How to update design floods after the construction of small reservoirs and check dams: A case study from the Daqinghe river basin, China

Abstract

Several small reservoirs and a large number of check dams had been constructed in the Wangkuai reservoir watershed after 1970s, and flood time series lacked stationarity, which affected the original design flood hydrographs for the Wangkuai reservoir. Since the location, storage capacity and drainage area of the large number of check dams were unknown, we present a method to estimate their total storage capacities (TSC) and total drainage areas (TDA) by using the recorded rainstorm and flood data. On the basis of TSC and TDA, the flood events which occurred in an undisturbed period were reconstructed under current conditions to obtain a stationary flood series. A frequency analysis was subsequently performed to assess the design flood peak and volume for both small and medium design floods with a 10-200 year return period. For large and catastrophic floods, it was assumed that the upstream check dams and small reservoirs would be destroyed, and water stored in these hydraulic structures were re-routed to the Wangkuai reservoir by unit hydrograph. The modified flood peak and volume decreased for floods with a 10-200 year return period when compared to the current design flood. But for large design floods with a return period exceeding 500 years, peak discharge increased. This study provides a new method for design flood calculation or modification of the original design flood in watersheds with a large number of check dams.

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