Mean Annual Flood Research Articles

Understanding processes of island development on an island braided river over timescales from days to decades

AbstractBar colonization by vegetation and subsequent island formation is a key bio‐geomorphological process in fluvial landscape evolution. Here we investigate morphological and ecological evolution of river islands over timescales from single floods to decades, focusing on islands initiated by deposited trees that sprout to form vegetated patches.On a braided reach of the high‐energy Tagliamento River, Italy, we monitored 30 pioneer islands of 1 to 17 years age in comparison with unvegetated bar surfaces, open areas between islands, and established island surfaces. We integrated morphological, surface sediment and vegetation properties of islands initiated by different flood events, combining evidence from remotely‐sensed and ground observations, flow and climate time series.At a decadal timescale, pioneer islands aggrade rapidly to the elevation of the mean annual flood, showing a steady increase in vegetation canopy height, fining of surface sediments from predominantly gravel to silty‐sand with a notable clay and organic fraction. The standing vegetation included over 130 species, with the largest number on island surfaces of intermediate elevation and flood disturbance. As islands age, standing vegetation becomes comprised mainly of competitor species with transient seed banks and typical of woodland, scrub, pasture and wetland habitats, whereas the winter seedbank is dominated on all surfaces by ruderal species with persistent seedbanks, mainly associated with aquatic, wetland, pasture, arable and wasteland habitats. At shorter timescales, the biogeomorphological trajectory of pioneer islands is initiated by large flood events that control the elevation of deposited trees, and subsequent flows that control tree survival and establishment. Island morphological evolution depends on the frequency‐magnitude of sediment and seed delivery and redistribution by flood and possibly wind events, whereas island ability to retain sediments reflects the degree of vegetation establishment, which in the short‐term may vary with seasonal to annual moisture supply, substrate characteristics and climatic growth conditions. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Effect of catchment properties and flood generation regime on copula selection for bivariate flood frequency analysis

Applying copula-based bivariate flood frequency analysis is advantageous because the results provide information on both the flood peak and volume. More data are, however, required for such an analysis, and it is often the case that only data series with a limited record length are available. To overcome this issue of limited record length, data regarding climatic and geomorphological properties can be used to complement statistical methods. In this paper, we present a study of 27 catchments located throughout Norway, in which we assess whether catchment properties, flood generation processes and flood regime have an effect on the correlation between flood peak and volume and, in turn, on the selection of copulas. To achieve this, the annual maximum flood events were first classified into events generated primarily by rainfall, snowmelt or a combination of these. The catchments were then classified into flood regime, depending on the predominant flood generation process producing the annual maximum flood events. A contingency table and Fisher’s exact test were used to determine the factors that affect the selection of copulas in the study area. The results show that the two-parameter copulas BB1 and BB7 are more commonly selected in catchments with high steepness, high mean annual runoff and rainfall flood regime. These findings suggest that in these types of catchments, the dependence structure between flood peak and volume is more complex and cannot be modeled effectively using a one-parameter copula. The results illustrate that by relating copula types to flood regime and catchment properties, additional information can be supplied for selecting copulas in catchments with limited data.

Are equilibrium multichannel networks predictable? The case of the regulated Indus River, Pakistan

Arguably, the current planform behaviour of the Indus River is broadly predictable. Between Chashma and Taunsa, Pakistan, the Indus is a 264-km-long multiple-channel reach. Remote sensing imagery, encompassing major floods in 2007 and 2010, shows that the Indus has a minimum of two and a maximum of nine channels, with on average four active channels during the dry season and five during the annual monsoon. Thus, the network structure, if not detailed planform, remains stable even for the record 2010 flood (27,100m3s−1; recurrence interval>100years). Bankline recession is negligible for discharges less than a peak annual discharge of 6000m3s−1 (~80% of mean annual flood). The Maximum Flow Efficiency (MFE) principle demonstrates that the channel network is insensitive to the monsoon floods, which typically peak at 13,200m3s−1. Rather, the network is in near-equilibrium with the mean annual flood (7530m3s−1). The MFE principle indicates that stable networks have three to four channels, thus the observed stability in the number of active channels accords with the presence of a near-equilibrium reach-scale channel network. Insensitivity to the annual hydrological cycle demonstrates that the timescale for network adjustment is much longer than the timescale of the monsoon hydrograph, with the annual excess water being stored on floodplains rather than being conveyed in an enlarged channel network. The analysis explains the lack of significant channel adjustment following the largest flood in 40years and the extensive Indus flooding experienced on an annual basis, with its substantial impacts on the populace and agricultural production.

