Flood Routing

Introduction

 The knowledge of Hydrology is essential to ensure

proper functioning of hydraulic structures like
Barrages and Dams.
 Storm water from catchment ultimately reaches
streams. At a certain time, a peak flow is built up.
 For safety of a Barrage or Dam it is necessary to
plan its safe-passage over the structure. This
requires flood forecasting.
 Flood routing is one of techniques which may be
used for flood forecasting.

Continued…..
Introduction

 Flood routing is an analytical technique of

determining the flood hydrograph at a particular
location in a channel or a reservoir resulting from a
known flood at some other location upstream.
 Basing on the type of equations used, different
techniques have been developed to route the flood.
These are Hydraulic Routing and Hydrologic
Routing.
 Hydraulic Routing is based on equations of
continuity and momentum whereas Hydrologic
Routing is based on the equation of continuity and
empirical equation.
Reservoir Routing

 The main components of Dam are an inflow

channel, storage reservoir and outflow structures
like spillways, tunnels etc. Once a flood enters a
reservoir, part of it may be stored in the reservoir
and balance safely passes through or over outflow
structures.
 The main function of a reservoir is to store water,
from which releases are made according to water-
demands on downstream of reservoir. A
multipurpose hydroelectric project has storage of
water as well as generation of electricity.

Continued…..
Reservoir Routing

 The reservoirs may be small or large. An example of

small reservoir is pond of a barrage. A small reservoir
has small capacity and hence water levels in barrage
pond are sensitive to quantity of inflow and time of
inflow.
 The outflow from a small reservoir is solely a function
of pond elevation if the outflow is not controlled. In
case of large reservoirs the moderate inflow may not
have large impact on reservoir elevation however
large floods need to be negotiated keeping in view the
operational rules.

Continued…..
Reservoir Routing

 Sometimes the water requirement may have

marked influence on releases from the
reservoir. The outflow from the reservoir also
includes discharge through power house.
 The inflow hydrograph is tackled in such a
way that peak outflow is within safe limits.
The inflow hydrograph may be a forecast
flood or an actual one.

Continued…..
Reservoir Routing
 The reservoir routing may be classified according to outflow
control at a particular reservoir e.g.
 Flood routing in reservoirs with uncontrolled outflow
 Flood routing in reservoirs with controlled outflow
 The basic equation applied is storage equation given as
Inflow-Outflow = Rate of Change of Storage
I - O = ds / dt - - - - - - - - - - - - (1)
 Equation (1) shows that if inflow is assumed constant the
reservoir storage is a mere function of outflow. This condition is
however a simplification and may not be met practically. In case
of large reservoirs many other factors contribute a substantial
change in storage e.g. groundwater flow

Continued…..
Reservoir Routing

 If average values of inflow and outflow are considered for

opted time interval ∆t then equation (8.1) can be written as
(Ij+Ij+1)/2-(O j+O j+1)/2=(S j+1-S j)/∆t - - - - - - - - (2)
 Where subscript ‘j’ represents jth time step values of I , O
and S
 Equation (8.2) can be rearranged as
(I j+I j+1)+[(2S j/∆t)-O j]=[(2S j+1/∆t)+O j+1] - - - - (3)
 As mentioned above the subscripts ‘j’ and ‘j+1’ denote
values of Inflow, Outflow and Storage at beginning and
end of jth time interval ∆t. The time ∆t is known as routing
period. This period should not be so large that peak of
inflow hydrograph is not intercepted.
Flood routing in reservoirs with
uncontrolled outflow
 The following steps explain procedure of
reservoir routing
 The Elevation Vs Storage of reservoir
information should be known. Here storage
means volume of water that a reservoir can
accommodate at certain elevation.
 This elevation vs storage information may
either be in the form of table or graph. A
typical elevation vs storage graph is shown in
Figure 1.
Continued…..
Flood routing in reservoirs with
uncontrolled outflow
Elevation vs Surface Area Realationship

