Delaware River Basin Modeling

The record northeastern United States drought of the 1960's has necessitated a detailed reappraisal of water resource systems previously proposed in the affected areas to determine the extent of changes in available yield. The ability to judge the competency of proposed engineer structures in the Delaware Basin to meet flow requirements has been hampered by the diversity of projects, the political constraints on existing projects in the upper portion of the basin, and numerous alternative demands on available surface water. To facilitate analysis of the effects of the record drought on systems yields, a mathematical modeling technique was developed to allow simulation of the lower Delaware Basin and proposed engineering structures. The technique and its application to the Delaware are analyzed. The results of the reappraisal of project yields utilizing the model are presented and compared with pre-1960 yield estimates.