Integrating reservoirs and lakes in the  CoSWAT global hydrological model

Teran, Jose P.; Chawanda, Celray J.; Nkwasa, Albert; Vanderkelen, Inne; Arnold, Jeffrey G.; Van Griensven, Ann

doi:10.5194/gmd-19-6879-2026

Articles | Volume 19, issue 14

https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-19-6879-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-19-6879-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 19, issue 14

Development and technical paper

|

29 Jul 2026

Development and technical paper |

| 29 Jul 2026

Integrating reservoirs and lakes in the CoSWAT global hydrological model

Jose P. Teran, Celray J. Chawanda, Albert Nkwasa, Inne Vanderkelen, Jeffrey G. Arnold, and Ann Van Griensven

Data sets

Integrating reservoirs and Lakes in the CoSWAT model Jose P. Teran https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18733431

jopator/teran_2026_coswat_reservoirs: teran_2026 (v1.0.0) Jose P. Teran https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18746130

Model code and software

Soil and Water Assessment Tool Plus (SWAT+) (v61.0.2.11-coswat1.5.0) Jeffrey G. Arnold et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18727784

jopator/CoSWAT-Framework: CoSWAT-Framework: Integrated reservoirs and lakes. (v1.5.0) Celray J. Chawanda and Jose P. Teran https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18746453

Short summary

Global water models help us understand how human activities and climate change affect water resources. One of them is the CoSWAT Global Model. In this study we enhanced this model by adding a better representations of lakes, reservoirs, and irrigation demand. Evaluation shows these changes improve river flow simulation and enable explicit assessment of lake and reservoir water balances, producing a more robust tool for global freshwater studies.