A simplified model for water management in a polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell operating under prescribed current with iso-potential plates is presented. The consumption of gases in the flow field channels, coupled to the electric potential and water content in the polymer membrane, is modeled in a two-dimensional slice from inlet to outlet and through the membrane. Both co- and counter-flowing air and fuel streams are considered, with attention paid to sensitivity of along-the-channel current density to inlet humidities, gas stream composition, and fuel and oxygen stoichiometries. The parameters describing the nonequilibrium kinetics of the membrane/ catalyst interface are found to be fundamental to accurate fuel cell modeling. A new parameter which models nonequilibrium membrane water uptake rates is introduced. Four parameters, the exchange current, a membrane water transfer coefficient, an effective oxygen diffusivity, and an average membrane resistance, are fit to a subset of data and then held constant in subsequent runs which compare polarization curves, current density and membrane hydration distributions, water transfer, and stoichiometric sensitivity to the balance of the experimental data. (C) 2004 The Electrochemical Society.