The Use of Decision Support System Models to Assist Water Planning at Central Arizona Project

Abstract

In the past, Central Arizona Project (CAP) has implemented different planning applications such as long range forecasts to determine water storage needs, financial planning, and drought preparedness. Currently, CAP is incorporating a holistic water resources planning program that includes Integrated Resource Planning (IRP), Scenario Planning (SP), and the utilization of Decision Support System (DSS) modeling tools, etc. Within the DSS framework, CAP is using the RiverWareplatform-based Colorado River Simulation System (CRSS) and System Dynamics (SD) modeling environments to assist in CAP's water resources planning activities. This analysis focuses on presenting the implementation of two DSS models to create and simulate a variety of plausible scenarios under the context of CAP’s water resources management objectives. These tools will be instrumental in providing decision making support, and will provide information that can be used to define the optimal solutions that address the issues that CAP manages. Water resources DSS modeling tools will continue to be of great importance for areas in the southwest-US that are prone to climate variability, including droughts.