Dynamic Floodways: Accounting

for Both Storage and Conveyance

José María Guzmán, P.E.

Gaston Cabanilla, P.E., CFM

May 2010, National ASFPM Conference, Oklahoma City

Outline

 Standard FEMA methods to develop a floodway

 Accounting for storage using SWMM
 Application to Jacksonville, FL (Duval County)
 DFU: A computational tool
 Discussion of floodway results

Acknowledgments:
Tom Nye, Sandeep Gulati, Seungho Song, Michael F. Schmidt,
Zhida Song-James
 Floodway Definition Based on FEMA
Regulations
 FEMA’s regulations (Section 59.1) state: “A floodway is defined
as the channel of a river or other watercourse and the adjacent
land areas that must be reserved in order to discharge the base
flood without cumulatively increasing the water-surface
elevation by more than a designated height. ”
Floodway Definition Based on FEMA
Regulations (cont.)
 In the State of Florida the “regulatory”
floodway is based on a maximum allowable
one foot rise in the BFE when the floodplain
is encroached through the flood fringe
The USACE Developed Several
Methods to Establish a Floodway
 Methods were developed with the use of HEC-2
 In general there are five methods available
HEC-RAS Includes Tools to Run the
Floodway Development

 User can select from

among the five
methods developed
by the USACE
 The model generates
the floodway
encroachments
When Not Using HEC-RAS, the
Options are Limited
 In the particular case of SWMM, FEMA guidelines
suggest using the HEC-RAS tools:
1. Convert the model to a steady flow model such as
HEC-2 (or HEC-RAS) to compute encroachment
stations using the equal conveyance method
When Not Using HEC-RAS, the
Options are Limited (cont.)
 In the particular case of SWMM, FEMA guidelines
suggest using the HEC-RAS tools:
1. Convert the model to a steady flow model such as
HEC-2 (or HEC-RAS) to compute encroachment
stations using the equal conveyance method
2. Apply the encroached transects to the SWMM model
to compute the water surface elevations to account
for the loss of floodplain storage
When Not Using HEC-RAS, the
Options are Limited (cont.)
 In the particular case of SWMM, FEMA guidelines
suggest using the HEC-RAS tools:
1. Convert the model to a steady flow model such as
HEC-2 (or HEC-RAS) to compute encroachment
stations using the equal conveyance method
2. Apply the encroached transects to the SWMM model
to compute the water surface elevations to account
for the loss of floodplain storage
3. If there is greater than the allowable increase (one
foot) in any of the cross sections, go back to the HEC
model and get new encroachment stations
CDM was contracted to update the 1989
FIS in Duval County, FL using SWMM

The project was developed in SWMM for

several reasons:
• Extensive previous models
• Successful model field verifications
• Flat terrain and tidal influence
• Integrated model that solves the entire
system as once and not as individual
branches
• Upcoming water quality applications
related to concurrent TMDL studies
Applying the criteria set by the FEMA
standard, CDM used SWMM as follows:
The Channel Geometry is Modified by
the Engineer by Introducing Channel
Encroachments

1.49 2/3 1.49 2/3

KL   AL  RL KR   AR  RR
nL nR
The Engineer Computes the
Conveyance Reduction on Both Sides,
and Makes Sure That They are Equal

1.49 2/3 1.49 2/3

KL   AL  RL KR   AR  RR
nL nR

K is a Function of the Wet Perimeter,

Cross-sectional Area, and Channel
Roughness
Cross-Section Example

Proposed

Existing
The Process Becomes a Series of Tests
Where Comparing Two Conditions
The Model Accounts for the Loss of Storage
Associated with the Encroachments because it
evaluates all the model cross sections at once
Increased Complexity Took the Team From
the Basic Concept to the Development of a
Dynamic Floodway Utility (DFU)
 7. Determine conveyance
1. Run the 1% annual reduction for the left and 12. Compare each reach's
chance flow with natural right side of the transect: KL, surcharge (at us and ds
channel geometry KR nodes) to maximum
surcharge - increase or
decrease percentage
2. Observe the following 8. Select the minimum value encroachment as necessary
results from the simulation between KL and KR. Adjust (negative possible)
period: the other station to ensure
- Peak flow Qn (natural that KL = KR.
channel) WSEn (natural
channel)
13. Is the
9. Run model again for the average surcharge for
1% annual chance storm all reaches > threshold*,
3. For each reach, move NO
with adjusted transects < =1 ft, or are both sides
transect stations inward to
encroached to main channel,
the intersection with WSEn,
or is the encroachment
set the encroachment
fixed by a
percentage to 10% 10. Observe the following
ds node?
values for the simulation
period:
4. Set N = 0 - Peak flow QF (floodway)
- Peak WSE at each node YES
WSEF (floodway)
14. Prepare floodway table
5. Iteration - N - modify
model geometry based on a
percentage encroachment 11. Calculate the difference
for each side in peak WSE (surcharge) at
every node

