WHATIF: Watershed Health Assessment Tools Investigating Fisheries

WHATIF is software that integrates a number of calculators, tools, and models for assessing the health of watersheds and streams with an emphasis on fish communities in the Mid-Atlantic Highland region. The tool set consists of hydrologic and stream geometry calculators, a fish assemblage predictor, a fish habitat suitability calculator, macro-invertebrate biodiversity calculators, and a process-based model to predict biomass dynamics of stream biota (the BASS model). The tools can be used to assess conditions and associated stressors in aquatic ecosystems, to examine causes of impairment, and to forecast ecological outcomes of habitat alterations and fisheries management actions. WHATIF also supports screening analysis, such as prioritization of areas for restoration and comparison of alternative watershed and habitat management scenarios.

http://www.epa.gov/ceampubl/fchain/whatif/index.htm

VSAFT: Variably Saturated Flow and Transport Simulation Software

Subsurface/Soil Hydraulics Analysis Software

VSAFT2 is a MSWindows Graphical User Interface (GUI) for setting up, running, calibrating, and doing inverse simulation on variably saturated flow and transport using either a rectangular or triangular element mesh in 2 dimensions. VSAFT2 couples a simple interface for quickly setting up problems with a powerful inverse parameter estimation method.

VSAFT3, a three dimensional version of VSAFT2, will be available soon, with similar capabilities to VSAFT2, but capable of simulating flow and transport for 3D geometries.

http://tian.hwr.arizona.edu/yeh/downloads.html

Downloadable ebook: Groundwater Hydrology Beginning Course Instructor's Guide

Study Guide for a Beginning Course in Ground-Water Hydrology, Part 2: Instructor's Guide
USGS Open-File Report 92-637

O Lehn Franke, Thomas E Reilly, Ralph J Haefner, and Dale L Simmons

http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1992/ofr_92-637/index.html

Includes: fundamental concepts and definitions; dimensions and conversion of units; water budgets; characteristics of earth materials related to hydrogeology; occurrence of subsurface water; pressure and hydraulic head; preparation and interpretation of water-table maps; ground-water/surface-water relations; darcy's law; transmissivity; aquifers, confining layers , unconfined and confined flow; ground-water storage; ground-water flow equation; system concept; information required to describe a ground-water system; preliminary conceptualization of a ground-water system; answer to the third unnumbered assignment under "preliminary conceptualization of a ground-water system"; analysis of ground-water systems through use of flow nets; regional ground-water flow and depiction of ground-water systems by means of hydrogeologic maps and sections; geology and the occurrence of ground water; description of a real ground-water system; source of water to a pumped well; role of numerical simulation in analyzing ground-water systems; concept of ground-water flow to wells; analysis of flow to a well-- introduction to basic analytical solutions; analysis of flow to a well-- applying analytical solutions to specific problems; concept of superposition and its application to well-hydraulic problems; aquifer tests; background and field procedures related to ground-water contamination; physical mechanisms of solute transport in ground water

Downloadable ebook: Groundwater Hydrology Beginning Course Study Guide

Study Guide for a Beginning Course in Ground-Water Hydrology, Part 1: Course Participants
USGS Open File Report 90-183

O Lehn Franke, Thomas E Reilly, Ralph J Haefner, and Dale L Simmons

http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1990/ofr90-183/html/pdf.html

Includes: background, purpose and scope, and technical qualifications for users of study guide; annotated list of selected references in ground-water hydrology; detailed outline with notes and exercises; fundamental concepts and definitions; principles of ground-water flow and storage; description and analysis of ground-water systems; ground-water flow to wells; ground-water contamination

Downloadable ebook: Stormwater Effects Handbook

Stormwater Effects Handbook: A Toolbox for Watershed Managers, Scientists, and Engineers

G Allen Burton, Jr PhD
Robert E Pitt PhD PE

http://www.epa.gov/ednnrmrl/publications/books/handbook/index.htm

Includes: receiving water uses, impairments, and sources of stormwater pollutants; stressor categories and their effects on humans and ecosystems; overview of assessment problem formulation; sampling effort and collection methods; ecosystem component characterization; statistical analyses of receiving water data; data interpretation; habitat characterization; benthic community assessment; fish community assessment; toxicity and bioaccumulation testing; laboratory safety, waste disposal, and chemical analyses methods; sampling requirements for paired tests; water quality criteria; watershed and receiving water modeling; vendors of supplies and equipment used in water monitoring

(Robert E Pitt PhD PE is also the primary author of the SLAMM/WinSLAMM stormwater analysis software.)