Design Methodology

Modeling Stormwater Runoff

¾ USGS Regression Equations
¾ Rational Method/Modified Rational Method
¾ SCS Curve Number Method
z TR-55
z TR-20
¾ HEC-HMS (Hydrologic Modeling System)
¾ Storm Water Management Model (SWMM)
 Modeling Stormwater Runoff
¾ USGS Regression Equations
¾ Rational Method/Modified Rational Method
¾ SCS Curve Number Method
z TR-55
z TR-20
¾ HEC-HMS (Hydrologic Modeling System)
¾ Storm Water Management Model (SWMM)
Proprietary Stormwater Models
¾ Pond Pack from Haested Methods
¾ Hydraflow from Intelisolve
¾ StormNet from Boss Intl
¾ Hydrocad
Free Hydrologic Model Download

Hydrocad Evaluation Version

http://www.hydrocad.net/sampler.htm
 Modeling Stormwater Runoff
¾ USGS Regression Equations
¾ Rational Method/Modified Rational Method
¾ SCS Curve Number Method
z TR-55
z TR-20
¾ HEC-HMS (Hydrologic Modeling System)
¾ Storm Water Management Model (SWMM)
 Recommendation - Use
SCS/NRCS Methodology
¾ Identify rainfall depth, distribution for each
design event – SCS Type II Storm, NOAA
Atlas 14 data
¾ Convert rainfall depth to runoff depth using
Curve Number method (TR-20)
¾ Calculate the Tc for each contributing drainage
area for existing and proposed conditions –
use velocity method (TR-55 manual) and
appropriate equation for unpaved conc flow
¾ Generate inflow hydrographs for each design
event for existing and proposed conditions –
use SCS unit hydrograph method (i.e., TR-20
based model)
 Rainfall Data
Numerous sources of rainfall data (e.g., depth, intensity) are available
including:

¾ NOAA Atlas 14 - NWS-NOAA. 2004. Precipitation-Frequency

Atlas of the United States, NOAA Atlas 14, Vol 2, Version 3,
NOAA, National Weather Service, Silver Spring, MD.
This data can be accessed through the internet Precipitation Frequency
Data Server (PFDS): http://hdsc.nws.noaa.gov/hdsc/pfds/

¾ Huff and Angel - Huff, F.A. and J.R. Angel. 1992. Rainfall
Frequency Atlas of the Midwest. Illinois State Water Survey,
Bulletin 71, Champaign.

¾ Technical Paper 40 (TP-40) - Hershfield, D.M. 1961. Rainfall

Frequency Atlas of the United States, Technical Paper No. 40,
U.S. Weather Bureau, Washington, DC.
Selection of Rainfall Data Source
¾ It is important to use accurate precipitation data for the
location of the development site.
¾ The precipitation values from these different references are
typically within 10-20% for a given design storm (e.g., 2-year,
24 hr storm). As an example,
Lat: 40.530 N; Long: 82.818 W
Mt. Gilead, Morrow County

Event TP-40 Huff & Angel NOAA Atlas 14

1-yr, 24-hr 2.25 2.17 2.19
2-yr, 24-hr 2.50 2.70 2.62
5-yr, 24-hr 3.25 3.35 3.22
10-yr, 24-hr 3.70 3.86 3.70
25-yr, 24-hr 4.10 4.64 4.36
50-yr, 24-hr 4.65 5.33 4.89
100-yr, 24-hr 4.90 6.06 5.43
 Selection of Rainfall Data Source
¾ The difference in design storm value between data sources (less
than 10% for smaller storms and less than 20% for extreme
events) is small relative to all the other assumptions and
inaccuracies inherent in stormwater design.
¾ However, the National Weather Service site offers the most up-to-
date, location-specific information based on rainfall data from
over 200 individual sites within Ohio whereas Huff and Angel data
is reported regionally for ten (10) sections within the state, and
the TP-40 data is now 40+ years out-of-date.
¾ For the most accurate, up-to-date, location-specific rainfall data
for stormwater design, use the Precipitation-Frequency Atlas
of the United States, NOAA Atlas 14, Vol 2(3)
- available at the NWS Precipitation Frequency Data Server
(PFDS): http://hdsc.nws.noaa.gov/hdsc/pfds/).
 NOAA Atlas 14

