default/simple moderate complex

OUTER DVCLOSE 0.001 0.01 0.1
OUTER MAXIMUM 25 50 100
UNDER RELAXATION NONE DBD DBD
UNDER RELAXATION THETA 1.0 0.9 0.8
UNDER RELAXATION KAPPA 0.0 0.0001 0.0001
UNDER RELAXATION GAMMA 0.0 0.0 0.0
UNDER RELAXATION MOMENTUM 0.0 0.0 0.0
BACKTRACKING NUMBER 0 0 20
BACKTRACKING TOLERANCE 0.0 0.0 1.05
BACKTRACKING REDUCTION FACTOR 0.0 0.0 0.1
BACKTRACKING RESIDUAL LIMIT 0.0 0.0 0.002
Linear Variable default/simple moderate complex
INNER MAXIMUM 50 100 500
INNER DVCLOSE 0.001 0.01 0.1
INNER RCLOSE 0.1 0.1 0.1
RCLOSE OPTION infinity-norm infinity-norm infinity-norm
LINEAR ACCELERATION CG BICGSTAB BICGSTAB
RELAXATION FACTOR 0.0 0.97 0.0
PRECONDITIONER LEVELS 0 0 5
PRECONDITIONER DROP TOLERANCE 0.0 0.0 0.0001
NUMBER ORTHOGONALIZATIONS 0 0 2
SCALING METHOD NONE NONE NONE
REORDERING METHOD NONE NONE NONE

Example Input File

BEGIN OPTIONS
PRINT_OPTION ALL
COMPLEXITY MODERATE
END OPTIONS

BEGIN NONLINEAR
OUTER_DVCLOSE 1.E-4
OUTER_MAXIMUM 2000
UNDER_RELAXATION DBD
UNDER_RELAXATION_THETA 0.70
UNDER_RELAXATION_KAPPA 0.100000E-03
UNDER_RELAXATION_GAMMA 0.
UNDER_RELAXATION_MOMENTUM 0.
BACKTRACKING_NUMBER 20
BACKTRACKING_TOLERANCE 2.
BACKTRACKING_REDUCTION_FACTOR 0.6
BACKTRACKING_RESIDUAL_LIMIT 5.000000E-04
END NONLINEAR
222 MODFLOW 6 – Description of Input and Output

BEGIN LINEAR
INNER_MAXIMUM 100
INNER_DVCLOSE 1.0E-4
INNER_RCLOSE 0.001
LINEAR_ACCELERATION BICGSTAB
RELAXATION_FACTOR 0.97
SCALING_METHOD NONE
REORDERING_METHOD NONE
END LINEAR
 Observation (OBS) Utility 223

Observation (OBS) Utility

For consistency with earlier versions of MODFLOW (specifically, MODFLOW-2000 and MODFLOW-
2005), MODFLOW 6 supports an “Observation” utility. Unlike the earlier versions of MODFLOW, the Obser-
vation utility of MODFLOW 6 does not require input of “observed” values, which typically were field- or
lab-measured values. The Observation utility described here provides options for extracting numeric values
of interest generated in the course of a model run. The Observation utility does not calculate residual values
(differences between observed and model-calculated values). Output generated by the Observation utility is
designed to facilitate further processing. For convenience and for consistency with earlier terminology, indi-
vidual entries of the Observation utility are referred to as “observations.”
Input for the Observation utility is read from one or more input files, where each file is associated with
a specific model or package. For extracting values simulated by a GWF model, input is read from a file that
is specified as type “OBS6” in the Name File. For extracting model values associated with a package, input
is read from a file designated by the keyword “OBS6” in the Options block of the package of interest. The
structures of observation input files for models and packages do not differ. Where a file name (or path name)
containing spaces is to be read, enclose the name in single quotation marks.
Each OBS6 file can contain an OPTIONS block and one or more CONTINUOUS blocks. Each OBS6 file
must contain at least one block. If present, the OPTIONS block must appear first. The CONTINUOUS blocks
can be listed in any order. Comments, indicated by the presence of the “#” character in column 1, can appear
anywhere in the file and are ignored.
Observations are output at the end of each time step and represent the value used by MODFLOW 6 during
the time step. When input to the OBS utility references a stress-package boundary (for packages other than the
advanced stress packages) that is not defined for a stress period of interest, a special NODATA value, indicat-
ing that a simulated value is not available, is written to output. The NODATA value is 3.0 × 1030 .
Output files to be generated by the Observation utility can be either text or binary. When a text file is used
for output, the user can specify the number of digits of precision are to be used in writing values. For compat-
ibility with common spreadsheet programs, text files are written in Comma-Separated Values (CSV) format.
For this reason, text output files are commonly named with “csv” as the extension. By convention, binary out-
put files are named with “bsv” (for “binary simulated values”) as the extension.

