The Solution

In order to overcome the problems described in the previous paragraph, we will be searching for the ultimate Distributed Rainfall Runoff model for application in The Netherlands. Our assumption is that Distributed Rainfall-Runoff models are capable of:

• Accurately simulating groundwater tables
• Can still compute at sufficient speed
• Are easier to build then Lumped models
• Are easier to calibrate then Lumped models
• Provide easier plotting of results

Therefore, our assumption is that using Distributed Rainfall-Runoff models simply saves time and effort over Lumped Rainfall-Runoff models.

Spread over the world, many initiatives exist for designing distributed Rainfall-Runoff models. Here's a few.

1. Mike SHE by DHI. This is a well known and widely used model, plus that it is designed for online coupling with the 1D and 2D Hydrodynamics models Mike 11 and Mike 21
2. HydroGeoSphere by the University of Waterloo, Canada. This is a fairly new model, but a very brave attempt to design one model that covers ALL hydrological and hydraulic processes: ranging from snow melt to 2D Overland Flow.
3. The REW-concept (Representative Elementary Watershed) by Paolo Reggiani (Deltares, The Netherlands). In this concept a catchment is automatically subdivided into subcatchments, based on the topography of the catchment.