Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2019WV272B

Evaluation of a water allocation model for West Virginia

Institute: West Virginia
Year Established: 2019 Start Date: 2019-05-31 End Date: 2020-05-30
Total Federal Funds: $9,786 Total Non-Federal Funds: $19,963

Principal Investigators: Leslie Hopkinson

Project Summary: Sustainable water management is complex. Effective management must satisfy all the demands on water resources, consider changes over time, and ensure no degradation. No matter the complexity, managers must have knowledge of water quantity. The proposed work will explore the use of water quantity models in West Virginia. The intent is to aid in our understanding of current water usage and future needs in West Virginia. Specific objectives and tasks include the following: Objective 1: Review existing water allocation models. Task 1.1: Complete a literature review of exiting water allocation models. Task 1.2: Select and obtain a water allocation model. Objective 2. Simulate water usage in West Virginia. Task 2.1: Simulate current water usage. Task 2.2: Develop guidance for water allocation modeling in West Virginia. First available water allocation models will be reviewed (e.g., StateMod, SWAM, OASIS, RiverWare, and Aquarius). At least one model that can be applied to a basin in West Virginia will be selected. Simulations will be conducted to develop methods for use in West Virginia. We will explore large quantity users along a river reach, small reservoir impact on water availability, and changes in water demand (i.e., increase in natural gas development). While small-scale simulations will be completed through this study, it will help identify future needs for the state. In addition the developed methods can be applied at the watershed-scale in the future. Results from this effort will benefit the future development of a state-wide water balance. Knowledge gained through this work would support the future development of a tool for stakeholders to use to understand how future water needs and uses would impact water resources