Version History

BASINS 4.5 Core

BASINS 4.5 Core is the first full BASINS release to be produced jointly by U.S. EPA National Exposure Research Laboratory (Computational Exposure Division) in Athens, Georgia and U.S. EPA Region 4 (Water Protection Division) in Atlanta, Georgia.

Version 4.5 Core of the Better Assessment Science Integrating Point and Nonpoint Sources (BASINS) system is a maintenance release that builds on Version 4.1 and earlier versions of the system.  See the User’s Manuals for the earlier versions for the team involved in the production of those versions of the system.

BASINS 4.5 Core provides the following additional enhancements and features:

• Complete replacement of all the data download libraries with the D4EM version of these libraries.  Data for Environmental Modeling, or D4EM, is a comprehensive set of tools that obtains and processes data to be used in mathematical environmental models. See http://www.epa.gov/athens/research/d4em.html for more information.
• Updates the HUC8 layer of the ‘Build New Project’ national map to use the March 2017 update of the Watershed Boundary Dataset (WBD).
• Provides access to both National Hydrography Dataset Plus (NHDPlus) version 1.0 and 2.1 through the data download tool.
• Updates the National Land Cover Database (NLCD) data download options to include 2011 land use and impervious area data
• Updates the North American Land Data Assimilation System (NLDAS) download to allow access to the full suite of meteorological constituents needed for watershed and in-stream models, as well as a new option to adjust time from UTC to the project time zone.
• In BASINS 4.5 Core, all model plugins are installed separately from the BASINS 4.5 Core install. A list of EPA provided Model Plug-ins, along with a short description of its function, is provided in the manual. WinHSPF and WASP plug-ins will continue to be supported by U.S. EPA.  The third-party model Plug-ins (such as SWAT, GWLF, SWMM and others) will be made available for installation but will not be supported by U.S. EPA.

BASINS 4.1.1

• BASINS 4.1.1 is a maintenance release of minor fixes.  It also includes updates to the URLs of downloaded datafiles. EPA went through a web server migration which means that data files are now available at a www3.epa.gov address. This release of BASINS may require the user to run BASINS As Administrator for downloads to work properly.

BASINS 4.1

• The current release of BASINS is built upon the latest stable release of the non-proprietary, open-source GIS MapWindow GIS (MapWindow websiteExit). Along with the update to the underlying GIS platform, the BASINS automatic watershed delineation tools have been updated to use TauDEM version 5 from Utah State University.
  
  The major functionality of two utilities, GenScn and WDMUtil, have been incorporated into the BASINS user interface. BASINS 4.1 now includes DFLOW, a tool to estimate design stream flows for use in water quality studies. BASINS 4.1 is 64-bit and Windows 8 compatible.

BASINS 4.0

• The first version of BASINS to be primarily based on a non-proprietary, open-source GIS foundation. MapWindow GIS (MapWindow websiteExit) is the lightweight open-source GIS upon which BASINS 4.0 is built. While not being dependent upon any proprietary GIS platform, the core of BASINS 4.0 is designed to complement and interoperate with enterprise and full-featured GIS systems. BASINS 4.0 can import and export projects from ArcView 3.x and ArcGIS 9.x. This interoperability allows users access to features available in these systems but not BASINS 4.0. Along with the change to the underlying GIS platform, the BASINS extensions were refactored as they were ported to the new system.

BASINS 3.0 and Earlier

Information about prior versions of BASINS is provided in the BASINS 4.1 User Manual(1 pg, 27 MB, 2013) .

BASINS 4.5 Core

BASINS 4.5 Core now contains only the core functionality of BASINS. Additional functionality is provided by a framework of plugins. All Model Plug-ins (U.S. EPA supported and third-party plugins) are packaged and installed separately. A list of Model Plug-ins, along with a short description of its function, is provided below and in the User’s Manual. WinHSPF and WASP model plug-ins will continue to be supported and maintained by U.S. EPA.  The remaining third-party model plug-ins are available for installation but will not be supported or maintained by U.S. EPA.