Stream network geomorphology mediates predicted vulnerability of anadromous fish habitat to hydrologic change in southeast Alaska.

In rivers supporting Pacific salmon in southeast Alaska, USA, regional trends toward a warmer, wetter climate are predicted to increase mid- and late-21st-century mean annual flood size by 17% and 28%, respectively. Increased flood size could alter stream habitats used by Pacific salmon for reproduction, with negative consequences for the substantial economic, cultural, and ecosystem services these fish provide. We combined field measurements and model simulations to estimate the potential influence of future flood disturbance on geomorphic processes controlling the quality and extent of coho, chum, and pink salmon spawning habitat in over 800 southeast Alaska watersheds. Spawning habitat responses varied widely across watersheds and among salmon species. Little variation among watersheds in potential spawning habitat change was explained by predicted increases in mean annual flood size. Watershed response diversity was mediated primarily by topographic controls on stream channel confinement, reach-scale geomorphic associations with spawning habitat preferences, and complexity in the pace and mode of geomorphic channel responses to altered flood size. Potential spawning habitat loss was highest for coho salmon, which spawn over a wide range of geomorphic settings, including steeper, confined stream reaches that are more susceptible to streambed scour during high flows. We estimated that 9-10% and 13-16% of the spawning habitat for coho salmon could be lost by the 2040s and 2080s, respectively, with losses occurring primarily in confined, higher-gradient streams that provide only moderate-quality habitat. Estimated effects were lower for pink and chum salmon, which primarily spawn in unconfined floodplain streams. Our results illustrate the importance of accounting for valley and reach-scale geomorphic features in watershed assessments of climate vulnerability, especially in topographically complex regions. Failure to consider the geomorphic context of stream networks will hamper efforts to understand and mitigate the vulnerability of anadromous fish habitat to climate-induced hydrologic change.

Projected changes in flood indices in selected catchments in Poland in the 21st century

The aim of this study is to estimate likely changes in flood indices under a future climate and to assess the uncertainty in these estimates for selected catchments in Poland. Precipitation and temperature time series from climate simulations from the EURO-CORDEX initiative for the periods 1971–2000, 2021–2050 and 2071–2100 following the RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 emission scenarios have been used to produce hydrological simulations based on the HBV hydrological model. As the climate model outputs for Poland are highly biased, post processing in the form of bias correction was first performed so that the climate time series could be applied in hydrological simulations at a catchment-scale. The results indicate that bias correction significantly improves flow simulations and estimated flood indices based on comparisons with simulations from observed climate data for the control period. The estimated changes in the mean annual flood and in flood quantiles under a future climate indicate a large spread in the estimates both within and between the catchments. An ANOVA analysis was used to assess the relative contributions of the 2 emission scenarios, the 7 climate models and the 4 bias correction methods to the total spread in the projected changes in extreme river flow indices for each catchment. The analysis indicates that the differences between climate models generally make the largest contribution to the spread in the ensemble of the three factors considered. The results for bias corrected data show small differences between the four bias correction methods considered, and, in contrast with the results for uncorrected simulations, project increases in flood indices for most catchments under a future climate.

공간확장자료를 이용한 지역빈도분석 : II. 미계측 유역의 홍수빈도 추론

Paper number: 16-028Received: 11 March 2016; Revised: 8 April 2016; Accepted: 8 April 2016AbstractIn order to infer regional flood frequency for ungauged watersheds, index flood method was applied for this study. To pursuit this given purpose, annual peak flood data for 22 watersheds located at the upstream of the Chungju Dam watershed were obtained from the spatial extension technique. The regionalization of mean annual flood was performed from extended flood data at 22 points. Based on the theory that flood discharge and watershed size follows the power law the regionalization generated the empirical relationship. These analyses were executed for the full size of the Chungju Dam watershed as one group and three different mid-size watersheds groups. From the results, the relationship between mean annual flood and watershed sizes follow the power law. We demonstrated that it is appropriate to use the relationship between specific flood discharges from the upper and lower watersheds in terms of estimating the floods for the ungaged watersheds. Therefore, not only the procedure of regional frequency analysis but also regionalizaion analaysis using finer discretization of the regions interest with respect to the regional frequency analyisis for the ungauged watersheds is important.Keywords: Regional flood frequency analysis, Index flood method, Power law, Regionalization, Ungaged watershed

