Flood Routing

Introduction
◼ Flood routing is an analytical technique of
determining the flood hydrograph at a particular
location in a channel or a reservoir resulting from a
known flood at some other location upstream.
◼ Routing techniques may be classified in two major
categories
❑ Hydrologic routing (based on the equation of continuity and
empirical equation. This involves the balancing of inflow, outflow
and volume of storage through use of continuity)
❑ Hydraulic routing (based on equations of continuity and
momentum)

Continued…..
Reservoir Routing
◼ The main components of Dam are inflow channel,
storage reservoir and outflow structures like
spillways, tunnels etc.
◼ Once a flood enters a reservoir, part of it may be
stored in the reservoir and balance safely passes
through or over outflow structures.
◼ The main function of a reservoir is to store water
from which releases are made according to water
demands on downstream of reservoir.
◼ A multipurpose hydroelectric project has storage of
water as well as generation of electricity.

Continued…..
Reservoir Routing

◼ The reservoirs may be small or large. An example of

small reservoir is pond of a barrage. A small reservoir
has small capacity and hence water levels in barrage
pond are sensitive.
◼ The outflow from a small reservoir is solely a function
of pond elevation if the outflow is not controlled. In
case of large reservoirs the moderate inflow may not
have large impact on reservoir elevation however
large floods need to be negotiated keeping in view the
operational rules.

Continued…..
Reservoir Routing
◼ The reservoir routing may be classified according to
outflow control at a particular reservoir e.g.
◼ Flood routing in reservoirs with uncontrolled outflow
◼ Flood routing in reservoirs with controlled outflow
◼ The basic equation applied is storage equation given as
Inflow-Outflow = Rate of Change of Storage
I - O = ds / dt - - - - - - - - - - - - (1)
◼ Equation (1) shows that if inflow is assumed constant the
reservoir storage is a simple function of outflow.

Continued…..
Reservoir Routing
◼ If average values of inflow and outflow are considered for
opted time interval ∆t then equation (1) can be written as
[(I1+I2)/2]-[(O1+O2)/2]=[(S2-S1)/∆t] - - - - - - - - (2)
◼ Where 1 to 2 are the time step values of I, O and S
◼ Equation (2) can be rearranged as
(I1+I2)+[(2S1/∆t)-O1]=[(2S2/∆t)+O2] - - - - - -(3)
◼ As mentioned above the subscripts 1 and 2 denote values
of Inflow, Outflow and Storage at beginning and end of ∆t
say from 1 to 2. The time ∆t is known as routing period.
This period should not be so large that peak of inflow
hydrograph is not intercepted.
Flood routing in reservoirs with
uncontrolled outflow
◼ The following steps explain procedure of
reservoir routing
◼ 1. The Elevation vs Storage of reservoir
information should be known. Here storage
means volume of water that a reservoir can
accommodate at certain elevation.
◼ This elevation vs storage information may
either be in the form of table or graph. A
typical elevation vs storage graph is shown in
Figure 1.
Continued…..
Flood routing in reservoirs with
uncontrolled outflow
Elevation vs Surface Area Realationship

124
122
120
118
Elevation (m)

116
114
112
110
108
106
104
102
40000 42000 44000 46000 48000 50000 52000 54000
Surface Area (m²)

Fig. 1. Variation of Surface Area of a Reservoir with Elevation

Flood routing in reservoirs with uncontrolled
outflow
Flood routing in reservoirs with uncontrolled
outflow
Flood routing in reservoirs with
uncontrolled outflow
◼ 2. The discharge capacity of overflow structure
with change in water level should be calculated.
For this purpose the applicable discharge formula
need to be applied. The well known weir equation
is:
Q = Cd BH3/2 - - - - - - - - - -(3A)
Where,
Q = Total Discharge
Cd = Coefficient of Discharge
B = Width of Weir
H = Differential head over the crest of the
weir neglecting velocity of approach

Continued…..
Flood routing in reservoirs with
uncontrolled outflow
◼ The coefficient of discharge depends on
degree of submergence of the weir. Its value
is determined experimentally e.g. by model
tests.
◼ The value can also be determined from
Gibson’s curve. Its value generally ranges
from 1.6 to 2.2. A mean value of 1.70 is often
used in SI units.

