A riparian-zone groundwater model, one of a suite of models representing shallow groundwater conditions and exchanges between surface water and shallow groundwater within the floodplain of the Rio Grande, is used to demonstrate the benefits of going beyond the typical comparison of simulated versus observed. Evaluation of a groundwater model often focuses on the comparison of a limited number of observations to their simulated equivalents. Examination of details beyond such comparisons provides considerable insight to the physical system, as approximated by the numerical simulation. Methods demonstrated include (1) three-dimensional flux visualization, to assess the temporal and spatial variability in magnitude and direction of flux between the ground water and the river and drains, (2) sensitivity maps providing insight into the spatial distribution of a parameter’s importance, and (3) composite sensitivities to compare importance across different parameter and observation types. Examination of these details will be a critical component of future work that may address questions such as: how much flow is required to sustain desirable riparian habitat, what are the impacts of various mitigation efforts, and which mitigation effort will be most effective?