Regional Flood Frequency Analysis in the Volta River Basin, West Africa

In the Volta River Basin, flooding has been one of the most damaging natural hazards during the last few decades. Therefore, flood frequency estimates are important for disaster risk management. This study aims at improving knowledge of flood frequencies in the Volta River Basin using regional frequency analysis based on L-moments. Hence, three homogeneous groups have been identified based on cluster analysis and a homogeneity test. By using L-moment diagrams and goodness of fit tests, the generalized extreme value and the generalized Pareto distributions are found suitable to yield accurate flood quantiles in the Volta River Basin. Finally, regression models of the mean annual flood with the size of the drainage area, mean basin slope and mean annual rainfall are proposed to enable flood frequency estimation of ungauged sites within the study area.

Rivers of the mountainous Russian North-West: homogeny and variety of the stream ways morphological characteristics

Analysis of QI –diagrams and earlier obtained results demonstrates that in the territory discussed, the braided rivers constitute a statistically homogeneous population in the whole range of drainage areas considered (15–100,000 km 2 ). Inside this population, rivers depositing alluvium differ from rivers at equilibrium (having the same mean annual floods) by higher valley gradients. Incising rivers often have similar or even lower gradients as compared to braided rivers. In the basins’ upper reaches, meandering streams are fairly numerous. Their valleys, all other conditions being equal, have lower gradients, compared with braided rivers, by a factor of 1.5–3.2. Presumably, they are a product of degradation of braided rivers.

Regional Flood Frequency Analysis using Soft Computing Techniques

For design of various types of hydraulic structures as well as for taking different flood management measures flood frequency estimates are required. Regional flood frequency analysis is carried out employing L-moments and soft computing techniques viz. artificial neural network (ANN) and fuzzy inference system (FIS) for the lower Godavari subzone 3(f) of India. The study area covers an areal extent of 174,201 km2 and annual maximum peak flood data of 17 catchments ranging in size from 35 to 824 km2 are used. The data screening is carried out employing L-moments based Discordancy measure (Di) and regional homogeneity is examined based on the heterogeneity measure (H). On the basis of the L-moment ratio diagram and Zidist –statistic criteria, Pearson Type III (PE3) distribution is chosen as the suitable frequency distribution for the region. For the region under study, a relationship is developed between mean annual maximum peak flood and area of the catchment using the Levenberg-Marquardt (LM) iteration and the same is coupled with the PE3 based regional flood frequency relationship developed for estimation of floods of various frequencies for the ungauged catchments of the region. The regional flood frequency relationships developed based on L-moments and soft computing techniques are compared.

Assessing the impacts of climate change and dams on floodplain inundation and wetland connectivity in the wet–dry tropics of northern Australia

Summary Floodplain wetlands and their hydrological connectivity with main river channels in the Australian wet–dry tropics are under increasing pressure from global climate change and water resource development, and there is a need for modelling tools to estimate the time dynamics of connectivity. This paper describes an integrated modelling framework combining conceptual rainfall–runoff modelling, river system modelling and hydrodynamic (HD) modelling to estimate hydrological connectivity between wetlands and rivers in the Flinders and Gilbert river catchments in northern Australia. Three historical flood events ranging from a mean annual flood to a 35-year return period flood were investigated using a two dimensional HD model (MIKE 21). Inflows from upstream catchments were estimated using a river network model. Local runoff within the HD modelling domain was simulated using the Sacramento rainfall–runoff model. The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) derived 30 m DEM was used to reproduce floodplain topography, stream networks and wetlands in the HD model. The HD model was calibrated using stream gauge data and inundation maps derived from satellite (MODIS: MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) imagery. An algorithm was developed to combine the simulated water heights with the DEM to quantify inundation and flow connection between wetlands and rivers. The connectivity of 18 ecologically important wetlands on the Flinders floodplain and 7 on the Gilbert floodplain were quantified. The impacts of climate change and water resource development on connectivity to individual wetlands were assessed under a projected dry climate (2nd driest of 15 GCMs), wet climate (2nd wettest of 15 GCMs) and dam conditions. The results indicate that changes in rainfall under a wetter and drier future climate could have large impacts on area, duration and frequency of inundation and connectivity. Topographic relief, river bank elevation and flood magnitude were found to be the key factors contributing to the level of connectivity. Under a wetter future climate the average duration of connection of wetlands to the main river channel increased by 7% and under a drier climate it decreased by 18%. Construction of a 248 GL dam in the Flinders catchment and two (498 and 271 GL capacity) in the Gilbert catchment could reduce the average duration of connectivity by 1% and 2% in the Flinders and Gilbert catchments respectively. This information is potentially useful to future studies on the flood-dependent ecology in this region.

