You have entered the website of the Water and Environmental Research Institute of the Western Pacific (WERI) at the University of Guam. We are currently six faculty and five staff and our mission is to seek solutions through research, teaching and outreach programs, to issues and problems associated with the location, production, distribution and management of freshwater resources in Guam, the CNMI and the FSM.
This report contains the presentation and explanation of the Atoll Freshwater Lens Algebraic Model. This model was prepared for water resources managers of atoll islands within the Federated States of Micronesia, and is capable of estimating the thickness of the freshwater lens for a variety of geological and weather conditions. The freshwater lens thickness can be estimated by manual calculations, the use of a spreadsheet user interface, or a set of curves. Of principal interest is its use in predicting the fluctuation of the freshwater lens thickness throughout an El Niño event. Users, however, should keep in mind that because the model is based on generalizations of atoll properties, which can vary significantly from one island to another, the model will be applied with greatest success when supplemented or tested against actual data from the island of interest.
