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Flood prediction using distributed hydrologic modeling in the Dominican Republic

The Yuna River watershed experiences long-duration floods near its mouth, and deadly flash floods in its mountainous upper reaches. To better understand this watershed, a distributed hydrologic model is created that describes flood behavior and acts as a resource for flood control decisions. Since gage and hydrologic data in the watershed is sparse, the model requires customized calibration to historic storms. Using the calibrated model outputs, a GIS-based Area-Slope statistic is proposed that prioritizes tributaries for flood control and permits implementation of parallel modeling in nearby watersheds. Additionally, a flood alert tool is proposed that catalogues expected peak flows, times to peak, and time delays around the city of Bonao. Potential structural controls are tested for effective flow attenuation, including reservoirs and diversions. The flood control analysis indicates that a multiple structure approach and/or a non-structural approach is necessary in Bonao, where a number of topographic factors exacerbate flooding.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:RICE/oai:scholarship.rice.edu:1911/62216
Date January 2010
ContributorsBedient, Philip
Source SetsRice University
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis, Text
Formatapplication/pdf

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