Real-Time Integrated Watershed Management of the Big Cypress Basin, Florida

Effective operational management of a watershed requires the integration of real-time information about current conditions in the watershed with decision support tools that can reliably forecast the expected behavior of the watershed and evaluate the impact of operational decisions, such as alternative gate operations, in advance. A state-of the-art real-time watershed management system for the Big Cypress Basin, Florida is presented. This region has a unique hydrological regime, with close connection between surface water and groundwater and a complex managed drainage network with many structures. Novel aspects of this system include state-of-the art data assimilation methods to improve forecast accuracy and the use of fully distributed and integrated modeling to represent the close interaction between surface water and ground water. Performance results are presented for Tropical Storm Fay in 2008. This represents a major step towards the comprehensive real-time operational management of water resources and water quality within a watershed.