Information infrastructure for integrated ecohydraulic and water resources modeling and assessment

Abstract

Watershed management increasingly requires ecohydraulic modeling and assessment within a regional context, rather than on a project-by-project basis. Such holistic modeling and assessment require evaluation capabilities across multiple temporal and spatial scales. Thus, modeling and assessment tools must be integrated in a scientifically and computationally effective infrastructure. The US Army Engineer Research and Development Center, in concert with the Hydrologic Engineering Center and its academic partners, including Brigham Young University, is establishing a comprehensive set of hydroinformatics modeling and assessment tools for ecohydraulic and water resources management applications, all linked based on a common data and information infrastructure. This paper presents the attributes of this information infrastructure and compares it with the analogous integration initiatives elsewhere. © IWA Publishing 2006.