Contact: Gregor Auble
This is a macro-embedded EXCEL program that calculates and displays indicators representing valued characteristics or processes in Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park based on input of daily flows of the Gunnison River. The program is designed to easily accept input from downloaded stream gage records or output from the RIVERWARE reservoir operations model being used for the upstream Aspinall Unit.
The decision support system is structured to compare as many as eight alternative flow regimes, where each alternative is represented by a daily sequence of at least 20 calendar years of streamflow. Indicators include selected flow statistics, riparian plant community distribution, clearing of box elder by inundation and scour, several measures of sediment mobilization, trout fry habitat, and federal reserved water rights. Calculation of variables representing National Park Service federal reserved water rights requires additional secondary input files pertaining to forecast and actual basin inflows and storage levels in Blue Mesa reservoir.
Example input files which represent a range of situations including historical, reconstructed natural, and simulated alternative reservoir operations are provided with the software.
Download and read the ReadMeFirst.pdf file from this page and then download the compressed zipped BCG directory. This directory contains a user guide, the EXCEL program, and a subdirectory of example data files and their descriptions. The program is pre-set to access data files with a path assuming that the BCG directory is extracted or unzipped to C:\BCG\. Any drive or location will work, you will just have to edit these pre-set locations in the Input Specification sheet after starting the program. You will also have to enable macros in order for the program to work. If you encounter difficulties with the program please contact AskFORT@usgs.gov.
The user guide is also available as:
Auble, G.T., Wondzell, M., and Talbert, C., 2009, Decision support system for evaluation of Gunnison River flow regimes with respect to resources of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2009–1126, 25 pp.
Available online at: http://www.fort.usgs.gov/Products/Publications/pub_abstract.asp?PubID=22616
U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://www.fort.usgs.gov/Products/Software/BCGDSS/Default.asp
Page Contact Information: AskFORT
Page Last Modified: 8:04:00 AM