Links between flood frequency and annual water balance behaviors: A basis for similarity and regionalization

This paper presents the results of a data based comparative study of several hundred catchments across continental United States belonging to the MOPEX dataset, which systematically explored the connection between the flood frequency curve and measures of mean annual water balance. Two different measures of mean annual water balance are used: (i) a climatic aridity index, AI, which is a measure of the competition between water and energy availability at the annual scale; and, (ii) baseflow index, BFI, the ratio of slow runoff to total runoff also at the annual time scale, reflecting the role of geology, soils, topography and vegetation. The data analyses showed that the aridity index, AI, has a first order control on both the mean and Cv of annual maximum floods. While mean annual flood decreases with increasing aridity, Cv increases with increasing aridity. BFI appeared to be a second order control on the magnitude and shape of the flood frequency curve. Higher BFI, meaning more subsurface flow and less surface flow leads to a decrease of mean annual flood whereas lower BFI leads to accumulation of soil moisture and increased flood magnitudes that arise from many events acting together. The results presented in this papermore » provide innovative means to delineate homogeneous regions within which the flood frequency curves can be assumed to be functionally similar. At another level, understanding the connection between annual water balance and flood frequency will be another building block towards developing comprehensive understanding of catchment runoff behavior in a holistic way.« less

On the equilibrium profile of river beds

Despite the wide spectrum of perturbations of flow and sediment transport experienced by rivers as a result of hydrologic variations, the paradigm of morphodynamic equilibrium has long been present in the geomorphological literature where it is traditionally associated with the semiempirical notion of formative discharge, whereby the unsteady forcing is taken as morphologically equivalent to some effective steady forcing. Here we investigate the mechanisms responsible for maintaining a quasi‐equilibrium bed profile of a river reach sufficiently short to have no significant tributary inputs. More importantly, we assume the channel banks to be fixed, hence, the case we have in mind is that of rivers protected by levees which cannot respond to hydrologic forcing by changing their width like natural rivers. Employing a 1‐D model of river morphodynamics, we first determine the equilibrium profile of the river reach for given steady forcing conditions and discuss the capability of this approach for interpreting bed profiles observed in the field by applying it to the terminal reach of the Magra River, Italy. Field observations turn out to be reasonably well fitted by the equilibrium profile associated with a steady effective discharge, which however differs from the typical formative discharge (mean annual flood) for natural channels with erodible banks. Finally, we clarify how fluctuations of the hydrodynamic forcing associated with the recorded historical sequence of hydrologic events of variable intensities have acted to maintain the river equilibrium.

Estimation of design floods in ungauged catchments using a regional index flood method. A case study of Lake Victoria Basin in Kenya

Reliable estimation of flood magnitudes corresponding to required return periods, vital for structural design purposes, is impacted by lack of hydrological data in the study area of Lake Victoria Basin in Kenya. Use of regional information, derived from data at gauged sites and regionalized for use at any location within a homogenous region, would improve the reliability of the design flood estimation. Therefore, the regional index flood method has been applied. Based on data from 14 gauged sites, a delineation of the basin into two homogenous regions was achieved using elevation variation (90-m DEM), spatial annual rainfall pattern and Principal Component Analysis of seasonal rainfall patterns (from 94 rainfall stations). At site annual maximum series were modelled using the Log normal (LN) (3P), Log Logistic Distribution (LLG), Generalized Extreme Value (GEV) and Log Pearson Type 3 (LP3) distributions. The parameters of the distributions were estimated using the method of probability weighted moments. Goodness of fit tests were applied and the GEV was identified as the most appropriate model for each site. Based on the GEV model, flood quantiles were estimated and regional frequency curves derived from the averaged at site growth curves. Using the least squares regression method, relationships were developed between the index flood, which is defined as the Mean Annual Flood (MAF) and catchment characteristics. The relationships indicated area, mean annual rainfall and altitude were the three significant variables that greatly influence the index flood. Thereafter, estimates of flood magnitudes in ungauged catchments within a homogenous region were estimated from the derived equations for index flood and quantiles from the regional curves. These estimates will improve flood risk estimation and to support water management and engineering decisions and actions.

