Urban Watershed Models: Continuing to Use Them After the Project is Complete

In late 2018, the City of Madison, Wisconsin began a Watershed Study Program in response to the historical storm events that occurred earlier that year. The purpose of the program is to study all 22 of the City’s watersheds and develop solutions to reduce future flood risk. For each watershed, a computer model of the existing conditions was created. Proposed stormwater management scenarios were evaluated to understand what could be done to reduce flood risk. Because of the investment made into the development of the watershed models, the City wanted three main ongoing uses of the computer models and results: the computer models to remain current, or, as the City calls it “Living Models”; 2) the computer modeling results to be available to the public so they can understand the flood risk of their property; and 3) to use the computer modeling results to inform development projects in the City.