NWS Precipitation Frequency Data

Server (PFDS) - NOAA Atlas 14:

http://hdsc.nws.noaa.gov/hdsc/pfds/
Rainfall Depths, NOAA Atlas 14
 Type II Rainfall Distribution Development
Rainfall Distribution - 1-yr, 24-hr Storm
Columbus Airport NOAA Atlas 14

2.5

2
Cumulative Rainfall Depth (in)

1.5

NOAA Atlas 14
SCS-Type II

0.5

0
0 4 8 12 16 20 24
Time (hr)
 Commonly Used Rainfall Distributions
Design Storm Rainfall Temporal Distribution - 24-Hour

0.9

0.8
Dimensionaless Cumulative Rainfall

0.7

SCS Type II
0.6 Constant Intensity
Huff 1st Q
0.5 Huff 2nd Q
Huff 3rd Q
0.4 Huff 4th Q
Triangular

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
0 6 12 18 24
Dimensionless Time
 Commonly Used Rainfall Hyetographs
Design Storm Hyetograph Comparison

0.3

0.25
Rainfall intensity - dimensionless

0.2
SCS Type II
Constant Intensity
Huff Q1
0.15 Huff Q2
Huff Q3
Huff Q4
Triangular
0.1

0.05

0
0 6 12 18 24
Time (Hr)
3Q Huff Curve vs SCS Type II
Coshocton NAEW 172

Source: Phil DeGroot

 Huff Curves vs SCS Type II
Runoff Hydrograph Comparison
Pre-Development, 1-yr, 24-hr

14

12

SCS Type II
10
Huff Q3
Discharge (cfs)

0
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600

Time (min)
 Recommendations
¾ Rainfall Depth - For the most accurate, up-to-date,
location-specific rainfall data for stormwater design, use
the Precipitation-Frequency Atlas of the United
States, NOAA Atlas 14, Vol 2(3)
- available at the NWS Precipitation Frequency Data
Server (PFDS): http://hdsc.nws.noaa.gov/hdsc/pfds/.
¾ Temporal Distribution - For
now, we are recommending
the use of the SCS Type II
rainfall distribution for all
design events with a
recurrence interval greater
than 1 year. We are
reviewing this guidance.
 Procedure Issues
¾ Appropriate selection of CN to
represent pre-development
conditions.
Pre-development Land Use
Pre-development Cover
Pre-development Soils
 Pre-
development
CN
 Pre-
development
CN
 Pre-
development
CN
 Pre-
development
CN
What is real?

How do we know?

What value is most

supportive of achieving our
stormwater management
goals?

What is fair?
 Pre-
development
CN
What is real?

How do we know?

What value is most

supportive of achieving our
stormwater management
goals?

What is fair?
 Procedure Issues
¾ Appropriate selection of CN to represent
pre-development conditions.
¾ Appropriate selection of CN to
represent post-development
conditions.
 Disturbed Soil Profiles
¾ As a result of urbanization, the soil profile
may be considerably altered and the listed
hydrologic group classification may no longer
apply.
¾ In these circumstances, select the HSG
according to the texture of the new surface
soil, provided that significant compaction has
not occurred.

New NRCS guidance on

designating disturbed
soil HSGs coming soon
Soil Compaction
 Urban CNs
¾ Urban CN values listed
in Table 2-2a were
developed for typical
land use relationships
based on specific
assumed percentages
of impervious area.
¾ Table 2-2a
Assumptions
a. Pervious urban areas are
equivalent to open space
in good condition, and
b. Impervious areas have a
CN = 98 and are directly
connected to the
drainage system.
 Urban CNs
¾ Is this
Urban CNavalues
validlisted
assumption?
in Table 2-2a were
developed for typical
land use relationships
based on specific
assumed percentages
of impervious area.
¾ Table 2-2a
Assumptions
a. Pervious urban areas are
equivalent to open space
in good condition, and
b. Impervious areas have a
CN = 98 and are directly
connected to the
drainage system.
 Urban CNs
¾ Is this
Urban CNavalues
validlisted
assumption?
in Table 2-2a were
developed for typical
land use relationships
based on specific
assumed percentages
of impervious area.
¾ Table 2-2a
Assumptions
a. Pervious urban areas are
equivalent to open space
in good condition, and
b. Impervious areas have a
CN = 98 and are directly
connected to the
drainage system.
 Post-
development
CN
 Post-
development
CN
 Post-
development
CN
Does this = this?
 Post-
development
CN

What is real?