Continued…..
Flood routing in reservoirs with
uncontrolled outflow
◼ For other types of outflow structures like Sluice
Gates, Pipes etc. different equations are used for
calculations of discharge and can be found in books
of hydraulics.
◼ Once the outflow is determined for different reservoir
elevations, a graph is plotted between storage and
outflow. A typical such graph is shown in figure (2).
◼ Please note that outflow is taken along y-axis and
[(2S/∆t)+O] is taken along x-axis. The quantity
[(2S/∆t)+O] is called ‘Storage Indication’.

Continued…..
 Flood routing in reservoirs with
uncontrolled outflow
300

250

200
Outflow (m³/s)

150

100

50

-
- 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000 3,500 4,000

Storage Indication [(2S/∆t)+O] (m³/s)

Figure 2 Outflow and Storage Indication Relationship for certain reservoir

Continued…..
Flood routing in reservoirs with
uncontrolled outflow
◼ 3. The inflow hydrograph should be known. It
may be actual or forecasted flood. The inflow is
added for successive values to get I1+I2.
◼ Corresponding to the initial outflow value storage
indication [(2S/∆t)+O] is found from storage
indication curve.
◼ To this value double of outflow is subtracted to
get [(2S/∆t)-O]. To this value of [(2S/∆t)-O], I1+I2
is added to get next value of [(2S/∆t)+O]. Read
out next outflow from storage indication curve
and repeat the procedure till whole of inflow
hydrograph is used to get outflow values.

Continued…..
Flood routing in reservoirs with
uncontrolled outflow
◼ Now the inflow and outflow hydrographs are plotted.
The difference in peak of inflow and outflow
hydrograph is known as attenuation and time
between two peaks is known as reservoir lag.
Example 1
◼ Table 1 shows Inflow hydrograph entering a small
reservoir having a Ogee shaped overflow spillway.
The weir has a length of 3 meters and coefficient of
discharge of 2.2.
◼ The weir crest is at elevation 104.00. When the
inflow hydrograph enters the reservoir, its water
level is at 104.00 m and Storage of 40000 m³.
◼ The elevation versus storage relationship is given in
Table 2. Route the inflow hydrograph assuming no
base flow.

Continued…..
Time Inflow Time Inflow Time Inflow
(h) (m³/s) (h) (m³/s) (h) (m³/s)
0 50 9 295 18 50
1 75 10 252 19 45
2 175 11 212 20 39
3 355 12 177 21 38
4 455 13 145 22 28
5 525 14 108 23 20
6 510 15 84 24 15
7 450 16 64 25 6
8 365 17 53 26 5

Table 1. Inflow Hydrograph (Known Information)

Continued…..
Water El. Surface Area Water El. Surface Area

(m) (m²) (m) (m²)

104 41200 114 45700

106 42000 116 47200

108 42700 118 48700

110 43700 120 50200

112 44700 122 52700

Table 2. Reservoir Surface Area (Known Information)

Continued…..
Solution
◼ The first step in flood routing is to establish a
relationship between reservoir water elevation
and storage of the reservoir.
◼ This can be done by slicing the reservoir
horizontally, determining surface area by
appropriate method e.g. by planimetring or
using computer program.
◼ The volume of each slice can be computed
using formulae of solid geometry. The
calculation of volume of reservoir referred
here as storage is calculated in Table 3.
Continued…..
◼ The formula employed is mid area method

◼ where
◼ h is difference in height between two consecutive
slices/contours.
◼ The calculations are shown in table. The elevation
vs surface area is plotted in Figure 1.

Continued…..
 Volume between Cumulative Volume
Water El. Surface Area
successive elevations (Storage)
(m) (m²) (m³) (m³)
104 41,200 40,000
106 42,000 83,200 123,200
108 42,700 84,700 207,900
110 43,700 86,400 294,300
112 44,700 88,400 382,700
114 45,700 90,400 473,100
116 47,200 92,900 566,000
118 48,700 95,900 661,900
120 50,200 98,900 760,800
122 52,700 102,900 863,700

Table 3. Storage of Reservoir Continued…..

