Development of a Hydrological Model for the Rio Conchos Basin
Publication: Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 18, Issue 3
Abstract
This paper focuses on calibration and validation of a hydrologic model of the Rio Conchos Basin, a main Mexican tributary of the binational Rio Grande Basin. The Rio Conchos provides approximately 55% of the water deliveries to the United States under the 1944 water treaty signed between both countries. The hydrologic modeling has been developed using the one-dimensional, two-layer soil moisture accounting scheme embedded in the Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) model. A 10-year period was used to calibrate the model, which was achieved by a trial-and-error method for the adjustment of the model parameters. The results show a Nash-Sutcliffe coefficient of 0.84 at Ojinaga station (mouth of the basin) and 0.81 at La Boquilla, indicating good model performance. In general the model predicts well the monthly, annual, and maximum flows; but there are significant differences between the model values and undeveloped (naturalized) flows for low flow periods, especially at La Boquilla station. For model validation, a special period of 10 years was used, corresponding to drought conditions in the basin. Results show a Nash-Sutcliffe coefficient of 0.88 at Ojinaga station, with error in annual volume less than 1% on average.
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Acknowledgments
This research was supported by a Ford Foundation scholarship to the first author. The authors appreciate the assistance of the Stockholm Environment Institute and the Mexican Institute of Water Technology (IMTA).
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 18 • Issue 3 • March 2013
Pages: 340 - 351
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 13, 2010
Accepted: Feb 13, 2012
Published online: Feb 15, 2012
Published in print: Mar 1, 2013
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