SAM File Sharing

Minnesota faces many water quality and quantity challenges. State, federal, and local organizations assess hydrologic and water quality problems and target science-based, cost-effective solutions. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has standardized a modeling approach for developing Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy (WRAPS) and Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) reports that are required by state and federal law. The MPCA selected the Hydrologic Simulation Program – Fortran (HSPF) model to provide a highly effective means for spatially and temporally understanding hydrologic and water quality processes over various land surfaces and waterbodies.

Because HSPF is a continuous model that represents the complex physical and chemical processes and interactions and is calibrated over extended time periods, HSPF is conducive to holistically understanding current watershed conditions. Through careful changes to model inputs, HSPF may be used to evaluate the impacts of potential improvements or deterioration in watershed composition and/or the implementation of best management practices to help identify effective management approaches. However, the complexity of HSPF can be difficult for non-modeling end-users in conservation, implementation, permitting, and stressor identification programs to quickly get the necessary information from these models to be able to test the model against what is known in the field and plan for the future.

The Scenario Application Manager (SAM) is a graphical interface to the Hydrologic Simulation Program FORTRAN (HSPF) model applications. SAM uses agreed-upon practitioner’s language and expands the state’s investment in HSPF to a broader audience to support the development of TMDLs and WRAPS. The SAM decision-support tool provides a user-friendly, comprehensive approach to analyze HSPF results graphically and spatially, design and simulate alternative scenarios with HSPF, and develop cost optimized scenarios based on user-defined water quality targets. SAM simplifies complex hydrologic and water quality model applications into transparent estimates of the significant pollutant sources while allowing users to apply their local knowledge and expertise of watershed planning and implementation.

Acknowledgements
The development of the SAM and related products has received financial support from Minnesota’s Clean Water Legacy Fund (http://www.legacy.leg.mn/funds/clean-water-fund). The Minnesota Pollution Control has provided significant contributions to the development of SAM and HSPF model applications. Other agencies that have been involved include the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Land Stewardship Project, Minnesota Association of Soil & Water Conservation Districts, and the University of Minnesota.

Getting Started

Download the most recent version of the SAM software installation file.
Run the installation file and follow the prompts until it is finished.
Download any documentation or tutorials to help with application of the SAM software.
Download any of the project packages you would like to use using the map or list.
Unzip the SAM project package to a known location on your local hard drive.
Open the SAM software using the icon on your desktop or using a windows program search.
Load any downloaded SAM project by opening the (WatershedName).saPrj file in the (WatershedName)_S@M directory.
Begin using SAM based on your understanding of the documentation and tutorials.
Direct any questions, comments, and issues to RESPEC at wqmodeling@respec.com

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