How do we know?

What value is most

supportive of achieving our
stormwater management
goals?

What is fair?
 Post-
development
CN

What is real?

How do we know?

What value is most

supportive of achieving our
stormwater management
goals?

What is fair?

Newly Graded
Areas?
 Post-
development
CN

What is real?

How do we know?

What value is most

supportive of achieving our
stormwater management
goals?

What is fair?

Open Space in
Fair Condition?
 Post-
development
CN

What is real?

How do we know?

What value is most

supportive of achieving our
stormwater management
goals?

What is fair?
Moving HSG one
group to right?
 HSG-C Urban CNs

100

95

90
SCS Curve Number

85

80
C
D
C - Fair
C - Graded
75 C - Move HSG to Right

70
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Impervious Area (%)
 Recommendations
¾ Pre-development Curve Numbers – For wooded or brushy
areas, use listed values in good hydrologic condition. For
meadows, use listed values. For all other areas (including
all types of agriculture), use pasture, grassland, or range in
good hydrologic condition.
¾ Post-development Curve Numbers – Either: (1) require that
the developer renovate the soil (subsoil, incorporate
compost and/or sand through top 12 inches, replace topsoil
to a minimum depth of 4”); or (2) adjust HSG one group to
right to account for topsoil removal, grading, and
compaction. Undisturbed areas can be treated as “open
space in good condition.”
New NRCS guidance on designating HSGs
Coming soon - Look for post-development HSGs to be
published in Rainwater and Land Development Manual
Tt and Tc
Tc Impact on Peak Discharge
Runoff Hydrograph
SCS CN Method, D = 30 min, Q = 0.27 in
10

qp = 9.1
9

~23% increase
8

qp = 7.4
7
Discharge, q (cfs)

Tc = 30 min
4
Tc = 20 min

0
0.000 0.500 1.000 1.500 2.000 2.500 3.000

Time (hr)
 Methods for estimating Tc
¾ Two ways of classifying methods of
computing Time of Concentration:
- Regression based equations

- Velocity based methods

 Velocity Based Methods
¾ NRCS Velocity
Based Method
- Divide flow path into
segments
- overland flow
- shallow concentrated
flow
- channel flow
- Estimate velocity for each
segment
- Compute travel time for
each segment
- Sum of the travel times is
the time of concentration
Travel Time - Sheet Flow
 NRCS Velocity Based Method
¾ Overland Flow (a.k.a. Sheet Flow)
0 .8
0.007(nL)
Tt = 0 .5 0 .4
(P2 ) s
where:
Tt = Travel time, hours
n = Manning’s roughness coefficient for sheet flow
L = flow length, feet
P2 = 2-year, 24-hour rainfall, in
s = slope of hydraulic grade line (land slope), ft/ft
NRCS Velocity Based Method
Manning’s n
values for various
surface covers to
be used in the
Sheet flow Travel
Time equation.
NRCS Velocity Based Method
¾ Shallow concentrated flow
- after a max of 100 feet sheet flow usually begins
to concentrate into small rills
- average velocity is a function of watercourse slope
and type of channel
- average depths generally less than 0.5 feet
- equations are derivatives of Manning’s equation
for open channel flow
Travel Time – Shallow Concentrated
Flow
 NRCS Velocity Based Method
¾ Shallow concentrated
flow

Paved conditions : V = 20.32 s 0.5

where: V = velocity, fps

s = slope of hydraulic grade
line (slope of land) ft/ft
 NRCS Velocity Based Method
¾ Shallow concentrated
flow
Unpaved conditions:
Grass Waterway V=16.1 s0.5

where: V = velocity, fps

s = slope of hydraulic grade
line (slope of land) ft/ft
TR-55 guidance
 NRCS Velocity Based Method
¾ Shallow concentrated
flow
Unpaved conditions:
Grass Waterway V=16.1 s0.5
Bare Soil V=10.3 s0.5
Cult. Straight Row V=9.0 s0.5
Short Grass Pasture V=7.0 s0.5
Trash Fallow, Minimum
Tillage, Woodland V=5.1 s0.5
Forest w/Heavy Litter V=2.5 s0.5

where: V = velocity, fps

s = slope of hydraulic grade
line (slope of land) ft/ft
NEH-4 Guidance
NRCS Velocity Based Method
¾ Shallow concentrated flow

