Laserfiche WebLink
<br />PREFACE <br /> <br />This report presents the results of one of four studies related to the <br />National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) conducted by the Advisory Board on <br />the Built Environment (ABBE) during 1981-1982. The client for these studies <br />has been the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), whi ch admini sters <br />the NFIP. This report addresses the evaluation of flood-level prediction <br />using computer-based models of alluvial-river flows. The other three studies <br />are: (1) an assessment of the conduct of flood insurance studies; (2) the <br />problem of how to map areas of mudslide hazards (including recommendations on <br />how to delineate areas prone to mudslides); and (3) an evaluation of a <br />computer model for coastal flooding from hurricanes (and its specific <br />application to Lee County, Florida). <br /> <br />The study committee was selected after consultation with experts in <br />government, industry and academia, as well as within the National Academy of <br />Sciences/National Academy of Engineering. The committee was chosen to include <br />experts in river engineering, classical and numerical hydraulics, hydrology, <br />and ri ver morphology--the technical di scip lines rel ated to the study area <br />under consideration. The Chairman of the Committee was Dr. John F. Kennedy, a <br />special i st in ri ver hydraul i cs and sedimentary processes. The other members <br />of the Committee were Dr. Vito A. Vanoni and Dr. Carl F. Nordin, Jr., both <br />specialists in sediment-transport mechanics and river hydraulics; Dr. John A. <br />Schaake, an expert in the field of hydrology who specializes in runoff <br />prediction and flood forecasting; Dr. David R. Dawdy, whose specialty is <br />numerical modeling of river-flow and other hydrologic processes; and Dr. <br />Stanley A. Schumm, a specialist in riverine geomorphology. See Appendix for <br />biographical sketches. <br /> <br />The study was initiated by FEMA Regions 8, 9, and 10, primarily the <br />western states, because they had experi enced p robl ems with model i ng channel <br />erosion and sedimentation using fixed-bed models (e.g., HEC-2) to compute <br />flood-water e 1 evat ions. The focus of these p robl ems was fl ood-i nsurance <br />studies in communities impacted by rivers with movable beds or alluvial <br />channels. It was suggested to FEMA that one or more existing numerical, <br />alluvial-river models might better serve the requirements of flood-stage <br />prediction for the National Flood Insurance Program. This study was organized <br />to address the question of flood-stage prediction and capabilities of <br />computer-based flow- and sediment-routing models for alluvial streams. <br /> <br />vii <br />