Flooding Protection Management for Risk Prevention in Arid Catchments

Abstract

The integration of hydrological parameters was used for the water balance in arid catchments to assess the storm runoff frequency distributions. A Digital Elevation Model (DEM) for the Marar catchment in the Jordan Rift Valley was used for the rainfall and evaporation simulations. Runoff peak discharge was estimated using the curve number method and unit hydrographs from Ramallah Meteorological Station. The runoff storm average is 2.35 million cubic meters per year in a ten year cycle (2004/2014) representing of 9.8% (183mm) of precipitation per year. Derivations of unit hydrographs for 10 to 25 years reveals for peak discharge between 22.8-29.4 and 35.3-45.5 m/s respectively. The annual recharge was calculated for to be between 113.3-83 mm/year using different methodologies. The appropriate method for solving flood control and avoiding flood catastrophe is in constructing small scale retention dams and the availability of stored runoff water will be used for agricultural or touristic use.