Implementing Reservoir Operations In Parflow, A Fully Integrated Physical Hydrology Model

Presenter: Ben West1
Co-Author(s): -
Advisor(s): Dr. Laura Condon
1Department of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Arizona

Panapto Presentation Video
Poster PDF
Poster Session 1

Recent advancements in computational and earth systems modeling have enabled increasingly high fidelity models of hydrologic systems, which are critical for our ability to understand and predict the hydrological cycle. However, many of these models do not incorporate the effect of human built structures such as dams. By not accounting for these impacts, our models are limited both in their accuracy and in the scope of questions they are able to investigate. Therefore, we present a methodology to implement dams and reservoirs in ParFlow-an integrated hydrologic model. We will do this by 1) reviewing current methodologies of implementing reservoir modules in hydrological models and 2) changing the Parflow base code to add a reservoir module capable of integrating with a newly minted dataset of historical reservoir operations: ResOpsUS. Our results will improve current Parflow models and, as ParFlow’s integrated solver is well suited to capture surface-ground water interactions, they will enable us to ask new questions regarding conjunctive management of ground and surface water.


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