124
122
120
118
Elevation (m)

116
114
112
110
108
106
104
102
40000 42000 44000 46000 48000 50000 52000 54000
Surface Area (m²)

Fig. 1. Variation of Surface Area of a Reservoir with Elevation

Continued…..
Flood routing in reservoirs with
uncontrolled outflow
 The discharge capacity of overflow structure with
change in water level should be calculated. For
this purpose the applicable discharge formula
need to be applied. The well known weir equation
is:
Q = Cd B H3/2 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (3A)
Where,
Q = Total Discharge
Cd= Coefficient of Discharge
B = Width of Weir
H = Differential head over the crest of the weir
neglecting velocity of approach

Continued…..
Flood routing in reservoirs with
uncontrolled outflow
 The coefficient of discharge depends on
degree of submergence of the weir. Its value
is determined experimentally e.g. by model
tests.
 The value of discharge can also be
determined from Gibson’s curve. Its value
generally ranges from 1.6 to 2.2 having units
of m1/2/s. A mean value of 1.70 is often used
in SI units.

Continued…..
Flood routing in reservoirs with
uncontrolled outflow
 For pipe flow,
Q = Cd A V - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (3B)
 Where,
Q = Discharge in m³/s
A = Area of Flow
V = velocity of flow
 If ‘H’ is the head of water up to centre of pipe,
Equation (3B) can be written as
Q = Cd A H1.5 √2g
Q = 4.43 Cd A H1.5 - - - - - - - - (4)
Continued…..
Flood routing in reservoirs with
uncontrolled outflow
 ‘A’ is cross-sectional area of the pipe, ‘H’ is water
head and ‘g’ is acceleration due to gravity. Its value
is 9.81 m/sec² in SI units.
 The value of coefficient of discharge is determined
by model tests.
 If velocity of approach is appreciable the head ‘H’
must be increased by velocity head. Equation (4)
then becomes
Q = 4.43 Cd A (H + Vo² / 2g)1.5 - - - - - (5)
Where, ‘Vo’ is the velocity of approach.

Continued…..
Flood routing in reservoirs with
uncontrolled outflow
 For other types of outflow structures like Sluice
Gates, etc. different equations are used for
calculations of discharge and can be found in books
of hydraulics.
 Once the outflow is determined for different reservoir
elevations, a graph is plotted between storage and
outflow. A typical such graph is shown in figure (2).
 Please note that outflow is taken along x-axis and
[(2S/∆t) + O] is taken along y-axis. Where ‘S’ is
storage and ‘O’ is outflow / discharge. The quantity
[(2S/∆t)+O] is called ‘Storage Indication’.

Continued…..
 Flood routing in reservoirs with
uncontrolled outflow
300

250

200
Outflow (m³/s)

150

100

50

-
- 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000 3,500 4,000

Storage Indication [(2S/∆t)+O] (m³/s)

Figure 2 Outflow and Storage Indication Relationship for certain reservoir

Continued…..
Flood routing in reservoirs with
uncontrolled outflow
 The inflow hydrograph should be known. It may be
actual or forecasted flood. The inflow is added for
successive values to get I1+I2.
 The initial outflow is assumed equal to inflow.
Corresponding to this initial outflow storage
indication [(2S/∆t) + O] is found from storage
indication curve.
 To this value double of outflow is subtracted to get
[(2S/∆t) - O]. To this value of [(2S/∆t) - O], I1+I2 is
added to get next value of [(2S/∆t) + O]. Read out
next outflow from storage indication curve and
repeat the procedure till whole of inflow
hydrograph is used to get outflow values.
Continued…..
Flood routing in reservoirs with
uncontrolled outflow
 Now the inflow and outflow hydrographs are
plotted. The difference in peak of inflow and
outflow hydrograph is known as
attenuation and time between two peaks is
known as reservoir lag.
 Note that by routing procedure we can find
expected maximum reservoir level due to
certain inflow hydrograph. This is done to
ensure that reservoir level remains within
safe limits.
Example 1

 Table 1 shows Inflow hydrograph entering a small

reservoir having a Ogee shaped overflow spillway.
The weir has a length of 3 meters and coefficient of
discharge of 2.2.
 The weir crest is at elevation 104.00. When the
inflow hydrograph enters the reservoir, its water
level is at 140.00 m and Storage of 40000 m³.
 The elevation versus storage relationship is given in
Table 2. Route the inflow hydrograph assuming no
base flow.

