HEC-ResSim — The Complete Guide: Free Simulation of Reservoir Operations
HEC-ResSim comes from the Hydrologic Engineering Center (HEC) of the US Army Corps of Engineers. It simulates the operation of one reservoir or a system of reservoirs under operating rules, goals and constraints, and is used for flood management planning, water supply planning and real-time decision support.
HEC-ResSim
US Army Corps of Engineers, Hydrologic Engineering Center
Simulates reservoir operations — flood control, low-flow augmentation and water supply, for one reservoir or a system of reservoirs.
Get it from the vendorWhat you get
- Reservoir networks — reservoirs, river reaches and junctions in one system.
- Operating rules — release rules, goals and constraints for each reservoir.
- Time series results — water levels, storage and flows.
- Flood control and low-flow augmentation — as well as water supply planning.
- The HEC family — complements HEC-HMS and HEC-RAS from the same centre.
Licence and limitations
It is US government software; the site states that use is not restricted and anyone outside the Corps of Engineers may use it without charge. It is free but not open source. There is no technical support by phone or email for outside users, although bugs can be reported. It runs on Windows only.
Related tools
For the inflows into the reservoir — HEC-HMS. For hydraulics downstream of the dam — HEC-RAS. For a long-term catchment model — SWAT.
HEC-HMS
US Army Corps of Engineers
Rainfall-runoff hydrological model — infiltration, unit hydrograph and routing. Pairs with HEC-RAS.
Get it from the vendor
HEC-RAS
US Army Corps of Engineers
1D/2D hydraulic model for rivers, bridges and culverts, with floodplain mapping. The world standard.
Get it from the vendorSWAT
Texas A&M AgriLife / USDA-ARS
A watershed model — runoff, erosion, nutrients and pesticides over decades.
Get it from the vendorLISFLOOD-OS
European Commission Joint Research Centre
A distributed rainfall-runoff and river routing model from the EU Joint Research Centre, for catchments and flood forecasting.
Get it from the vendorThe bottom line
For anyone planning or analysing a reservoir system, HEC-ResSim is the well-known free tool from the same family as HEC-HMS and HEC-RAS. You just have to manage without official support.