Structure of Blocks

FOR EACH SIMULATION

BEGIN OPTIONS
[DIGITS <digits>]
[PRINT_INPUT]
END OPTIONS

BEGIN CONTINUOUS FILEOUT <obs_output_file_name> [BINARY]

<obsname> <obstype> <id> [<id2>]
<obsname> <obstype> <id> [<id2>]
...
END CONTINUOUS

Explanation of Variables

Block: OPTIONS
224 MODFLOW 6 – Description of Input and Output

digits—Keyword and an integer digits specifier used for conversion of simulated values to text on out-
put. The default is 5 digits. When simulated values are written to a file specified as file type DATA
in the Name File, the digits specifier controls the number of significant digits with which simulated
values are written to the output file. The digits specifier has no effect on the number of significant
digits with which the simulation time is written for continuous observations.
PRINT INPUT—keyword to indicate that the list of observation information will be written to the listing
file immediately after it is read.

Block: CONTINUOUS

FILEOUT—keyword to specify that an output filename is expected next.

obs output file name—Name of a file to which simulated values corresponding to observations in
the block are to be written. The file name can be an absolute or relative path name. A unique out-
put file must be specified for each CONTINUOUS block. If the “BINARY” option is used, output
is written in binary form. By convention, text output files have the extension “csv” (for “Comma-
Separated Values”) and binary output files have the extension “bsv” (for “Binary Simulated Val-
ues”).
BINARY—an optional keyword used to indicate that the output file should be written in binary (unfor-
matted) form.
obsname—string of 1 to 40 nonblank characters used to identify the observation. The identifier need
not be unique; however, identification and post-processing of observations in the output files are
facilitated if each observation is given a unique name.
obstype—a string of characters used to identify the observation type.
id—Text identifying cell where observation is located. For packages other than NPF, if boundary names
are defined in the corresponding package input file, ID can be a boundary name. Otherwise ID is
a cellid. If the model discretization is type DIS, cellid is three integers (layer, row, column). If the
discretization is DISV, cellid is two integers (layer, cell number). If the discretization is DISU, cellid
is one integer (node number).
id2—Text identifying cell adjacent to cell identified by ID. The form of ID2 is as described for ID. ID2
is used for intercell-flow observations of a GWF model, for three observation types of the LAK
Package, for two observation types of the MAW Package, and one observation type of the UZF
Package.

Available Observation Types

GWF Observations
Observations are available for GWF models, GWF-GWF exchanges, and all stress packages. Available
observation types have been listed for each package that supports observations (tables 6 to 20). All available
observation types are repeated in Table 30 for convenience.
The sign convention adopted for flow observations are identical to the conventions used in budgets con-
tained in listing files and used in the cell-by-cell budget output. For flow-ja-face observation types, nega-
tive and positive values represent a loss from and gain to the cellid specified for ID, respectively. For stan-
dard stress packages (Package = CHD, DRN, EVT, GHB, RCH, RIV, and WEL), negative and positive val-
ues represent a loss from and gain to the GWF model, respectively. For advanced packages (Package = LAK,
MAW, SFR, and UZF), negative and positive values for exchanges with the GWF model (Observation type =
 Observation (OBS) Utility 225

lak, maw, sfr, uzf-gwrch, uzf-gwd, uzf-gwd-to-mvr, and uzf-gwet) represent a loss from and gain to the GWF
model, respectively. For other advanced stress package flow terms, negative and positive values represent a
loss from and gain from the advanced package, respectively.

Table 30. Available observation types for the GWF Model.

Model Observation ID ID2 Description

types
GWF head cellid – Head at a specified cell.
GWF drawdown cellid – Drawdown at a specified cell calculated
as difference between starting head and
simulated head for the time step.
GWF flow-ja-face cellid cellid Flow between two adjacent cells.

