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A. Hydrologic cycle o The hydrologic cycle is a summary of the circulation of Earth’s water supply o Processes involved in the hydrologic cycle o Precipitation o Evaporation o Infiltration o Runoff o Transpiration
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The hydrologic cycle
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Sources of Earth’s water
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The Three Fates of Precipitation— Where does rain go? o Evaporation or Transpiration 66% in the US o Infiltration o Runoff – the cause of floods o It is generally of interest to cities to reduce runoff
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Civilization exists by geological consent …subject to change without notice. Will Durant
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Floods o Floods = any high flow of surface waters that overtops normal confinements or covers land o Floods usually occur when river's channel cannot hold all the water supplied to it by its watershed (the area the river drains).
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Fig. 11-2, p.269
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Flooding from the Feather River extended far off to the horizon in some places. Fig. 12-27, p.313
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Floods – o The Worst Geological Hazard o They are the most costly in terms of life, property, and land o They can occur almost anywhere o Damage is caused by: o Erosion by flood waters o Impact of water on structures o Sediment deposition o Contamination of surface waters o Loss of life o 1887 Honan, China 900,000 killed o 1911 Yangtse River 100,000 killed o 1969 Southern California 69 killed
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Causes of Floods o High intensity – long duration precipitation o it is greatly worsened by deforestation, farming, and urbanization o examples Duration Depth (inches) Location Date 1 minute1.23Unionville, MD1956 42 minutes12Holt, MO1947 4 hr, 30 min.30.8Smethport, PA1942 24 hrs45.99Philippines1911 2 yrs1605Cherraponji, India1860-61 o Snowmelt o Late spring rapid melting often results in problems down river o Ice Jams o Large blocks of ice clog rivers during spring breakup o Dam Failure o Baldwin Hills Dam 12/14/63 5 killed http://www.stanford.edu/~meehan/la/baldwin.htm http://www.stanford.edu/~meehan/la/baldwin.htm o St. Francis Dam 3/12/28 500 killed http://www.rain.org/~stapaula/StFrancisOther.html http://www.rain.org/~stapaula/StFrancisOther.html
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Evaluation of Precipitation o Depth or magnitude of the rainfall o Area over which the rain falls o Duration of the rain o Intensity
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Shepherdsville, Ohio Ohio River
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Floods z Flood account for over 40% of all natural disaster deaths worldwide yWHY? Waterheim, Germany Main River Dahaka, Bangladesh Sea Flood
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Davenport, Iowa, also on the Mississippi River floodplain Fig. 12-15, p.304
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Why? zMore than half the world’s population lives near large bodies of water zMost rivers burst their banks every two years zSevere weather zLack of engineering floodplain design zurbanization
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D. Recurrence Interval o The average recurrence interval between major storms or floods is easily calculated o a. 10, 100, 1000 year storms for example o Engineers design for particular recurrence intervals o streets 2-5 years o debris dams 5 – 25 years o Upper valley dams 100 years o Levees 100 yrs o Large dams 1000+ years
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Flood Frequency o Recurrence Intervals o Analysis
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Discharge o Discharge = amount of water flowing past a point in a given unit of time o Units of measure o VOLUME/TIME o gal/min o m3/sec o ft3/sec o How is discharge determined? Cross-sectional area of stream x velocity
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Urbanization and its effects on discharge o Less infiltration o More runoff o More flooding o Specific causes: o Deforestation o Construction and paving o Channelization
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Rivers do not rise with first rainfall; the thirsty ground absorbs it all. Seneca
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Recurrence Intervals The average time interval between the occurrence of two flood event o Rivers flood regularly, some at frequent interval o Some floods are large, with very high water level o Small flood are most frequent occurring on the average every 2 or 3 years o Large flood are generally less frequent usually occurring every 10, 20, or 30 years. o There are probabilities not certainties! o There is a 20 % probability that a flood of a given height –say 3 m above bank – will occur in any one year. o This chance corresponds to an average time interval (in this case 5 years (20 %=1 in 5) between two floods 3 m height.
