Date of Award
12-1-2018
Degree Name
Master of Science
Department
Civil Engineering
First Advisor
Kalra, Ajay
Abstract
Growing populations and industrialized agriculture practices have eradicated much of the United States wetlands along river floodplains. One program available for the restoration of floodplains is the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). The current research explores the effects CRP land change has on flooding zones, utilizing Flood Modeller and HEC-RAS. Modelling in both one-dimensional and two-dimensional approaches were tested and analyzed for the same river reach. Flood Modeller is proven a viable tool for flood modeling within the United States when compared to HEC-RAS. Application of the software is used in the Nodaway River system located in the western halves of Iowa and Missouri, to model the effects of introducing new forest areas within the region. Flood stage during the conversion first decreases in the early years, before rising to produce greater heights. Flow velocities where CRP land is present are reduced for long-term scopes. Velocity reduction occurs as the Manning’s roughness values increase due to tree diameter and brush density. Flood zones become more widespread with the implementation of CRP. Comparing one-dimensional and two-dimensional flood mapping zones, the two-dimensional model shows less inundation. CRP land cover effects evolve over time, with the greatest impact appearing at the end of the contract.
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