Water Assessment Model Modifications

The Florida Watershed Restoration Act and Federal TMDL program requires the development of TMDLs for pollutants that result in non-attainment of water quality standards, allocation of those loads among point and nonpoint sources, and implementation to achieve water quality standards. WAM has been applied by the St. Johns River Water Management District (WMD), Suwannee River WMD and South Florida WMD to assist in the development of pollutant load reduction goals (PLRGs). Also, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has used this model for a TMDL project in the Myakka River Basin, Florida.

The specific objectives of this project funded by Fla. Dept. of Environmental Protection was to enhance the WAM model. The following five enhancements were completed in 2003 as part of this project: 1) Linking the In-Stream Water Quality Model (WASP) to WAM; 2) Incorporate NEXRAD Rainfall Data; 3) Expand “Area of Interest” Feature; 4) Reduce Model Runtime; and 5) Enhance Flow Structures. The Department was trained on both the enhanced modules as well as the general use of the WAMView model.