A master watershed is a watershed shared by multiple modelers. The master watershed consists of the watershed's base and forecast data. The master watershed needs to reside somewhere accessible by all participating team members. If team members intend to contribute updates to the data or models, then that team member must have write privileges on the shared drive (shared network drive).

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 master watershed, then upload changes back to the master watershed. Only files and DSS records that have been changed are uploaded and downloaded, this speeds up the process significantly since files that have not been changed do not need to be transferred.

A master watershed keeps track of 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lower right-land side of their desktop alerting them that the files on their local copy of the master watershed are now out-of-date.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 next opens the watershed.

Any HEC-RTS (Version 3.1 or higher) study 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 upgraded to a master watershed. The following topics provide detailed instructions on how to set up a master watershed and walk you through the different setup scenarios.

Create a Master Watershed

Any HEC-RTS (Version 3.1 or higher) study can become a master watershed. You can turn a regular watershed on your computer into a master watershed and then upload it to a networked drive. 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 go through each of these processes in detail.

Create Master Watershed from Watershed on Your Computer

A regular HEC-RTS (Version 3.1 or higher) watershed located on your computer can be turned into a master watershed and then uploaded to a network drive. To turn a watershed into a master watershed, open the watershed you would like to convert to a master watershed in HEC-RTS (Version 3.1.1), select the Setup tab. From the Watershed menu, click Watershed Properties (Figure 1)

Figure 1 Setup Module - Watershed Menu

  1. The Watershed Properties dialog will open (Figure 2). From the Watershed Properties dialog, select the Team tab.
    Figure 2 Watershed Properties Dialog - Team Tab
  2. In the Team tab, select Team Watershed (Figure 2).
  3. To upload the master watershed to a network location, click Windows Network.
  4. When uploading to a local network location, the file path will need to be selected. To the right of the Watershed File box, click , an Open browser will open. Browse to the folder location on the shared network where you would like to upload the master watershed.
  5. Click Open, the Open file browser will close, and the selected file pathname will display in Master Watershed Folder box (Figure 2).
  6. Once the upload location has been selected and defined, click Upload Now. The Enter Upload Comments dialog will appear (Figure 3).
    Figure 3 Enter Upload Comments Dialog
  7. 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. Note: The comments are part of the versioning for team modeling and cannot be changed later.
  8. The Watershed Properties dialog will become inactive during the upload process and display an Uploading indicator (Figure 4).
    Figure 4 Watershed Properties Dialog - Uploading Indicator
  9. An Upload message tab will appear along the bottom of the CAVI screen providing status updates during the upload process (Figure 5).
    Figure 5 Message Pane - Upload Tab
  10. When the upload has completed, an Upload Complete message will appear (Figure 6), indicating the number of files that were uploaded for the master watershed.
    Figure 6 Upload Complete Message Window

Once the watershed is uploaded to the network drive, other team members can access it and download copies of the files to their own computers. For more instructions on this process see

Create a Master Watershed from a Watershed on a Networked Drive

Watersheds that already exist on a networked drive can be turned into master watersheds and shared with the team. The following steps, show how you would convert a pre-existing HEC-RTS study into a master watershed:

  1. Start HEC-RTS Version 3.1.1, but do not open a watershed. From the HEC-RTS main window, click the Setup tab.
  2. From the Watershed menu, point to Team, click Download Master Watershed. The Select Master Watershed dialog will appear open (Figure 7).
    Figure 7 Select Master Watershed Dialog - On Local Drive
  3. Select On Networked Drive (Figure 7), to the right of the Watershed File box, click . An Open browser will open. 
  4. From the Open browser, browse to the location of the watershed, select the watershed you want to make a master watershed, click Open. The Open browser will close, the location and name of the selected watershed will display in the Watershed File box (Figure 7).
  5. From the Select Master Watershed dialog (Figure 7), click Apply. A confirmation window will display confirming the watershed is now a master watershed. Now you can download the master watershed to your computer.
  6. Close the confirmation window, click Download, the Select Destination Location dialog will open (Figure 8). Your preconfigured watershed location folder is displayed in the Locations list (Figure 8).
    Figure 8 Select Download Location Dialog
  7. 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 (Figure 7) will become inactive during the download process and display a Downloading indicator (Figure 9).
    Figure 9 Select Master Watershed Dialog - Downloading Indicator
  8. A Download tab will display in the Message Pane (Figure 10), providing status updates during the download process.
    Figure 10 Message Pane - Download Tab
  9. When the download is finished a Download Complete window (Figure 11) will display. Click OK, the Download Complete window will close. An Open Watershed window will display (Figure 12) asking if you would like to open the watershed in HEC-RTS.
    Figure 11 Download Complete Window
    Figure 12 Open Watershed Window

Download 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 to their computers.

To download an existing master watershed:

  1. Start HEC-RTS Version 3.1.1, but do not open a watershed. From the CWMS CAVI main window, click the Setup tab.
  2. From the Watershed menu, point to Team, click Download Master Watershed (Figure 13). The Select Master Watershed dialog will appear open (Figure 14).
    Figure 13 Setup Module - Watershed Menu - Team -Download Master Watershed
    Figure 14 Select Master Watershed Dialog - On Networked Drive
  3. To continue downloading the master watershed from a networked drive see the next section – Download from a Networked Drive

Download from a Networked Drive

The following steps will guide you through downloading the master watershed from a network drive:

  1. From the Select Master Watershed dialog, click On Networked Drive (Figure 14), to the right of the Watershed File box, click . An Open browser will display.
  2. From the Open browser, browse to the location of the watershed, select the watershed you want to make a master watershed, click Open. The Open browser will close, the location and name of the selected watershed will display in the Watershed File box (Figure 14).
  3. From the Select Master Watershed dialog (Figure 14), 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.
  4. From the Select Master Watershed dialog (Figure 14), click Download. A Select Download Location dialog will display (Figure 8). Your preconfigured watershed location folder is displayed in the Locations list (Figure 8).
  5. 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 (Figure 14) will become inactive during the download process and display a Downloading indicator (Figure 9).
  6. A Download tab will display in the Message Pane (Figure 10), providing status updates during the download process.
  7. When the download is finished a Download Complete window (Figure 11) will display. Click OK, the Download Complete window will close.
  8. The real-time messaging systems will also display a message (Figure 15) indicating that files have been added for the master watershed.
    Figure 15 Download Complete Real-Time Notification
  9. When the download is done, An Open Watershed window will display (Figure 12), asking if you would like to open the watershed in HEC-RTS. 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 HEC-RTS study and all team modeling options will be disabled.

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

  1. First, from the HEC-RTS main window, open the master watershed that is on your computer, click the Setup tab.
  2. From the Watershed menu, click Watershed Properties (Figure 1), the Watershed Properties dialog will open (Figure 2).
  3. Click on the Team tab (Figure 16), uncheck Team Watershed. Click OK, the Watershed Properties dialog will close.
  4. From the HEC-RTS main window, from the Toolbar, click , this will save all changes made to the watershed.