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Abstract

Water quality modelling for mesoscale watersheds represents a field where a compromise solution between very complex models with many parameters and inadequate simplified models should be found. Our work is aiming at the development of a comprehensive regional scale watershed model, integrating hydrology, vegetation growth, erosion and nutrients (N, P). The paper includes description of a new watershed model SWIM, which is based on two previously developed models - SWAT and MATSALU - and is intended for application in mesoscale watersheds in Europe with an area of up to 20,000 km². SWIM includes some modules common to both models, trying to combine their advantages and to avoid overparametrization. The model runs under the UNIX environment. A comprehensive scheme of watershed disaggregation into elementary units combined with reasonable restrictions on subbasin size should allow the applicability of the model to be extended to larger basins. Simultaneously to the development of the model, it is being tested in subbasins of the Elbe drainage basin.