Start by creating an new action.  This action is for the "wave map" model, but we will not be animating the actual geometry, just the material.  To do this we drag the material down from the model tree to the action file.

To simulate the waves flowing in a direction, I first select the shortcut to the material, then activated the "Y- Translate" channel by placing a check next to it.

Next open the channel and place a point at frame zero with a value of zero, and a second point at 5 seconds with a value of -20.

Drag the new action you just made down to the wave map model shortcut in the choreography.

Now render the choreography to an AVI, MOV, or series of Targas at 320x200.  No other render settings are important.

You have now created the animated displacement map for your water scene.  It should look something like the quicktime file to the right.

Click to play a Quicktime of the displacement map

Create a new model and call it "waves."  This model will also be a flat plane, but instead of being a single patch, it needs to be a grid.  Make a grid of about 320 inches by 240 inches with a step width and height of 10 inches.