Simulation of the peak flow reduction of small reservoirs. A case study of the Brown Bridge Pond, Michigan, USA

Due to the high frequency and great damage of flood disasters, it is important to reduce the flood peak when it goes through the reservoir. A hydraulic model which integrates the implicit equation of water balance, water head-discharge carves, and water head-storage carves together, is proposed to simulate the flood peak reduction of a small reservoir. The proposed method was employed to simulate the flood peak reduction in the Brown Bridge Reservoir, Michigan, US. The results show that the proposed method can simulate the flood peak reduction in a small reservoir, and the Brown Bridge Dam can reduce the flood peak when hundred-year floods go through. When all gates or spillways are fully opened, the initial water head of the reservoir significantly influences the capacity of flood peak reduction. When the initial water head of the Brown Bridge Reservoir is 240.18 and 241.40 m, the hundred-year flood peak would be reduced to 23.11 m3/s and 25.85 m3/s, respectively. By optimizing the gates or spillways, the hundred-year flood peak could be reduced. When the initial water head of the reservoir is 241.40 and 240.18 m, the hundred-year flood peak would be reduced to 17.98 and 16.54 m3/s, respectively