DESIGN FLOOD HYDROGRAPH FOR

THE PROPOSED PONY GREEK WATERSHED

I. Objectives of the Project

The general objective of this project is to be able to create a design flood

hydrograph for the proposed Pony Greek Watershed using HEC-HMS software. The
following are the specific objectives of the project.

1. To determine the emergency spillway crest width for the proposed Pony Greek
Dam.

2. To generate the design flood hydrograph for the emergency spillway by

developing a hydrologic computer model of the watershed using HEC-HMS
software.

PONY GREEK WATERSHED

II. Procedure of the Project

 Creating the model in HEC-HMS would require input parameters for each
component of the basin model (Pony Greek Watershed). The following components
applied for the model are the subbasins (1-5), reaches (A,B, and C), junctions, and a
reservoir (6), named in line with the figure shown above. The flow chart below shows
the process of the modeling with required parameters for each component.

III. Hydrologic Modeling using HEC-HMS

The first step done in modeling is defining the locations of the components of the
basin model and entering the required data for each. Based on the map provided, the
model figure below is created in the software.
III.1 Subbasin Parameters

For this project, the subbasins are the areas where the flow of water will begin. As
shown in the chart provided, the input data required for the subbasin is divided into
three, namely, subbasin main data, data for loss method, and data for transform
method. Subbasin 1 is presented here as an example representing all subbasins. The
table below shows the given parameters for the subbasins in which some values are
also used to determine other parameters.

Subbasin Main Data

The following are the required input for this tab.

Downstream. Connection of the subbasin to

the next component of the basin model.

Area. Each subbasin has a

Loss Method. The loss method used in this

project is the SCS Curve Number method,
whose data will be seen in the next tab.

Transform Method. The transform method used in this project is the SCS Unit
Hydrograph method, whose data will be seen in the next tab.

Loss Method Data

Most of the data for this tab are determined using the values in the table. First, to
determine the curve number for each subbasin, the table below is used requiring the
Land Cover and Hydrologic Soil Group of each subbasin.
 Table. Runoff Curve Numbers for (AMC II) for the Indian Conditions

Retrieved from:
https://www.geospatialworld.net/article/generation-of-curve-number-using-remote-se
nsing-and-geographic-information-system/

After determining the curve number, the initial abstraction can be computed using the
following formula:

1000
S  10
Cn

Ia  0.2S
where

S = Potential Soil Moisture Retention

Cn = Curve Number

The table below shows the given data and results of curve number and initial
abstraction as the parameters for the loss method computed using microsoft excel.

INITIAL ABSTRACTION COMPUTATION

Subbasin 1 2 3 4 5

Woods Range Pasture Pasture Pasture

Land Cover for SCS Cn
(Good) (Good) (Fair) (Good) (Fair)
Hydrologic Soil Group for SCS Cn D C A C A

Curve Number 77 74 49 79 49

Potential Soil Moisture Retention (S) 2.99 3.51 10.41 2.66 10.41

Initial Abstraction (Ia) 0.60 0.70 2.08 0.53 2.08

Transform Method Data

Same with the loss method, most of the data

for this tab are determined using the values in
the table also. The following formula are used
to determine the lag time in minutes for each
subbasin.

^ 0.38
 LLC 
tL  0.94 
 S 
where

L = length of main channel (mi)

LC = length of main channel to subbasin centroid (mi)

S = Potential Soil Moisture Retention

The table below shows the computed lag time in hours and in minutes which is to be
entered as the inputs in the transform method computed using microsoft excel.

LAG TIME COMPUTATION

Subbasin 1 2 3 4 5

Length of main channel (mi) 21.86 18.41 14.79 14.79 13.07

Length of main channel to

9.66 8.51 7.43 7.43 8.77
subbasin centroid (mi)
Average slope of the main
0.0522 0.08289 0.06156 0.06156 0.1232
channel (%)

Lag Time (hr) 12.59 10.30 9.52 9.52 8.48

Lag Time (min) 755.58 617.81 571.32 571.32 508.85

III.2 Junction

This component basically connects two

components specifying whether which of
these flows in the downstream direction.

III.3 Reach

The reach element defines the stream flow and in this project, Muskingum
method was used for this component. The table below shows the channel
reach data for the watershed.

Reach Main Data

The following are the required input for this tab.

Downstream. Connection of the channel reach

to the next channel reach or junction. Routing
Method. This is the method used in connecting
2 reaches. In this project, Muskingum method
was utilized.

Routing Data

The input channel reach data for this tab come

from the table provided above. It includes the
Muskingum storage constant K and the
weighing factor whose value ranges between 0
and 0.5.

III.4 Reservoir

The reservoir characterizes the detention and attenuation of an inflow hydrograph due
to the presence of reservoir or detention pond storage capacity. In this project, all of
the five subbasins deliver inflow discharge to the reservoir.

Reservoir Data

The data input for this component is

dependent on the methods to be applied in
determining the required values. All other
data are typical inputs in determining
hydrographs.

Method. The method chosen is the outflow

structures since the data of the reservoir
will come from the subbasins.

Storage Method. The storage method chosen is the elevation-storage method,

because the given data are represented in volume with respect to the elevation
at the reservoir.

