2.6.2.7 Observations and predictions

Summary

The regional groundwater analytic element model (GW AEM) is not designed to reproduce historical conditions and can therefore not be constrained by historical observations.

A set of 47 model nodes were selected for which the drawdown (dmax) – the maximum difference in drawdown between the coal resource development pathway (CRDP) and baseline, due to additional coal resource development – and year of maximum change (tmax) were calculated. In addition to this set, more than 500 model nodes were defined for which time series of drawdown for each hydrostratigraphic unit was recorded and stored.

The results of the sensitivity analysis indicate that the most important parameters affecting the drawdown at a model node are the hydraulic properties of the hydrostratigraphic unit in which the model node is located.