Plugins

Watershed Model plug-ins:

• WinHSPF is an interface to the Hydrological Simulation Program Fortran (HSPF). HSPF is a watershed scale model for estimating instream concentrations resulting from loadings from point and nonpoint sources (U.S. EPA supported).
• SWAT is a physical based, watershed scale model that was developed to predict the impacts of land management practices on water, sediment and agricultural chemical yields in large complex watersheds with varying soils, land uses and management conditions over long periods of time.  SWAT2005 is the underlying model that is run from the BASINS MapWindow interface.
• SWMM is a dynamic rainfall-runoff simulation model used for single event or long-term (continuous) simulation of runoff quantity and quality from primarily urban areas.  The routing portion of SWMM transports this runoff through a system of pipes, channels, storage/treatment devices, pumps, and regulators.

Instream / Water Quality Models:

• AQUATOX is a simulation model for aquatic systems that predicts the fate of various pollutants, such as nutrients and organic chemicals, and their effects on the ecosystem, including fish, invertebrates, and aquatic plants (U.S. EPA supported).
• WASP is a dynamic compartment-modeling program for aquatic systems, including both the water column and the underlying benthos (U.S. EPA supported).

Loading models:

• GWLF-E, an extension of the Generalized Watershed Loading Function (GWLF) model. GWLF-E is a ‘mid-level’ model that estimates monthly nutrient and sediment loads within a watershed.
• PLOAD, a pollutant loading model. PLOAD estimates nonpoint sources of pollution on an annual average basis, for any user-specified pollutant, using either the export coefficient or simple method approach.

BASINS 4.5 provides a number of significant improvements over BASINS 4.1. These improvements increase the functionality and applicability of BASINS. The major changes that have been incorporated into BASINS 4.1 are listed below.

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Significant Improvements:

• Complete replacement of all the data download libraries with the D4EM version of these libraries.  Data for Environmental Modeling, or D4EM, is a comprehensive set of tools that obtains and processes data to be used in mathematical environmental models. See http://www.epa.gov/athens/research/d4em.html for more information.
• Updates the HUC8 layer of the ‘Build New Project’ national map to use the March 2017 update of the Watershed Boundary Dataset (WBD).
• Provides access to both National Hydrography Dataset Plus (NHDPlus) version 1.0 and 2.1 through the data download tool.
• Updates the National Land Cover Database (NLCD) data download options to include 2011 land use and impervious area data
• Updates the North American Land Data Assimilation System (NLDAS) download to allow access to the full suite of meteorological constituents needed for watershed and in-stream models, as well as a new option to adjust time from UTC to the project time zone.
• In BASINS 4.5 Core, all model plugins are installed separately from the BASINS 4.5 Core install

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BASINS was developed to promote better assessment and integration of point and nonpoint sources in watershed and water quality management. It integrates several key environmental data sets with improved analysis techniques. Several types of environmental programs can benefit from the use and application of such an integrated system in various stages of environmental management planning and decision making.

• BASINS 4.5 Core Manual (PDF)(780 pp, 20 MB, January 2019)

Watershed Management Optimization Support Tool (WMOST) v3.01

Specifications

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WMOST Climate Scenario Viewer and Comparison Post Processor

ScenCompare is a MS-Excel application designed to view and compare WMOST scenario results. ScenCompare is compatible with MS-Excel (versions 2010, 2013 and 2016). The tool is specifically intended to allow comparison of WMOST results for different climate scenarios, but ScenCompare more generally allows comparison and evaluation of any sets of WMOST results to understand the effects of varying climate, land use, and other model inputs on the set of management actions selected by WMOST to meet the specified management goal at the lowest cost.

• WMOST ScenCompare User Instructions (PDF)(26 pp, 1 MB, July 2018, EPA/600/R-19/039)

Fill out the form to request a user ID and password for the Hydrologic Micro Services (HMS).

Introduction

Historically, legacy models have worked independently to solve specific questions. Most models do not have efficient automated input data provisioning services, resulting in modelers spending more time on input data gathering and pre-processing rather than analyzing model outputs. Environmental modeling is moving forward to meet the needs of multimedia platforms and interoperability between new data and models. To understand why results differ between one model to another, transparency of the methodology and reproducibility of data are needed. We developed a hydro-informatics platform called Hydrologic Micro Services (HMS) to address the importance of interoperability, transparency,  reproducibility, and efficiency in environmental modeling (Parmar et al., 2018).

