Ribasim - Open-source river basin planning and management
Water management is becoming more complex. Whether it’s balancing urban demands with agricultural use, dealing with ecosystem requirements under variable river flows, or planning infrastructure under climate uncertainty, clear insights are critical. Ribasim is Deltares’ open-source tool for modelling managed water systems at the river basin scale.
Built to support collaborative planning and decision support. It helps users simulate how choices affect people, nature, and water supply reliability. Through evidence-based modelling, it enables decision makers to build consensus amongst water users and make smart decisions about how to manage water resources optimally considering uncertainties now and in the future.
Real-world example: Schematisation of the Netherlands
The figure below shows an example of a Ribasim model schematisation for the Netherlands, including major rivers, boundaries, and links between water system components. This national-scale model supports studies on water availability, infrastructure planning, and climate adaptation.
Features of Ribasim
- Redeveloped from 2022 onwards, Ribasim is now a modern, open-source software packages, designed for transparency and flexibility
- Model key components of a water system: basins, intakes and pumping stations, reservoirs, demands, and return flows
- Explore water system control and allocation rules and sector priorities in transparent, reproducible ways
- Coupling with other models like wflow (hydrology), MODFLOW / iMOD (groundwater), or Delwaq (water quality) is possible
- Supports visualization in QGIS, model building in Python, and a command line interface for running simulations
- Run simulations in Jupyter Notebooks: ideal for education, research, or stakeholder workshops
- Ribasim builds on worldwide modelling experience to support transboundary water allocation, rights negotiations, and river basin planning
Whether you're planning infrastructure, facilitating stakeholder dialogues, or testing policy impacts, Ribasim provides a simple platform for river basin simulation.
How to obtain Ribasim
The current version of Ribasim is available for download via this download page. It is distributed under the permissive MIT license. If you have any questions about Ribasim, including the previous version RIBASIM 7, please feel free to contact us at: ribasim.info@deltares.nl.
For users applying Ribasim in operational or critical workflows, we recommend obtaining a service package. This includes:
- Support during Dutch office hours
- Help with installation, configuration, and troubleshooting
- Assistance in migrating models from earlier Ribasim versions
- Guidance on coupling Ribasim with tools such as MODFLOW, wflow, or Delwaq
To request a service package or discuss your needs, please contact: software@deltares.nl
All documentation, tutorials, and example models can be found at Ribasim.
