Reclamation Information Sharing Environment (RISE)

A modeling suite has been developed for simulating vegetation lifecycle and the effects on hydraulics and sediment transport in the riparian environment. The models are based upon the SRH-2D package (Lai, 2010), which contains a two-dimensional flow and mobile bed sediment transport model. With combined support from Reclamation’s Science & Technology Program and the Albuquerque Area Office, the cumulative stress lifecycle model was applied to analyze revegetation alternative actions associated with a channel realignment project along a subreach of the Rio Grande in New Mexico. We analyzed the response of four species to three annual hydrographs that represent wet, average, and dry conditions. Relationships between hydrology, hydraulics, groundwater, and vegetation are complex, and the modeling provides useful insights by parameterizing variables and linking important physical processes. As originally scoped, the focus of the proposed study was to improve ability to predict scour in and around vegetated areas, utilizing the realignment project as a numerical case study. Updates to the vegetation model will be necessary in order to include the capabilities within a public-facing distribution of the SRH-2D modeling suite. We project these updates to be conducted under the umbrella of facilitated adoption and plan to propose support through Reclamation’s Research Office during fiscal year 2024.