Internal Observation ID ID2 Description

Package type
CSUB csub icsubno or – Flow between the groundwater system and a
boundname interbed or group of interbeds.
CSUB inelastic-csub icsubno or – Flow between the groundwater system and a
boundname interbed or group of interbeds from inelastic
compaction.
CSUB elastic-csub icsubno or – Flow between the groundwater system and
boundname a interbed or group of interbeds from elastic
compaction.
CSUB coarse-csub cellid – Flow between the groundwater system and
coarse-grained materials in a GWF cell.
CSUB csub-cell cellid – Flow between the groundwater system for all
interbeds and coarse-grained materials in a
GWF cell.
CSUB wcomp-csub-cell cellid – Flow between the groundwater system for all
interbeds and coarse-grained materials in a
GWF cell from water compressibility.
CSUB sk icsubno or – Convertible interbed storativity in a interbed
boundname or group of interbeds. Convertible interbed
storativity is inelastic interbed storativity if
the current effective stress is greater than the
preconsolidation stress. The NODATA value
is reported for steady-state stress periods.
CSUB ske icsubno or – Elastic interbed storativity in a interbed or
boundname group of interbeds. The NODATA value is
reported for steady-state stress periods.
226 MODFLOW 6 – Description of Input and Output

Table 30. Available observation types.—Continued

Internal Observation ID ID2 Description

Package types
CSUB sk-cell cellid – Convertible interbed and coarse-grained
material storativity in a GWF cell. Convert-
ible interbed storativity is inelastic interbed
storativity if the current effective stress is
greater than the preconsolidation stress. The
NODATA value is reported for steady-state
stress periods.
CSUB ske-cell cellid – Elastic interbed and coarse-grained material
storativity in a GWF cell. The NODATA
value is reported for steady-state stress
periods.
CSUB estress-cell cellid – effective stress in a GWF cell.
CSUB gstress-cell cellid – geostatic stress in a GWF cell.
CSUB interbed- icsubno or – interbed compaction in a interbed or group
compaction boundname of interbeds.
CSUB inelastic- icsubno or – inelastic interbed compaction in a interbed or
compaction boundname group of interbeds.
CSUB elastic- icsubno or – elastic interbed compaction a interbed or
compaction boundname group of interbeds.
CSUB coarse- cellid – elastic compaction in coarse-grained materi-
compaction als in a GWF cell.
CSUB inelastic- cellid – inelastic compaction in all interbeds in a
compaction-cell GWF cell.
CSUB elastic- cellid – elastic compaction in coarse-grained materi-
compaction-cell als and all interbeds in a GWF cell.
CSUB compaction-cell cellid – total compaction in coarse-grained materials
and all interbeds in a GWF cell.
CSUB thickness icsubno or – thickness of a interbed or group of interbeds.
boundname
CSUB coarse-thickness cellid – thickness of coarse-grained materials in a
GWF cell.
CSUB thickness-cell cellid – total thickness of coarse-grained materials
and all interbeds in a GWF cell.
CSUB theta icsubno – porosity of a interbed .
CSUB coarse-theta cellid – porosity of coarse-grained materials in a
GWF cell.
CSUB theta-cell cellid – thickness-weighted porosity of coarse-
grained materials and all interbeds in a GWF
cell.
CSUB delay-flowtop icsubno – Flow between the groundwater system and a
delay interbed across the top of the interbed.
 Observation (OBS) Utility 227

