CE 3620: Water Resources Engineering Spring 2017

Hydrology Project
Task 3: Hydrologic Frequency Analysis & Hydrologic Modeling
The 100-year (or 1%) flood discharge is used by the State of Michigan in all permitting
processes. Any water resources structure built or installed must be sufficient in size to pass this
discharge without affecting/causing flooding upstream. Remember, the goal of this project is to
calculate the 100-year discharge for your watershed at your chosen outlet point. Your task this
week is to estimate the 100-year discharge using HEC-HMS.
Introduction to Hydrologic Modeling (HEC-HMS 3.0)
In this exercise you will briefly explore the use of a hydrologic simulation model (HEC-HMS)
for performing hydrologic analyses such as the estimation of the 100-year discharge in your
watershed. This will involve the following steps:
Create a new project.
Create a basin model consisting of a single sub-basin and a routing reach; enter parameter
data for these hydrology elements.
Create a precipitation model for a hypothetical design storm.
Create a control specification that sets the time window and time interval for a
simulation.
Execute a run.
View results.
These steps are outlined in detail below. However, before you begin, you will need to compute a
few additional values in order to provide the needed inputs.
Compute Initial Abstraction (IA): We are going to compute the 100-year discharge assuming
that it results from the 24-hour, 100-year design storm. The rainfall will be separated into
infiltration and runoff using the NRCS CN method. As discussed in class, at the start of the
storm, there is a period of time during which all rainfall is lost within the watershed, i.e. the
initial abstraction, which is computed as a function of CN. Use your CN obtained in Task 2 to
compute the initial abstraction (in inches) for your watershed.
Compute percent impervious cover: Right click on landuse-cn2 in the Table of Contents and
select Open. Recall that the IFMAP_CODE (equivalent to IGDS_TEXT) provides a unique
identifier for land use. To obtain the percent impervious cover, we will simply assume that any
polygons with the following IFMAP_CODE represent impervious surface: 100, 120, 121, 122,
123, 124, 126, 130, 138, 140, and 144. These values can easily be obtained using the
soil_landuse Attribute Table created in Task 2. Therein, you define the variable PoTA which
represents the percentage of the total watershed area covered by a given polygon. We only want
the total area covered by polygons associated with the indicated IFMAP_CODE values. To
obtain this value, with the soil_landuse Attribute Table active, right click on the heading of the
IFMAP_CODE field, and select Summarize. Under Option 2, scroll to the bottom of the

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window and click on the plus sign beside PoTA. Check the Sum box. Under Option 3, direct
the output table to your task_2 folder, and save it as a dBASE Table named summary_landuse.
Click OK. You will be asked if you want to add the result table to the map, click YES. Right
click on summary_landuse in the Table of Contents, and select Open. Record the Sum_PoTA
values corresponding to the IFMAP_CODE values indicated above. Add these values (and
multiply by 100) to get your estimate of the percent impervious surface. Include a screenshot
of the summary_landuse table in your memo (report).

Compute Basin Lag Time (tL): We are going to compute the 100-year discharge using NRCS
methods. Therefore, you need to compute the lag time using the NRCS lag equation (equation
8.3 in Wurbs & James) as a function of CN, hydraulic length (l in ft), and average watershed
slope (Y as %). In Task 1, you computed the main channel length in miles. This is not the same
as the hydraulic length, i.e. distance from the most remote hydraulic point to the outlet, but we
will ignore this difference for our purposes. To compute the average watershed slope, see steps
below. Also, note that equation 8.3 returns tL in hours, but we need to convert it to minutes for
input to HEC-HMS. Be sure to show these calculations in your memo/report!
Compute Average Watershed Slope (Y): In Task 1, you created the raster file slope which
defines the slope (measured as percent of rise) of each grid cell (pixel) in your watershed. Using
ArcMap, open your project file from Task 1. If you right click on the slope raster file in the
Table of Contents, and select Open Attribute Table, you will see that the attribute table option
is grayed out. To enable functions, select Geoprocessing ArcToolbox Spatial Analyst
Tools Math Int. Use slope as the Input raster or constant value. Direct the Output raster
to your hydrology_project folder, and name the file slope_land.tif. Click OK. Now right click
on slope_land in the Table of Contents and select Open Attribute Table.
Note that the Value field represents the range of slope values (percent rise) observed across the
watershed, and the Count field indicates the number of pixels which have the associated slope

