1. 2019 Fischer Award Presentation
The Sacramento Water Allocation Model (SacWAM): A model for in-stream flow policy analysis
2019 Fischer Award Presentation
Chuck Young

2. What was the motivation?
State Water Resources Control Board
Protect Bay-Delta watershed and its many beneficial uses
Charged with adopting and updating the Water Quality Control Plan for the Delta
Establishes water quality control measures and flow requirements to provide reasonable protection of beneficial uses in the watershed
Need to address the prolonged and precipitous decline of native aquatic species in the Bay-Delta

3. What was the modeling challenge?
Needed a tool that represents:
the Sacramento Basin + Eastside Streams (COS, MOK, CAL)
CVP and SWP operations
Delta flows and operations
Operations of other projects (EBMUD, PCWA, NID, PG&E, SCWA, YCFCWCD, SMUD, YCWA)
Needed a tool with the ability to simulate:
flows at key locations throughout the Valley
“unimpaired” flows

4. Upper Watershed Operations
Middle Fork Project
PCWA, SMUD, EBMUD, NID, PG&E, SCWA, YCFCWCD, YCWA, EID, CCWD, SSWD, SEWD

5. Valley Floor Demands
Settlement contractors
Project contracts
Non project irrigators
Urban areas
Refuges

6. Points of interest Flow calculations made at important locations:
Major dams
Flow gauges
Tributary mouths

7. Additional Features Integrated daily crop water model based on FAO56
Optional upper watershed rainfall runoff simulation
Developed in the WEAP software
Georeferenced
Easy to use GUI
Facilitates scenario analysis

8. SacWAM Development - A group effort
Initiated by
Scott Ligare, Eleanor Bartolomeo, David Purkey
Water Board
Matt Holland, Vadim Demchuk, Alessia Siclari Melchor
SEI
Chuck Young, Jack Sieber, Brian Joyce, Anne Hereford, Susie Bresney
Stantec
Andy Draper, Ailsa Mcculloch, Tom FitzHugh

9. Thank You