Cova water analysis

Water Supply Analysis

The Department of Environmental Quality's Office of Surface and Ground Water Supply is responsible for water supply planning and permitting in Virginia. As part of this activity, staff engages in extensive data collection and analysis in order to assess cumulative impacts to state water resources. The factors considered in our water supply analyses include the interaction of regulations, permit conditions, water supply infrastructure, meteorology, use types and use patterns on all beneficial uses, but in-stream and off-stream. These analyses take place in various time scales, which include permit terms, and future planning horizons of 30-50 years.

Activities and Analysis Tools

• Analysis ACtivities Underway
  • DEQ/VT BSE Analysis Group
• Drought Prediction, Assessment and Response
  • Recharge Period Precipitation and Flow Analysis
• Cumulative Impact Analysis
  • Water Availability / Cumulative Supply Impacts
    • Water Supply Permit Analysis
    • Water Supply Plan Analysis
  • Design and Coding for Cumulative Impact Analysis
  • In-stream Flows:
    • Basic Concepts in Modeling Flow Ecology relationships
    • HWI Assessment of Flow-Ecology Relationships in Virginia
      • Migration to COVA Analytical Framework
    • Project to implement the Nature Conservancy's "Indicators of Hydrologic Alteration" (IHA) in R
    • Integration of Weighted Usable Area models from IFIM studies
• Analysis Tools:
  • Integrated Surface Water Modeling Framework in WOOOMM
    • Creating Custom End-User Data and Model Execution Interface
  • Applications
• Reporting and Data Management
  • VWUDS - Virginia Water Use Data System
  • WSP - Water Supply Plan Development
    • Section 70 and 80 of Water Supply Plan Regulation
    • Evaluating the State Water Resources Plan
  • Provision of Remote Data Services for external analysis
• Training
  • Modeling and Analysis for Water Supply Permit Writers
• Project Needs / Future Focus Areas
  • Projects in Collaboration with VA Water Science Center USGS