Team 9: Xiawa Wang
Current Solutions
1. Expert System and River management
Mark H. Houck,
Professor of Civil Engineering,
School of Civil Engineering,
Purdue University,
West Lafayette, Indiana 47907 USA
Expert system is a technology addressing the land management in river basin. It incorporates in a computerized environment the heuristics, judgments, experience and knowledge of one or more experts in a particular domain.
It can be described as having 6 components:
1, a knowledge acquisition facility
2, a knowledge base
3, an interference engine
4, reasoning mechanism
5, a context
6, an explanation facility
Now there has been successful application of this technology. People are working to use this technology in the multi-purpose reservoir system.
2. Review of measures for reducing sedimentation of the lower yellow river
Chen Zhilin,
Reconnaissance Planning &Design Institute,
Yellow River Conservancy Commission,
People¡¯s Republic of China
This article first gives an introduction about the variation of water and sediment in the basin of Yellow River. Currently, in order to reduce deposition on the lower reaches, Sanmenxia Reservoir is constructed on the middle of Yellow River. Now this practical experiment has shown that regulation of sediment and water in the reservoir can be accomplished.
Xiaolangdi Reservoir is constructed to regulate water and sediment in flood season and perform artificial floods during the non-flood season.
Longmen Reservoir is also built for flood control, reduction of channel deposition, hydropower and irrigation.
3. Downstream Flood Control Plans and Their Development
Selection of a flood control plan is quite important at first. An inadequate program at first is dangerous because people will be confident to build a rapid developed area. The choice of it is a matter of engineering judgment and often there is not just a single plan.
Here, the author addressed several important factors, like benefit-cost ratio, land acquisition, local participation, structure design, changes in river channels agency responsibility in total planning.
At last, it concludes that instead of just consider the magnitude of standard project flood which is a magnitude with reasonable expectancy; the Corps of Engineers should also provide protection for the maximum flood that can be expected. And with the benefit-cost ratio, just meeting the local interest is not sufficient. Sometimes, the Corps should consider move the industrial and urban developments to other locations, which is of lower cost. Finally£¬the multi-purpose projects had a considerable impact on the Corps. Sometimes, it is more helpful to reduce those burdens.
4. Problems connected with upstream programs
The development of upstream programs is more complicated. The Department of Agriculture is concerned with a intermixture of flood control and agriculture purposes. The method is dependent upon the use of sampling procedure. However, there exists inadequacy on data. The research data do not appear to be well distributed and not compiled or analyzed in a sufficiently complete manner. Upon those conclusions, reservoirs are used in flood control while great flood damage could still occur in tributary valleys. The Department of Agriculture should be responsible to clarify the respective roles of big dams, little dams and conservations.
5. The Area of Conflict
This article tells about the flood control conflict. Flood control is a big problem. However, there exists strong conflict between the proponents of little dams and the proponents of big dams.
The Department of Agriculture is responsible for the control of the upstream part. The land management is essential for the conservation of soil resources, the mitigation of erosion and the increase of agricultural yield. And it has done the major part of flood control in the upstream part.
But land management is not sufficient in control of floods in myriad small tributaries. The Corps of Engineers is responsible for the large amounts of floods occurring in the small headwater tributaries.
The conflict primarily lies in two parts:
1, present policy and procedure lead to the construction
2, the same benefit from flood control cannot be claimed by both agencies. Thus, where upstream and downstream works meet must be clear.
6. Upper Mississippi Forestry Partnership
The ecosystem of Mississippi River is decline now. Every year, sediments and nutrients will get into Mississippi River.
Six Midwest State Forests and the USDA Forest Service Northeastern Area worked together and founded the Upper Mississippi Forestry Partnership.
The partnership has already attracted resources and assistance. Now this partnership has achieved some success and is moving on to the next step.
7. Administrative Elements of a Flood Control Program
The Flood Control Controversy: Big dams, Little Dams and Land Management, By Luna B. LEOPOLD and Thomas MADDOCK, JR
Flood control generates from the flood damage, both direct
and indirect. Flood damage can be reduced by several ways. Firstly, we
can move the damageable property out of reach of flood waters through
flood-plain zoning and flood warning. Secondly, we can we can construct
artificial banks, such as levees or flood walls to pass the flood flows
downstream in ways and places in which they will be least harmful. Flood
insurance can also be used to ameliorate the impact of flood losses.
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