A grid network version of the two-layer Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC-2L) macroscale hydrological model is described. The VIC-2L model is a hydrologically-based SVAT (Soil Vegetation Atmospheric Transfer) scheme designed to represent the land surface in numerical weather prediction and climate models. It is coupled to a linear routing scheme which is optimized with measured precipitation and streamflow data and is derived independently from the VIC-2L model. In this way it is possible to utilize streamflow measurements for the validation of coupled atmospheric-hydrological models. A baseflow separation routine is used to derive an equivalent description between the VIC-2L model and the routing model.