South Platte Decision Support System (SPDSS) System Integration

Riverside Technology, inc. (RTi) has worked with the Colorado Water Conservation Board for several years creating and enhancing Colorado’s Decision Support Systems (CDSS). RTi is currently focusing on the implementation of the SPDSS for the South Platte basin. The objective of the SPDSS is to provide data and tools to support making informed decisions about South Platte water resources.

Irrigation classification using   GIS and satellite imagery

RTi’s tasks focus on performing irrigated lands assessment within the basin, creating a spatial database, enhancing existing CDSS database and modeling tools, enhancing the existing data products and web site, and providing system integration and support services to State of Colorado staff and consultants who are working on the project.

Riverside Technology, inc. is developing the spatial systems component of the South Platte DSS, beginning with a comprehensive Geographic Information System (GIS) database and spatial analysis tools. The GIS database includes a seamless, high resolution, digitial orthophoto base for the entire study area. This image base is being prepared in a compressed digital format to allow archive and rapid display of the images, which have a ground resolution of less than two meters. This base is being used with 30 multi-temporal satellite images to map an estimated 1.5 million acres of irrigated lands in the basin and to estimate the consumptive water use for each irrigation diversion and for irrigation wells in the basin. The mapping is being completed in consultation with State of Colorado water resource managers, water conservancy districts and hundreds of irrigation ditch companies and water users. In addition, RTi is developing a number of specialized GIS data generation and visualization tools for use in maintaining the extensive water resources database and for using the SPDSS for managing the water resources of the South Platte River.

RTi previously implemented decision support systems for the Colorado and Rio Grande basins, starting in 1994. Building on these efforts, RTi is enhancing the system to migrate to newer technologies, increase re-use of system components, and streamline data processing. The resulting system will offer StateView as the viewing tool for the State’s HydroBase database, StateDMI as a tool to prepare model data sets from HydroBase, TSTool to view and analyze time series data, and the StateMod graphical user interface to display and edit model data sets. The data in HydroBase and the spatial data layers are being used in an integrated fashion to simplify data review and processing for modeling. RTi also is updating the Colorado Water Rights Administration Tool (CWRAT) to current technologies and include new display features to aid water administrators. All enhancements are occurring in way that allows the tools to be used on all CDSS efforts.

The SPDSS project will continue to be a focus of RTi for several years.

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