Table 30. Available observation types.—Continued

Internal Observation ID ID2 Description

Package types
CSUB delay-flowbot icsubno – Flow between the groundwater system and
a delay interbed across the bottom of the
interbed.
CSUB delay-head icsubno idcellno head in interbed delay cell idcellno (1
<= idcellno <= NDELAYCELLS). The
NODATA value is reported for steady-state
stress periods.
CSUB delay-gstress icsubno idcellno geostatic stress in interbed delay cell idcellno
(1 <= idcellno <= NDELAYCELLS). The
NODATA value is reported for steady-state
stress periods.
CSUB delay-estress icsubno idcellno effective stress in interbed delay cell idcellno
(1 <= idcellno <= NDELAYCELLS). The
NODATA value is reported for steady-state
stress periods.
CSUB delay- icsubno idcellno preconsolidation stress in interbed delay
preconstress cell idcellno (1 <= idcellno <= NDELAY-
CELLS). The NODATA value is reported for
steady-state stress periods.
CSUB delay- icsubno idcellno compaction in interbed delay cell idcellno (1
compaction <= idcellno <= NDELAYCELLS).
CSUB delay-thickness icsubno idcellno thickness of interbed delay cell idcellno (1
<= idcellno <= NDELAYCELLS).
CSUB delay-theta icsubno idcellno porosity of interbed delay cell idcellno (1
<= idcellno <= NDELAYCELLS).
CSUB preconstress-cell cellid – preconsolidation stress in a GWF cell con-
taining at least one interbed. The NODATA
value is reported for steady-state stress
periods.

Stress Observation ID ID2 Description

Package type
CHD chd cellid or – Flow between the groundwater system and a
boundname constant-head boundary or a group of cells
with constant-head boundaries.
DRN drn cellid or – Flow between the groundwater system and a
boundname drain boundary or group of drain boundaries.
DRN to-mvr cellid or – Drain boundary discharge that is available
boundname for the MVR package for a drain boundary
or a group of drain boundaries.
228 MODFLOW 6 – Description of Input and Output

Table 30. Available observation types.—Continued

Stress Observation ID ID2 Description

Package types
EVT evt cellid or – Flow from the groundwater system through
boundname an evapotranspiration boundary or group of
evapotranspiration boundaries.
GHB ghb cellid or – Flow between the groundwater system and a
boundname general-head boundary or group of general-
head boundaries.
GHB to-mvr cellid or – General-head boundary discharge that is
boundname available for the MVR package from a
general-head boundary or group of general-
head boundaries.
RCH rch cellid or – Flow to the groundwater system through a
boundname recharge boundary or a group of recharge
boundaries.
RIV riv cellid or – Flow between the groundwater system and a
boundname river boundary.
RIV to-mvr cellid or – River boundary discharge that is available for
boundname the MVR package.
WEL wel cellid or – Flow between the groundwater system and a
boundname well boundary or a group of well boundaries.
WEL to-mvr cellid or – Well boundary discharge that is available for
boundname the MVR package for a well boundary or a
group of well boundaries.
WEL wel-reduction cellid or – Reduction in the specified well bound-
boundname ary discharge calculated when the
AUTO FLOW REDUCE option is specified.
LAK stage lakeno or – Surface-water stage in a lake. If boundname
boundname is specified, boundname must be unique for
each lake.
LAK ext-inflow lakeno or – Specified inflow into a lake or group of
boundname lakes.
LAK outlet-inflow lakeno or – Simulated inflow from upstream lake outlets
boundname into a lake or group of lakes.
LAK inflow lakeno or – Sum of specified inflow and simulated inflow
boundname from upstream lake outlets into a lake or
group of lakes.
LAK from-mvr lakeno or – Inflow into a lake or group of lakes from the
boundname MVR package.
LAK rainfall lakeno or – Rainfall rate applied to a lake or group of
boundname lakes.
LAK runoff lakeno or – Runoff rate applied to a lake or group of
boundname lakes.
 Observation (OBS) Utility 229

