Flood Routing

Reservoirs Routing and Channel Routing

Index
Introduction
1. Flood
2. Storage and transmission of floodwater
3. Flood prediction
Flood routing
Reservoir routing:
1. ISD method (inflow storage discharge)
2. Modified Pul's method:
Channel routing:
1. Prism storage and wedge storage
2. Muskingum Methods:
Introduction
1 Flood
• A flood is an unusually high stage in a river – normally the level at which
the river overflows its banks and inundates the adjoining area.
• The damages caused by floods in terms of loss of life, property and
economic loss due to disruption of economic activity are very high.
• Flood peak values are required in the design bridges, culvert waterways
spillways for dams, and estimation of scour at a hydraulic structure.

2 Storage and transmission of floodwater

• Flood occurs when the channel storage capacity is exceeded:

1. The flood wave moves

without changing its
shape .This tendency is
dominant in steep,
straight streams. Flow
velocities are high and
relatively constant.

2. Attenuation: the wave is

attenuated by storage
within the channel and
the valley floor. A
reservoir is a good
example.

3. Most natural rivers

have both tendencies.
Flood prediction
2.1 Important considerations.
(a) Volume of storm runoff
(b) Peak flood discharge
(c) Flood height
(d) Time distribution of storm hydrograph
(e) Area of inundation
(f) Velocity of flow across the valley bottom

2.2Practical procedures.
(1) Estimate runoff generation, e.g. W-index method.
(2) Synthesize a hydrograph, e.g. unit hydrograph method.
(3) Simulate downstream propagation of floodwater.

2.3Water balance
• (Inflow rate - Outflow rate) Δt = Storage change (I - O) = ΔS/Δt
• For a time interval Δt = t2 - t1, the average flow rates are;
Iav = (I1 + I2)/2 Oav = (O1 + O2)/2
• The storage change during Δt is; ΔS = S2 - S1
• Therefore; (I1 + I2)/2 - (O1 + O2)/2 = (S2 - S1)/Δt

This is the water balance equation for a stream segment, which is commonly
used in flood routing.
Flood Routing
The flood hydrograph is in fact a wave. The stage and discharge hydrographs
represent the passage of waves of stream depth and discharge respectively.
As this wave moves down, the shape of the wave gets modified due to channel
storage, resistance, lateral addition or withdrawal of flows etc.
When a flood wave passes through a reservoir its peak is attenuated and the time
base is enlarged due to effect of storage
The reduction in the peak of the outflow
hydrograph due to storage effects
is called attenuation.
Further the peak of outflow occurs after
the peak of the inflow; the time difference
between the peaks of inflow
and outflow hydrographs is known as lag.

Modification in the hydrograph is studied through flood routing.

Flood routing is the technique of determining the flood hydrograph at a

section of a river by utilizing the data of flood flow at one or more upstream
sections.

Why route flows?

Account for changes in flow hydrograph as a flood wave passes downstream
helps in:
1. Accounting for storages
2. Studying the attenuation of flood peaks
• Flood routing is used in:
1. Flood forecasting
2. flood protection
3. Reservoir design
4. Design of spillway and outlet structures
• Flood routing types:
1. Reservoir routing
• Reservoir Routing is used to determine the peak-flow attenuation that a
hydrograph undergoes as it enters a reservoir or other type of storage pool.
• Input data needed for storage routing include the inflow hydrograph and
reservoir characteristics (storage and outlet facilities).
2. Channel routing
• Channel Routing is used to analyze the effects of a channel on a
hydrograph's peak flow and travel time.
• Input data needed for channel routing include the inflow hydrograph and
the channel characteristics.
Routing techniques
1. Hydrologic routing
• Flow is calculated as a function of time alone at a particular location
• Governed by continuity equation and flow/storage relationship
• Used in dam design and dam operation
2. Hydraulic routing:
• use continuity equation along with the equation of motion of unsteady
flow (St.Venant equations) hence better than hydrologic methods
• Used in hydrodynamic modeling

Flood routing methods:

• Reservoir routing
1. ISD method (inflow storage discharge)
2. Modified pul's method
• Stream flow routing
1. Muskingum method
2. Wedge storage and prism storage
Reservoir Routing
• The passage of a flood hydrograph through a reservoir or a channel
reach is a gradually varied unsteady flow.
• If we consider some hydrologic system with input I(t), output Q(t),
and storage S(t), then the equation of continuity in hydrologic routing
methods is the following:

3 ISD method (inflow storage discharge)

• Input, output, and storage are related by continuity equation:

dS
= I (t )−Q(t )
dt
Q and S are unknown

Discharge I (t ) Discharge
Inflow Q(t )
Transfer
Function
Outflow

I (t ) = Inflow Q(t ) = Outflow

Upstream hydrograph Downstream hydrograph

• Storage can be expressed as a function of I(t) or Q(t) or both

dI dQ
S = f (I , ,  , Q, , )
dt dt
• For a linear reservoir, S=kQ
 • S and Q relationships:

4 Modified Pul's method:

• Procedure for calculating outflow hydrograph Q(t) from a reservoir with
horizontal water surface, given its inflow hydrograph I(t) and storage-
outflow relationship
• Given
1. Inflow hydrograph
2. Q and H relationship
• Steps
1. Develop Q versus Q+ 2S/Dt relationship using Q/H relationship
2. Compute Q+ 2S/Dt using

2 S j +1 2S j
+ Q j +1 = I j +1 + I j + −Qj
t t

3. Use the relationship developed in step 1 to get Q

• Method Estimation:

Discharge
Inflow

I j +1
Outflow
Ij
Q j +1
Qj
t

jt ( j + 1) t Time

Storage

S j +1
Sj

Time
Channel Routing
• In a stream channel (river) a flood wave may be reduced in magnitude and lengthened in
travel time i.e., attenuated, by storage in the reach between two sections.
• Since the water surface is not uniform during the floods, the storage in the reach may be
divided into two parts (As shown in figure 1):

1. Prism storage
2. wedge storage

Fig. 1 Storage in a stream channel during a flood wave

• The volume that would be stored in the reach if the flow were uniform
throughout, i.e., below a line parallel to the stream bed, is called ‘prism
storage’
• The volume stored between this line and the actual water surface profile
due to outflow being different from inflow into the reach is called ‘wedge
storage’.
• During rising stages the wedge storage volume is considerable before the
outflow actually increases,
• While during falling stages inflow drops more rapidly than outflow, the
wedge storage becoming negative.
5 Muskingum Methods:
5.1 The Basic Muskingum method
• The Muskingum method for flood routing was developed in the 1930s (McCarthy,
cited by Chin 2000) and is one of the most popular methods of hydrological routing
for drainage channels with all types of rivers and streams.
• This method of routing approximates the storage volume in a channel by a
combination of prism storage and wedge storage, as illustrated in Figure (2), for the
case in which the inflow exceeds the outflow. When the water level recedes in the
channel, a negative wave is produced due to outflow exceeding inflow.

Fig. 2 Prism and wedge storage in a channel reach

5.2Method estimation
1. The prism storage is described as the volume of a constant cross-section that
corresponds to uniform flow in a prismatic channel. With the movement of
flow, wedge storage is generated.

2. By assuming the flow area is directly proportional to the channel flow:

• The volume of prism storage = KO …..(1)
• The wedge storage = KX (I - O)
K = the travel time through the
reach
O = the flow through the prism.
X = is a weighting factor in the
...… (2)
range 0 ≤ X ≤ 0.5

3. The total storage, S, between the inflow and outflow sections is therefore
given by:

S = KO + KX (I - O) or S= K [XI + (1 – X) O] …… (3)
4. By Muskingum Model,
I
Q
At t = t2, S2 = K [X I2 + (1 - X) O2]
I −Q
At t = t1, S1 = K [X I1 + (1 - X) O1] Q Q

5. Substituting S1, S2 into the continuity equation

I Q
and after some algebraic manipulations, one has
O2 = Co I2 + C1 I1 + C2 O1 Q−I

I I

6. Replacing subscript 2 by t +1 and 1 by t,

the Muskingum routing equation is

Ot+1 = Co It+1 + C1 It + C2 Ot, for t = 1, 2…

Where:

− KX + 0.5t
C =
o K − KX + 0.5t
Note: K and t must have the same unit
KX + 0.5t
C =
1 K − KX + 0.5t

C2 = 1 – Co – C1

5.3Calibration of the Muskingum parameters

• In the basic Muskingum method, K and X can be graphically estimated
from the available inflow and outflow data of the reach of interest.
• Equation (3) shows that if S is plotted against XI+ (1-X) O, a straight line
with a slope of K should result.
• Several values of X are tried; the value that gives the narrowest loop in the
plotted relationship is taken as the correct X value and the slope of the
plotted relationship is taken as the K value (Haan, Barfield and Hayes,
1994: p185).
• Figure (3) is an example showing that K is taken as the slope of the straight
line of the narrowest loop when X=0.3 (Heggen, cited byTewolde, 2005).
 Fig.3 River routing storage loops (after Wilson, cited by Tewolde, 2005).

5.4Criticism of the Muskingum method

1. The Muskingum method assumes a single stage-discharge relationship.
This assumption causes an effect known as hysteresis, which may introduce
errors into the storage calculation.
2. In spite of its simplicity and its wide applicability, the Muskingum method
has the shortcoming of producing a negative initial outflow which is
commonly referred to as ‘dip’ or ‘reduced flow’ at the beginning of
the routed hydrograph.
3. The method is restricted to moderate to slow rising hydrographs being
routed through mild to steep sloping channels.
4. The Muskingum method also ignores variable backwater effects such as
downstream dams, constrictions, bridges and tidal influences.