Continued…..
Time Inflow Time Inflow Time Inflow
(h) (m³/s) (h) (m³/s) (h) (m³/s)
0 50 9 295 18 50
1 75 10 252 19 45
2 175 11 212 20 39
3 355 12 177 21 38
4 455 13 145 22 28
5 525 14 108 23 20
6 510 15 84 24 15
7 450 16 64 25 6
8 365 17 53 26 5

Table 1. Inflow Hydrograph (Known Information)

Continued…..
Water El. Surface Area Water El. Surface Area

(m) (m²) (m) (m²)

104 41200 114 45700

106 42000 116 47200

108 42700 118 48700

110 43700 120 50200

112 44700 122 52700

Table 2. Reservoir Surface Area (Known Information)

Continued…..
Solution
 The first step in flood routing is to establish a
relationship between reservoir water elevation
and storage of the reservoir.
 This can be done by slicing the reservoir
horizontally, determining surface area by
appropriate method e.g. by planimetring or
using computer program.
 The volume of each slice can be computed
using formulae of solid geometry. The
calculation of volume of reservoir referred
here as storage is calculated in Table 3.
Continued…..
 The formula employed is ∆V =
(h/3)[A1+A2+√A1A2] where h is difference in
height between two consecutive
slices/contours.
 The calculations are shown in table. The
elevation Vs surface area is plotted in Figure 1.
 Noting that slope of curve becomes mild at
higher elevations as it should, because higher
elevations can accommodate more volume of
water.

Continued…..
 Volume between Cumulative Volume
Water El. Surface Area
successive elevations (Storage)
(m) (m²) (m³) (m³)
104 41200 40,000
106 42000 83,199 123,199
108 42700 84,699 207,898
110 43700 86,398 294,296
112 44700 88,398 382,694
114 45700 90,398 473,092
116 47200 92,896 565,988
118 48700 95,896 661,884
120 50200 98,896 760,780
122 52700 102,890 863,670

Table 3. Storage of Reservoir Continued…..

 The next step is to Water Head Above
Q = Cd B H3/2
calculate discharge El. Crest, H

using equation 3A with (m) (m) (m³/s)

known coefficient of 104 - -

discharge and crest 106 2 18.66

level of spillway. 108 4 52.80

110 6 97.00
 The elevation is
112 8 149.34
changed, net head over
114 10 208.71
spillway found and
116 12 274.36
discharge calculated as
118 14 345.73
shown in Table 4.
120 16 422.40
122 18 504.03

Table 4. Discharge over Spillway

Continued…..
 The routing interval is taken equal to time interval of
inflow hydrograph which is 1.0 hour.
 The routing interval should not be that large so as to
miss the peak flow observation. We now have in
hand, at a particular elevation storage and outflow
value which enables us to calculate storage
indication against each elevation (Table 5).
 A curve is drawn between storage indication and out
flow as shown in Figure 3.

