Adapting a Watershed Model to Urban Watersheds

VELMA - Visualizing Ecosystem Land Management Assessments, is a framework for creating ecohydrological models.  VELMA was designed to work in a variety of watersheds but increasing urban areas have created challenges for creating accurate models.  We have added a number of new features to support modeling in areas where waterflow is not determined solely by slope, where permeability may vary due to man- made structures, and evaporation is not solely determined by plant ground cover.  This talk is about the features that support these urban issues and an example watershed simulation in the Puget Sound area that demonstrates how these features work.

Impact/Purpose

VELMA - Visualizing Ecosystem Land Management Assessments, is a framework for creating ecohydrological models.  VELMA was designed to work in a variety of watersheds but increasing urban areas have created challenges for creating accurate models.   The changes described in this talk will allow watershed modelers to more accurately model urban areas.  This will allow for more accurate results in whole watershed and for modeling urban issues such as nutrient and contaminant runoff.

Citation

Brookes, A. Adapting a Watershed Model to Urban Watersheds. International Environmental Modelling and Software Society (iEMSs) 2024, East Lansing, MI, June 23 - 29, 2024.