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Title: SITES INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT FOR WATERSHEDS WITH MULTIPLE RESERVOIRS

Author
item Temple, Darrel
item NEILSEN, MITCHELL - KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY

Submitted to: American Society of Civil Engineers Water Resources Conference Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/20/2000
Publication Date: 6/20/2000
Citation: Temple, D.M., Neilsen, M.L. 2000. SITES integrated development environment for watersheds with multiple reservoirs. In Flug, M. and Frevert, D. (eds.) Watershed Management 2000, Science and Engineering Technology for the New Millennium, 20-24 June 2000, Fort Collins, CO. American Society Civil Engineers, Reston, VA. 7 pp. CD-ROM.

Interpretive Summary: Many of the upland flood control dams constructed with the assistance of the U.S. Department of Agriculture are reaching the end of their planned service life. To continue to perform efficiently and effectively, many of these structures will require attention in the form of rehabilitation. Today's technical tools for determining what needs to be done in this area include specialized software for use with the modern desktop computer. Recent technological advances in the area of reservoir system analysis have been incorporated into software utilizing a modern graphical user interface. This software assists professionals in the determination of the safety of existing water control structures, the best approach to rehabilitation, if needed, and in the design of any new structures needed within the system. This software is now available for use by the USDA and others in the dam safety community.

Technical Abstract: Development of rehabilitation plans for watershed dams requires re-analysis of the upstream watershed using current hydrologic and hydraulic design criteria, and current stage-storage information. The Natural Resources Conservation Service software, SITES, developed with the assistance of the Agricultural Research Service and Kansas State University, has recently been upgraded to analyze watersheds containing multiple reservoirs within modern, windows-based, Integrated Development Environment. A beta test version of this software is scheduled to be released for public use in the spring of 2000, and the final version is anticipated to be available in 2001. The environment consists of a full graphical user interface for the SITES software, with extensive help to guide the user through the data entry and to assist in interpretation of output. The environment allows the user to interactively compare and contrast design alternatives. SITES is the successor to the SCS DAMS2 program that was used in the original desig of many of these dams, and a utility is being developed to assist in the conversion of old data sets to the current format. Among other features, the modern version of the software is capable of developing auxiliary spillway ratings based on vegetal retardance, and analyzing the potential for spillway breach at design flows. This report reviews key features of SITES and provides an overview of its application to watersheds with multiple flood control dams using the Integrated Development Environment.