Flood Nonstationarity in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic Regions of the United States

AbstractA case study examining aspects of nonstationarity in the estimation of flood magnitudes in the Southeast and mid-Atlantic United States is presented here. The focus is on challenges posed by changes in the number and location of stream gauges over time to assess climate variability and land-use land-cover (LULC) change impacts. The study shows that statistical outliers are spatially aligned with LULC change from urbanization independently of time period and record length across the region with substantial increases (>30%) in the magnitude of the 25-year and 100-year events since 1950. Large amplification (>10) of the ratio of flood magnitude to the mean annual flood was detected in expanding urban areas, but only systematically for the 100-year event, suggesting that existing infrastructure constrains the sensitivity of flood response for events below applied engineering design criteria. Overall, annual streamflows do not exhibit statistically significant trends (98% cfl), except for positive tren...

Bankfull discharge and recurrence intervals in Irish rivers

Different definitions of the bankfull condition in rivers are based on morphological characteristics, boundary conditions and geometrical properties. Consequently, the magnitude and associated return period of the bankfull discharge can be ambiguous. Knowledge of this discharge is important in index flood estimation and subsequent regional flood frequency analysis. This study investigates bankfull discharges and recurrence intervals at 88 locations in the Irish river network using a combination of surveyed bankfull levels, rating curves and equations and photographic records at the sites in question. Catchments ranged in area from approximately 23 km2 to 2778 km2. Recurrence intervals were determined by fitting generalised extreme value (GEV) distributions to the annual maximum flow series at the sites investigated. These intervals were found to be less than 2 years (the median annual flood) at 42 stations (48%) and less than 2·33 years (the mean annual flood assuming a GEV type 1 distribution) at 47 stations (53%). Higher return periods of between 2·33 and 10 years and 10 and 25 years were observed at a further 20% and 6% of locations respectively. Using multivariate regression analysis, the computed bankfull discharges are correlated with catchment descriptors and three expressions are presented for estimating bankfull flows.

Empirical modelling of maximum weekly average stream temperature in British Columbia, Canada, to support assessment of fish habitat suitability

The objective of this study was to characterize the spatial variability of stream thermal regimes in British Columbia, Canada, with the specific goal of developing a predictive model to assist in provincial-scale assessment of fish habitat. It is part of a broader study to develop an approach to support the designation of “Temperature Sensitive Streams”, particularly in relation to the potential effects of forest harvesting and climate change. Stream temperature data were collected from researchers, consultants and government agencies. After checking for data quality, the annual maximum of a seven-day running average of mean daily water temperature (MWAT) was extracted for each station-year. A multiple regression model for the mean MWAT for each station was fitted for stations having basin areas between 1 and 104 km2. Predictor variables included the logarithm of catchment area, normal July–August air temperature for the location, the square root of the percentage of glacier cover in the catchment, the square root of the percentage of lake cover in the catchment, the mean catchment elevation, channel slope, a coefficient related to intensity of the mean annual flood, and the deviation of July–August air temperature during the monitoring year(s) from the average during a reference period. Model coefficients were consistent with the physical processes known to govern stream temperature. The standard deviation of prediction errors from a 10-fold cross-validation was 2.1°C. Lack of information on riparian shading is a likely source of a significant portion of the prediction error. The model can be used to provide an initial prediction of stream temperature regime for fish habitat assessment, as well as to provide first-order estimates of the sensitivity of MWAT to climatic warming and glacier retreat.

Seasonality and magnitude of floods in Switzerland under future climate change

AbstractThe flood seasonality of catchments in Switzerland is likely to change under climate change because of anticipated alterations of precipitation as well as snow accumulation and melt. Information on this change is crucial for flood protection policies, for example, or regional flood frequency analysis. We analysed projected changes in mean annual and maximum floods of a 22‐year period for 189 catchments in Switzerland and two scenario periods in the 21st century based on an ensemble of climate scenarios. The flood seasonality was analysed with directional statistics that allow assessing both changes in the mean date a flood occurs as well as changes in the strength of the seasonality. We found that the simulated change in flood seasonality is a function of the change in flow regime type. If snow accumulation and melt is important in a catchment during the control period, then the anticipated change in flood seasonality is most pronounced. Decreasing summer precipitation in the scenarios additionally affects the flood seasonality (mean date of flood occurrence) and leads to a decreasing strength of seasonality, that is a higher temporal variability in most cases. The magnitudes of mean annual floods and more clearly of maximum floods (in a 22‐year period) are expected to increase in the future because of changes in flood‐generating processes and scaled extreme precipitation. Southern alpine catchments show a different signal, though: the simulated mean annual floods decrease in the far future, that is at the end of the 21st century. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Dam Design can Impede Adaptive Management of Environmental Flows: A Case Study from the Opuha Dam, New Zealand