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value. To calculate the average watershed slope, we need to calculate a weighted average of the
Values. To do this, we will need to add two new fields to the slope_land Attribute Table.
Click the Table Options icon ( ) in the upper left hand corner of the attribute table and select
Add Field... Enter Count_Wt in the Name field, and select Float in the Type field. Set
Precision to 10 and Scale to 10. Click OK. Repeat this process to add the field Slope_Wt also
as a Float type field with Precision of 10 and Scale of 10.
Right click on the heading of the Count field, and select Statistics... Record the value of the
Sum as this is the total number of pixels contained within your watershed. Next, right click on
the heading of the Count_Wt field, and select Field Calculator In the Field Calculator
dialogue box that opens, double click on Count under the Fields: section, then click on the
division symbol ( / ) and modify the equation in the lower portion of the window labeled
Count_Wt = to be: [Count]/SUM, where SUM is the total number of pixels in your watershed
(see figure below). Click OK.

Right click on the heading of the Slope_Wt field, and select Field Calculator Clear the
calculator, then double click on Value under the Fields: section, click on the multiplication
symbol (*), and then double click on Count_Wt under Fields:. The equation in the lower
window labeled Slope_Wt = should now read: [Value]*[Count_Wt]. Click OK. The values
reported in the Slope_Wt field are weighted values. The sum of these weighted values will be
the average watershed slope. This is easily obtained as follows: right click on the heading of the
Slope_Wt field, select Statistics, and record the value for the Sum for use in your
memo/report and calculation of the basin lag time. Save work!

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Create a New Project
1. Start HEC-HMS from the Program menu (Course Software HEC).
2. An empty window will appear. From the File menu select New to create a new project.
3. The Create a New Project window will appear. Enter a name for your project and a brief
description such as "Peak Discharge Analysis for My Watershed. Choose a directory on
your personal H: drive where the project files will be stored. Finally, select U.S.
Customary for the default units and click Create.

Create a Basin Model

4. From the Components menu, select Basin Model Manager. The Basin Model Manager
window will open. Click New to open the Create A New Basin Model window. Specify a
name and description of your basin model. Click Create, then close the Basin Model
Manager window.
5. The Basin Models folder should now appear in the Components tab in the upper left corner
of the window (see Figure 1). If you click on the plus sign beside this folder, you should see
the name of the basin model you just created (e.g. Basin 1). Click on the basin model, and a
schematic drawing window will appear in the main workspace and a new input window will
appear to the lower left. You do not need to enter anything in the input window (Grid Cell
File, Local Flow, etc.), but you will build a schematic of your basin in the drawing window.

Figure 1. Setting up a basin model.

6. Click on the Subbasin Creation Tool ( ), and then move the crosshair over to the
drawing window. Click on a location near the center of the window. The Create A New
Subbasin Element window will open. Enter a name and description for the subbasin. (For
simplicity, your basin model will include just one subbasin.) Click Create. The subbasin

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 should now appear in the drawing window. If you wish to move the subbasin icon, click on
the Arrow Tool, then select the subbasin and move it to wherever you want.
7. Click on the Reach Creation Tool ( ) and follow the same procedure as for the subbasin;
then repeat with the Reservoir Creation Tool ( ). For now you can place the Reach and
Reservoir anywhere in the drawing window. We will connect the system components in the
next step. Note that the subbasin represents the land surface of the watershed, the reach
represents the stream channel, and the reservoir (or sink) represents the outlet point.
8. Activate the Arrow Tool, then within the drawing window, right click on the subbasin, and
select Connect Downstream. Then move the arrow (crosshair) over the reach and click to
make the connection. You should see a thin line appear indicating the connection. Click on
the reach and move it a little to check that the connection is made. Repeat this procedure to
connect the reach to the reservoir. A picture of this simple basin model is shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Basin model with three elements:

one subbasin, one river reach, and one reservoir (sink).

9. Click on the subbasin and begin entering data for the subbasin in the lower left hand corner
of the window. First enter the area (mi2) of your watershed as determined in Task 1. Then,
select the Loss, Transform, and Baseflow methods you will use. The recommended methods
are shown in Figure 3. (Note: SCS methods are equivalent to NRCS methods discussed in
class! Recall that the agency name has changed over time.) You may receive warnings that
you will lose associated information when the methods are changed. Since we have yet to do
any computations/enter data, you can simply ignore these messages. Click OK and continue.

