Hydrology of flood A flood can be defined as relatively high flow of water which overtops the natural or artificial bank in any reach of river due to unusual meteorological happenings. Causes of flood: Continuous rainfall, cloud bursting Blocking of rivers by landslides Dam outburst and Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) Sea storm and Tsunami. Change in land use pattern (deforestation, urbanization etc.) Uncoordinated development activities and structural failure of Dam, Embankment ete. Effects of Flood: Loss of Life and Property Destruction of physical, social and economical infrastructures. Damage of agricultural land use and production Damage of hydraulic structures such as Dam, Barrage, Bridges etc. and damage of route of transportation Flood control measures: Flood can be controlled by following measures: 1. Structural measures: Effects of flood can be minimized by constructing hydraulic structures in river channels. Following measures can be applied to control flood: Flood water can be stored in by constructing storage reservoirs and releasing the stored water in controlled manner. Detention reservoir can be constructed in the reservoir. Detention reservoirs are the small structures constructed in the river to obstruct the flow temporarily to obstruct the rate of outflow. Earthen banks known as flood embankments (Levees or Dikes) can be constructed parallel to the river course to confine it to fixed course and limiting x-sectional width. The height of the embankment will be higher then designed flood level with sufficient free board. This is the most common method of flood protection measure. Flood ways are natural or man made channels that are used to divert the flood. Soil conservation through bio-engineering can be done to reduce flood. It includes soil conservation measures increasing infiltration, evaporation, reduces soil erosion and reduces the runoff. Channel improvement by deepening or widening of channel, reduction of the roughness and short circuiting of the loops can be done. 2. Non Structural Measures: Regulation of land reclamation and regulation of development can be done for the purpose of land use regulation: Flood plain mapping shows the location and extent of area likely to be inundated due to floods of different retum periods. Development plans of these areas are prepared in such a way that the resulting damages due to flood are within acceptable limits of risks. Flood forecasting is the expanding area of application of the hydrologic techniques. The goal of the flood forecasting is to obtain real time precipitation and stream flow data and precipitation data through microwave radio or satellite communication networks, insert the data on flood forecasting model and forecast flow rates and water levels for periods from few hours to few days ahead depending on the size ofthe basin. Flood forecasting is used to warn people to evacuate the flood threatened area and to help water management personnel to operate flood control structures. Evacuation of the people and goods from the flood effected areas and relocation of them to the nearby area also reduces the effects of the flood. Flood insurance reduces the impact of loss or burden, Design flood Design flood is the flood discharge adopted for the design of a structures after careful consideration of economic and hydrologic factors. As the magnitude of the design flood increases, the cost of structures also increases but the probability of the annual damage will decrease. Methods used for estimating Design Flood: 1, Rational Method: Itis commonly used method for computing peak discharge for small basins. The idea behind this method is that if a rainfall of intensity i begins instantaneously and continuously, the rate of runoff will increase until the time of concentration (t,) when all the basin is contributing to the flow at the outlet. After t, runoff becomes constant period for the period of rainfall excess (t— t,) After the cessation of rain, runoff reduces gradually to become 0 at time t, from the end of the peak. The product of rainfall intensity i and basin area A is the inflow rate for the system. The peak discharge is given by Q, = CiA --—-----(1) (in FPS units) Where Q, = Peak Discharge C = runoff coefficient: it is the ration of runoff to rainfall and it represents the total cumulative effects of catchment loss. Its value varies from 0 to 1 A= Basin area i = mean rainfall intensity for the duration equal to te Rational method is useful for small catchment of about square kilometers. With SI units above equation becomes Q, = 0.278°CiAValue of C can be obtained from the following table: Type of Basin c Rocky and Permeable 08-4 Slightly impermeable Bare 06-08 Cultivated/ covered with vegetation 0.4- 0.6 Cultivated absolvent soil 03-04 Sandy soil 0.2-0.3 Heavy forest 0.1-0.3 For non homogenous basin ¢ can be computed by using following formula: EGA + Cody + Cyl + Ata, tAy+ If the data of rainfall intensity are not available, i can be computed using following formula: __ kn (t, +b)" T = Return Peroid i K, a, b, n are constants. For Northern Indian Himalayan K= 5.92, a = 0.162, b= 0.5, n= 1.013 (Same values are Taken for Nepal). tc is estimated by Kirpich Formula as t,=0,0194781°"5 7% L = maximum length of travel S= HIL = Slope, Where H is difference in elevation. Applications of Rational Methods:This method is applicable for designing storm, sewer channel, and other drainage structres. Limitations: Applicable to basin up 50 sq. km area Duration of rainfall intensity should be greater than time of concentration. It gives only the peak value of hydrograph but not the entire hydrograph. Cis assumed same for all storms. Constant rainfall intensity in entire basin, Empirical methods: Empirical formulas are derived as per the characteristics if the catchment basin and applicable for a region only. Empirical formulas are applied only when a more accurate method fore flood prediction is un applicable due to lack of rainfall data. For the prediction of flood in the ungauged basins of Nepal, following empirical formulas are applicable: 1. Modified Dickens Formula: Using this method T year flood discharge Qr in m*/sec can be determined as Qr= Cy Ao Where A = tota basin area, Cr = modified Dickens Constant This constant is estimated using the formula purposed by Irrigation Research Isttitute, Roorkee, India based on the frequency study of on Himalayan rivers: 1185 Cy = 2342 1og(0.67) tf) a+6 Ata p=100 2. WECS Formula: In Nepalese contest, Water and Energy Commission Secretariat (WECS) developed empirical relationship for analyzing flood of different frequencies. Formula for 2 year retum period is:Qz = 1.8767(Asoo0 + 1 )°8783 And formula for 100 years return period is: Qz = 14.63(Aaooo + 12754 Asoo = Basin Area in sq. km for elevation below 3000 m For other return periods: Qr = exp(inQ2 + So) Where Qr = flood of T year return period in m/sec Values of T and S are: T (Years) s 2 0 5 0.842 10 1.282 25 1.645 50 2.052 100 2.326