Development of scientific modeling software increasingly requires the coupling of multiple, indepen-dently developed models. Component-based software engineering enables the integration of plug-and-play components, but significant additional challenges must be addressed in any specific domain in order to produce a usable development and simulation environment that also encourages contributions and adoption by entire communities. In this paper we describe the challenges in creating a coupling environment for Earth-surface process modeling and the innovative approach that we have developed to address them within the Community Surface Dynamics Modeling System.