Insights into Expected Changes in Regulated Flood Frequencies due to the Spatial Configuration of Flood Retention Ponds

Ayalew, Tibebu B.; Krajewski, Witold F.; Mantilla, Ricardo

doi:10.1061/(asce)he.1943-5584.0001173

Cited by 22 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…We neglect the effect of the dam on the observed peak discharge at this gauging site and at those sites located further downstream by citing Smith et al [2010], who reported that reservoirs have a limited effect on the observed flood frequency for locations far downstream. [Ayalew et al, 2015] also showed that the effect of reservoirs on peak discharge is drastically reduced in the downstream direction. The USGS also used this streamflow gauging site and those located downstream while establishing the regional floodfrequency equations for Iowa [Eash, 2001].…”

Section: Study Area and Data Sourcementioning

confidence: 92%

Analyzing the effects of excess rainfall properties on the scaling structure of peak discharges: Insights from a mesoscale river basin

Ayalew

Krajewski

Mantilla

2015

Water Resources Research

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Key theoretical and empirical results from the past two decades have established that peak discharges resulting from a single rainfall-runoff event in a nested watershed exhibit a power law, or scaling, relation to drainage area and that the parameters of the power law relation, henceforth referred to as the flood scaling exponent and intercept, change from event to event. To date, only two studies have been conducted using empirical data, both using data from the 21 km 2 Goodwin Creek Experimental Watershed that is located in Mississippi, in an effort to uncover the physical processes that control the event-to-event variability of the flood scaling parameters. Our study expands the analysis to the mesoscale Iowa River basin (A 5 32,400 km 2 ), which is located in eastern Iowa, and provides additional insights into the physical processes that control the flood scaling parameters. Using 51 rainfall-runoff events that we identified over the 12 year period since 2002, we show how the duration and depth of excess rainfall, which is the portion of rainfall that contributes to direct runoff, control the flood scaling exponent and intercept. Moreover, using a diagnostic simulation study that is guided by evidence found in empirical data, we show that the temporal structure of excess rainfall has a significant effect on the scaling structure of peak discharges. These insights will contribute toward ongoing efforts to provide a framework for flood prediction in ungauged basins.

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Section: Study Area and Data Sourcementioning

confidence: 92%

Analyzing the effects of excess rainfall properties on the scaling structure of peak discharges: Insights from a mesoscale river basin

Ayalew

Krajewski

Mantilla

2015

Water Resources Research

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“…Because of the storage capacity of reservoirs, the postimpoundment flow regime is usually characterized by a reduction in the magnitude of maximum discharges and therefore of flood peak quantiles (Batalla et al, ; Graf, ; Magilligan & Nislow, , ; Williams & Wolman, ). The amount of the downstream peak flow reduction is strongly dependent on the position of the reservoir in the catchment, its storage capacity, the operation rule, and the spatial configuration of multiple reservoirs (Ayalew et al, , , ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hess and Inman () studied the effects of urban flood‐detention reservoirs on peak discharges and flood frequencies using an event‐based rainfall‐runoff model. More recent continuous simulation studies, for both real and hypothetical catchments, analyze the effects on discharge quantiles or peak discharge of spatially distributed small reservoirs and their spatial configuration (Ayalew et al, , ; Montaldo et al, ) and the effects of reservoir capacity, operation rules, and the design of the release structures (Ayalew et al, ; Nehrke & Roesner, ). Their outcomes suggest that generally small distributed reservoirs significantly reduce flood magnitude, but their mitigation benefits are mainly local and diminish with the increase of the fraction of unregulated catchment area, contributing to peak discharge at the outlet.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reservoir Effects on Flood Peak Discharge at the Catchment Scale

Volpi

Lazzaro

Bertola

et al. 2018

Water Resources Research

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This paper proposes a method to easily quantify the attenuation due to a reservoir on downstream flood peak discharges, that is, to the downstream flood frequency curve. Using a parsimonious Instantaneous Unit Hydrograph‐based model, we show that the flood peak attenuation is mainly controlled by three system characteristics: (1) the reservoir position along the river channel, (2) the spillway dimensions, quantified by the reservoir storage coefficient; and (3) the storage capacity. These three system characteristics are quantified by three dimensionless numbers, which are derived analytically for an idealized catchment. The degree of flood peak attenuation increases for increasing storage capacity and spillway dimensions, in different ways depending on the reservoir position along the river channel. An optimal position exists, which maximizes the degree of flood peak attenuation, and is in general different from the outlet of the catchment. Interestingly, for large reservoirs with relatively small spillways, a range of quasi‐optimal positions exists. With the Instantaneous Unit Hydrograph‐based model, we also investigate how the duration of extreme rainfall relevant for determining the maximum flood peaks at the catchment outlet changes depending on the three system characteristics. Some of the assumptions of the method (i.e., catchment simple morphology and linearity of reservoir response) are relaxed in a real‐world example, which demonstrates that the synthetic results approximate well what would be obtained by a more realistic model.

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“…More details about the HLM equations, configuration, and numerical solver are provided in [33] and [32]. Examples of HLM applications are provided in [32,33,[36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43].…”

Section: Distributed Hydrological Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of Changes in Flood Frequency Due to the Effects of Climate Change: Implications for Engineering Design

Quintero

Mantilla

Anderson³

et al. 2018

Hydrology

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The authors explore the uncertainty implied in the estimation of changes in flood frequency due to climate change at the basins of the Cedar River and Skunk River in Iowa, United States. The study focuses on the influence of climate change on the 100-year flood, used broadly as a reference flow for civil engineering design. Downscaled rainfall projections between 1960-2099 were used as forcing into a hydrological model for producing discharge projections at locations intersecting vulnerable transportation infrastructure. The annual maxima of the discharge projections were used to conduct flood frequency analyses over the periods 1960-2009 and 1960-2099. The analysis of the period 1960-2009 is a good predictor of the observed flood values for return periods between 2 and 200 years in the studied basins. The findings show that projected flood values could increase significantly in both basins. Between 2009 and 2099, 100-year flood could increase between 47% and 52% in Cedar River, and between 25% and 34% in South Skunk River. The study supports a recommendation for assessing vulnerability of infrastructure to climate change, and implementation of better resiliency and hydraulic design practices. It is recommended that engineers update existing design standards to account for climate change by using the upper-limit confidence interval of the flood frequency analyses that are currently in place.

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Insights into Expected Changes in Regulated Flood Frequencies due to the Spatial Configuration of Flood Retention Ponds

Cited by 22 publications

References 41 publications

Analyzing the effects of excess rainfall properties on the scaling structure of peak discharges: Insights from a mesoscale river basin

Analyzing the effects of excess rainfall properties on the scaling structure of peak discharges: Insights from a mesoscale river basin

Reservoir Effects on Flood Peak Discharge at the Catchment Scale

Assessment of Changes in Flood Frequency Due to the Effects of Climate Change: Implications for Engineering Design

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