THE FLOOD HYDROLOGY PROCESSES AND THEIR VARIABILITIES

BY ERIC GAUME AND OLIVER PAYRASTRE

INTRODUCTION

The author presents his main topic of flood Hydrology by bringing the readers what flood is
all about and how hydrology affect the topic. Also the authors aims to his readers to develop
and further their studies about the Floods , How flood is formed , how will Hydrology relates the
topic and the principles that will cause the Flood . Flood is a temporary increase in the
discharge of a body of water , of varying level of severity. For the most part flood occurs
following rainy periods. As such , this study will examine the relationship of rainfall and flood.
However, it is important to allow in mind that other natural or artificial phenomena can also
produce or aggravate flood risks. This study is so essential especially to us because we all
know that flood is one of the main problem and calamity that we experienced during rainy
seasons especially in our country which s PHILIPPINES.

BODY

Floods are caused by numerous things. Many times it rains too much, other times a dam
breaks; however, the effects of floods is devastating to many people. Floods can cause
environmental losses as well and economical losses, land is washed away, homes are ruined,
and people sometimes even die. So that it is important to us to know what flood is all about. At
the first part of the study the authors gives some incident that occurred in France some of these
are the flood that killed almost 175 people in Saint Gervais and the breakdown of the malpasset
dam that killed almost 423 people on December 2 1959. The authors only focus on floods in
France because this study itself was finished in FRANCE however in my country which is
Philippines, Flood is one of the prone calamites that we experience regularly during rainy
seasons from July to December. Also the author explains the nature of the floods which is
HYDROLOGY or the study of water in small and the basic principles of his main topic which is
the FLOOD, some of these are the watersheds there are two watersheds based of the authors
these are the small watersheds and the large watersheds. Floods in small watersheds are
caused by brief and intense rainfall, while floods in large watersheds are due to persistent and
widespread rainfall. In this chapter of the case studies the authors enlighten what watersheds is
and how important it is. Watersheds is an area of land that drains rain water or snow into one
location such as rivers, stream, lake or wetland in layman’s terms “the reservoir of the water”.
Based on the authors the flow water in watersheds is controlled by topography however
groundwater flow is not necessarily controlled by topography also the authors define the
bedrock in watersheds that consist of rocks that are fractured, fragmented and permeable to
varying extents and able to house aquifers whose water courses acts as drain. The authors
differentiate the relationship between rainfall and discharge which is relevant to support his
study. When you say rainfall it is the flow which is continuous while discharge is yields in floods
and caused by rainfall. The percentage of rain water contributing to flood water runoff is rising
during rainfall events, indicating the progressive saturation of watersheds. For this reason the
maximum flow often occur at the end of flood events and does not necessarily correspond to the
most intense downpour that has occurred during rainy seasons. The authors gives a diagram to
analyse the flood hydrograph which helps his study to be more feasible and effective. Because
this diagram followed by Formula which is Qt== ACtIt where Qt is the unit discharge with a return
period to t time by years, A is the catchment area , Ct is the flow coefficient and It is the mean
rainfall intensity. In this figure the number of unit discharge tells how strong the rainfall is. The
highest number of unit discharge which is the strongest and severity rainfall occur that will
cause a massive floods that will loss of many life. The author also discuss the process of flood
formation. Under this part the author explains the infiltration and runoff. When you say Infiltration
this is the process by which water on the ground surface enters the soil while, Runoff is the part
of water cycle that flows over land as surface water instead of being absorbed into ground water
or evaporating. In watersheds with high vegetation covered area, runoff in the sense of
generalized surface flow due to lack of water infiltration into the soil. On the other hand when
soils are simple the surface will slowly deconstruct due to rain. Then the phenomenon called soil
sealing will occur that will affect the saturated soils to be fine particles. Which is quiet tangible.
Lastly the author also explains the groundwater flow based on the authors the “rainwater
generally infiltrates soil”. To fully understand this matter, it is necessarily to consider that the
portion of the ground water is held to tightly for plant extraction. Therefore soil water content
does not sink below the level of 0 degrees Fahrenheit.
Hydrological responces, notable during flood events are not in the results of average reasons,
but occur because of some particular reasons especially when the drains will activate. The
author explains his topic neatly however some of parts of his study did not support what he want
to convey to the readers. At the beginning of his research the authors said that the “Readers
wishing to develop their knowledge in FLOOD HYDROLOGY” which is the author failed to
comply because the study itself is not in complete details and difficult to define what will be the
authors main subject of the study. Still the study is useful for some researchers particularly to
the hydrologist for the reason that this study will be a good preferable reference books for them

Conclusion

The flood is a great foe for us. But as a foe it can be benefit or not to us. Like the floods it has
some good things that will benefit to us such us the soil will fertile and it can washes all
impurities of the land. In general, the influence of land use , including urbanization in extreme
flood events is often overvalued. And the direct runoff is not the main component of i generation
of floodwater runoff when the ground is covered with vegetation. Water infiltrates soil, and the
hydrological response strongly depends on the state of groundwater discharged and subsoil in
the watershed.