Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID NJ_2024_ADNAN-BOUFADEL

Modeling the movement of water in Urban Areas using two-dimensional transient HEC-RAS while accounting for Infiltration.

Institute: New Jersey
Year Established: 2024 Start Date: 2024-09-01 End Date: 2025-08-31
Total Federal Funds: $6,250 Total Non-Federal Funds: $6,250

Principal Investigators: Taha Adnan, Michel Boufadel

Project Summary: The Hydrologic Engineering Center's River Analysis System (HEC-RAS), developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, is used for modeling water flow through river channels and other structures. Its 2D rain-on-grid capability allows for the simulation of rainfall directly on the flow grid, making it suitable for urban flood modeling, although it does not accurately simulate subsurface flows like groundwater movement. Infiltration is a critical factor for accurately modeling urban areas, as it significantly impacts water management and flood mitigation. Effective infiltration reduces surface runoff, which can decrease the frequency and severity of urban flooding. This is especially important in areas with many pervious surfaces. By accounting accurately the infiltration, we can better predict water movement during rain events, leading to more effective stormwater management systems and flood mitigations.We plan to install six water level sensors at multiple locations to measure flow rates along the streams and estimate the amount of water entering from different areas of the watershed. Monitoring real-time flow rates during storm events will help to estimate the interflow contributions to the streams, information crucial for calibrating and validating the model to predict accurate watershed responses.Calibrating and validating a HEC-RAS model ensures it accurately reflects observed conditions and predicts water behaviors under various scenarios. This process is essential for applications in water resource management, infrastructure planning, and emergency preparedness. Calibration aligns the model with observed data, and validation confirms its predictive capabilities. These steps reduce risks associated with model inaccuracies and support effective decision-making. Such rigorously tested models are valuable tools in managing water resources, aiding in practical planning and policy development.