Immersive Modeling of Water Banking Elicits Local Knowledge to Get More Water to Great Salt Lake

The purpose of this immersive online collaborative model is to give collaborators the opportunity to explore, pick at, and possibly improve water banking strategies to get more water to the declining Great Salt Lake (GSL). There are five roles in this immersive model: three agricultural users, one urban user, and the bank. During a model session, collaborators immerse in and personify water user roles for a water bank in Cache Valley, UT (collaborators often play roles different than themselves). Each collaborator articulates a strategy for their user to consume and bank water. Over the course of a model session, collaborators can adapt their strategies in response to their available water, others’ choices, and the real-time discussion of choices. Through the model sessions and discussions, we want to learn:

i. Why do people decide to consume, conserve, bank, and deliver water within the immersive modeling environments?
ii. Which new insights do participants take away from a model session?
iii. Which improvements do they suggest in modeling and in implementation?
iv. How can an immersive online collaborative modeling approach support the adoption of water banking including delivering water to GSL?

Till May 2025, 29 farmers, ranchers, practitioners, and experts participated in 9 sessions. Each collaborator participated in only one session.
This resource shares the final version of the immersive model, collaborators entries into the model in each session, and notes from the discussion.
Contents of this resource:
1) CacheValleyWaterBank.xlsx – Final version of the model file in Excel. Download, move into Google Drive, invite people to join, and follow the remaining instructions on the first worksheet named “Directions.”
2) ImmersiveModelingWaterBankingGSL.pdf – A 2 page summary of study containing background, key results, and new strategies to get more water to Great Salt Lake.
3) Radme.md- A markdown document which contains background on the model, and instructions on how to guide an immersive modeling activity.
4) Masuscript.pdf – A preprint of the corresponding paper that is presently under peer review in the journal Water Resources Research.

Folders
5) ModelFilesandNotes – Folder containing the completed Excel model file and notes taken for each modeling session. The file Result.xlsx organizes and summarizes into themes notes taken during model session.
6) FiguresCode – Folder containing the subfolders to replicate the figures and results in the study. The file Instructions_to_replicate_results.docx provides instructions to replicate the figures in the study.
7) IRB - documents required to share with potential collaborators that were required by Utah State University's Institutional Review Board (IRB).

本沉浸式线上协作模型旨在为协作参与者提供探索、剖析并优化水银行策略的机会，以将更多水资源输送至持续衰退中的大盐湖（Great Salt Lake，GSL）。该沉浸式模型共设有五类角色：三名农业用水者、一名城市用水者，以及水银行方。在每场模型会话中，参与者将沉浸式体验并扮演犹他州卡什谷（Cache Valley）某水银行的用水者角色——参与者通常会选择与自身身份不同的角色进行扮演。每位参与者需为其所扮演的用水者制定用水、储水策略。在模型会话过程中，参与者可根据自身可用水资源量、其他参与者的选择以及实时讨论内容调整策略。
通过模型会话与讨论，本研究旨在探究以下问题：
i. 在沉浸式建模环境中，人们为何会选择用水、节水、储水以及输水？
ii. 参与者在每场模型会话后能获得哪些新认知？
iii. 参与者对建模与实施环节提出了哪些改进建议？
iv. 沉浸式线上协作建模方法应如何助力水银行策略的推广，包括向大盐湖输水相关的落地实施？

截至2025年5月，共有29名农场主、牧场主、从业者与专家参与了9场模型会话，且每位参与者仅参与一场。

本数据集包含该沉浸式模型的最终版本、各场会话中参与者的模型参与记录，以及讨论纪要。具体内容如下：
1) CacheValleyWaterBank.xlsx —— 模型的最终Excel文件。下载该文件后，可上传至Google Drive并邀请他人加入，随后按照名为"Directions"的首个工作表中的剩余步骤进行操作。
2) ImmersiveModelingWaterBankingGSL.pdf —— 一份共2页的研究摘要，涵盖研究背景、核心成果以及向大盐湖输送水资源的新型策略。
3) Radme.md —— 一份Markdown文档，包含模型背景信息以及沉浸式建模活动的引导指南。
4) Masuscript.pdf —— 对应研究论文的预印本，目前已提交至《Water Resources Research》期刊进行同行评审。

5) ModelFilesandNotes —— 存储各场模型会话的完整Excel模型文件与讨论笔记的文件夹。其中Result.xlsx文件将会话期间的讨论笔记按主题进行整理与汇总。
6) FiguresCode —— 包含复现本研究图表与结果所需子文件夹的目录。其中Instructions_to_replicate_results.docx文件提供了复现研究图表的操作指南。
7) IRB —— 犹他州立大学机构审查委员会（Institutional Review Board，IRB）要求向潜在参与者提供的相关合规文档。