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Water Modeling at U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Citation:
Rashleigh, B., J. Corona, B. Jarvis, J. Johnston, C. Knightes, AND R. McKane. Water Modeling at U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Integrated Hydro-Terrestrial Modeling 2.0, Reston, VA, October 31 - November 02, 2023.
Impact/Purpose:
U.S. EPA modeling strengths and suggested opportunities presented here will be considered as part of the interagency Integrated Hydro-Terrestrial Modeling Meeting (IHTM, Oct. 2023). The goal of IHTM is to co-develop multi-agency data and simulation products that provide the basis for understanding and managing complex water systems.
Description:
Surface water quality models are critically important tools for managing our nation's surface waters. At the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, quantitative models are used to help local communities and environmental managers better understand how surface waters change in response to pollution and how to protect them. EPA's Water Modeling Workgroup works to facilitate the use of surface water quality models through collaboration, information-sharing, and training on models and modeling resources. Key watershed model applications use the VELMA model for fate and effects of contaminations in urban systems; Hydrologic Microservices, a hydrologic and water quality modeling system of data provisioning and modeling components and workflows to facilitate environmental modeling, and HAWQS-BENSPLASH, for integrated assessment of the benefits of water quality improvements. Key coastal modeling approaches include WASP and CGEM, used to hypoxia assessment in New England and in Gulf of Mexico, respectively. Strengths include watershed modeling, algorithms for water quality, and software engineering. Opportunities include supporting watershed modeling for additional habitats (lakes, wetlands, alpine, Arctic), improving scenarios and assessing model assumptions, leading the development of a coastal framework for integrating human and natural systems, and advancing a coordinated capacity for modeling the nearshore marine area in support of hypoxia, algal blooms, fisheries, and climate adaptation and mitigation activities.