Table 30. Available observation types.—Continued

Stress Observation ID ID2 Description

Package types
LAK lak lakeno or iconn Simulated flow rate for a lake or group
boundname or – of lakes and its aquifer connection(s). If
boundname is not specified for ID, then the
simulated lake-aquifer flow rate at a specific
lake connection is observed. In this case,
ID2 must be specified and is the connection
number iconn.
LAK withdrawal lakeno or – Specified withdrawal rate from a lake or
boundname group of lakes.
LAK evaporation lakeno or – Simulated evaporation rate from a lake or
boundname group of lakes.
LAK ext-outflow outletno or – External outflow from a lake outlet, a lake, or
boundname a group of lakes to an external boundary. If
boundname is not specified for ID, then the
external outflow from a specific lake outlet
is observed. In this case, ID is the outlet
number outletno.
LAK to-mvr outletno or – Outflow from a lake outlet, a lake, or a group
boundname of lakes that is available for the MVR pack-
age. If boundname is not specified for ID,
then the outflow available for the MVR pack-
age from a specific lake outlet is observed. In
this case, ID is the outlet number outletno.
LAK storage lakeno or – Simulated storage flow rate for a lake or
boundname group of lakes.
LAK constant lakeno or – Simulated constant-flow rate for a lake or
boundname group of lakes.
LAK outlet outletno or – Simulated outlet flow rate from a lake outlet,
boundname a lake, or a group of lakes. If boundname
is not specified for ID, then the flow from a
specific lake outlet is observed. In this case,
ID is the outlet number outletno.
LAK volume lakeno or – Simulated lake volume or group of lakes.
boundname
LAK surface-area lakeno or – Simulated surface area for a lake or group of
boundname lakes.
LAK wetted-area lakeno or iconn Simulated wetted-area for a lake or group
boundname or – of lakes and its aquifer connection(s). If
boundname is not specified for ID, then the
wetted area of a specific lake connection is
observed. In this case, ID2 must be specified
and is the connection number iconn.
230 MODFLOW 6 – Description of Input and Output

Table 30. Available observation types.—Continued

Stress Observation ID ID2 Description

Package types
LAK conductance lakeno or iconn Calculated conductance for a lake or group
boundname or – of lakes and its aquifer connection(s). If
boundname is not specified for ID, then
the calculated conductance of a specific
lake connection is observed. In this case,
ID2 must be specified and is the connection
number iconn.
MAW head wellno or – Head in a multi-aquifer well. If boundname
boundname is specified, boundname must be unique for
each multi-aquifer well.
MAW from-mvr wellno or – Simulated inflow to a well from the MVR
boundname package for a multi-aquifer well or a group
of multi-aquifer wells.
MAW maw wellno or icon or Simulated flow rate for a multi-aquifer well
boundname – or a group of multi-aquifer wells and its
aquifer connection(s). If boundname is not
specified for ID, then the simulated multi-
aquifer well-aquifer flow rate at a specific
multi-aquifer well connection is observed.
In this case, ID2 must be specified and is the
connection number icon.
MAW rate wellno or – Simulated pumping rate for a multi-aquifer
boundname well or a group of multi-aquifer wells.
MAW rate-to-mvr wellno or – Simulated well discharge that is available for
boundname the MVR package for a multi-aquifer well or
a group of multi-aquifer wells.
MAW fw-rate wellno or – Simulated flowing well flow rate for a multi-
boundname aquifer well or a group of multi-aquifer
wells.
MAW fw-to-mvr wellno or – Simulated flowing well discharge rate that is
boundname available for the MVR package for a multi-
aquifer well or a group of multi-aquifer
wells.
MAW storage wellno or – Simulated storage flow rate for a multi-
boundname aquifer well or a group of multi-aquifer
wells.
MAW constant wellno or – Simulated constant-flow rate for a multi-
boundname aquifer well or a group of multi-aquifer
wells.
 Observation (OBS) Utility 231

Table 30. Available observation types.—Continued

Stress Observation ID ID2 Description

Package types
MAW conductance wellno or icon or Simulated well conductance for a multi-
boundname – aquifer well or a group of multi-aquifer wells
and its aquifer connection(s). If boundname
is not specified for ID, then the simulated
multi-aquifer well conductance at a specific
multi-aquifer well connection is observed.
In this case, ID2 must be specified and is the
connection number icon.
MAW fw-conductance wellno or – Simulated flowing well conductance for
boundname a multi-aquifer well or a group of multi-
aquifer wells.
SFR stage rno or – Surface-water stage in a stream-reach bound-
boundname ary. If boundname is specified, boundname
must be unique for each reach.
SFR ext-inflow rno or – Inflow into a stream-reach from an external
boundname boundary for a stream-reach or a group of
stream-reaches.
SFR inflow rno or – Inflow into a stream-reach from upstream
boundname reaches for a stream-reach or a group of
stream-reaches.
SFR from-mvr rno or – Inflow into a stream-reach from the MVR
boundname package for a stream-reach or a group of
stream-reaches.
SFR rainfall rno or – Rainfall rate applied to a stream-reach or a
boundname group of stream-reaches.
SFR runoff rno or – Runoff rate applied to a stream-reach or a
boundname group of stream-reaches.
SFR sfr rno or – Simulated flow rate for a stream-reach and
boundname its aquifer connection for a stream-reach or a
group of stream-reaches.
SFR evaporation rno or – Simulated evaporation rate from a stream-
boundname reach or a group of stream-reaches.
SFR outflow rno or – Outflow from a stream-reach to downstream
boundname reaches for a stream-reach or a group of
stream-reaches.
SFR ext-outflow rno or – Outflow from a stream-reach to an external
boundname boundary for a stream-reach or a group of
stream-reaches.
SFR to-mvr rno or – Outflow from a stream-reach that is available
boundname for the MVR package for a stream-reach or a
group of stream-reaches.
232 MODFLOW 6 – Description of Input and Output

