ESSIC/CISESS Assistant Research Professor Thomas Wild recently released software to the public that has been used by river basin stakeholders in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam for infrastructure planning in the Mekong River Basin.
The software, SedSim, is an open-source model for simulating water and sediment flows as well as hydropower production in networks of reservoirs and river channels. The software enables water resources systems analysts and planners to explore alternative system configurations of reservoir sites, designs, and operating policies and their implications for water flows, sediment transport, reservoir sediment trapping, and hydropower production in any river basin.
The model enables simulation of a wide range of reservoir sediment management techniques, including flushing, sluicing, density current venting, bypassing, and dredging. Wild hopes that this tool can be used by planners in other river basins facing similar intensive hydropower development pressure.
Click here for more information about the model: “SedSim: A River Basin Simulation Screening Model for Reservoir Management of Sediment, Water, and Hydropower”. The model is freely available at www.github.com/FeralFlows/SedSim.
