ATTENDING:

Members attending were the following:

Members who were unable to attend include:

George Leavesley (represented by Steve Markstrom) of the US Geological Survey, Don
Woodward of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Glenn Austin of National Weather Service, Vijay Singh of Louisiana State University, Pete Hawkins of the University of Arizona, Jayantha Obeysekera of the South Florida Water Management District and Bob Goldstein of Electric Power Research Institute.

The meeting was called to order at 8:05 am. Participants informally introduced themselves.

The agenda for the meeting was briefly reviewed and there were no changes suggested.

BACKGROUND:

Ming Tseng gave an overview of the history of the Subcommittee on Hydrology and the process through which the Task Group on Hydrologic Modeling was set up. The subcommittee reports to the Advisory Council on Water Information and, with its associated task groups, has recently been opened to participation by interested groups and individuals outside of the federal government.

Action: Ming Tseng will distribute an organizational chart showing the relationship
between the Advisory Committee on Water Information and its various subcommittees and task committees. Ming will also send out the terms of reference for the Subcommittee on Hydrology.

The history of conferences on hydrologic modeling was also discussed. A federal conference on Hydrologic Modeling was held in Fort Collins, Colorado in 1993. It was attended by about 100 to 150 modelers representing those federal agencies most actively involved in hydrologic modeling. A second conference - open to non-federal participants was held in Las Vegas in 1998. About 400 experts in hydrologic modeling attended this conference.

Action: Don Frevert will send Ray Whittemore a set of proceedings from the 1998 Las
Vegas conference.

The Subcommittee on Hydrology authorized this task group earlier in the year with the idea of exploring the need for continuing those hydrologic modeling coordination efforts.

Ray Whittemore noted that EPA has formed a Models 2000 Group, which met in December 1997 in Athens, GA. Other members of the task group had not been aware of this meeting and it was noted that efforts to get EPA actively involved in the Subcommittee on Hydrology had not been successful to date. It was agreed that it was important to facilitate communications between the Task Group on Hydrologic Modeling and the Models 2000 group. Potential EPA contacts for the Models 2000 group include Rosemary Russo and Linda Kirkland.

Action: Ray Whittemore will distribute information on the activities of the Models 2000 group to the members of the Hydrologic Modeling Task Group. Ray will also make contact with EPA and inform them about the activities of our task group.

Action: All members of the Hydrologic Modeling Task Group will work to disseminate
information on the group's activities within their own organizations.

DISCUSSION OF LONG RANGE OBJECTIVES OF TASK GROUP:

It was agreed that the emphasis of the group should be in the area of surface water and that the terms of reference for the group should include language along the lines of "Enhance effective communication among hydrologic modelers, users and stakeholders".

The group agreed that major long-term objectives should include:

• Fostering the sharing of models between developers and users,
• Working to improve the coordination and communication across the hydrologic modeling
  community identifying not just use, but also misuse of models,
• Evaluating the need for model calibration, verification, validation and uncertainty analysis,
• Listing or cataloging sources of information available on hydrologic models
• Listing or cataloging sources of data useful for hydrologic models
• Cataloging available models with respect to temporal and spatial capabilities and limitations
• Identifying the purposes and strengths of available models
• Identifying the sensitivity and limitations of available models
• Developing a list of modelers including government agencies, universities, institutes and
  consultants,
• Identifying modeling initiatives and ongoing development efforts,
• Establishing a database (list) of proven algorithms and subroutines related to hydrologic
  modeling and encouraging the sharing of such routines,
• Assessing the use of surface water quantity data and models in other disciplines (including, for
  example, ecological, estuary and urban hydrology studies) and identifying other users and
  uses and
• Evaluating the former Standard Data Exchange Format, identifying the terminology now in use
  and ways in which it may be misused, facilitating the standardization of definitions and
  terminology (for example the use of "watershed") in the field of hydrologic modeling

It was also agreed that the task group should work toward holding a conference in 2002. This conference will be similar in scope and breadth of participation to the 1998 Federal Interagency Hydrologic Modeling Conference held in Las Vegas.

DISCUSSION OF SHORT RANGE OBJECTIVES OF TASK GROUP:

In preparation for the 2002 conference, the task group will sponsor a workshop in the fall of 2000. The goal will be to have 50 to 100 participants representing a broad group of agencies, universities, institutes, private firms and other organizations. It was felt that a broad-based group of this size could carry on a productive dialogue and start the planning and organizing process for the 2002 conference. It was agreed that each federal agency involved in the task group should recommend one university, one state agency and one private consulting firm to participate in the workshop. All members of the task group will be invited to participate. Also, suggestions for possible "champions" to organize/lead the workshop are needed.

Action: Each member of the task group will send these recommendations to Don Frevert by October 1.

Federal agencies that should be represented at the workshop include:

One or two empowered participants from each agency will be sought.

Action: Ron Spath will follow up with the National Weather Service regarding who will
represent them in the workshop.

The group agreed that early November 2000 would be the preferred time to hold this workshop and that the workshop should be about 1 1/2 days long. It was also agreed that it would be desirable, if possible, to hold the workshop in conjunction with a professional society meeting.

Action: Arlen Feldman, Ray Whittemore and Steve Markstrom will make a first cut at the program for the workshop and distribute it to the other members of the task group for review by October 1.

Action: Ray Whittemore will look into the possibility of coordinating the 2000 workshop with an American Water Resources Association meeting and report back to the group.

Action: Ming Tseng will talk to Doug Glysson regarding funding for the 2000 workshop, facilities, etc and also whether Doug would be willing to work with the task group on the arrangements for the 2002 conference.

IDENTIFICATION OF MILEPOSTS:

The following mileposts were identified:

October 1, 1999 - All recommended participants and suggestions for a champion will be submitted to Don Frevert,

October 1, 1999 - The first draft of the program for the 2000 workshop will be distributed to the task group for review,

November 4, 1999 - The task group will agree on objectives, prioritize those objectives and make assignments for leads on each one,

November, 2000 - A workshop to initiate the planning process for the 2002 hydrologic
modeling conference will be held, 2002 - The hydrologic modeling conference will be held

NEXT MEETING:

The task group will meet in Washington DC on Thursday, November 4. This will be a full day meeting.

Action: Ming Tseng will arrange for a meeting room and inform the task group.

ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 1:05 pm.