Evaluation of hydrologic safety of dams

A challenging aspect of engineering hydrology is that of evaluating flood hazards due to natural,or man-made floods such as those due to dam breaks, incorrect operation of spillways etc. Prediction of inflow design flood could be broadly based on Probable Maximum Flood (PMF), Frequency Analysis and Peak Flood Envelopment. Evaluation of safety of installations downstream of reservoirs needs simulation of breach of dam and routing of the outflow hydrograph through the channel downstream. This paper details some of the learning experiences associated with studies for predicting inflow hydrographs and evaluation of safety of installations downstream of dams subject to simulated breach.