1st International Conference on Rain Water Cistern Systems
Honolulu, Hawaii, USA - June 1982

Section 6: Related Topics

Page 368

Flood Routing Through A Series Of Detention Ponds

Rong-Shun Liu & Johnny R. Barker
Lichliter/Jameson & Associates, Inc., USA

Introduction

In recent years, storm water detention has become a more popular and acceptable flood preventative measure used by planners in government agencies in the United States. The main purpose of a detention pond is to attenuate the peak flow produced upstream and to release only the maximum discharge which is equal to the existing condition. Liu and Barker (1981) developed a computer program which routes a flood hydrograph through a single storm water detention pond based on the effect on downstream receiving waters in areas with relatively small relief or coastal zones. The routing procedure becomes more complicated when a series of two or more detention ponds is required because of physical or economical limitations.

The computer program for a flood hydrograph has been revised to route the flow of flood waters through a series of two ponds by taking into account the variations of headwater and tailwater discharged at each pond, as well as by balancing the storage routing equation to determine the sizes of the ponds and their outlet structures.

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