Continued…..
 Cumulative Volume Storage Indication
Water El. Outflow 'O'
(Storage) [(2S/∆t) + O]
(m) (m³) (m³/s) (m³/s)
104 0 0
106 123,199 18.66 87.10
108 207,898 52.80 168.30
110 294,296 97.00 260.50
112 382,694 149.34 361.94
114 473,092 208.71 471.53
116 565,988 274.36 588.80
118 661,884 345.73 713.44
120 760,780 422.40 845.05
122 863,670 504.03 983.85

Table 5 Storage Indication

Continued…..
 Storage Indication vs Outflow

600

500

400
Outflow 'm³/s'

300

200

100

0
0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200

Storage Indication [(2S/∆t)+O] 'm³/s'

Figure 3. Storage Indication vs Outflow Curve

Continued…..
 The last step is to find outflow hydrograph
which is done in Table 7. The column-3
shows sum of two consecutive inflow values.
First value of outflow is considered equal to
inflow.
 In this example initial level of reservoir is
assumed flush with spillway crest so outflow
is zero. The first value of storage is equal to
reservoir volume up to spillway crest. Both
being known so [(2S/∆t) - O] is computed.

Continued…..
 The value of (I j+I j+1) is added to [(2S/∆t)-O]
to get [(2S/∆t)+O]. Corresponding to this
value of storage indication outflow is read
from Figure 3.
 The outflow is subtracted twice from storage
indication to give next value of [(2S/∆t)-O].
The process is repeated to get all values of
outflow till values obtained are small enough
representing steady flow
i) Compute I1  I 2  / 2 in column 3
ii) From the given value of S1 and O1 compute
1
S1  O1 t
2
iii) Add value obtained in steps (i) and (ii) left
1
hand side of equation to obtain S 2  O 2  t
1
2
iv) From the S  2 O t curve read the value of O2
1
corresponding to the given values of 2 2 O 2  t
S 

obtained in step (iii)

v) Determine S2  12 O 2  t for the next routing
period by the subtracting O2 from S2  12 O 2  t or
by reading it from S  12 O t the curve for an O2
value
  Ij  I j 1   Oj   O j 1 
  t   S j      S j 1   
 2   2
t   2
t 
     
Time Step (j) Time Inflow, I j I j+I j+1 [(2S/∆t)-Oj] [(2S/∆t)+O] Oj Outflow
number (Hour) (m³/s) (m³/s) (m³/s) (m³/s) (m³/s)
1 0 50 0 50
2 1 75 125 51 125 37
3 2 175 250 41 301 130
4 3 355 530 27 571 272
5 4 455 810 13 837 412
6 5 525 980 4 993 494
7 6 510 1035 2 1,039 519
8 7 450 960 6 962 478
9 8 365 815 13 821 404
10 9 295 660 21 673 326
11 10 252 547 27 568 271
12 11 212 464 31 491 230
13 12 177 389 35 420 Continued…..
193
Time Step (j) Time Inflow, I j I j+I j+1 [(2S/∆t)-O] [(2S/∆t)+O] Oj Outflow
number (Hour) (m³/s) (m³/s) (m³/s) (m³/s) (m³/s)
14 13 145 322 38 357 159
15 14 108 253 42 291 125
16 15 84 192 45 234 94
17 16 64 148 47 193 73
18 17 53 117 49 164 58
19 18 50 103 50 152 51
20 19 45 95 50 145 47
21 20 39 84 51 134 42
22 21 38 77 51 128 38
23 22 28 66 51 117 33
24 23 20 48 52 99 24
25 24 15 35 53 87 17
26 25 6 21 54 74 10
27 26 5 11 54 65 5

Continued…..
 Inflow and outflow hydrographs are plotted
simultaneously (Figure 4) and following
parameters are found:
 The difference in time on x-axis between peak of
inflow and outflow hydrograph. This is termed as
Reservoir Lag.
 The difference between peak discharge of inflow
and outflow hydrographs is calculated. This is
termed as attenuation.

Continued…..
600

500

400

300

200

100

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Inflow Hydrograph Outflow Hydrograph

Figure 4. Determining Reservoir Lag and Attenuation

Continued…..
 The inflow should be routed such that outflow
hydrograph is flattened enough having low
peak discharge. This is necessary for safe
passages of flood.
 If abrupt rise in inflow occurs then special
consideration is made for outflow at outlet
structures so that sufficient time is available
for operation. This aspect is considered while
designing reservoirs.
Stream Channel Routing or River
Routing
 The routing in channels involves solution of storage equation as
was done in case of reservoir routing. The storage is function of
both inflow and outflow.
 The method of channel routing is known as Muskingum Method.
 Consider a channel reach having prismatic cross section as
shown in figure 5.
 Let,
S = Storage
I = Inflow
O = Outflow
 The storage in the channel reach consists of two parts:
 Prism storage equal to KO.

