Programming support for update of Coordinated Great Lakes Regulation and Routing Model

Year
2015
Topic

Water Quantity

Project Description

The overall objective of this project is to develop a new, authoritative, coordinated numerical model that efficiently and accurately simulates water levels and connecting channel flows in the Great Lakes system given user-specified net basin supply scenarios. The new regulation and routing model would replace the current Coordinated Great Lakes Regulation and Routing Model (CGLRRM), which has been employed since the 1990s, but which is poorly documented and becoming increasingly outdated and difficult to use. The new model is developed to meet the needs of a variety of users. It will be used by GLAM plan formulators to simulate Great Lakes water levels and flows under alternative regulation strategies and future water supply scenarios and changing climate conditions and evaluate their impacts. The new model will also be used by the Lake Superior Board of Control, who operationally runs Plan 2012 using the current CGLRRM model, and by the St. Lawrence Board of Control, who operationally run Plan 1958-D using alternative tools developed by the agencies, and by both these Boards and the agencies to forecast water levels and flows under various water supply scenarios. Furthermore, academic and other researchers will be able to access the new model and its documentation, and use it for their own research initiatives and/or those in support of GLAM, the Great Lakes Boards, and the government agencies.

Outcome

Complete

Partners

ECCC, NOAA, USACE