WEAP

Criterion

General Description

WEAP was created in 1988 with the sponsorship of the newly formed Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI). It was designed with the aim to be a flexible, integrated, and transparent planning tool for evaluating the sustainability of current water demand and supply patterns and exploring alternative long-range scenarios. Over the years WEAP has been applied in many countries and river basins. The software has been transferred to water planners throughout the world.  The model's website is:  https://www.weap21.org/

Model Domain

The model domain is flexible and specified by the user.

Developer

The model developer is Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI). SEI continues to support the development of WEAP through its US Center (SEI-US), which was established in 1989 and hosted by the Tellus Institute until 2006.

Hardware computing requirements

WEAP runs on all versions of Microsoft Windows from Windows XP to Windows 10, with a minimum of 256 MB of RAM and 100 MB of free hard disk space (4 GB of RAM is recommended, especially for larger models).

Code language

Information not available.

Original application

The first major application of WEAP was in the Aral Sea region in 1989.

Public/proprietary and cost

The source code is proprietary. License fees vary from free to $3000 for two years use, based on criteria such as non-profit/for-profit status, academic status, developing vs. high-income country.

Physically or empirically based

The model is physically based. 

Mathematical methods used

WEAP calculates a water and pollution mass balance for every node and link in the system on a monthly time step. Water is dispatched to meet instream and consumptive requirements, subject to demand priorities, supply preferences, mass balance and other constraints.

Input data requirements

The user enters data under the following categories: Key Assumptions, Demand Sites, Hydrology, Supply and Resources, Environment, and Other Assumptions.

Outputs

Model outputs include demand, supply, costs, and environmental loadings. It is possible to export schematics and results to Google Earth.

Pre-processing and post-processing tools

The model is integrated with a Graphical User Interface (GUI), which allows for pre- and post-processing.

Representation of uncertainty

The basic PEST tool (pest.exe) is included in the WEAP installation. PEST (Parameter ESTimation) is a free software package for Model-Independent Parameter Estimation and Uncertainty Analysis.

Prevalence

WEAP has been applied in water assessments in dozens of countries. DWR is using a customized version of WEAP for the California Water Plan Update 2018.

Ease of use for public entities

There are no barriers to the widespread use of the model. Training and model support are readily available. The source code is proprietary, which prevents modification of the model for specific applications.

Ease of obtaining information and availability of technical support

There is an active on-line user forum. Training course are offered periodically.

Source code availability

The source code is proprietary.

Status of model development

The model continues to undergo development and new versions are regularly released. Recent updates to WEAP have focused on model usability, demand calculations, and linking the model to LEAP (SEI's software for energy planning). SEI-US will customize the WEAP software to accommodate the particular needs of a given project. 

Challenges in integration

The model is proprietary, which is a challenge or barrier to integration with other models. However, the ability of WEAP to call DLL functions is very powerful, as it allows the user to add new functions or even complete models to WEAP.