◼ The next step is to Water Head Above Crest, Outflow
calculate discharge El. H Q = Cd B H3/2
using equation 3A (m) (m) (m³/s)
with known Cd = 104 - -
2.2 and B = 3m. 106 2 18.66 = Cd xBxH(3/2)
◼ The elevation is 108 4 52.80
changed, net head 110 6 97.00
over spillway found 112 8 149.34
and discharge 114 10 208.71
calculated as 116 12 274.36
shown in Table 4.
118 14 345.73
120 16 422.40
122 18 504.03

Table 4. Discharge over Spillway

Continued…..
◼ The routing interval is taken equal to time interval of
inflow hydrograph which is 1.0 hour.
◼ The routing interval should not be that large to miss
the peak flow observation. Now we have outflow
values against a particular elevation storage and
hence this enables us to calculate storage indication
against each elevation (Table 5).
◼ A curve is drawn between storage indication and out
flow as shown in Figure 3.

Continued…..
 Cumulative Volume Storage Indication
Water El. Outflow 'O'
(Storage) [(2S/∆t) + O]
(m) (m³) (m³/s) (m³/s)
104 0 0
106 123,200 18.66 87.77
108 207,900 52.80 168.96
110 294,300 97.00 261.16
112 382,700 149.34 361.94
114 473,100 208.71 471.53
116 566,000 274.36 588.80
118 661,900 345.73 713.44
120 760,800 422.40 845.05
122 863,700 504.03 984.53

Table 5 Storage Indication

Continued…..
 Storage Indication vs Outflow

600

500

400
Outflow 'm³/s'

300

200

100

0
0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200

Storage Indication [(2S/∆t)+O] 'm³/s'

Figure 3. Storage Indication vs Outflow Curve

Continued…..
◼ The last step is to find outflow hydrograph which
is done in Table 7.
◼ The column-4 shows sum of two consecutive
inflow values. First value of outflow is
considered equal to inflow.
◼ In this example initial level of reservoir is
assumed flush with spillway crest so outflow is
zero.
◼ The first value of storage is equal to reservoir
volume up to spillway crest. Both being known
so [(2S/∆t) - O] is computed.

Continued…..
◼ The value of (I1+I2) is added to [(2S/∆t)-O] to
get [(2S/∆t)+O]. Corresponding to this value
of storage indication outflow is read from
Figure 3.
◼ The outflow is subtracted twice from storage
indication to give next value of [(2S/∆t)-O].
◼ The process is repeated to get all values of
outflow till values obtained are small enough
representing steady flow
Time Step O1
Time Inflow, I1 I 1+I 2 [(2S1/∆t)-O1] [(2S2/∆t)+O2] Outflow
number (Hour) (m³/s) (m³/s) (m³/s) (m³/s) (m³/s)
1 0 50 - - 0
2 1 75 125 125 37
3 2 175 250 51 301 130
4 3 355 530 41 571 272
5 4 455 810 27 837 412
6 5 525 980 13 993 494
7 6 510 1035 4 1,039 519
8 7 450 960 2 962 478
9 8 365 815 6 821 404
10 9 295 660 13 673 326
11 10 252 547 21 568 271
12 11 212 464 27 491 230
13 12 177 389 31 420 193

Continued…..
Time Step (j) Time Inflow, I j I j+I j+1 [(2S/∆t)-O] [(2S/∆t)+O] Oj Outflow
number (Hour) (m³/s) (m³/s) (m³/s) (m³/s) (m³/s)
14 13 145 322 35 357 159
15 14 108 253 38 291 125
16 15 84 192 42 234 94
17 16 64 148 45 193 73
18 17 53 117 47 164 58
19 18 50 103 49 152 51
20 19 45 95 50 145 47
21 20 39 84 50 134 42
22 21 38 77 51 128 38
23 22 28 66 51 117 33
24 23 20 48 51 99 24
25 24 15 35 52 87 17
26 25 6 21 53 74 10
27 26 5 11 54 65 5

Continued…..
◼ Inflow and outflow hydrographs are plotted
simultaneously (Figure 4) and following
parameters are found:
❑ The difference in time on x-axis between peak of
inflow and outflow hydrograph. This is termed as
Reservoir Lag.
❑ The difference between peak discharge of inflow
and outflow hydrographs is calculated. This is
termed as attenuation.

