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 Kentucky River is formed in eastern Kentucky at Beattyville, in Lee County, by the confluence of the North, Middle and South Forks at about 670 feet (200 m) elevation, and flows generally northwest, in a highly meandering course through the mountains, through the Daniel Boone National Forest, then past Irvine and Boonesborough, then southwest, passing south of Lexington, then north through Frankfort. It joins the Ohio at Carrollton.

The North Fork Kentucky River is approximately 168 miles (270 km) long. It rises on the western side of Pine Mountain, in the Appalachians of extreme southeastern Kentucky, in eastern Letcher County near the Virginia state line in Payne Gap, near the intersection of US 23 and US 119. It flows generally northwest, in a winding course through the mountainous Cumberland Plateau, past Whitesburg, Hazard and Jackson. It receives Rockhouse Creek at Blackey near its source. Approximately 8 miles (13 km) southeast of Hazard, it receives the Carr Fork. It receives Troublesome Creek at Haddix, southeast of Jackson. Three miles upstream from its confluence with the South Fork, it receives the Middle Fork. It joins the South Fork to form the Kentucky at Beattyville.

The Middle Fork Kentucky River is a tributary of the North Fork Kentucky River, approximately 105 miles (169 km) long, in southeastern Kentucky. It rises in the Appalachian Mountains in southernmost Leslie County, approximately 16 miles (26 km) from the Virginia state line, and flows north through the Cumberland Plateau past Hyden. At Buckhorn, it is impounded to form the Buckhorn Lake reservoir. North of the reservoir it flows generally northwest and joins the North Fork in Lee County, approximately 5 miles (8 km) east of the confluence of the North and South forks at Beattyville.

The South Fork Kentucky River is approximately 45 miles (72 km) long. It is formed in Clay County, at the town of Oneida in the Daniel Boone National Forest, approximately 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Manchester, by the confluence of Goose Creek and the Red Bird River. It flows generally north in a highly meandering course through the mountainous Cumberland Plateau region. It joins the North Fork to form the Kentucky at Beattyville.