6. If any of the new N = Iteration index

proposed stations KL = Left conveyance
encroaches beyond the KR = Right conveyance
existing channel banks, set WSE = Water surface elevation
the encroachment station to * Threshold may be defined by user: in this
the existing bank project we used 0.6

13a. N = N + 1
DFU Convergence Criteria

 One of the following criteria must be met for each

cross section in the floodway mapping portion of
the model:
The Following Data are Given in a Text File to the DFU
DFU – Batch File Structure
@echo off
set E1=0
set E0=0

:E0

echo Iteration %E1%%E0%

swmm5 CF_2006_100_%E1%%E0%.inp CF_2006_100_%E1%%E0%.rpt
floodwayv3 CF_2006_100_%E1%%E0%.inp CF_2006_100_%E1%%E0%.rpt

if %E0%==9 goto E1
:E1
if %E0%==8 set E0=9 set E0=0
if %E0%==7 set E0=8 if %E1%==9 goto Done
if %E0%==6 set E0=7 if %E1%==8 set E1=9
if %E0%==5 set E0=6 if %E1%==7 set E1=8
if %E0%==4 set E0=5 if %E1%==6 set E1=7
if %E0%==3 set E0=4 if %E1%==5 set E1=6
if %E0%==2 set E0=3 if %E1%==4 set E1=5
if %E0%==1 set E0=2 if %E1%==3 set E1=4
if %E0%==0 set E0=1 if %E1%==2 set E1=3
goto E0 if %E1%==1 set E1=2
if %E1%==0 set E1=1

goto E0

:Done
The Engineer Reviews a Summary
Table Generated by the DFU
Cross Left encr Right encr @Stream
Level maxDiff aveDelta >= 0.6
Section Rate Rate Banks

SW40002 1 1.03 0.42 100.0 43.2    

SW40005FP 1 1.03 0.71 0.0 0.0 YES  

SW40006FP 1 1.03 0.68 100.0 100.0 YES  

SW40007 1 1.03 0.81 100.0 38.5 YES  

SW40011 1 1.03 0.80 100.0 78.2 YES  

SW40012 1 1.03 0.89 0.0 0.0 YES  

SW40013 1 1.03 0.88 67.7 83.7 YES  

SW40014L1 1 1.03 0.93 100.0 57.8 YES  

SW40014L2 1 1.03 0.89 98.2 65.2 YES  

SW40015 1 1.03 0.91 58.3 100.0 YES  

SW40017 1 1.03 0.92 82.6 100.0 YES  

SW40025 1 1.03 0.59 100.0 100.0 NO YES

SW40034 2 1.03 0.19 0.0 0.0 NO NO

SW40035 2 1.03 0.16 0.0 0.0 NO NO

SW40036 2 1.03 0.12 0.0 0.0 NO NO

SW40037 2 1.03 0.07 0.0 0.0 NO NO

Results are Then Presented in the
Floodway Data Table
Once the User is Satisfied With the
Floodway Outcome, the Team Translates It
into a Graphical Delineation
FEMA Has Been Involved in the Process
Through a Series of Memoranda
 FEMA staff are interested in the results of the
dynamic methodology
 Main FEMA concerns
 Added criteria for floodplain
storage
 Many engineers have
expressed concerns with
the current steady
application in some states
 Having a standard
methodology that other
engineers can use to
replicate results
Manual Corrections to Dynamic
Floodway

There are instances in which the dynamic floodway is too

narrow or too wide due to hydraulic considerations

In these cases, the user should overwrite the floodway using

engineering judgment

The user should understand the interdependence of

adjacent cross-sections
 Floodway Review at bridges and culverts

Wide
FW Narrow
FW
Floodway Review at Confluence of Multiple
Streams
Rasplot Software Was Used to Generate
Profiles Specific to SWMM That Display
the Nodes Instead of Cross-Sections
FIRM panel
format based on
link-node models
such as SWMM
Conclusions
Dynamic Floodways: Accounting
for Both Storage and Conveyance

José María Guzmán, P.E.

guzmanjm@cdm.com

May 2010, National ASFPM Conference, Oklahoma City

Additional Challenges for SWMM
Users in Mapping
 WSE not reported at cross-sections
 Cross-section locations are not included in
the model
 Meandering channels
 Viewing the WSE
in the cross-sections