Research and Development Office

Development of a Generalized Water Supply Index for use in Hydrologic Models.

Project ID: 541
Principal Investigator: David King
Research Topic: Water Supply Forecasting
Funded Fiscal Years: 2004
Keywords: None

Research Question

Can a generalized water supply index be developed that could be used by hydrologic modelers to objectively express the water supply of multiple users and project requirements?

Need and Benefit

Numerous computations are required to compute the appropriate water supply for water users, given the expected runoff and reservoir conditions. This research would investigate the reasonability and feasibility of developing a generalized water supply index for use by hydrologic models used in a Decision Support System (DSS). It would investigate options for implementing and automating such a system and for evaluating the computations generated by the system.

Hydrologists are increasingly using DSSs to improve decisions regarding reservoir releases that need to meet project requirements while attempting to mitigate endangered species of fisheries, etc. Typically, the DSSs use one or more hydrologic models that are associated with various data storage systems. A major decision variable in the decisionmaking process is water supply. No standard method exists to express water supply because it is a function of storage, forecasted inflow, and water rights. Drought indices, water supply indices, and other empirical relations have been developed-but no generalized water supply index has been developed specifically for use in hydrologic models.

Contributing Partners

Contact the Principal Investigator for information about partners.

Research Products

Please contact research@usbr.gov about research products related to this project.

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