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What do you think? Q. What's the probability of a 25 year flooding event occurring each year? A. 1/25= 0.4 *100= 4 % Q. Given that a 25-year flooding event has a probability of 4 % of occurring each year (1/25), what is the probability that a 25-year flood will NOT occur in a given year? A. 100 - 4 = 96 %
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What do you think? What's the probability a flood with a recurrence interval of 25 years, during a 10 year period? P (Within 10 years) = 1 - (1 - 1/25) 10 = 1 - 0.66 = 0.33 or 33% Q. What's the probability of there being a 50 year type flood in a 20 year period?
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Real World Question! z What is the probability of flooding, 50 years flood, within the 30 years that you are paying on the mortgage?
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E. Factors which Have Increased Erosion o Deforestation – results in increased erosion o Overgrazing – also increased erosion o Urbanization o More rapid discharge to streams causes: o More frequent floods o Higher flood peaks o Urban runoff is highly toxic
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F. Urbanization and Erosion o Both natural and urban landscapes have low erosion rates o Construction as natural lands is urbanized causes high erosion rates
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II Formation of Valleys o River Erosion o Rivers cuts their valleys vertically and laterally o Lateral erosion produces broad valleys, flood plains, and meandering streams
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o Flood Plains o Periodic floods deposit rich soils o Agricultural production on floods plains is followed by urbanization o Natural levees o Forms as floods deposit coarse detritus near the river o Naturally constraint the river except in the larger floods
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Inland flooding can be a major threat to communities hundreds of miles from the coast as intense rain falls from these huge tropical air masses.
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Reducing Flood Damage o Two Approaches o 1. Water Control o Flood Plain Management o o 1. Water Control o Watershed management o Erosion control o Reforestation o 2. Dams and Reservoirs o 30% of US reservoir capacity is devoted to flood control o Small dams are effective in upstream areas o Large dams protect the downstream areas o May also produce hydroelectric power o Dams have enormous negative environmental impacts
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o Channel clearing and dredging o a. Tends to deepen the channel and increase the capacity o Channel alteration o Cutting off meanders tends to steepen gradients and increase downcutting of the channel o The Mississippi River has been shortened by 100’s of miles o Diversions o Flood waters are diverted into lakes and flood plains o Channel stabilization o Channel banks and floors are paved o 7. Dikes and levees o Very common world-wide to protect fertile flood plains o They increase downstream flood peaks by eliminating flood plain water storage o Failure often results in disaster
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Malibu Canyon Dam was built in 1925 in the Santa Monica Mountains Within 13 years the reservoir was filled with sand. (Photo by John. S. Shelton)
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Flood mitigation o Flood control structures o dams o flood walls o Channelization o Human try to control flood waters by making channels: 1) clear of debris 2) deeper 3) wider, and 4) straighter. Example LA River o dikes o levees o zoning o prohibition of rebuilding; moving towns o flood insurance
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Flood Plain Management o Flood forecasting o Function of the River & Flood Service of the US National Weather Service o Flood Plain Zoning
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Case History The Binational Approach: T he issue (s) related to Tijuana river in the US-Mexico border o The two countries agreed on a LA-Style project to cement the river channel but US did not complete the project. o The cement– lined channel project was blocked by environmental activist o The large concrete channel in the city of Tijuana sends high-velocity floods charging into the subdivisions of southernmost San Diego
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View southeast from San Diego, CA into Tijuana, Mexico, Jan 1978 Flood waters race through the cement-lined channel in Tijuana (top center of photo) blasting into the farms and subdivisions in southernmost San Diego.
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Flood in San Diego River, Jan 1979
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Fig. 11-42, p.290
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zevery year the probability (P) of a Maximum Annual Peak Discharge (we'll call this a flood) with a given recurrence interval (RI) is z P = 1 / RI zFrom that it follows that the probability of there NOT being a flood within one year is P (NOT) = (1 - 1 / RI) zAnd finally, the probability of there being a certain size flood in X years is P (Within X years) = 1 - P (NOT in X years) = 1 - (1 - 1 / RI) X
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