Water Resource Planning Projects

Short-Term Water Demand Forecasting

INTERA developed a web-based demand forecasting system to assist Tampa Bay Water staff to develop demand forecasts for one week to one year into the future based on known historical demand as well as other influences such as weather.  The WDFS allows water managers to test various management scenarios and optimize the use of their water supply portfolio to meet actual and project demands.

DSS for Water Availability Assessment

INTERA was retained by Santa Fe County, New Mexico, to identify potential locations for new supply wells in the Espaola Basin of northern New Mexico to serve the County.  Population in the County is growing rapidly and the County is taking a proactive approach to supplement its existing water-supply portfolio.  INTERA developed a decision support system (DSS) to determine best potential supply well locations based on attributes that define desirable potential locations for supply wells.  The DSS was programmed into a GIS-based system and thus provided a structured and reproducible decision framework that could be easily explained to stakeholders and justified by County decision-makers.  The DSS was used in conjunction with a regional groundwater availability model that INTERA developed to quantitatively evaluate the potential supply-well locations identified during the DSS screening. The DSS combined with the regional model provides the County with a solid set of decision-making tools for analyzing and managing future water supply alternatives.

Regional Water Supply Study

INTERA performed a water resources evaluation for the Jemez y Sangre Planning Region through a systematic evaluation of regional surface water, groundwater, and weather processes. The planning region was divided into ten sub-basins to facilitate a more detailed evaluation of water resources on a sub-regional scale. INTERA's water supply study constituted one of a series of steps that the Jemez y Sangre Water Planning Council is taking to provide for management of the water supplies in its planning region. Activities simultaneous with and subsequent to the water supply assessment made it possible for the Council to produce a regional water management plan, which was one of several water plans being prepared for regions in New Mexico. 

Lower Guadalupe Water Supply Project

INTERA provided support for a Conceptual Delivery Study as part of the Lower Guadalupe Water Supply Project in Texas. The study was a joint effort between the San Antonio Water Supply, the San Antonio River Authority (SARA) and the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority (GBRA). Project tasks for the Conceptual Delivery Study included evaluating availability and sustainability of both surface and groundwater supplies, supply well siting studies, and evaluation of other potential water supply sources for the project.