Continued…..
 Reservoir Routing
600

500

Inflow Hydrograph
400
Discharge

Outflow Hydrograph

300

200

100

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Time

Figure 4. Determining Reservoir Lag and Attenuation

Continued…..
◼ The inflow should be routed such that outflow
hydrograph is flattened enough having low
peak discharge. This is necessary for safe
passages of flood.
◼ If abrupt rise in inflow occurs then special
consideration is made for outflow at outlet
structures so that sufficient time is available
for operation. This aspect is considered while
designing reservoirs.
Stream Channel Routing or River
Routing
◼ The routing in channels involves solution of storage equation as
was done in case of reservoir routing. The storage is function of
both inflow and outflow.
◼ The method of channel routing is known as Muskingum Method.
◼ Consider a channel reach having prismatic cross section as
shown in Figure 5.
◼ Let,
S = Storage
I = Inflow
O = Outflow
◼ The storage in the channel reach consists of two parts:
❑ Prism storage equal to KO.

❑ Wedge storage equal to K (I-O).

Stream Channel Routing or River
Routing
Wedge Storage
=K(I-O)

O
Prism Storage
=KO

Figure 5. Prism and Wedge Storage in Channel

Stream Channel Routing or River
Routing
◼ Then total storage ‘S’ is therefore sum of
prism and wedge storage. That is:
S = K [XI + (1-X)O] - - - - - - (6)
◼ Where ‘X’ is a dimensionless constant for
certain reach or segment of channel. ‘K’ is
storage constant having dimensions of time.
◼ Both X and K are determined from inflow and
outflow hydrographs for reach under
consideration.
 Stream Channel Routing or River
Routing
◼ These constants vary from reach to reach and are
determined as follows.
❑ The inflow and outflow hydrographs are known for the reach.
❑ Find values of (I-O) for each time interval.
❑ Find the mean and cumulative mean values of (I-O) which is
storage.
❑ Assume value of ‘X’ and find the term [XI + (1-X) O] for each
time interval. The storage value is already calculated against
time as explained.
❑ Plot [xI + (1-x)O] values against storage. Inspect if data
plotted nearly fits a straight line. If not assume new value of x
and repeat steps 1-4.
❑ The best-fit straight line corresponds to required value of ‘x’.
The slope of this straight line is our required value of ‘K’.
Stream Channel Routing or River
Routing
◼ Now we proceed for channel flow routing once
values of ‘x’ and ‘K’ are known. Routing means
finding outflow hydrograph for given inflow
hydrograph.
◼ The linear relationship is expressed as for
Muskingum Method
◼ S = K [(xI) + (1-x) O]

Since rate of change of storage in a particular

channel reach is given as
[I2+I1/2]Δt – [O1+O2/2] Δt = S2–S1 -----------(1)
Stream Channel Routing or River
Routing
◼ For if Muskingum Theorem is applied to that
change; the equation can be written as in terms of
storage
◼ S2–S1 = K [ x (I2+I1) + (1-x)(O1+O2)]---------(2)

