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0000'03 South Platte Decision Support, 7 Implementation Plan for DSS Colorado's two most recent efforts toward water resource modeling, CROSS and SPWRMS, could both be utilized in the effort to implement a DSS for the South Platte. In the past, water resources computer models have often been written to address one specific problem or environment. Much of the information about a particular river basin, for instance, would be included in the model's code. Recent DSS designs have used a "data-centered" approach, where one or more databases contain all the information necessary to model a physical situation. The advantage to this approach is that multiple generic models, each of which serves a different purpose, may be configured to access the same central database. The models themselves do not contain llm( situation-specific information in their coding; they read all relevant information from the database. The major disadvantages of the data-centered approach have been model run times '> and start-up costs. CROSS is being developed with a modular, data-centered desig'ILat great expe~SPWRMS was developed for a fraction of the cost of CROSS, but is not strictly a modular application. In its present configuration, SPWRMS is not suited to provide the interface for a DSS. Much of the effort that went into creating SPWRMS, however, should be useful and transportable for development of a DSS. In particular, the spatial topology - the way the geographical features of the basin relate to each other - beneath the GIS interface of SPWRMS could form the basis for a graphical DSS interface. In addition, the relational database used by SPWRMS stores many institutional and physical characteristics of the basin that would be needed by water resource planning models and water quality models, Any serious attempt to model the lower South Platte basin ID.l!S1 account for the tributary aquifer. There is general agreement among water users of the South Platte that the current method of calculating well depletions and recharge accretions gives moderately acceptable results, but leaves plenty of room for improvement. Northern's Point Flow model is a step in this direction. The CROSS water resources planning model is not presently configured to include well pumping and '7 tributary aquifer recharge. While the CWCB intends to use the CROSS design for a new South __ \ Platte DSS, this is clearly one of the major modifications that will be necessary. Both the Northern District and CWRRI are starting to take a new look at the SAMSON model, considering its potential as a module of a South Platte DSS. SPWRMS has an effective user interface with which the Division 1 Engineers and the District Commissioners are becoming familiar. While the interface is not in "ready-to-use" form for a more comprehensive DSS application, it could be modified or replicated, SPWRMS databases contain, in readily accessible form, much of the basic information a DSS will require. Lastly, SPWRMS is 04/11/95