The North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD) supplies treated water to 1.6 million people in North Texas. In 2009, Zebra Mussels, an invasive species, were detected in Lake Texoma, one of NTMWD’s water sources. As a result, NTMWD has lost access to approximately one-fourth of its available water supplies. In the summer of 2011 the State of Texas, including North Texas, experienced a severe drought. Low inflows to Lake Lavon, NTMWD’s primary water supply lake, and the loss of the Lake Texoma supplies resulted in low lake levels in Lake Lavon in 2011 and early 2012. In response to this situation, an existing RiverWare model was modified to start from current conditions with varying operational scenarios and simulate possible water level conditions and water availability for the next 84 months. The result is a decision support tool representing a set of possible lake level projections based on historical data.

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