Location Matters: A Framework to Investigate the Spatial Characteristics of Distributed Flood Attenuation

Abstract

Distributed attenuation in flood management relies on small and low-impact runoff attenuating features variously distributed within a catchment. Distributed systems of reservoirs, natural flood management, and green infrastructure are practical examples of distributed attenuation. The effectiveness of attenuating features lies in their ability to work in concert, by reducing and slowing runoff in strategic parts of the catchment, and desynchronizing flows. The spatial distribution of attenuating features plays an essential role in the process. This article proposes a framework to place features in a hydrologic network, group them into spatially distributed systems, and analyze their flood attenuation effects. The framework is applied to study distributed systems of reservoirs in a rural watershed in Iowa, USA. The results show that distributed attenuation can be an effective alternative to a single centralized flood mitigation approach. The different flow peak attenuation of considered distributed systems suggest that the spatial distribution of features significantly influences flood magnitude at the catchment scale. The proposed framework can be applied to examine the effectiveness of distributed attenuation, and its viability as a widespread flood attenuation strategy in different landscapes and at multiple scales.

Forest Cover and Locality Regulate Response of Watershed Discharge to Rainfall Variability in Caribbean Region

“…The ability to intercept surface and subsurface flows depends also on the geophysical factors such as relative elevation and slope, as well as channelization of runoff [9]. The subbasin of 50055000 has higher elevation and steeper slope than 50057000 (Figure 8).…”

“…Thus, the discharge variability of a catchment depends not only on the rainfall variability but also on the composition and patterns of land cover, especially the forest cover and pattern [8]. Specifically, forest at critical locations within a basin may have more chances to regulate water flows and to affect the variability of stream discharges than at other locations [9].…”

Time variable effectiveness and cost-benefits of different nature-based solution types and design for drought and flood management

“…Few studies show direct comparisons between different types of NBS, and for a specific type, how NBS design relates to effectiveness through both high and low flows. The specific design, including location and scale of NBS, is key to successful implementation [23,[29][30][31]. Location-specific factors such as their position, associated land use, soils and geology affect the interception of flow pathways, potential infiltration and recharge [22,32,33], whilst the affected area, size, volume or density of NBS affect the mitigation potential for different scales of events [34].…”

Slowing Down Quick Runoff—A New Approach for the Delineation and Assessment of Critical Points, Contributing Areas, and Proposals of Measures to Reduce Non-Point Water Pollution from Agricultural Land

“…However, not many studies offer procedures that enable the simultaneous assessment of both surface and drainage water pollution sources, nor propose appropriate measures that do not neglect the first or second type of rainfall-runoff process (and even the presence and topology of land drainage) or the associated water quality dynamics. In numerous cases, and especially in practice, runoff reduction interventions and water quality improvement measures are separately propounded or adopted solely for the selected individual measures [35][36][37][38][39]. Nevertheless, several complex approaches have been documented in the literature [40][41][42][43][44].…”