To expedite addition of multiple flow regimes, HEC-EFM offers two features that automate creation of new flow regimes. Both are available through the “Edit – Flow Regimes” menu (Figure 60). “Batch add…” works only with data stored in HEC-DSS. Users specify input data file, types of data to associate with the flow regimes, and naming convention for flow regime identifiers. HEC-EFM will process all data in the input file per the selected data type. For example, the data file (Rolling River Data.dss) provided with the demonstration project has four records: Rolling River, flow and stage for both Natural and Gaged conditions. If that file was used in a batch add with a data type of Flow and Stage, two flow regimes would be added.
Figure 60. “Batch add…” and “Batch add one for many…” automate creation of flow regimes.
With “Batch add one for many…”, users specify the two data time series to use, the number of flow regimes to create, and a naming convention for the resulting flow regimes. Each of the flow regimes have the same time series data, which can be advantageous when investigating multiple sites around the same water body (e.g., separate habitat areas that respond differently to the same fluctuations in stage).
These features are particularly helpful when using data from large gage networks, watershed-scale hydrologic datasets, or output from substantial river hydraulics or reservoir system simulation models, but should always be used with caution. Each feature is capable of adding (or removing via “Batch delete…”) many flow regimes, which can be difficult to undo. New flow regimes can also be associated with groups as described in the next section.