Table 30. Available observation types.—Continued

Stress Observation ID ID2 Description

Package types
SFR upstream-flow rno or – Upstream flow for a stream-reach or a group
boundname of stream-reaches from upstream reaches and
the MVR package.
SFR downstream-flow rno or – Downstream flow for a stream-reach or a
boundname group of stream-reaches prior to diversions
and the MVR package.
UZF uzf-gwrch iuzno or – Simulated recharge to the aquifer calculated
boundname by the UZF package for a UZF cell or a
group of UZF cells.
UZF uzf-gwd iuzno or – Simulated groundwater discharge to the land
boundname surface calculated by the UZF package for a
UZF cell or a group of UZF cells.
UZF uzf-gwd-to-mvr iuzno or – Simulated groundwater discharge to the land
boundname surface calculated by the UZF package that
is available to the MVR package for a UZF
cell or a group of UZF cells.
UZF uzf-gwet iuzno or – Simulated groundwater evapotranspiration
boundname calculated by the UZF package for a UZF
cell or a group of UZF cells.
UZF infiltration iuzno or – Specified infiltration rate applied to a UZF
boundname package for a UZF cell or a group of UZF
cells with landflag values not equal to zero.
UZF from-mvr iuzno or – Inflow into a UZF cell from the MVR pack-
boundname age for a UZF cell or a group of UZF cells.
UZF rej-inf iuzno or – Simulated rejected infiltration calculated by
boundname the UZF package for a UZF cell or a group
of UZF cells.
UZF rej-inf-to-mvr iuzno or – Simulated rejected infiltration calculated
boundname by the UZF package that is available to the
MVR package for a UZF cell or a group of
UZF cells.
UZF uzet iuzno or – Simulated unsaturated evapotranspiration
boundname calculated by the UZF package for a UZF
cell or a group of UZF cells.
UZF storage iuzno or – Simulated storage flow rate for a UZF pack-
boundname age cell or a group of UZF cells.
UZF net-infiltration iuzno or – Simulated net infiltration rate for a UZF
boundname package cell or a group of UZF cells.
 Observation (OBS) Utility 233

Table 30. Available observation types.—Continued

Stress Observation ID ID2 Description

Package types
UZF water-content iuzno or depth Unsaturated-zone water content at a user-
boundname specified depth (ID2) relative to the top
of GWF cellid for a UZF cell. The user-
specified depth must be greater than or equal
to zero and less than the thickness of GWF
cellid (TOP - BOT). If boundname is spec-
ified, boundname must be unique for each
UZF cell.

Exchange Observation ID ID2 Description

type
GWF-GWF flow-ja-face cellid cellid Flow rate for specified exchange.

GWT Observations
Observations are available for GWT models and GWT stress packages. Available observation types have
been listed for each package that supports observations (tables 22 to 28). All available observation types are
repeated in Table 31 for convenience.
The sign convention adopted for transport observations are identical to the conventions used in budgets
contained in listing files and used in the cell-by-cell budget output. For flow-ja-face observation types, nega-
tive and positive values represent a loss from and gain to the cellid specified for ID, respectively. For standard
stress packages, negative and positive values represent a loss from and gain to the GWT model, respectively.
For advanced transport packages (Package = LKT, MWT, SFT, and UZT), negative and positive values for
exchanges with the GWT model (Observation type = lkt, mwt, sft, and uzt) represent a loss from and gain to
the GWT model, respectively. For other advanced stress package flow terms, negative and positive values rep-
resent a loss from and gain from the advanced package, respectively.

Table 31. Available observation types for the GWT Model.

