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Assessing the Challenges Associated with Developing an Integrated Modeling Approach for Predicting and Managing Water Quality and Quantity from the Watershed through the Drinking Water Treatment System
Citation:
Karcher, S., J. VanBriesen, AND C. T. NIETCH. Assessing the Challenges Associated with Developing an Integrated Modeling Approach for Predicting and Managing Water Quality and Quantity from the Watershed through the Drinking Water Treatment System. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-12/030, 2012.
Impact/Purpose:
To inform the public.
Description:
Natural and Engineered water systems interact throughout watersheds (e.g., at water intakes, wastewater outfalls and water pipe breaks of all kinds), and while there is clearly a link between watershed activities and the quality of water entering the engineered environment, surface water and drinking water are considered distinct operational systems. As a result, the strategic approach to data management and modeling within the two systems is very different, leading to significant difficulties in integrating the two systems in order to make comprehensive watershed decisions. In this paper, we describe a highly-structured data storage and exchange system that integrates multiple tools and models, describing both natural and engineered environments to provide a scientifically based, economic tool for assessing the impact of land use policy decisions on ecosystems and on the treatability of the water for human use. Our underlying objective in presenting our conceptual design for this water information system is to challenge the current paradigm for modeling water systems, and to advocate for moving towards the standardization of data storage and transfer protocols within the water science community.