Modeling & Analysis

California has complex water management systems with natural features like mountain snowpack, lakes, rivers, and groundwater basins that are managed with engineered features like reservoirs, levees/flood walls, weirs, culverts, bypasses, and canals. Models represent the complex physical interactions between these features in a conceptual way.  Models and other analytical tools help water managers make informed decisions about how best to manage water for people, farms, and the environment as well as to protect lives and properties from flooding. 

We develop and maintain a number of state-of-the-art models and analytical tools that describe how water flows, flood risk, and water quality in California’s rivers, groundwater basins and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, including current and future operations of  State and federal projects.