 Wedge storage equal to K (I-O).

Stream Channel Routing or River
Routing
Wedge Storage
=K(I-O)

O
Prism Storage
=KO

Figure 5. Prism and Wedge Storage in Channel

Stream Channel Routing or River
Routing
 Then total storage ‘S’ is therefore sum of
prism and wedge storage. That is:
S = K [X I + (1 - X) O] - - - - - - (6)
 Where ‘X’ is a dimensionless constant for
certain reach or segment of channel. ‘K’ is
storage constant having dimensions of time.
 Both x and K are determined from inflow and
outflow hydrographs for reach under
consideration.
Stream Channel Routing or River
Routing
 These constants vary from reach to reach and are
determined as follows.
 The inflow and outflow hydrographs are known for the reach.
Find values of (I-O) for each time interval.
 Find the mean and cumulative mean values of ( I - O) which is
storage.
 Assume value of ‘X’ and find the term [X I + (1-X) O] for each
time interval using assumed value of ‘X’. The storage value is
already calculated against time as explained in step 2.
 Plot [X I + (1 - X) O] values against storage. Inspect if data
plotted nearly fits a straight line. If not assume new value of X
and repeat steps 1-4.
 The best-fit straight line corresponds to required value of ‘X’.
The slope of this straight line is our required value of ‘K’.
Stream Channel Routing or River
Routing
 Now we proceed for channel flow routing once
values of ‘X’ and ‘K’ are known now. Routing mean
finding outflow hydrograph for given inflow
hydrograph.
 We rewrite equation 6 at beginning and end of jth
time interval ∆t.
S j = K I j + (1 - X) O j - - - - - - - - - - - - - (7)
S j+1 = K I j+1 + (1 - X) O j+1 - - - - - - - (8)
 Subtracting equation (7) from equation (8), we get
S j+1- Sj=K (I j+1- I j) + (1 - X) (O j+1 - O j) - - - (9)
Stream Channel Routing or River
Routing
 It may be noted that sum of weighing coefficients
Co + C1 + C2 = 1.
Knowing values of ‘X’ and ‘K’ these coefficients are
determined simply by substitution of values in
equations (11) to (13).
 If Equation (10) is used to find outflow values as all
values on right-hand-side are known. The value of
‘O1’ is assumed equal to ‘I1’ because steady
conditions existed prior to entrance of flood wave in
the channel.
 The subsequent examples explain the procedure for
finding constant and routing inflow hydrograph.
Example 2

 Table 8 shows Inflow and Outflow hydrographs for certain

reach of a channel. Find the Muskingum’s Coefficients ‘X’ and
‘K’ and route the given inflow hydrograph.

Time Inflow Outflow Time Inflow Outflow Time Inflow Outflow

(h) (m³/s) (m³/s) (h) (m³/s) (m³/s) (h) (m³/s) (m³/s)

0 41 41 84 742 625 168 120 179
12 36 40 96 675 675 180 96 141
24 39 38 108 450 640 192 79 115
36 123 50 120 322 575 204 67 92
48 342 130 132 247 395 216 55 77
60 577 290 144 190 31 228 50 65
72 720 470 156 145 236 240 41 55
 Solution
 The calculations are best done in tabular form. Refer Table 9,
wherein first column shows time interval and second column
shows known inflow hydrograph. The known outflow
hydrograph is given in column-4.
 The routing interval is taken as 12 hours equal to the interval
of inflow hydrograph for computational convenience. However
this interval can be reduced if more precise information is
sought.
 The storage units are 0.50 (m³/s)-day. The change in storage
within a interval is found using equation 9 as given in column
6. The cumulative storage is shown in column 7.
 Table 9. Finding Muskingham’s Constants

