diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 798e6a2..26e9a05 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           version=$(python scripts/update_version.py -g)
           title="modflowapi $version"
-          notes=$(cat "changelog/CHANGELOG_$version.md" | grep -v "### Version $version")
+          notes=$(cat "changelog/CHANGELOG.md" | grep -v "### Version $version")
           gh release create "$version" \
             --target main \
             --title "$title" \
@@ -207,71 +207,3 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Publish to PyPI
         uses: pypa/gh-action-pypi-publish@release/v1
-
-  reset:
-    name: Draft reset PR
-    if: ${{ github.event_name == 'release' }}
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
-    permissions:
-      contents: write
-      pull-requests: write
-    steps:
-
-      - name: Checkout main branch
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
-        with:
-          ref: main
-
-      - name: Setup Python
-        uses: actions/setup-python@v4
-        with:
-          python-version: 3.8
-          cache: 'pip'
-          cache-dependency-path: pyproject.toml
-
-      - name: Install Python dependencies
-        run: |
-          pip install --upgrade pip
-          pip install .
-          pip install ".[lint, test]"
-
-      - name: Get release tag
-        uses: oprypin/find-latest-tag@v1
-        id: latest_tag
-        with:
-          repository: ${{ github.repository }}
-          releases-only: true
-
-      - name: Draft pull request
-        env:
-          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
-        run: |
-          # create reset branch from main
-          reset_branch="post-release-${{ steps.latest_tag.outputs.tag }}-reset"
-          git switch -c $reset_branch
-
-          # increment minor version
-          major_version=$(echo "${{ steps.latest_tag.outputs.tag }}" | cut -d. -f1)
-          minor_version=$(echo "${{ steps.latest_tag.outputs.tag }}" | cut -d. -f2)
-          patch_version=0
-          version="$major_version.$((minor_version + 1)).$patch_version"
-          python scripts/update_version.py -v "$version"
-
-          # format Python files
-          python scripts/pull_request_prepare.py
-
-          # commit and push reset branch
-          git config core.sharedRepository true
-          git config user.name "github-actions[bot]"
-          git config user.email "41898282+github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
-          git add -A
-          git commit -m "ci(release): update to development version $version"
-          git push -u origin $reset_branch
-
-          # create PR into develop
-          body='
-          # Reinitialize for development
-
-          Updates the `develop` branch from `main` following a successful release. Increments the minor version number.
-          '
-          gh pr create -B "develop" -H "$reset_branch" --title "Reinitialize develop branch" --draft --body "$body"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/CITATION.cff b/CITATION.cff
index ccd7d09..21bd4a0 100644
--- a/CITATION.cff
+++ b/CITATION.cff
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ message: If you use this software, please cite both the article from preferred-c
   and the software itself.
 type: software
 title: MODFLOW API
-version: 0.2.0
+version: 0.2.0.dev0
 date-released: '2023-04-19'
 abstract: An extension to xmipy for the MODFLOW API.
 repository-artifact: https://pypi.org/project/modflowapi
diff --git a/modflowapi/version.py b/modflowapi/version.py
index be5ce0b..c16cb60 100644
--- a/modflowapi/version.py
+++ b/modflowapi/version.py
@@ -1,6 +1,3 @@
-# version file for modflowapi
-
-major = 0
-minor = 2
-micro = 0
-__version__ = f"{major}.{minor}.{micro}"
+# modflowapi version file automatically created using...update_version.py
+# created on...February 07, 2024 22:13:12
+__version__ = "0.2.0.dev0"
diff --git a/scripts/update_version.py b/scripts/update_version.py
index de8074b..efbf1ac 100644
--- a/scripts/update_version.py
+++ b/scripts/update_version.py
@@ -1,93 +1,51 @@
 import argparse
 import textwrap
 from datetime import datetime
-from enum import Enum
-from os import PathLike
+from os.path import basename
 from pathlib import Path
-from typing import NamedTuple
+from packaging.version import Version
 
 from filelock import FileLock
 
 _project_name = "modflowapi"
 _project_root_path = Path(__file__).parent.parent
+_version_txt_path = _project_root_path / "version.txt"
 _version_py_path = _project_root_path / "modflowapi" / "version.py"
 _citation_cff_path = _project_root_path / "CITATION.cff"
 