HMS was created to break the barriers of old models and datasets constrained by legacy formats and connect them to newer formats, advanced models, and workflows. The motivation behind HMS was to support and address problems of the hydrology and water quality modeling community. We developed this tool for users including private, public and academic sectors on the local, state, and federal level. The HMS platform is a collection of hydrologic and water quality data provisioning web services and modeling components. HMS data provisioning web services purvey raw data through online script requests for hydrologic parameters including precipitation, air temperature, solar radiation, soil moisture, evapotranspiration, surface and subsurface flow, and runoff. A component is a distinct software module that the user can incorporate and link into existing models. For example, components that have been incorporated and compiled into HMS include normalized difference vegetation index, sediment diagenesis, eutrophication, and kinetic transformation of nutrients and chemicals. HMS enables users to rapidly characterize the hydrology of a watershed, reduce their time on data gathering and preprocessing, and to easily parameterize model workflows. One service of the HMS platform is the Precipitation Comparison and Analysis Tool (HMS-PCAT), which is the focus of this paper. HMS-PCAT provides an intuitive online interface for precipitation data source exploration and data download, irrespective of computing platforms or coding languages (Parmar et al., 2018).

References

Parmar, R., Knightes, C. D., Smith, D., Wolfe, K., Koblich, J., Sitterson, J., Johnston, J.M, and Purucker, T. (2018). Hydrological Micro Services. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 9th International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software, Fort Collins, CO.

Disclaimer

HMS platform is under development and is available only for evaluation and review purposes.

Contact HMS

Request access to HMS

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WMOST ScenCompare with Benefits Module

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Impact Purpose

EPA's Watershed Management Optimization Support Tool (WMOST) facilitates the application of integrated water management to solve water quantity and water quality problems at least cost. The new Benefits Module will allow users to monetize additional water-quality related benefits (ecosystem service benefits, reduced drinking water treatment costs) and cobenefits (non-water quality endpoints) of management actions to meet water quality goals such as loading targets. Management actions to reduce pollutant loads can have ancillary benefits and co-benefits that stakeholders may wish to consider in the decision-making process. The benefits module allows users to monetize these and cobenefits for comparison with capital and operation and maintenance costs of management actions already incorporated into WMOST. WMOST can be used to calculate the cost-savings associated with integrated management, e.g., flood risk reduction, or reduced infrastructure costs associated with combined sewer overflow treatment as stormwater runoff is reduced. However, management actions to meet water quantity and water quality goals can have additional benefits as well, such as improved residential property values associated with increased green space, ecosystem services provided by surface water that are valued by humans (including water-based recreation, aquatic biodiversity, wildlife support, aesthetics, and non-use values, reduced exposure to air pollutants leading to human health benefits, avoided costs for drinking water treatment, and reduced energy usage for heating and cooling related to reduced costs and reduced emissions of air pollutants (and associated health benefits).

Description

An updated version of the Scenario Comparison Tool (ScenCompare) has been developed that incorporates a Benefits Module for EPA’s Watershed Management Optimization Support Tool (WMOST). WMOST was developed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) to facilitate integrated water resources management. ScenCompare allows comparison and evaluation of any set of WMOST results to understand the effects of varying climate, land use, and other model inputs on the set of management actions selected by WMOST to meet the specified management goal at the lowest cost. The new Benefits Module for WMOST embedded within ScenCompare v. 2 enables stakeholders to calculate the value of additional water quality benefits associated with water resource management as well as additional co-benefits. Water quality benefits (or costs) include both changes in costs of drinking water treatment and total nonmarket benefits (i.e., use and nonuse) of water quality changes. Co-benefits valued include (1) change in housing property value due to improved aesthetic quality of the landscape from increases in green space, (2) air pollution removal and energy savings benefits related to canopy cover, and (3) air pollution removal and energy savings benefits related to green roofs.

• WMOST ScenCompare User Instructions (PDF)(50 pp, 2 MB, July 2020, EPA/600/B-20/242)
  ScenCompare with Benefits Module WMOST Climate Scenario Viewer and Comparison Post Processor User Instructions
• WMOST ScenCompare Theoretical Documentation (PDF)(35 pp, 1 MB, August 2020, EPA/600/B-20/244)
  WMOST ScenCompare with Benefits Module Theoretical Documentation