Time Inflow
I j+I j+1 Outflow (O j) O j+O j+1 ∆S S2=S1+∆S XIj+(1-X)Oj
Interval (I j)
(Hours) (m³/s) (m³/s) (m³/s) (m³/s) (m³/s)-day (m³/s)-day X=0.1 X=0.2 X=0.3
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)
0 41 41 41.00 41.00 41.00
12 36 77 35 76 0.25 0.25 35.10 35.20 35.30
24 39 75 38 73 0.50 0.75 38.10 38.20 38.30
36 123 162 50 88 18.50 19.25 57.30 64.60 71.90
48 342 465 130 180 71.25 90.50 151.20 172.40 193.60
60 577 919 290 420 124.75 215.25 318.70 347.40 376.10
72 720 1297 470 760 134.25 349.50 495.00 520.00 545.00
84 742 1462 625 1095 91.75 441.25 636.70 648.40 660.10
96 675 1417 675 1300 29.25 470.50 675.00 675.00 675.00
108 450 1125 640 1315 -47.50 423.00 621.00 602.00 583.00
 Table 9. Finding Muskingham’s Constants

Time Inflow
I j+I j+1 Outflow (O j) O j+O j+1 ∆S S2=S1+∆S XIj+(1-X)Oj
Interval (I j)
(Hours) (m³/s) (m³/s) (m³/s) (m³/s) (m³/s)-day (m³/s)-day X=0.1 X=0.2 X=0.3
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)
120 322 772 575 1215 -110.75 312.25 549.70 524.40 499.10
132 247 569 395 970 -100.25 212.00 380.20 365.40 350.60
144 190 437 300 695 -64.50 147.50 289.00 278.00 267.00
156 145 335 236 536 -50.25 97.25 226.90 217.80 208.70
168 120 265 178 414 -37.25 60.00 172.20 166.40 160.60
180 96 216 141 319 -25.75 34.25 136.50 132.00 127.50
192 79 175 115 256 -20.25 14.00 111.40 107.80 104.20
204 67 146 92 207 -15.25 -1.25 89.50 87.00 84.50
216 55 122 77 169 -11.75 -13.00 74.80 72.60 70.40
228 50 105 65 142 -9.25 -22.25 63.50 62.00 60.50
Note: ∆S = (∆t / 2) [(Ij + Ij+1) - (Oj + Oj+1)]
∆t=0.5 day
 Next an appropriate value of ‘X’ is assumed
between 0.1 to 0.5 and weighted flow is determined
as XI+(1-X)O for each interval of time as shown in
column 8, 12 and 14 of Table 9.
 The cumulative weighted flow is then plotted against
cumulative storage as is shown in figs. 6, 7 and 8.
The value of ‘X’ giving a best-fit straight line is the
required Muskingham’s constant X. The slope of
this best fit straight line is required ‘K’
 X=0.1

800.00

700.00

600.00
Storage 'S' [(m³/s)-day]

500.00

400.00

300.00

200.00

100.00

0.00
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500
[XI+(1-X)O] (m³/s)

Fig 6. Weighted Flow against Cumulative Storage for X=0.1

 X=0.2

800.00

700.00

600.00
Storage 'S' [(m³/s)-day]

500.00

400.00

300.00

200.00

100.00

0.00
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500
[XI+(1-X)O] (m³/s)

Fig 7. Weighted Flow against Cumulative Storage for X=0.2

 x=0.3

800.00

700.00 y = 1.3023x + 73.606

600.00
Storage 'S' [(m³/s)-day]

500.00

400.00

300.00

200.00

100.00

0.00
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500
[XI+(1-X)O] (m³/s)

