A master watershed is a watershed shared by multiple modelers. The master watershed consists of the watershed's base and forecast data and resides in a location that is accessible to all participating team members. If team members intend to contribute updates to the data or models, they must have write privileges on the shared drive. The location can be either a shared network drive or the CWMS server.

The master watershed is not modified directly on the shared location. Instead, a copy of the master watershed is downloaded to each team member's computer. The team members edit their local copy of the watershed, then upload changes back to the master watershed. Only files and HEC-DSS records that have been changed are uploaded and downloaded. This speeds up the process significantly, since files that have not changed do not need to be transferred.

The master watershed tracks the changes that each team member makes and notifies other team members of those changes. If the master watershed is modified by a member while others are working on the master watershed, the other members will receive a notification on the lower right-hand side of their desktop alerting them that the files on their local copy of the master watershed are now out-of-date. If the watershed is closed at the time of the change, an out-of-sync notification will appear when the modeler opens the watershed in the future.

Any CWMS watershed can become a master watershed. The master watershed may begin as a watershed on your computer or already exist on a networked drive. Once the master watershed has been set up, pre-existing forecasts may be turned into team forecasts. This is further outlined in Team Forecasting.

Regular watersheds will not have access to the team modeling features that master watersheds provide until they are converted to a master watershed. This section provide detailed instructions on how to set up a master watershed.

Creating a Master Watershed

Any CWMS watershed can become a master watershed. You can convert a regular watershed on your computer into a master watershed and then upload it to either a networked drive or a CWMS server. After the master watershed is uploaded, other modelers will have access to it. You can also turn a regular watershed that already exists on a networked drive into a master watershed. The following sections explain each of these processes in detail.

Creating a Master Watershed from a Watershed on Your Computer

A regular CWMS watershed located on your computer can be turned into a master watershed and then uploaded to either a network drive or a CWMS server.

To turn a watershed into a master watershed: 

  1. From the CWMS CAVI main window, click on the Setup tab. From the Watershed menu, click Watershed Properties. 
    Setup Module - Watershed Menu
  2. The Watershed Properties dialog will open. Select the Team tab from the Watershed Properties dialog.
    Watershed Properties Dialog - Team Tab
  3. On the Team tab, check the box next to Team Watershed.
  4. To upload a master watershed to a CWMS server, select CWMS Server. The CWMS server must be defined and you must be logged into the server for this to work. The file pathname to the watershed's upload location will display next to CWMS Server.
  5. To upload the master watershed to a network location, select Windows Network. If uploading to a local network location, the file path will need to be selected. Click on the ellipses to the right of the Master Watershed Folder box, and a browser dialog will open. In the file browser, select the folder location on the shared network where you would like to upload the master watershed.

    Use the ellipses and do not type the path in directly. The CAVI program responds differently and will be quicker when utilizing the ellipses option.

  6. Click Open. This will close the file browser and set the file pathname in the Master Watershed Folder field.
  7. Once the upload location has been selected and defined, click Upload Now. The Enter Upload Comments dialog will appear.
    Enter Upload Comments Dialog
  8. In the Enter Upload Comments dialog, type in a description for the upload and then click OK. The Enter Upload Comments dialog will close and the upload will start. The comments are part of the versioning for team modeling and cannot be changed at a later date. The Watershed Properties dialog will become inactive during the upload process and display an Uploading indicator.
    Watershed Properties Dialog - Uploading Indicator
    An Upload message tab will appear along the bottom of the CAVI screen providing status updates during the upload process.
    Message Pane - Upload Tab
  9. When the upload has completed, an Upload Complete dialog will appear, indicating the number of files that were uploaded for the master watershed.
    Upload Complete Dialog
  10. Click on any of the ellipses to see detailed information for any of the categories shown (deleted, skipped, etc.).

Once the watershed is uploaded, other team members can access it and download copies of the files to their own computers.

Downloading an Existing Master Watershed

When you are ready to share the master watershed with other team members, they will need to download a copy of the master watershed onto their computers.

You should download the files following the instructions below and not by copy/pasting within Windows File Explorer. 

To download an existing master watershed: 

  1. Start CWMS but do not open a watershed. From the CWMS CAVI main window, click on the Setup tab.
  2. From the Watershed menu, point to Team and select Download Master Watershed.
    Download Master Watershed
  3. The Select Master Watershed dialog will open.
    Select Master Watershed Dialog

    To continue downloading the master watershed from a networked drive, see Downloading from a Networked Drive. To download from the CWMS Server, see Downloading from the CWMS Server. 

Downloading from a Networked Drive

The following steps will guide you through downloading the master watershed from a networked drive.

  1. From the Select Master Watershed dialog, select On Networked Drive.
  2. Click on the ellipses to the right of the Watershed File box. An Open browser will display.
  3. From the Open browser, browse to the location of the watershed, select the watershed you want to download, and click Open. The Open browser will close, and the location and name of the selected watershed will display in the Watershed File box.
  4. From the Select Master Watershed dialog, click Apply. If the watershed is already a master watershed, a No Changes Made window will display. If the watershed is not a master watershed, the watershed will be set as a master watershed and a message window will state that the watershed was successfully updated. Close the message window.
  5. From the Select Master Watershed dialog, click Download. A Select Destination Location dialog will display. Your preconfigured watershed location folder is displayed in the Locations list.
    Select Download Location Dialog
  6. Select the appropriate watershed location folder from the Locations list, click OK. The download of the master watershed will begin. The Select Master Watershed dialog will become inactive during the download process and display a Downloading indicator.
  7. A Download tab will display in the Message Pane, providing status updates during the download process.
  8. When the download is finished a Download Complete window will display. Click OK, and the Download Complete window will close.
  9. The real-time messaging systems will also display a message indicating that files have been added for the master watershed.
    Download Complete Real-Time Notification
  10. When the download is complete, An Open Watershed window will display, asking if you would like to open the watershed in CWMS. To open the watershed, click Yes.

Downloading from the CWMS Server

To retrieve a master watershed from a CWMS server, you must be logged into the CWMS server before selecting the master watershed. The following steps will guide you through downloading the master watershed from the CWMS server.

  1. From the Select Master Watershed dialog, select On CWMS Server. The Watershed dropdown list displays the available master watersheds.
    Select Master Watershed Dialog - On CWMS Server
  2. Select which master watershed you would like to copy to your computer. Click Download, the Select Destination Location dialog will display. Your preconfigured watershed location folder is displayed in the Locations.
  3. Select the appropriate watershed location folder from the Locations list, click OK. The download of the master watershed will begin. The Select Master Watershed dialog will become inactive during the download process and display a Downloading indicator.
  4. A Download tab will display in the Message Pane, providing status updates during the download process.
  5. When the download is complete, a Download Complete window will display. Click OK, and the Download Complete window will close.
  6. An Open Watershed window will display, asking if you would like to open the watershed in CWMS. To open the watershed, click Yes.

Turning Team Modeling Off

If you no longer need to use team modeling with the local copy of the watershed, you can turn the feature off. Turning team modeling off will convert the watershed into a regular watershed, and it will no longer communicate with the master watershed. The watershed will behave as a normal CWMS watershed and all team modeling options will be disabled.

To turn team modeling off for the local copy of the watershed: 

  1. Open the master watershed that is located on your computer and click on the Setup tab.
  2. From the Watershed menu, click Watershed Properties. The Watershed Properties dialog will open. 
  3. Click on the Team tab and uncheck Team Watershed. Click OK, and the Watershed Properties dialog will close.
    Team Forecast Option - Unchecked
  4. Save the watershed to apply the changes.