Arkansas - CSU Geospatial DSS for Integrated Water Mgmt_ Application

Home Browse Search

Water Supply Reserve Account -Grant Application Form Form Revised May 2007 releases, irrigation diversions and efficiencies, canal flow salinity concentrations, drain and tributary flow and salinity concentrations; canal seepage, physical properties of soils, aquifer characteristics, watertabledepth and salinity; irrigation methods, soil salinity, crops and crop yield; climate and crop water use; Se, Fe, U, and specific salt ion concentrations in groundwater and surface waters: and return flows and saltlSe loads to the river and tributaries. Scientifically-tested numerical models of flow and solute transport processes have been developed for application at the field, regional, and basin scales. These models are designed to provide: (i) the extent and severity of existing problems in the Basin, (ii) systematic assessment alternative means of addressing these problems, and (iii) prospects for achieving marked improvements to the land and to the river when these solution strategies are implemented. Alternative conjunctive groundwater and surface water management strategies include reduction of areal recharge from field irrigation, canal seepage reduction, improved subsurface drainage options; releases from new reservoir storage accounts to offset impacts of reductions in irrigation diversions as stipulated for compliance with the Arkansas River Compact; altered rates and quality of inflows from tributaries; optional water exchange agreements within the Basin; and short-term leasing of water to municipalities by the proposed "Super Ditch" cooperative. As part of the modeling effort, the Lower Arkansas River (LAR) GeoDSS has been designed as a spatial decision support system to assist in the assessment of water management options over the Lower Arkansas River Basin from Pueblo Reservoir to the Colorado-Kansas state line. The LAR GeoDSS integrates geographic information systems (GIS), surface and groundwater quantity and quality models, and artificial neural networks (ANN) into a robust tool for conjunctive surface and groundwater modeling and management decision support. The GeoDSS is a georeferenced, spatial- temporal database-centered system constructed in the ArcGISTM (ESRI, Inc.) environment with seamless interaction between the components. The database has been assembled with detailed r _ _ _ _ _ _ ` _ ' ' _ _._ _ _ _ _ ? a??? t?ali?y ? ? ? information from the USGS, U.S. Army Corps of ????? ????? ? Engineers, Colorado Division of Water ? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ s _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Resources, USDA NRCS, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), CSU field data, and manually-processed data. Compiled data include hydrographic information, digital elevation models (DEM), soil types, land use maps, irrigated field maps, aerial photos, satellite images, and surface and groundwater monitoring points. Water rights data are associated with river diversion structures (water users). The temporal database contains measured time series of flow rates and water quality characteristics at USGS and Colorado Division of Water Resources gauging stations, pumping wells, and diversion structures. Daily reservoir storage volumes are included for the main reservoirs. Spatial-temporal information is stored in the database from the results of the regional-scale GMS model (MODFLOWlMT3DMS) and Doppler radar based precipitation (NEXRAD) data. 13