◼ Now equating equations 1 and 2 we get

◼ (I1/2)Δt+(I2/2)Δt–(O1/2)Δt-(O2/2)Δt = K{(xI2-xI1)+(1-x)(O2–O1)}
rearranging the terms we get
(I1/2)Δt+KI1x+(I2/2)Δt-KI2x-(O1/2)Δt+O1K-xKO1 = (O2/2)Δt+O2K-xKO2
(0.5Δt+Kx)I1=(0.5Δt-Kx)I2+(K-Kx-0.5Δt)O1 = (0.5Δt+K-Kx)O2 ---------(3)
Stream Channel Routing or River
Routing
◼ O2= [(0.5Δt+Kx)/(0.5Δt+K-xK)]I1+
[(0.5Δt-Kx)/(0.5Δt+K-xK)]I2+
[(K-Kx-0.5Δt/0.5Δt+K-Kx)]O1
◼ OR O2 = C0I2+C1I1+C2O1
◼ Where
◼ Co = [(0.5Δt-Kx)/(0.5Δt+K-xK)]
◼ C1 = [(0.5Δt+Kx)/(0.5Δt+K-xK)]
◼ C2 = [(K-Kx-0.5Δt/0.5Δt+K-Kx)]
◼ It may be noted that sum of weighing coefficients
◼ Co + C1 + C2 = 1
◼ Knowing values of ‘x’ and ‘K’ these coefficients are
determined simply by substitution of values in
equations
Example 2

◼ Table 8 shows Inflow and Outflow hydrographs for certain

reach of a channel. Find the Muskingum’s Coefficients ‘X’ and
‘K’ and route the given inflow hydrograph.

Time Inflow Outflow Time Inflow Outflow Time Inflow Outflow

(h) (m³/s) (m³/s) (h) (m³/s) (m³/s) (h) (m³/s) (m³/s)

0 41 41 84 742 625 168 120 179
12 36 40 96 675 675 180 96 141
24 39 38 108 450 640 192 79 115
36 123 50 120 322 575 204 67 92
48 342 130 132 247 395 216 55 77
60 577 290 144 190 300 228 50 65
72 720 470 156 145 236 240 41 55
◼ Solution
❑ The calculations are best done in tabular form. Refer Table 9,
wherein first column shows time interval and second column
shows known inflow hydrograph. The known outflow
hydrograph is given in column-4.
❑ The routing interval is taken as 12 hours equal to the interval
of inflow hydrograph for computational convenience. However
this interval can be reduced if more precise information is
sought.
❑ The storage units are 0.50 (m³/s)-day. The change in storage
within a interval is found using equation 9 as given in column
6. The cumulative storage is shown in column 7.
 Table 9. Finding Muskingham’s Constants
Time Inflow
I j+I j+1 Outflow (O j) O j+O j+1 ∆S S2=S1+∆S XIj+(1-X)Oj
Interval (I j)

(Hours) (m³/s) (m³/s) (m³/s) (m³/s) (m³/s)-day (m³/s)-day X=0.1 X=0.2 X=0.3

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)

0 41 41 41.00 41.00 41.00

12 36 77 35 76 0.25 0.25 35.10 35.20 35.30

24 39 75 38 73 0.50 0.75 38.10 38.20 38.30

36 123 162 50 88 18.50 19.25 57.30 64.60 71.90

48 342 465 130 180 71.25 90.50 151.20 172.40 193.60

60 577 919 290 420 124.75 215.25 318.70 347.40 376.10

72 720 1297 470 760 134.25 349.50 495.00 520.00 545.00

84 742 1462 625 1095 91.75 441.25 636.70 648.40 660.10

96 675 1417 675 1300 29.25 470.50 675.00 675.00 675.00

108 450 1125 640 1315 -47.50 423.00 621.00 602.00 583.00
 Table 9. Finding Muskingham’s Constants

Time Inflow
I j+I j+1 Outflow (O j) O j+O j+1 ∆S S2=S1+∆S XIj+(1-X)Oj
Interval (I j)
(Hours) (m³/s) (m³/s) (m³/s) (m³/s) (m³/s)-day (m³/s)-day X=0.1 X=0.2 X=0.3
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)
120 322 772 575 1215 -110.75 312.25 549.70 524.40 499.10
132 247 569 395 970 -100.25 212.00 380.20 365.40 350.60
144 190 437 300 695 -64.50 147.50 289.00 278.00 267.00
156 145 335 236 536 -50.25 97.25 226.90 217.80 208.70
168 120 265 178 414 -37.25 60.00 172.20 166.40 160.60
180 96 216 141 319 -25.75 34.25 136.50 132.00 127.50
192 79 175 115 256 -20.25 14.00 111.40 107.80 104.20
204 67 146 92 207 -15.25 -1.25 89.50 87.00 84.50
216 55 122 77 169 -11.75 -13.00 74.80 72.60 70.40
228 50 105 65 142 -9.25 -22.25 63.50 62.00 60.50
Note: ∆S = (∆t / 2) [(Ij + Ij+1) - (Oj + Oj+1)]
∆t=0.5 day
◼ Next an appropriate value of ‘x’ is assumed between
0.1 to 0.5 and weighted flow is determined as xI+(1-
x)O for each interval of time as shown in column 8,
12 and 14 of Table 9.
◼ The cumulative weighted flow is then plotted against
cumulative storage as is shown in figs. 6, 7 and 8.
The value of ‘x’ giving a best-fit straight line is the
required Muskingham’s constant x. The slope of
this best fit straight line is required ‘K’
 X=0.1