Figure 3. Recommended methods for the subbasin.

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10. Now click on the alternate tabs associated with subbasin inputs and enter parameters for each
of the methods as follows:
(a) under Loss, enter the initial abstraction (inches), CN, and % impervious surface;
(b) under Transform, select the standard graph type and enter the NRCS basin lag time (min);
(c) under Baseflow, enter values of zero for each month so that we will simply consider the
runoff hydrograph;
(d) leave cells under the Options tab blank/none. Save your work.
11. Return to the drawing window and click on the reach to open its input window. Under the
Reach tab, select the Lag routing method (see Figure 4). Under the Routing tab, enter your
basin lag time (min). Leave cells under the Options tab blank/none. Save your work.

Figure 4. Recommended method for the river reach.

12. Return to the drawing window and click on the reservoir to open its input window. We do
not actually want the outlet to be modeled as a reservoir, we simply want to specify a sink
to which the water drains. Therefore, under the Reservoir tab, make sure that the Method
selected is None-- (see Figure 5). Under the Routing tab, enter your basin lag time (min).
Leave cells under the Options tab blank/none. Save your work.

Figure 5. Recommended method for the reservoir.

Create a Meteorologic (Precipitation) Model

13. From the Components menu, select Meteorologic Model Manager. The Meteorologic
Model Manager window will open. Click New... and the Create A New Meteorologic Model
window will appear. Enter a name ("100-year Design Storm") and add a description such as
"Precipitation for a 100-yr, 24-hr Rainfall Event." Click Create and close the Meteorologic
Model Manager window.
14. A Meteorologic Models folder should now appear in the Components tab in the upper left
corner of the window. If you click on the plus sign beside this folder, you should see the

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 name of the design storm you just created (e.g. 100-year Design Storm). Click on this design
storm model to open the Meteorology Model input window (Figure 6). Select SCS Storm as
the precipitation model, and leave Snowmelt and Evapotranspiration set to None.
15. Select the Basins tab and click in the box under Include Subbasins. Select Yes to apply
your precipitation model to the subbasin specified in your basin model.

Figure 6. Meteorology model specification.

16. Return to the Components window (upper left) and click on the plus sign beside your design
storm model (e.g. 100-year Design Storm). You should see SCS Storm listed. Click on
SCS Storm to open the relevant input window in the lower left hand corner. Choose the
appropriate SCS storm type for your watershed (Type II), and enter the 24-hour, 100-year
rainfall depth (inches) for your watershed [see page 89 (labeled 100-yr, 24-hr) of the
document: http://www.isws.illinois.edu/pubdoc/B/ISWSB-71.pdf. Save your work.

Create the Control Specifications

17. From the Components menu at the top of the main window, select Control Specifications
Manager. The Control Specifications Manager window will open. Click New... and the
Create A New Control Specifications window will appear. Enter a name ("Control 1") and
add a description such as "Hypothetical period to simulate runoff from a 24-hour storm."
Click Create and close the Control Specifications Manager window.
18. A Control Specifications folder should now appear in the Components tab in the upper left
corner of the window. If you click on the plus sign beside this folder, you should see the
Control 1 component that you just created. Click on Control 1 to open the Control
Specifications input window (lower left).
19. In the Control Specifications input window, enter the following data:

Starting Date: 01JUL2013 Starting Time: 00:00

Ending Date: 06JUL2013 Ending Time: 00:00
Time Interval: 15 minutes

Note that you will be considering a single event in the summer so that we can avoid issues
with modeling snow, freeze/thaw, etc. At this point you are done setting up the model and
ready to perform a simulation. Save your work.

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Run Execution
20. From the Compute menu at the top of the main window, select Create Simulation Run.
The Create a Simulation Run window will open.
(a) Enter a name for this run (e.g. Run 1), then click Next>.
(b) Select a basin model (only the one for your test watershed should be listed and selected
by default), then click Next>.
(c) Select a meteorologic model (only your 100-year, 24-hour design storm should be listed
and selected by default), then click Next>.
(d) Select a control specification (i.e. Control 1). Click Finish.
21. Return to the Compute menu, and select Compute Run [name], where name is the name of
your simulation run (e.g. Run 1). If you do not see this, you may need to first choose Select
Run. Save work!

