Channel Routing for Improved Flood Control

Kuiken, James G.; Clopper, Paul E.; ,

Channel Routing for Improved Flood Control

by James G. Kuiken, James M. Montgomery Consulting, Engineers Inc, United States,
Paul E. Clopper, James M. Montgomery Consulting, Engineers Inc, United States,

Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: Computerized Decision Support Systems for Water Managers

Abstract:

Lake Wappapello, located on the St. Francis River in southeastern Missouri, is operated by the St. Louis District (SLD) Corps of Engineers for purposes of flood control and recreation. A dynamic reservoir operation model was developed to aid in the decisions regarding reservoir releases during rainfall events. An uncoupled watershed model is used to predict inflows to the reservoir and main channel along the 27 mile reach downstream. Using the forecasted reservoir and tributary inflow series, the model utilizes a routine which looks ahead to determine an appropriate reservoir release sequence, taking into consideration channel travel times, storage, and attenuation characteristics. The model incorporates Muskingum channel routing equations which are inverted by specifying a maximum allowable channel discharge and solved for the reach inflow. The equations are employed at selected concentration points in the reach. River flow forecasts and reservoir level are updated at each user slected routing interval and are then incorporated along with predicted runoff into the inverted Muskingum scheme to determine the release rate for the next routing period.

Return to search