Model Observation ID ID2 Description

types
GWT concentration cellid – Concentration at a specified cell.
GWT flow-ja-face cellid cellid Mass flow in dimensions of mass per time
between two adjacent cells. The mass flow
rate includes the contributions from both
advection and dispersion if those packages
are active
234 MODFLOW 6 – Description of Input and Output

Stress Observation ID ID2 Description

Package type
CNC cnc cellid or – Mass flow between the groundwater system
boundname and a constant-concentration boundary or a
group of cells with constant-concentration
boundaries.
SRC src cellid or – Mass source loading rate between the
boundname groundwater system and a mass source
loading boundary or a group of boundaries.
SFT concentration rno or – Reach concentration. If boundname is spec-
boundname ified, boundname must be unique for each
reach.
SFT flow-ja-face rno or rno or – Mass flow between two reaches. If a bound-
boundname name is specified for ID1, then the result
is the total mass flow for all reaches. If a
boundname is specified for ID1 then ID2 is
not used.
SFT storage rno or – Simulated mass storage flow rate for a reach
boundname or group of reaches.
SFT constant rno or – Simulated mass constant-flow rate for a
boundname reach or group of reaches.
SFT from-mvr rno or – Simulated mass inflow into a reach or
boundname group of reaches from the MVT package.
Mass inflow is calculated as the product of
provider concentration and the mover flow
rate.
SFT to-mvr rno or – Mass outflow from a reach, or a group of
boundname reaches that is available for the MVR pack-
age. If boundname is not specified for ID,
then the outflow available for the MVR
package from a specific reach is observed.
SFT sft rno or iconn Mass flow rate for a reach or group of
boundname or – reaches and its aquifer connection(s). If
boundname is not specified for ID, then
the simulated reach-aquifer flow rate at a
specific reach connection is observed. In
this case, ID2 must be specified and is the
connection number iconn for reach rno.
SFT rainfall rno or – Rainfall rate applied to a reach or group of
boundname reaches multiplied by the rainfall concentra-
tion.
SFT evaporation rno or – Simulated evaporation rate from a reach or
boundname group of reaches multiplied by the evapora-
tion concentration.
 Observation (OBS) Utility 235

Table 31. Available observation types.—Continued

Stress Observation ID ID2 Description

Package types
SFT runoff rno or – Runoff rate applied to a reach or group of
boundname reaches multiplied by the runoff concentra-
tion.
SFT ext-inflow rno or – Mass inflow into a reach or group of reaches
boundname calculated as the external inflow rate multi-
plied by the inflow concentration.
SFT ext-outflow rno or – External outflow from a reach or group of
boundname reaches to an external boundary. If bound-
name is not specified for ID, then the exter-
nal outflow from a specific reach is observed.
In this case, ID is the reach rno.
LKT concentration lakeno or – Lake concentration. If boundname is spec-
boundname ified, boundname must be unique for each
lake.
LKT flow-ja-face lakeno or lakeno Mass flow between two lakes connected by
boundname or – an outlet. If more than one outlet is used to
connect the same two lakes, then the mass
flow for only the first outlet can be observed.
If a boundname is specified for ID1, then the
result is the total mass flow for all outlets for
a lake. If a boundname is specified for ID1
then ID2 is not used.
LKT storage lakeno or – Simulated mass storage flow rate for a lake
boundname or group of lakes.
LKT constant lakeno or – Simulated mass constant-flow rate for a lake
boundname or group of lakes.
LKT from-mvr lakeno or – Simulated mass inflow into a lake or group
boundname of lakes from the MVT package. Mass
inflow is calculated as the product of
provider concentration and the mover flow
rate.
LKT to-mvr outletno or – Mass outflow from a lake outlet, a lake,
boundname or a group of lakes that is available for
the MVR package. If boundname is not
specified for ID, then the outflow available
for the MVR package from a specific lake
outlet is observed. In this case, ID is the
outlet number, which must be between 1 and
NOUTLETS.
236 MODFLOW 6 – Description of Input and Output