View Results
22. To view "global" results, select items from the Results menu at the top of the main window.
23. Additional results (one graphical and two tabular displays) can be viewed for each element.
In the drawing window, right click on the element of interest and then select View Results.
(a) Select the Summary Table for the Subbasin to answer the following questions:
What was the total abstraction (loss) in inches for the 24-hour storm event?
What was the total rainfall excess (runoff depth, VR) in inches?
What is the runoff volume (VR * watershed area) in acre-ft?
What was the peak discharge (ft3/s), and at what time did it occur?
(b) Select the Graph for the Subbasin to observe the shape of the runoff hydrograph. Take a
screen shot to include in your memo/report.
Be sure to include these results/answers in your memo/report.
Note that if you select the Time-Series Table for the Subbasin, you can see the
incremental depths of precipitation associated with the 24-hour, 100-year design storm,
the increments of rainfall excess computed using the NRCS CN approach, and the
resulting ordinates of the runoff hydrograph resulting from application of the lagging
procedure with a 15-minute unit hydrograph obtained by scaling the NRCS
dimensionless curvilinear unit hydrograph. These tables could be exported to Excel for
creation of hyetographs/hydrographs, but you are not required to do so.

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Create a New Basin Model under Context of Urbanization
24. I would like you to evaluate the impacts of potential urbanization in your watershed on the
magnitude of the 100-year event and associated runoff hydrograph. To do so, we will simply
assume that your CN computed in Task 2 is inflated by 10%. Recompute the values of the
basin lag time (tL) and initial abstraction (IA) using this new CN. You will also need to
propose a reasonable increase in the % impervious surface for your urbanized watershed.
25. Much of the inputs into HEC-HMS remain the same, so to evaluate the impacts of this new
CN on runoff, click on your original basin model in the Components window in the upper
left hand corner. Recall that the basin model is listed under the Basin Models folder. Right
click on the basin model and select Create Copy In the window that appears, specify a
name and description of your new basin model (e.g. Urbanized Watershed). Click Copy.
The new basin model should now appear in the list of Basin Models in the Component
window.
26. Click on your new basin model in the Components window. The associated basin schematic
will appear in the drawing window. It is the same as before for now, but note that the
heading of the window includes the Basin Model name (e.g. Urbanized Watershed). In the
drawing window, click on the subbasin to open the relevant input window to the lower left.
Modify the subbasin data accordingly for your new CN. You should only need to change the
initial abstraction, CN, and % impervious surface under the Loss tab, and the lag time under
the Transform tab. Save your work.
Recall that we only used output associated with the subbasin to define the runoff hydrograph,
peak discharge, and runoff volume. As we dont actually consider flows routed through the
reach to the reservoir (sink), we do not need to worry about changing associated input values.
27. The overall depth of precipitation observed from the 24-hour, 100-year storm will remain
unchanged as we are only considering a situation in which the land surface is modified.
However, we will need to distribute the design storm over the new subbasin with the
modified CN. To do so, in the Components window in the upper left hand corner, navigate
to your 100-year Design Storm in the Meteorologic Models folder. Click on the 100-year
Design Storm to open the Meteorologic Model input window (e.g. Figure 6). Under the
Basins tab, in the column labeled Include Subbasins, click in the box associated with your
Urbanized Watershed and select Yes to apply your precipitation model to the new
subbasin. Save work!
28. Repeat steps 20-23 using the new basin model to generate the new runoff hydrograph. Be
sure to provide a new run name (e.g. Run 2). Compare results for the two CNs to evaluate
the impacts of urbanization. Be sure to discuss this in your memo (and final report).
29. When you are finished, select File Save, then File Exit.

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Information to include in memo/report:
1. Average watershed slope (%).
2. 24-hr, 100-year rainfall depth (inches) for your watershed.
**Report the following for each CN value (existing conditions vs. potential urbanization):
3. Screenshot of the summary_landuse table.
4. Estimate of impervious surface (%).
5. NRCS Basin Lag Time (minutes).
6. Value of the initial abstraction (inches).
7. Total abstraction observed over duration of the storm (inches).
8. Total rainfall excess (runoff depth) observed over duration of the storm (inches).
9. Runoff volume in acre-ft.
10. Magnitude of the peak discharge (ft3/s) and associated time to peak in minutes.
11. Screenshot of the runoff hydrograph.

Questions to answer in memo/report:

1. How does slope affect the time of concentration?
2. How does watershed shape affect the time of concentration?
3. How does CN affect the time of concentration?
4. Why would a lower design discharge be desired?
5. What watershed management practices could reduce the design discharge?

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