Initial Groundwater Condition
Phreatic surfaces and PWP interpolation surfaces can be used to compute the initial water condition for a seepage analysis, Steady State or Transient groundwater method. The initial water condition is applied each time a material is initialized. This occurs when a material first appears in the model or when a material is changed in the geometry and the new material has a set initial groundwater condition.
Ensure that the Groundwater Method = Steady State or Transient in the Groundwater page of the Project Settings 
dialog.
To apply and initial water condition in the Define Hydraulic Properties dialog:
- Select the Groundwater workflow tab
- Ensure that you have defined phreatic surfaces in your model.
- Select Define Hydraulic Properties
from the toolbar or the Groundwater menu. This will open the Material Properties dialog to the Hydraulics tab. - Check off the Apply Initial Water Condition checkbox.
- Select the water condition to use as your initial groundwater condition.
TIP: the Hydraulics tab can also be accessed directly from the Material Properties dialog.
Staged water conditions will take priority over initial water conditions.