Anne Jefferson – Kent State University - Watershed Hydrology – Spring 2020

How I taught Flooding

online in Spring 2020
This document is part of a series of documents in which I provide the details of each unit I taught
post-transitioning to online in Spring 2020 in the Watershed Hydrology class at Kent State
University. For more context about the course and my perspective on it, please read the
introductory document. [I've added some bracketed notes about things I'd change up for a future
online offering.]

[For 2020, this was the last section of my watershed hydrology course. (Sometimes, I have time
for a specific unit on tracers and/or water quality). This is a little bit of a weird unit in that I
included some content on analyses you can do with streamflow data before shifting to a focus on
floods. This had more to do with evening out content vs. time than any innate splitting of
streamflow analysis topics and/or grouping with floods. I do not expect students to do any of the
analyses I talk about here, except some basic flood frequency analysis, but I want them to know
the many ways that streamflow data are used and that they could explore in advanced class, in
graduate research, or in their careers.]

In this unit, we explore:

• more hydrological analyses you can do with streamflow data

• basic flood definitions
• flood frequency analysis (focus of associated problem set)
• how we measure floods when there is no USGS gage (or it is wiped out by a flood)
• what causes floods, and
• how we manage floods

Learning Objectives
1. List several analyses that can be done with streamflow discharge data, other than
hydrographs and flow duration curves
2. Discuss how graphical- and tracer-based hydrograph separations work and the insights
gained from each
3. Identify some of the data inputs required for watershed hydrological modeling, river
forecasting, and hydraulic modeling
4. Describe the criteria used to distinguish between National Weather Service flood levels
5. Demonstrate how to conduct a flood frequency analysis and interpret the results of one
6. Identify why discussing floods in terms of probability and not recurrence interval is
considered the best practice
7. Give examples of situations that require caution when calculating flood probabilities
8. Describe two methods that can be used to estimate flood flows when there is no stream
gage
 Anne Jefferson – Kent State University - Watershed Hydrology – Spring 2020

9. Describe the common ways that meteorological floods are generated and the spatial
and time scales associated with each
10. Discuss the role of topography and human land use in modulating flood dynamics
11. Identify how climate change may be altering flood frequency and severity
12. Compare flood control reservoirs, levees, and natural flood management as approaches
for managing floods

More hydrological analyses you can do with streamflow data

In this video, I talk about some of the ways that stream discharge data can be used to gain insight
into processes occurring within a watershed. I talk about graphical and tracer based hydrograph
separation, recession analysis, and hydrological modeling for what-if scenarios and river
forecasting. You won't know the details of how to do the analyses after watching the video, but
you'll know what sorts of possibilities exist.

Want to follow along with the slides? They are here (PDF), http://all-
geo.org/highlyallochthonous/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/8b-Streamflowdata-part2.pdf but I do
recommend the video to get the context of the text and images on the slides.

https://youtu.be/Jw5hxCZvqBM

More about river forecasting

The National Weather Service combines weather forecasts, watershed models, and stream gage
data to make predictions of future flows at many locations around the US. This video takes you
inside a river forecast center to learn more about how they operate.

https://youtu.be/4SS6aBqDQQI

What is the definition of a flood?

To kick off our course content on floods, start with this video. If you just want the slides, they
are here (PDF). http://all-geo.org/highlyallochthonous/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/8c-
floodfrequency.pdf

https://youtu.be/xMJJzO4styc

How to do a basic flood frequency analysis

This was the need-to-know content for the last problem set for my students. If you just want the
slides, they are here (PDF). http://all-geo.org/highlyallochthonous/wp-
content/uploads/2020/05/8c-floodfrequency.pdf

https://youtu.be/Nlzjk8um65E
 Anne Jefferson – Kent State University - Watershed Hydrology – Spring 2020

Why you can get a 500-year flood 2 years in a row

http://all-geo.org/highlyallochthonous/2008/06/why-you-can-get-500-year-floods-two-years-in-
a-row/

This is a blog post I wrote a while ago about flood frequency. It reinforces some of the things I
talk about in my video lecture.

Some important cautionary notes about flood frequency analysis

Now that you know how to do a flood frequency analysis, you shouldn't just blindly do one with
any dataset you can find. Here I talk about some cautions.

https://youtu.be/czQzKmwVgeU

If you just want the slides, they are here (PDF). http://all-geo.org/highlyallochthonous/wp-
content/uploads/2020/05/8c-floodfrequency.pdf

Here's the Milly et al. (2008) piece on stationary and whether it is dead.
https://science.sciencemag.org/content/319/5863/573

Case study: Flood wave propagation in Pakistan

http://all-geo.org/highlyallochthonous/2010/08/flooding-in-pakistan/

In this short blog post, devastating flooding moving downstream in Pakistan's Indus River
watershed is an example of the timescales and effects of flood wave propagation. Flood wave
propagation comes up in my cautionary notes video above.

Case study: Flooding on the Red River of the North

http://all-geo.org/highlyallochthonous/2011/04/why-does-the-red-river-of-the-north-have-so-
many-floods/

The Red River of the North and its annual ice-jam floods comes up in my cautionary notes on
flood frequency analysis video. Here's a blog post I wrote if you want to read a little bit more
about this interesting (and very flat) area.

How do we quantify floods when there is no streamgage?

At the end of my video on cautionary notes about flood frequency analysis, I mentioned some
ways we can still estimate flood flows even when there's no stream gage. The two videos below
give you an overview of these important methods.