Table 31. Available observation types.—Continued

Stress Observation ID ID2 Description

Package types
LKT lkt lakeno or iconn Mass flow rate for a lake or group of lakes
boundname or – and its aquifer connection(s). If boundname
is not specified for ID, then the simulated
lake-aquifer flow rate at a specific lake con-
nection is observed. In this case, ID2 must
be specified and is the connection number
iconn for lake lakeno.
LKT rainfall lakeno or – Rainfall rate applied to a lake or group of
boundname lakes multiplied by the rainfall concentra-
tion.
LKT evaporation lakeno or – Simulated evaporation rate from a lake or
boundname group of lakes multiplied by the evaporation
concentration.
LKT runoff lakeno or – Runoff rate applied to a lake or group of
boundname lakes multiplied by the runoff concentration.
LKT ext-inflow lakeno or – Mass inflow into a lake or group of lakes cal-
boundname culated as the external inflow rate multiplied
by the inflow concentration.
LKT withdrawal lakeno or – Specified withdrawal rate from a lake or
boundname group of lakes multiplied by the simulated
lake concentration.
LKT ext-outflow outletno or – External outflow from a lake outlet, a lake, or
boundname a group of lakes to an external boundary. If
boundname is not specified for ID, then the
external outflow from a specific lake outlet
is observed. In this case, ID is the outlet
number outletno.

MWT concentration mawno or – Well concentration. If boundname is spec-

boundname ified, boundname must be unique for each
well.
MWT storage mawno or – Simulated mass storage flow rate for a well
boundname or group of wells.
MWT constant mawno or – Simulated mass constant-flow rate for a well
boundname or group of wells.
MWT from-mvr mawno or – Simulated mass inflow into a well or group
boundname of wells from the MVT package. Mass
inflow is calculated as the product of
provider concentration and the mover flow
rate.
 Observation (OBS) Utility 237

Table 31. Available observation types.—Continued

Stress Observation ID ID2 Description

Package types
MWT mwt mawno or iconn Mass flow rate for a well or group of wells
boundname or – and its aquifer connection(s). If boundname
is not specified for ID, then the simulated
well-aquifer flow rate at a specific well con-
nection is observed. In this case, ID2 must
be specified and is the connection number
iconn for well mawno.
MWT rate mawno or – Simulated mass flow rate for a well or group
boundname of wells.
MWT fw-rate mawno or – Simulated mass flow rate for a flowing well
boundname or group of flowing wells.
MWT rate-to-mvr well or – Simulated mass flow rate that is sent to the
boundname MVT Package for a well or group of wells.
MWT fw-rate-to-mvr well or – Simulated mass flow rate that is sent to the
boundname MVT Package from a flowing well or group
of flowing wells.

UZT concentration uztno or – uzt cell concentration. If boundname is spec-

boundname ified, boundname must be unique for each
uzt cell.
UZT flow-ja-face uztno or uztno Mass flow between two uzt cells. If a bound-
boundname or – name is specified for ID1, then the result
is the total mass flow for all uzt cells. If a
boundname is specified for ID1 then ID2 is
not used.
UZT storage uztno or – Simulated mass storage flow rate for a uzt
boundname cell or group of uzt cells.
UZT from-mvr uztno or – Simulated mass inflow into a uzt cell or
boundname group of uzt cells from the MVT package.
Mass inflow is calculated as the product of
provider concentration and the mover flow
rate.
UZT uzt uztno or iconn Mass flow rate for a uzt cell or group of
boundname or – uzt cells and its aquifer connection(s). If
boundname is not specified for ID, then the
simulated uzt-aquifer flow rate at a specific
uzt cell connection is observed. In this case,
ID2 must be specified and is the connection
number for the uzt cell.
UZT infiltration uztno or – Infiltration rate applied to a uzt cell or group
boundname of uzt cells multiplied by the infiltration
concentration.
238 MODFLOW 6 – Description of Input and Output

Table 31. Available observation types.—Continued

Stress Observation ID ID2 Description

Package types
UZT rej-inf uztno or – Rejected infiltration rate applied to a uzt
boundname cell or group of uzt cells multiplied by the
infiltration concentration.
UZT uzet uztno or – Unsaturated zone evapotranspiration rate
boundname applied to a uzt cell or group of uzt cells
multiplied by the uzt cell concentration.
UZT infiltration uztno or – Rejected infiltration rate applied to a uzt
boundname cell or group of uzt cells multiplied by the
infiltration concentration that is sent to the
mover package.