Validation of SWRRB—Simulator for Water Resources in Rural Basins

Abstract

A model called SWRRB (simulator for water resources in rural basins) was developed for simulating hydrologic and related processes in rural basins. The SWRRB model was developed by modifying the CREAMS (chemicals, runoff, and erosion from agricultural management systems) daily rainfall hydrology model for application to large, complex, rural, basins. The three major components of SWRRB are weather, hydrology, and sedimentation. Processes considered include surface runoff, return flow, percolation, evapotranspiration, transmission losses, pond and reservoir storage, sedimentation, and crop growth. SWRRB has been tested on 11 large watersheds from eight Agricultural Research Service (ARS) locations throughout the United States. The results show SWRRB can realistically simulate water and sediment yields under a wide range of soils, climate, land‐use, topography, and management conditions. SWRRB should provide a versatile and convenient tool for use in planning and designing water resources projects.