VELMA Watershed Modeling for PSIMF: Puget Sound Integrated Modeling Framework project
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The Puget Sound Ecosystem Monitoring Program (PSEMP) is hosting a December 12, 2022, Watershed Modeling Workshop for watershed modelers to share their knowledge about existing Puget Sound modeling tools and activities. PSEMP workshop organizers invited EPA-ORD-PESD’s VELMA team to present a talk describing their Puget Sound modeling research. The Puget Sound National Estuary is experiencing significant declines in water quality, endangered salmon and orca populations, and supporting food web biota. Working with existing Puget Sound partners, we propose to complete implementation of a coupled terrestrial-marine framework for modeling the entire Puget Sound Basin at high spatial and temporal resolutions. Model components include PESD’s VELMA watershed model; an ocean circulation and biogeochemistry model (UW's Salish Sea Model); and an estuarine food web model (NOAA's Atlantis model). We describe how the coupled VELMA/Salish Sea/Atlantis models are being used to evaluate the sensitivity of well-monitored marine biota of concern (https://vitalsigns.pugetsoundinfo.wa.gov/) to historical and alternative future land use and climate change scenarios through 2100.