The Corps Water Management System (CWMS) includes four interrelated models to assist with water management for the basin:

- GeoHMS (Geospatial Hydrologic Modeling Extension)
- ResSIM (Reservoir System Simulation)
- RAS (River Analysis System)
- FIA (Flood Impact Analysis)

The Red River watershed originates in the high plains of eastern New Mexico. Flowing southeast across Texas and Louisiana to a point northwest of Baton Rouge, where it enters the Atchafalaya River, which flows south to Atchafalaya Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. The Red River drains an area of some 93,000 square miles (241,000 square km) and has a length of 1,290 miles (2,080 km). The banks of the Red River are highly erosive causing frequent changes to the river channel characteristics as bank caving and sediment deposits occur from each flow event.

The main stem of the Red River flows through two USACE Districts, Tulsa District (SWT) in Southwestern Division (SWD) and Vicksburg District (MVK) in Mississippi Valley Division (MVD). Two other SWD Districts regulate reservoir outflows on tributaries which empty into the Red River. These are Little Rock (SWL) and Fort Worth (SWF) Districts.

The Tulsa District Corps of Engineers operates a total of 14 multi-purpose reservoirs in the Red River watershed from the upper extent of the drainage basin in the high plains of New Mexico through the Texas panhandle along southern Oklahoma and northern Texas to the last Tulsa District Red River regulation point at Fulton, AR. Some of these purposes included flood risk reduction, hydropower, and flood control. Denison Dam (Lake Texoma) is the only reservoir on the main stem of the Red River. There are seven reservoirs in the Red River Basin owned by others which have been built in part with Federal funds to provide flood risk management purposes. Six are U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBRA) reservoirs. The legislation authorizing USACE to prescribe the use of storage allocated for flood risk is described in Section 7 of 1944 Flood Control Act. Please refer to Table 2.2.1 for a listing of all reservoirs in the Tulsa District Red River watershed.