Spillway Data

In this watershed project, a spillway is

utilized so as to control the release of flows
from the dam. The input data for the
spillway are mostly dimensions. Given the
type of spill way used, which is
Broad-Crested, together with the volume
and elevations, the crest width can be determined. The following formula are
used:
 Q  3.10 LH 1.5
Computation for the crest width of the spillway (H)

Initially, the given data are the storage volume with its corresponding elevation.
The initial elevation of water in the dam is equal to 529 ft and the crest top is at
elevation 540 ft. Maintaining a free board distance 3.5, the required increase
(limit) in elevation of water in the dam can be determined. The solution is
shown below.

H  H CT  H i  H FB
H  540  529  3.5
H  7.5 ft

where

H = increase limit of water elevation in the reservoir

HCT = height of the crest top of the reservoir

Hi = initial height of water in the reservoir

HFB = free borad height

Computation of runoff discharge (Q)

The runoff discharge is based from the increase of volume in the reservoir over
the time interval from the initial up to the final period. Based on the table, the
storage capacity at given elevations is given.

Boundary Values
 V510  162200
V520  216300
V530  270400
V540  324400

Volume Differences

V 520  V 510  54100

V 530  V 520  54100
V 540  V 530  54000

With the change in volume in specified heights, it is therefore concluded that at

every 10 ft, there is a change of approximately 54,100 acre-ft in volume. From
this value, the change in volume for a 7.5 ft change in elevation can be
computed.

V 7.5

54100 10
V  405378
Finally to compute the runoff discharge (cfs), the change in volume is divided
to the time interval which is 6 hours (converted to seconds) as defined in the
design hyetograph of the reservoir.

V
Q
t
40538
Q
63600 
Q  81750.5

Computation for crest width (L)

From the main equation for the broad-crested weir given in the main section,
the crest width of the dam can be computed.
 Q  3.10 LH 1.5
81750.5  3.10( L)(7.5)1.5
L  4027.42

The table below shows the summary of results for the computation of the crest
width of the reservoir.

SPILLWAY CREST WIDTH COMPUTATION

Volume between elevations 529 and 536.5 (acre-ft) 40537.5

Time interval (hr) 6

Flow Rate (cfs) 81750.5

Free board Distance (ft) 3.5

Crest Width (ft) 4027.42

IV. Other Input Data

The other input data required are for the sub branches of the hydrologic
modeling namely meteorological model, control specifications, time-series
data, and paired data.

IV.1 Meteorological Model

In this part, the data gage data for the watershed is

applied to all subbasins. The data for the gage weight
(Gage 1) is entered under the time-series data.

IV.2 Control Specifications

The control specifications limits the processing of the program within the
specified date and time. An error will happen
whenever there is an input which is beyond
the specified time interval.
The time interval used for the simulation is fictitious. The main idea here is to
create a simulation of the basin model which would last for 6 hours.

IV.3 Time-Series Data

The time-series data show the input data of

the chosen precipitation method (gage
weights in this project) with respect to the
time period. The figures below show the
entered data and values for each tab. In the
last figure in this part, the design hyetograph
for the watershed is presented.
 IV.4 Paired Data

The paired data input values for the reservoir. It

requires the method in which the capacity of the
reservoir will be represented. In this project, the
elevation-storage was chosen as the method.
The tabs within the paired data show the
summary of the values which can be seen in a
table and in a graph as shown in the figures.

V. Results of the Flood Hydrograph for the Pony Greek Watershed

This section presents the results of the simulation in the software. The global
summary results, which summarizes the results for all the components in the basin
model, is shown in the figure below.
In the figure, it can directly be seen that the time of peak discharge happened at the
final period of the time interval entered, which is 6:00 of Jan 01, 2000. The detailed
results for the subbasins and reaches conforms with the global results. Finally for the
reservoir, different explanation of the results is given since it serves a different
purpose among other elements in the basin model.

Subbasin 1

The figures below show the summary of results, discharge-time graph, and
time-series results for subbasin 1.
Subbasin 2

The figures below show the summary of results, discharge-time graph, and
time-series results for subbasin 2.
Subbasin 3

The figures below show the summary of results, discharge-time graph, and
time-series results for subbasin 3.
Subbasin 4

The figures below show the summary of results, discharge-time graph, and
time-series results for subbasin 4.
Subbasin 5

The figures below show the summary of results, discharge-time graph, and
time-series results for subbasin 5.
Reach A

The figures below show the summary of results, discharge-time graph, and
time-series results for channel reach A.
Reach B

The figures below show the summary of results, discharge-time graph, and
time-series results for channel reach B.
Reach C

The figures below show the summary of results, discharge-time graph, and
time-series results for channel reach C.
Reservoir 1

The figures below show the summary of results, discharge-time graph, and
time-series results for channel reservoir 1. The results show that there is almost a
negligible increase in the height of water in the reservoir as it remains from 529 ft from
start to finish of the time interval. But then, the incoming water from the subbasins
affect the volume storage of the reservoir as it increased its value from 264990 acre-ft
initially to 2656062.6 after 6 hours. The water started flowing into the reservoir
approximately at 3:00 because of the lag time of the flow from the subbasins. Overall,
the result shows that the volume of the storage is 260562.6 acre-ft with elevation of
approximately 529.0 ft with almost negligible increase.