Hello everyone,
I recently discovered the ArcHydro toolbar (using it to calculate the watershed/drainage area leading to our dams and other water control structures). I definitely plan on exploring the toolbar more when I have time but for now I am hoping someone may be able to point me in the right direction.
The organization I work for builds a fair amount of small dams with the purpose of reducing peak flow during spring runoff, large rain events, etc. We work in an area that ranges from small mountains to prairie potholes. Typically we have landowners approach us with potential project locations, which we then visit to determine site suitability, complete surveys, etc. I am wondering if we could use ArcHydro to find potential dam locations in the future. I know as part of the process to calculate watershed it is necessary to calculate drainage lines, flow accumulation, etc.
Generally we build dams (less than 3 meters tall) in locations where the cost of building the dam is relatively low compared to the volume of water held back by the dam. For example, we have many steep ravines in the mountains that are easily dammed, however the upstream topography is so steeply sloped that a 2-3 meter tall dam won't hold water back very far. For this reason it is easier to build dams in areas where the surrounding topography is flatter. That being said, we would still like to identify potential projects in the mountains (headwaters) as a method of reducing peak flow in spring.
Does anyone have any ideas? Thanks in advance!
