National Weather Service Professional Development Series Professional Competency Unit

Description of Job Duty Competency to be Achieved

Assess the results of the reservoir routing process as applied to current and forecast hydrometeorologic conditions.

Description of Need

The existence of reservoirs has a significant impact on flow at downstream forecast locations. In situations when the future discharges from a reservoir are not provided by the operating agency, the forecaster must determine whether the reservoir operations model will adequately simulate expected releases.

Specific Job Task Skills and Knowledge

1. Know the basics of how a reservoir will function during various inflow regimes, depending on its purpose(s).

2. Know the operating procedures used for each reservoir in the area of responsibility.

3. Know the assumptions made in the simulation of operations for each reservoir in the area of responsibility.

4. Know how to perform simple reservoir modeling using simple, widely- used techniques such as Goodrich routing.

Instructional Components

Instructional Component 6.1: - Web Module (Proposed): Operation of Reservoirs. This module will describe how reservoirs designed for different purposes are operated, including the following:

The module will be written from an reservoir operator's perspective and will describe how to interpret reservoir operation manuals and guidelines. This module will provide a foundation for other workshops on reservoir operations and routing.

Instructional Component 6.3 - Web Module (Proposed): NWSRFS Reservoir Operations. This module will serve as a companion to the Reservoir Operations Workshop and will describe how reservoir operations are simulated within the NWSRFS environment. This module will include subjects covered in NWSRFS documentation, but will employ more user-friendly language, improved graphics, and numerical examples of frequently used features.

Instructional Component 6.4 - Workshop: Reservoir Operations. This workshop focuses on the reservoir operations available in NWSRFS, i.e., RES-SNGL, SSARRESV, and RES-J. Topics covered include: setting up the operations in NWSRFS, their operational use, and strengths of each operation.

Instructional Component 6.5 - On-Station Training: Reservoir Operations. RFCs will host visits by reservoir operators, or conduct visits to selected reservoir operation facilities, to learn first-hand about how the specific facilities are operated during various hydrologic situations.

Instructional Component 6.6 - NWSRFS Documentation: Section II.4-RES-J: Joint Reservoir Regulation Operation Methods Descriptions describes the background, mathematical relationships, and parameters used in the Joint Reservoir Regulation operation. Section V.3.3-RES-J provides a summary of the methods which serve as basic building blocks to the Joint Reservoir Regulation Operation. Both sections cover the following methods:

Instructional Component 6.7 - NWSRFS Documentation: Section II.4-RES-SNGL: Single Reservoir Regulation provides a basic description of the interactions between components (schemes) used in the Single Reservoir Regulation operation. For each of these schemes, documentation on background, mathematical relationships, and parameters from Section II.4 can be obtained by clicking on the scheme title in the left column below (labeled "Summary"). Section V.3.3-RES-SNGL, Section V.3.3-SNGL-GENL, and Section V.3.3-SNGL-SPEC summarize the inputs and outputs to components used in the Single Reservoir Operation, while information on specific inputs and outputs for each component can be obtained by clicking on the title in the right column below (labeled "Operation").

Instructional Component 6.8 - NWSRFS Documentation: Section II.4-SSARRESV: SSARR Reservoir Regulation. This section describes the background, mathematical relationships, and parameters used in the SSARR Reservoir Regulation model. Section V.3.3-SSARRESV describes input and output information for the SSARR Reservoir Regulation operation.

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