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November 14,1996 ~ Dr. Robert Ward Director Colorado Water Resources Research Institute Colorado State University Fort Collins, CO 80523 Depamnent of Chemical and Bioresource Engineering Fort Collins. Colorado 8052.J..1370 (970) 491-5252 FA.X, (970) 491-7369 RE: Evaluation of SAMSON in the context of a Decision Support System Dear Dr. Ward, As you know, the South Platte Model Evaluation Advisory Committee has been meeting regularly over this last year to evaluate models that could be part of a South Platte Decision Support System. One of the models evaluated was the SAMSON (Stream-Aquifer Model for Management by SimulatiON) model. The committee was trying to determine the needs and issues related to state, local, and private agencies who would be using this model, and evaluate what role the model could play in meeting those needs as part of a Decision Support System (DSS) for the South Platte River Basin. SAMSON was developed during the late 1970's and early 1980's, and was a very valuable tool> L!t-- that proved water resources modeling applications for the South Platte River Basin were both ~~}-:'~"- poss~ble. and fe~ible. ~e SAMSON model was dev~loped .in the early stages of computer . "f;., o. apphcanonsto nver basm water management. At the l1me of Its development, the model could only ,# be run as batch files on a main-frame. computer. Multiple runs for different scenarios and user ,,_ interaction was kept to a minimum, since the user would literally have to schedule a model run on ~ a main-frame. Therefore, building the input dataset and reviewing the output were typically one- time events and not interactive. Given the technical limitations of the time, SAMSON pro,,:i<fe-d a general understanding of the interaction of surface and groundwater in the South Platte RiveroBasin and more importantly showed that this type of modeling could help in understanding the' 0 management of water resources in the South Platte. Since the initial development of the SAMSON model, computer speed and availability has revolutionized the modeling process and users expect a much higher degree of interaction with models. Consequently, there have been significant advances in hardware technology as well as the philosophy of software development. Modeling philosophy has evolved towards building decision support frameworks composed of small modules rather than a single very complex model. A modular design allows for the inclusion of models from different sources within a data-centered approach. These systems typically have a relational database with routines for pre and post processing and interchange of data which are generic enough to support multiple models. . Integrated Decision Support Group (IDS) 410 University Services Center Colorado State University Fort Collins, CO 80523 Phone: (970) 491-7620 Fax: (970) 491-2293