Regional Flood Frequency Equations for Antelope Valley in Kern County, California

by Wen C. Wang, Multech, San Jose, United States,
David R. Dawdy, Multech, San Jose, United States,



Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: Hydraulics/Hydrology of Arid Lands (H?AL)

Abstract:

Rapid residential, commercial, and industrial development has occurred in recent years in the Antelope Valley, California. With the new development progressing at full speed, the local planning agencies face an urgent need for the development of appropriate hydrology for use in this semiarid area. Kern County Water Agency has developed regional flood frequency equations for major streams in the Antelope Valley originating in the Tehachapi Mountains (1971, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1987). For streams of small drainage area, regional flood frequency equations for the South Lahontan-Colorado Desert region developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (1977) are often used. The USGS regional equations are based heavily on the flood data of the Mojave Desert and the Imperial Valley, where streams are characterized by large flood peaks. The applicability of the regional equations to the Antelope Valley is in doubt. This paper shows that the USGS equations generally over-estimate flood peaks in the Antelope Valley, and a new set of regional equations for the Antelope Valley using local flood data are developed.

Subject Headings: Flood frequency | Urban and regional development | Arid lands | Rivers and streams | Hydrologic data | Geological surveys | Floods | California | United States

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