Colorado’s Decision Support Systems (CDSS)

Riverside Technology, inc. (RTi) has been the primary systems integrator and software developer for CDSS, funded by the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) and the Colorado Division of Water Resources (DWR). Development of CDSS began with work on the Colorado River Decision Support System (CRDSS, 1993), followed by the Rio Grande Decision Support System (RGDSS, 1999), and the South Platte Decision Support System (SPDSS, 2002). RTi has been involved with feasibility studies, system design, and implementation at each phase.

The overall goal of the CDSS is to help State agencies, water providers, and water users to make informed decisions regarding major water issues and policies. The CDSS consists of data that characterize the physical and administrative features of the river basins, and tools that provide enhanced water administration and water resource planning capabilities. The system gives State agencies, water users, and managers a better means for organizing and accessing a wide range of water resources information, and for evaluating alternative management strategies in response to increases in population and demand, droughts, and endangered species issues, and interstate compacts.

RTi has helped the State design and implement the HydroBase database, containing historical, real-time, and administrative water resources data, and links to spatial data. RTi also has developed software to display and analyze HydroBase data. Tools have been developed to process database and other data into model data sets in a way that documents data filling and edits and allows data sets to be recreated at a later time. RTi also developed the graphical user interface for the surface water model (see figure above). All tools use consistent components to increase usability. This data-centered approach facilitates data sharing and streamlines data processing on large data sets.

The CDSS projects have incrementally enhanced the decision support framework, allowing for more data quality review, increased data analysis and modeling, and an ability to answer more challenging and complicated questions. RTi continues to work with the State of Colorado to enhance and apply the system.

2290 East Prospect Road, Suite 1, Fort Collins, Colorado 80525  (970) 484–7573  (970) 484–7593 Fax www.riverside.com   info@riverside.com