800.00

700.00

600.00
Storage 'S' [(m³/s)-day]

500.00

400.00

300.00

200.00

100.00

0.00
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500
[XI+(1-X)O] (m³/s)

Fig 6. Weighted Flow against Cumulative Storage for X=0.1

 X=0.2

800.00

700.00

600.00
Storage 'S' [(m³/s)-day]

500.00

400.00

300.00

200.00

100.00

0.00
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500
[XI+(1-X)O] (m³/s)

Fig 7. Weighted Flow against Cumulative Storage for X=0.2

 x=0.3

800.00

700.00 y = 1.3023x + 73.606

600.00
Storage 'S' [(m³/s)-day]

500.00

400.00

300.00

200.00

100.00

0.00
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500
[XI+(1-X)O] (m³/s)

Fig 8. Weighted Flow against Cumulative Storage for X=0.3

◼ From above charts,
X=0.3 & K=1.3 days
◼ From known values of ‘X’ and ‘K’, constants ‘C0’, ‘C1’, ‘C2’
are determined using equations 3.11, 3.12 and 3.13.
Co = [(0.5 / 1.3) - (2 x 0.3)] / [2(1-0.3) + (0.5 / 1.3)] = -0.12
C1 = [(0.5 / 1.3) + (2 x 0.3)] / [2(1-0.3) + (0.5 / 1.3)] = 0.55
C2 = [2(1 - 0.3) - (0.5 / 1.3)] / [2(1-0.3) + (0.5 / 1.3)] = 0.57
◼ Check -0.12 + 0.55 + 0.57 = 1.00
◼ The outflow hydrograph is computed using equation 10 as
shown in Table 10. The initial outflow is assumed equal to
inflow.
 Time Interval Constants for X=0.3 and K=1.3
Inflow (Ij) (m³/s) Outflow ‘O' (m³/s)
(Hours) C0 Ij+1 C1 Ij C2 O j
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)
0 41 41.00
Table 10. Computations for Channel Routing

12 36 -4.32 22.55 23.37 41.60

24 39 -4.68 19.80 23.71 38.83
36 123 -14.76 21.45 22.13 28.82
48 342 -41.04 67.65 16.43 43.04
60 577 -69.24 188.10 24.53 143.39
72 720 -86.40 317.35 81.73 312.68
84 742 -89.04 396.00 178.23 485.19
96 675 -81.00 408.10 276.56 603.66
108 450 -54.00 371.25 344.09 661.34
120 322 -38.64 247.50 376.96 585.82
132 247 -29.64 177.10 333.92 481.38
144 190 -22.80 135.85 274.39 387.44
156 145 -17.40 104.50 220.84 307.94
168 120 -14.40 79.75 175.52 240.87
180 96 -11.52 66.00 137.30 191.78
192 79 -9.48 52.80 109.31 152.63
204 67 -8.04 43.45 87.00 122.41
216 55 -6.60 36.85 69.77 100.02
228 50 -6.00 30.25 57.01 81.26
◼ The inflow and outflow hydrograph are shown in figure 9. One
can find difference in peak flows and time interval between peak
flows which is one of the objectives of channel flow routing
Channel Routing by Muskingum Method

800

700

600

500
Flow (m³/s)

400

300

200

100

0
0 50 100 150 200 250
Time (Hours)