A basis for unified flood‐control operation of reservoir systems

Abstract

Reservoir operations for passage of flood waters customarily depend upon water levels in the reservoir or upon flows entering the reservoir. Both of these factors are influenced materially by the manner of operation of other reservoirs in the watershed, and by the construction and operation of any dam, levee, or channel improvement in the upstream flood plain. The purpose of this paper is to present a criterion of effective operation which would independent of upstream reservoir operation and which would also be equitably alterable as upstream developments increase or decrease the flood‐control capability of the reservoir system. Advance drawdown of pool levels for flood storage and the control of a tributary to keep its flow off the flood peak of a main stream are illustrated. The method is presented as being most useful in reservoir developments principally for power generation, irrigation, and navigation, and secondarily for flood control; and most needed in developments in which only a small amount of reservoir storage capacity is reserved for flood‐time use.