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Toward understanding changes in large-scale floodplain connectivity caused by levees

Date

2018

Authors

Scheel, Kara, author
Morrison, Ryan, advisor
Niemann, Jeffrey, committee member
Rathburn, Sara, committee member

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Abstract

The widespread construction of levees has reduced river-floodplain connectivity and harmed associated fluvial processes in many river systems. Despite the recognition that levees can alter floodplain connectivity, few studies have examined the role of levees in reducing floodplain areas at large watershed scales. In this paper we explore the application of a hydrogeomorphic floodplain mapping approach in the Wabash basin, U.S. to assess floodplain loss in levee-protected areas. We evaluate 10-m and 30-m topographic resolutions and spatially examine the influence of levees on floodplain area in relation to river network attributes within discrete HUC-10 sub-basins. Generally, we found that the floodplains mapped in levee-protected areas were influenced by topographic resolution, stream order, and elevation details of levees found in topography datasets. We show that, when compared to Federal Emergency Management Agency maps, our approach under predicts floodplain area when using 10-m resolution topography data but only slightly over predicts when using 30-m resolution topography. After removing details of levees from topography datasets, we found that basin-aggregate results changed little compared to topography datasets that contain levees, though larger floodplain areas were produced in some regions where levees were removed. This work contributes to a growing research emphasis on linking water resource management to river-floodplain connectivity.

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Subject

fluvial processes
surface water hydrology
river/streams
flooding

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