Exploration of flood forecasting and flood mitigation

Floods are one of the most destructive natural disasters. They can have significant consequences such as loss of life and property. For preparedness and effective mitigation, engineers develop methods to predict floods before they occur. In this study, I investigated the performance of the Iowa Flood Center's flood forecasting method in mountainous regions in Turkey. I showed that the method could provide accurate flood forecasts in mountainous areas with a humid temperate climate.

In addition to flood forecasting, flood mitigation is also significant to prevent catastrophic impacts of floods. An emerging approach for flood mitigation is to build multiple small reservoirs that are distributed across the landscape. This practice distributes flood mitigation benefits to a greater area. There are two basic ways of managing reservoirs: passive control and active control. In passive control, the pipe from which the water is released remains entirely open all the time. In active control, one can adjust the amount of water to be released from the reservoir by changing the pipe's opening size.

In this thesis, I explored the flood mitigation benefits of distributed small reservoirs. My results showed that the distribution of passive reservoirs across the landscape significantly affects their ability to reduce high flows. Additionally, I compared active and passive control strategies. I demonstrated that active control could increase the efficiency of a system of small reservoirs. However, when reservoir capacity is insufficient, active control does not improve flood mitigation.