Fig 8. Weighted Flow against Cumulative Storage for X=0.3

 From above charts,
X=0.3 & K=1.3 days
 From known values of ‘X’ and ‘K’, constants ‘C0’, ‘C1’, ‘C2’
are determined using equations 3.11, 3.12 and 3.13.
Co = [(0.5 / 1.3) - (2 x 0.3)] / [2(1-0.3) + (0.5 / 1.3)] = -0.12
C1 = [(0.5 / 1.3) + (2 x 0.3)] / [2(1-0.3) + (0.5 / 1.3)] = 0.55
C2 = [2(1 - 0.3) - (0.5 / 1.3)] / [2(1-0.3) + (0.5 / 1.3)] = 0.57
 Check -0.12 + 0.55 + 0.57 = 1.00
 The outflow hydrograph is computed using equation 10 as
shown in Table 10. The initial outflow is assumed equal to
inflow.
 Time Interval Constants for X=0.3 and K=1.3
Inflow (Ij) (m³/s) Outflow ‘O' (m³/s)
(Hours) C0Ij+1 C1Ij C2Oj
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)
0 41 41.00
Table 10. Computations for Channel Routing

12 36 -4.32 22.55 23.37 41.60

24 39 -4.68 19.80 23.71 38.83
36 123 -14.76 21.45 22.13 28.82
48 342 -41.04 67.65 16.43 43.04
60 577 -69.24 188.10 24.53 143.39
72 720 -86.40 317.35 81.73 312.68
84 742 -89.04 396.00 178.23 485.19
96 675 -81.00 408.10 276.56 603.66
108 450 -54.00 371.25 344.09 661.34
120 322 -38.64 247.50 376.96 585.82
132 247 -29.64 177.10 333.92 481.38
144 190 -22.80 135.85 274.39 387.44
156 145 -17.40 104.50 220.84 307.94
168 120 -14.40 79.75 175.52 240.87
180 96 -11.52 66.00 137.30 191.78
192 79 -9.48 52.80 109.31 152.63
204 67 -8.04 43.45 87.00 122.41
216 55 -6.60 36.85 69.77 100.02
228 50 -6.00 30.25 57.01 81.26
 The inflow and outflow hydrograph are shown in figure 9. One
can find difference in peak flows and time interval between peak
flows which is one of the objectives of channel flow routing
Channel Routing by Muskingum Method

800

700

600

500
Flow (m³/s)

400

300

200

100

0
0 50 100 150 200 250
Time (Hours)
Questions
 What is meant by the term Routing? Why we need
Routing through reservoirs?
 Explain Reservoir Routing Procedure. What
assumptions are made for it?
 What information is required prior to routing an
inflow hydrograph through a reservoir?
 Explain Muskingum’s Method for Channel Routing.
 What factor governs selection of suitable routing
interval?
 Take a sample data for a reservoir and route a
forecast flood through it.
Exercise
 A reservoir has the following elevation, discharge
and storage relationships:

Elevation (m) Storage (106 m³) Outflow Discharge (m³/s)

100.00 3.350 0
100.50 3.472 10
101.00 3.880 26
101.50 4.383 46
102.00 4.882 72
102.50 5.370 100
102.75 5.527 116
103.00 5.856 130
Exercise

When the reservoir level was at 100.50 m, the

following flood hydrograph entered the reservoir.
Time (h) Ordinates of 4-hr unit Time (h) Ordinates of 4-hr unit
hydrograph hydrograph
00 10 42 36
06 20 48 55
12 55 54 20
18 80 60 15
24 73 66 13
30 58 72 11
36 46

Route the flood and obtain the outflow hydrograph.

 Exercise
 The inflow hydrograph for a river reach is as given below:
Time (Hours) Discharge (m³/s) Time (Hours) Discharge (m³/s)
0 40 27 225
3 50 30 175
6 130 33 150
9 220 36 125
12 300 39 98
15 325 42 81
18 330 45 70
21 310 48 62
24 275 51 55
The values of Muskingum’s Constants are X = 0.30 and K = 18 hours.
Find the peak outflow due to given inflow hydrograph.