The Opuha Dam was designed for water storage, hydropower, and to augment summer low flows. Following its commissioning in 1999, algal blooms (dominated first by Phormidium and later Didymosphenia geminata) downstream of the dam were attributed to the reduced frequency and magnitude of high-flow events. In this study, we used a 20-year monitoring dataset to quantify changes associated with the dam. We also studied the effectiveness of flushing flows to remove periphyton from the river bed. Following the completion of the dam, daily maximum flows downstream have exceeded 100m(3)s(-1) only three times; two of these floods exceeded the pre-dam mean annual flood of 203m(3)s(-1) (compared to 19 times >100m(3)s(-1) and 6 times >203m(3)s(-1) in the 8years of record before the dam). Other changes downstream included increases in water temperature, bed armoring, frequency of algal blooms, and changes to the aquatic invertebrate community. Seven experimental flushing flows resulted in limited periphyton reductions. Flood wave attenuation, bed armoring, and a shortage of surface sand and gravel, likely limited the effectiveness of these moderate floods. Floods similar to pre-dam levels may be effective for control of periphyton downstream; however, flushing flows of that magnitude are not possible with the existing dam infrastructure. These results highlight the need for dams to be planned and built with the capacity to provide the natural range of flows for adaptive management, particularly high flows.

Effect of water level regulation on gradients and levee deposits in the Lake Øyeren delta, Norway

Water level changes resulting from a hydropower regulation have influenced water flow, gradients and sediment processes in the Lake Øyeren delta for about 150 years. They are reflected in the morphology of the islands on the delta plain. Under current regulation practices, water levels during the mean annual flood are maintained at about 1 m lower than during the previous regime prior to 1978. As the channels continue to mature, the recently deposited tongues and levees in the southern part will therefore probably maintain a distinctly lower elevation than that of the older islands. The influence of flood regulation on levee deposits during the extreme 1995 flood was estimated by comparing simulated overbank deposits resulting from different flood regulation schemes. The simulations showed that reduced water levels during floods in the presence of older islands extend the period of in-channel flow and promote the development of levee-like deposits in the lower part of the delta plain. This explains some of the characteristics observed in the morphological development, most notably the increased number of lagoons resulting from a higher number of levees.

Regional flood frequency analysis in arid regions: A case study for Australia

Summary A large part of the world faces the problem of aridity, e.g. in Australia, the semi-arid and arid regions occupy about 50–75% of the country. There is a serious lack of data on many key hydrological processes in the arid regions, which makes it difficult to understand the hydrological processes in these regions. Although arid regions are characterised by a very low mean annual rainfall, it can experience severe flooding causing widespread damage. In hydrological literature, there is a limited presence of the application of regional flood frequency analysis (RFFA) studies for the world arid regions due to limited data availability. This paper presents a RFFA study for the semi-arid and arid regions of Australia using the most up-to-date data set and compares the results with that of the world data. It has been found that arid catchments exhibit a higher loss and lower runoff coefficient values as expected. Based on four model selection criteria and L -moments ratio diagram, it has been found that a Generalised Pareto distribution is preferable to the Exponential distribution to fit the partial duration series flood data in the arid regions of Australia. It has also been found that the arid region exhibits much steeper flood frequency growth curve than that of the humid region and the growth curve gets steeper with the decreasing mean annual rainfall. The developed growth curve for the semi-arid and arid region of Australia is found to be similar to other typical semi-arid and arid regions of the world. The developed prediction equation for the mean annual flood in the semi-arid and arid region of Australia uses two readily obtainable predictor variables (catchment area and design rainfall intensity), which can be used along with the developed growth curve to estimate design floods for the ungauged catchments in these regions with reasonable accuracy. The growth curve developed in this study is primarily applicable to the semi-arid and arid regions of Australia; however, this may be adapted to other similar regions of the world along with the locally developed prediction equation for the scaling factor (i.e. mean annual flood in this case) to derive preliminary design flood estimates.