+_initial_version = Version("0.0.1")
+_current_version = Version(_version_txt_path.read_text().strip())
 
-class Version(NamedTuple):
-    """Semantic version number"""
 
-    major: int = 0
-    minor: int = 0
-    patch: int = 0
+def log_update(path, version: Version):
+    print(f"Updated {path} with version {version}")
 
-    def __repr__(self):
-        return f"{self.major}.{self.minor}.{self.patch}"
 
-    @classmethod
-    def from_string(cls, version: str) -> "Version":
-        t = version.split(".")
-
-        vmajor = int(t[0])
-        vminor = int(t[1])
-        vpatch = int(t[2])
-
-        return cls(major=vmajor, minor=vminor, patch=vpatch)
-
-    @classmethod
-    def from_file(cls, path: PathLike) -> "Version":
-        lines = [
-            line.rstrip("\n")
-            for line in open(Path(path).expanduser().absolute(), "r")
-        ]
-        vmajor = vminor = vpatch = None
-        for line in lines:
-            line = line.strip()
-            if not any(line):
-                continue
-
-            def get_ver(l):
-                return l.split("=")[1]
-
-            if "__version__" not in line:
-                if "major" in line:
-                    vmajor = int(get_ver(line))
-                elif "minor" in line:
-                    vminor = int(get_ver(line))
-                elif "patch" in line or "micro" in line:
-                    vpatch = int(get_ver(line))
-
-        assert (
-            vmajor is not None and vminor is not None and vpatch is not None
-        ), "version string must follow semantic version format: major.minor.patch"
-        return cls(major=vmajor, minor=vminor, patch=vpatch)
-
-
-_initial_version = Version(0, 0, 1)
-_current_version = Version.from_file(_version_py_path)
+def update_version_txt(version: Version):
+    with open(_version_txt_path, "w") as f:
+        f.write(str(version))
+    log_update(_version_txt_path, version)
 
 
 def update_version_py(timestamp: datetime, version: Version):
     with open(_version_py_path, "w") as f:
         f.write(
-            f"# {_project_name} version file automatically created using "
-            f"{Path(__file__).name} on {timestamp:%B %d, %Y %H:%M:%S}\n\n"
+            f"# {_project_name} version file automatically "
+            + f"created using...{basename(__file__)}\n"
         )
-        f.write(f"major = {version.major}\n")
-        f.write(f"minor = {version.minor}\n")
-        f.write(f"micro = {version.patch}\n")
-        f.write("__version__ = f'{major}.{minor}.{micro}'\n")
-    print(f"Updated {_version_py_path} to version {version}")
+        f.write("# created on..." + f"{timestamp.strftime('%B %d, %Y %H:%M:%S')}\n")
+        f.write(f'__version__ = "{version}"\n')
+    log_update(_version_py_path, version)
 
 
-def update_citation_cff(timestamp: datetime, version: Version):
+def update_citation_cff(version: Version):
     lines = open(_citation_cff_path, "r").readlines()
     with open(_citation_cff_path, "w") as f:
         for line in lines:
             if line.startswith("version:"):
                 line = f"version: {version}\n"
             f.write(line)
-    print(f"Updated {_citation_cff_path} to version {version}")
+    log_update(_citation_cff_path, version)
 
 
 def update_version(
@@ -97,7 +55,7 @@ def update_version(
     lock_path = Path(_version_py_path.name + ".lock")
     try:
         lock = FileLock(lock_path)
-        previous = Version.from_file(_version_py_path)
+        previous = Version(_version_txt_path.read_text().strip())
         version = (
             version
             if version
@@ -105,8 +63,9 @@ def update_version(
         )
 
         with lock:
+            update_version_txt(version)
             update_version_py(timestamp, version)
-            update_citation_cff(timestamp, version)
+            update_citation_cff(version)
     finally:
         try:
             lock_path.unlink()
@@ -148,7 +107,7 @@ def update_version(
     else:
         update_version(
             timestamp=datetime.now(),
-            version=Version.from_string(args.version)
-            if args.version
-            else _current_version,
+            version=(
+                Version(args.version) if args.version else _current_version
+            ),
         )
diff --git a/version.txt b/version.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9a058eb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/version.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+0.2.0.dev0
\ No newline at end of file