Services

Changes in groundwater extraction or land use can mobilize naturally occurring salts, minerals, and geogenic contaminants — or spread introduced pollutants through an aquifer. We develop solute transport models to predict the spatial and temporal evolution of dissolved constituents, assess mixing processes, and evaluate risks to water quality.

Our transport studies integrate hydrochemical and isotopic data for model validation, improving confidence in simulated pathways and travel times. We apply codes including MT3DMS, MIKE SHE, HYDRUS, and MIN3P.

Applications include: environmental impact assessments for mining operations, aquifer vulnerability mapping, remediation design, and evaluation of brine or leachate migration in saline environments.

HYMSIGER faculty members are active trainers in advanced hydrogeological modeling, with experience delivering courses commissioned by international institutions including the World Bank.

We design and deliver targeted training programs focused on the application of growndwater models and related tools to real-world problems. Our programs combine conceptual foundations with hands-on practice, and include guided analysis of real case studies — including critical review of existing models from mining impact assessments.

Topics covered include:

-Hydrogeology fundamentals in arid environments

-Water balance methods for data-scarce basins

-1D, 2D, and 3D numerical modeling with MODFLOW / ModelMuse

-Calibration, validation, and uncertainty analysis

-Critical evaluation of third-party models

-Solute transport and contaminant migration

We provide independent technical reviews of existing hydrological and hydrogeological models and studies, whether developed by third parties or requiring peer verification before regulatory submission.

Our audits examine the full modeling chain: conceptual model consistency, domain definition, spatial and temporal discretization, boundary conditions, hydraulic parameter assignment, calibration strategy, numerical stability, and interpretation of results. We identify inconsistencies, implementation errors, and potential misuse of simulation tools — and report findings with specific, actionable recommendations.

This service is increasingly requested in the context of environmental impact assessments for mining projects and water use permits, where regulatory agencies and stakeholders require independent verification of model-based conclusions.

We have conducted audits of MODFLOW-based groundwater models developed for major lithium and copper mining operations in the Argentine Puna, and have provided expert review as part of World Bank-supported capacity-building programs.

Quantifying the available volume of groundwater in an aquifer system — and determining what fraction can be sustainably extracted — is one of the most consequential tasks in water resource management. HYMSIGER provides technically rigorous groundwater reserve estimations that comply with international standards and are defensible in regulatory and financing contexts.

What we estimate:

-Static reserves: total volume of water stored in the aquifer system

-Dynamic (renewable) reserves: recharge-based estimates of sustainably extractable volumes

-Exploitable reserves: fraction accessible given technical, economic, and environmental constraints

Our approach integrates:

-Water balance modeling (precipitation, infiltration, recharge, discharge)

-Three-dimensional hydrogeological framework and porosity characterization

-Calibrated transient numerical models to quantify storage and fluxes

-Uncertainty analysis to express reserve estimates with appropriate confidence bounds

-Hydrochemical and isotopic constraints on recharge sources and travel times

Reserve estimations are prepared with full documentation of methodology, data sources, and assumptions — ready for use in feasibility studies, environmental impact assessments, water concession applications, and investor due diligence.