Hydraulic Models
 Anne Jefferson – Kent State University - Watershed Hydrology – Spring 2020

This video discusses how hydraulic models are used for floodplain mapping and other
engineering applications. Hydraulic models, which focus on the mechanics of flow within a
channel(or floodplain!) are different than the hydrologic or watershed models I discussed in the
"more streamflow analyses" video. Hydrologic models, that focus on the water balance in all
parts of a watershed, can be used to provide the input data for a hydraulic model or even be
coupled directly into the same computer program.

https://youtu.be/mTdjZG-eiak

How to make an indirect measurement of a flood, using Manning's Equation

In this video, a USGS hydrologist explains the basic theory and measurements needed to make
an indirect measurement of flood discharge using the Manning's equation. Please note that the
constant of 1.486 only applies if you use English units. If you use metric units, the constant is
1. Because of course it is.

https://youtu.be/5Rqy8_ZOHZw

What causes floods?

http://all-geo.org/highlyallochthonous/2020/05/a-riverine-flooding-cookbook-volume-1-
meteorological-floods/

A flood comes from too much water, but what causes the too much water? I've written a blog
post giving overviews of the most common meteorological flood generation mechanisms, from
isolated thunderstorms to hurricanes and monsoons.

Note that there are a whole other set of flood generating mechanisms including dam breaks,
glacial outbursts, landslide dams, and volcanoes that I don't even cover here. You'll just have to
stalk my blog after the semester is over to see if I make good on my promise to write about them.
Or ask me - I LOVE to talk about this sort of stuff.

Once you've read the blog post linked above, you may want to read more about some of the case
studies I mention in it. I've linked many of them below for your combined reading ease. Note
that these are all optional, but you may find them helpful to gain additional details on the
concepts in the blog post above.

• Case Study: Ellicott City, Maryland. Convective thunderstorm + urbanization + climate

change (blog post by me).
• Case Study: Colorado floods in 2013. Mesoscale convective system that stalled
out. (journal article, pretty readable, open access)
• Case Study: Irene in Vermont and Lee in the Susquehanna. Tropical Cyclones meet Steep
Topography (blog post, by me)
• Case Study: Hurricane Harvey. Part 1: Climate Change. Part 2: Urbanization. (blog posts,
by me)
 Anne Jefferson – Kent State University - Watershed Hydrology – Spring 2020

• Case Study: Atmospheric Rivers and flooding on Mt. Hood. 2011 events. 2006
events. (blog posts, by me)
• Case Study: Monsoon flooding and climate change in India in 2019. (feature news
article)
• Case Study: Monsoon flooding in Pakistan in 2010. As it happened. Climate change tie-
in.

Some of the largest floods in geologic history

http://all-geo.org/highlyallochthonous/2009/06/the-lake-missoula-megafloods/

Optional reading if you want to know about one of the most spectacular floods ever. It will blow
your mind.

How do we manage floods?

After all this talk of flooding, you might be asking, what can we do? This last section of the
course is designed to help answer that and leave you with a realistic, but maybe hopeful, sense of
how hydrologists, engineers, and environmental scientists can help manage floods by working
with a watershed's hydrology and landscape.

This video provides a good introductory overview of several approaches to flood management.

https://youtu.be/-PBT4OEJfGs

Levees and the illusion of flood control

http://all-geo.org/highlyallochthonous/2011/05/levees-and-the-illusion-of-flood-control/

In this blog post, I use my hometown to discuss some of the risks of a heavy reliance on levees to
manage flood risks.

How levees can make things worse

https://youtu.be/LTv6RkFnelM

How do flood control dams and spillways work?

This video presents an engineering perspective on how flood control dams operate, how
spillways work and how they are integral to the design and operation of dams.

https://youtu.be/fjapgTd-QUg

One of the important things this video points out is the risk of dam or spillway failure. When
such a failure seems like a real possibility, dam operators will do everything within their power
 Anne Jefferson – Kent State University - Watershed Hydrology – Spring 2020

to prevent the worst from happening, even if that guarantees that downstream flooding will get
worse. This was part of the drama that happened in Houston during Hurricane Harvey.

http://all-geo.org/highlyallochthonous/2017/09/hurricane-harvey-and-the-houston-flood-did-
humans-make-it-worse-part-2-urbanization/

[Note: I really wish I'd been able to accompany this content on the engineering of dams with
some examples of how they change hydrographs in multiple different ways, but, frankly, I ran
out of time to prepare that material and couldn't find an already produced video or written piece
that was appropriate. I'd love to know about one, if you've got one.]

Natural flood management: a (re)emerging trend

https://youtu.be/21YAP8RF_sw

There are lots of opportunities for geologists and environmental professionals to become
involved in natural flood management and many other exciting aspects of hydrology. Your
training in watershed hydrology could be a launching point for a career managing water
resources, protecting people, and improving the environment. But whatever you choose to do
after this course is over, I hope that some appreciation for the way water moves through
landscapes sticks with you. Thank you for being wonderful students this semester and know that
I will be thinking of you for a long time after this semester is over.

Assessment
• 10 question multiple choice quiz, drawn from a bank of more than 10 questions.
Students could take the quiz twice.
• Problem set focused on flood frequency and qualitatively assessing uncertainties
associated with estimating floods. This year, the problem set had the added bonus of a
"record-breaking flood" on the stream we use in the problem set occuring after the end
of 2019 water year. That allowed students to construct the flood frequency curve, then
look up the 2020 flood discharge, calculate an estimated frequency for it, and then
discuss how the assignment would change for next year's class when that data point
was included.
• Questions on the final exam, including interpretation of a flood frequency graph.

Please respect my work

This work (my videos and blog posts) are licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-
NoDerivs 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). That means that you need to give appropriate
credit if you use or modify anything I've posted here. It also means that you can't use the material
for commercial purposes. If you want to use other resources I've listed above, please respect the
rights of the originators. If you want to use my sequencing of topics and resources in your class,
by all means, go ahead.
Anne Jefferson – Kent State University - Watershed Hydrology – Spring 2020