GMS was initially developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s on Unix workstations by the Engineering Computer Graphics Laboratory[1][2] at Brigham Young University.

These two models, when put together, provide a comprehensive tool for examining groundwater flow and nitrate transport and accumulation".

[7] The study was designed to help develop a "permit scheme to effectively manage nitrate pollution of groundwater supplies for communities in rural areas without hindering agricultural production in watersheds".

[7] A 2001 report prepared for the Iowa Comprehensive Petroleum Underground Storage Tank Fund Board stated that GMS was "a very user-friendly software package with strong technical support.

"[10] A 2006 report from the Center for Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analyses in San Antonio, Texas called GMS "the most sophisticated groundwater modeling software available".