Water-Energy Simulation Toolset (WEST)
Model Description
The Water-Energy Simulation Toolset (WEST) is an interactive simulation model that helps visualize impacts of different stakeholders on water quantity and quality of a watershed. The case study is applied for the Snake River Basin with the fictional name Cutthroat River Basin. There are four groups of stakeholders of interest: hydropower, agriculture, flood control, and environmental protection. Currently, the quality component depicts nitrogen-nitrate contaminant. Users can easily interact with the model by changing certain inputs (climate change, fertilizer inputs, etc.) to observe the change over the entire system. Users can also change certain parameters to test their management policy for both water quantity and quality.
Prerequisites
To run and modify the model, users need the following:
- The model package, which includes a Powersim Studio (.sip) file and an input Excel file. Place both files in the same folder before running the model.
- Approximately 290 MB of disk space for the Powersim Studio file.
- A free Powersim Studio Cockpit license to interact with the model through the user interface described in Section 2. The license can be downloaded from this link.
- To modify temperature and precipitation values, edit the input Excel file for each sub-region in the Cutthroat Basin.
- A Powersim Studio Professional, Expert or Premium license to view or modify the model structure. More information about software licenses is available here.
- A Powersim Studio Expert or Premium license is recommended for WEST because the large number of variables and components may require additional performance to maintain reasonable simulation speed and avoid system crashes.
Methodology
The model is implemented using an object-oriented system dynamics computer-aided modeling methodology, creating a backbone for future analysis of energy-water interdependency. The software is Powersim Studio. The model also uses input from an Excel sheet (included) for historical temperatures and precipitation. The model is simulated from 1967 to 2057. The first 20 years are used for model initialization.
There are 6 main components in WEST: reservoir, agriculture, hydropower, groundwater, nitrogen and phosphorous as shown in the diagram below.
License
This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
Funding Source
This project was funded by INL’s lab-directed R&D funding source, supplemented by funding from the Environmental Protection Agency.
This project is not currently supported by Idaho National Laboratory as production grade software but is being made available to the public. Please use at your own risk. This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
Connect with our Team
Questions about this tool or its applications?
Connect with our team for information about the model, documentation and available resources.
Ruby Nguyen
Robert Fredrick Jeffers
Jacob Jacobson