DESCRIPTION

INFORMATION ABOUT THE BAY-DELTA MODELING FORUM

The Forum is a statewide, non-profit, non-partisan, "consensus" organization whose mission is to increase the usefulness of models for analyzing water-related problems in the San Francisco Bay, Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, and Central Valley system.

The Forum has 85 individual members and 25 organizational members. In addition, 82 different organzations are represented among the Forum membership. Activities of the Forum are guided by a steering committee composed of five officers elected by the membership, representatives from 12 designated governmental water organizations in California, and 15 members chosen by the membership to represent universities, environmental organizations, private consultants, water user agencies, and the general public.

Annual dues are $30 for individuals and $1000 for organizations ($500 for small organizations).

SERVICE AND ACTIVITIES

The Bay-Delta Modeling Forum carries out its mission by:

• Providing a consensus-building atmosphere on water-related issues;
• Maintaining a modeling clearinghouse that provides an open forum for the exchange, improvement, and pooling of models, modeling information, and professional resources (under development);
• Assisting in mediating technical disputes involving physical, chemical, biological, and economic modeling;
• Conducting impartial peer reviews of models in order to document strengths and weaknesses, suggest improvements, and identify appropriate applications;
• Seeking input from California water stakeholders and decision makers about their modeling needs; and
• Providing educational opportunities through technical conferences and workshops.

AREA OF CONCENTRATION

• computer and physical modeling
• aquatic and terrestrial habitat health
• data gathering
• data storage and access
• economics
• fisheries and other aquatic biology
• groundwater
• GUI/GIS interfaces
• hydrodynamics
• hydrology
• hydraulics
• real-time management
• system operations
• water quality
• water resources planning

GEOGRAPHIC SCOPE OF ACTIVITES

San Francisco Bay, Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, Central Valley of California, California

TYPE OF ORGANIZATION

non-profit technical consensus