| Summary: | A hypothesis to estimate hydraulic conductivity from surrogate pumping tests formulated using routinely monitored pumping rates and hydraulic heads is tested. The data set of a surrogate pumping test contains only a few late-time drawdowns represented by changes in heads at selected monitoring wells in responses to changes in pumping rate at an extraction well. The surrogate pumping test can be analyzed using a simple analytical model to estimate hydraulic conductivity. Compared with conventional aquifer testing methods such as short-term pumping and slug tests, the method offers the following advantages: (1) it permits estimation of hydraulic conductivity using fewer data points; (2) it is unaffected by the potentially altered, near-well conditions that often affect slug tests; and (3) it offers cost and schedule savings by eliminating field work. The method was applied at a project site, yielding hydraulic conductivity values more than an order of magnitude higher than those derived from slug tests, and comparable to values derived from a standard 24-h pumping test. Keywords: Surrogate, Aquifer testing, Hydraulic conductivity, Permeability, Pumping test, Slug test
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