News Release Archive

Reclamation and Department of Water Resources to Release the CalLite 3.00 (Beta) Model

Media Contact: Erin Curtis, 916-978-5100, eccurtis@usbr.gov

For Release: October 29, 2014

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – On November 7, 2014, the Bureau of Reclamation and the California Department of Water Resources will jointly release the CalLite 3.00 (Beta) Model, a Central Valley Project and State Water Project water operations simulation screening tool. The CalLite model runs faster and provides results within 5 percent of the more detailed CalSim II model. CalLite is simple enough to be used as an educational resource for stakeholders, yet sophisticated enough to provide powerful analytical capabilities for more experienced modelers.

CalLite has a user-friendly interface, faster simulation time, and options for evaluating the impact of different regulations, facilities, and operational strategies on Federal and State reservoirs in the Central Valley. Improvements since the previous version of the CalLite model include batch-run capability, a dynamic San Joaquin River module, and the ability to specify individual actions and various water supply allocation methods required under the Central Valley Project Improvement Act, Section 3406 (b)(2). The model is also capable of performing climate change analyses.

CalLite 3.00 also includes the ability to simulate the water operations necessary to meet the State’s Water Right Decision 1485 because it governed operations when the Coordinated Operations Agreement was put into place, and it is often seen as a fundamental baseline of comparison for water supply benefits. This capacity to model Decision 1485 allows users the opportunity to examine the effects of additional regulations.

The CalLite model is posted on the DWR website at http://baydeltaoffice.water.ca.gov/modeling/hydrology/CalLite/index.cfm.

For more information about CalLite, please contact Nazrul Islam, DWR, at, nazrul.islam@water.ca.gov, 916-653-8727, or Tom FitzHugh, Bureau of Reclamation, tfitzhugh@usbr.gov, 916-978-5070 (TTY 800-877-8339).

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Relevant Link:

CalLite model