BASINS 3.0: New Tools for Improved Watershed Management

Abstract

The BASINS system was developed for the purpose of providing technical tools in support of EPA regulatory water quality programs. BASINS 3.0 does this by providing a range of detail in watershed models and by providing databases, data management tools, documentation, and other resources to make modeling waterbodies and watersheds easier. First released in 1996, the BASINS community has grown to over 3,000 U.S. and international users. BASINS 3.0 provides a range of watershed models from which watershed managers can select the one that best meets their needs with an appropriate level of model complexity, control scenario detail, uncertainty, and analysis cost. The three watershed models in BASINS 3.0 include: the complex Hydrological Simulation Program Fortran (HSPF) v12, and Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) models; and the simple PLOAD model. The development background as well as the functionality of each model will be described briefly in order to demonstrate their design purpose and relative modeling niche. A new system architecture, where each system function is packaged in a separate ArcView extension, will facilitate model/tool upgrades and system expansion.