Travel time for shallow concentrated flow portion:

L
Tt =
3600V
where: L = flow length, ft
V = average velocity, fps
3600 = conversion factor from seconds to hours
 NRCS Velocity Based Method
¾ Open Channel Flow
- open channels assumed to begin where surveyed
cross-section information has been obtained, where
blue lines (indicating streams) appear on USGS
quadrangle maps
- Manning’s equation is used to estimate average flow
velocity
- average flow velocity determined for bank-full
elevation
 NRCS Velocity Based Method
¾ Open Channel Flow
2 1
3 2
1.49r s
V=
n
where:
V = average velocity, fps
r = hydraulic radius, ft = a/pw
a = cross-sectional flow area, sq.ft.
pw = wetted perimeter, ft
s = slope of the hydraulic grade line (channel slope), ft/ft
n = Manning’s roughness coefficient for open channel flow
NRCS Velocity Based Method
¾ Open Channel Flow

Travel time for open channel flow portion:

L
Tt =
3600V
where:
L = flow length, ft
V = average velocity, fps
3600 = conversion factor from seconds to hours
NRCS Velocity Based Method
¾ Time of Concentration for the watershed
area:

Tc = Tt(sheet flow) + Tt(shallow concentrated flow) + Tt(open channel flow)

 Worksheet 3: Tc or Tt
Worksheet 3 can be used to
calculate Tc and Tt.

Sheet Flow

Shallow
Concentrated
Flow

Channel Flow
 Recommendations
¾ Use velocity based methods to estimate travel
time (Tt) for overland (sheet) flow, shallow
concentrated flow and channel flow. Be sure
to use the appropriate “unpaved” velocity
equation for shallow concentrated flow
from NEH-4. Sum all methods for time of
concentration (Tc). Use TR-55 Manual and
NEH-4 as references.
 Options for Generating a Runoff
Hydrograph
¾ TR-55/Win-TR55
¾ TR-20/Win-TR20
¾ HEC-HMS
¾ Proprietary Software
Options for Generating a Runoff
Hydrograph – TR-55
TR-55 includes a method (graphical method)
for simply estimating peak discharge, but for
detention basin design, we need to generate
post-development hydrographs to route
through the detention pond. The TR-55
Tabular Method generates a complete
hydrograph, but is limited to the NRCS rainfall
distributions (e.g., SCS Type II), may produce
an incomplete hydrograph (i.e., no tail), and
requires much data handling to accomplish
pond routing.
Options for Generating a Runoff
Hydrograph – WinTR-55
WinTR-55 uses a TR-20 “engine” to generate
a runoff hydrograph equivalent to the TR-55
Tabular Method (if SCS Type II distribution is
used). The structure (pond) routing
component of TR-55 is adequate for routing
runoff through a farm pond, but is too basic to
be of much use for most stormwater BMP
design applications.
Options for Generating a Runoff
Hydrograph – WinTR-20
WinTR-20 generates a runoff hydrograph
equivalent to WinTR-55. The structure (pond)
and stream reach routing components of
WinTR-20 are more advanced than WinTR-
55, allowing adequate modeling of most
development/drainage/detention scenarios.
The main drawback to the WinTR-20 model is
how user-unfriendly it is. Life is too short –
choose a different model.
Options for Generating a Runoff
Hydrograph – HEC-HMS
The Hydrologic Modeling System (HEC-HMS)
model of the Army Corps of Engineers allows
the use of SCS CN methodology (as well as
several other options) to generate a runoff
hydrograph. The model has a steep learning
curve, but is free and relatively flexible and
powerful. If you have lots of time to invest in
getting up to speed, this could be a useful
tool. Not for the casual user.
 Options for Generating a Runoff
Hydrograph – Proprietary Software
The most common commercial stormwater
modeling software packages include the SCS
CN methodology. They also typically have
several choices for rainfall distributions and unit
hydrographs. These programs are excellent at
channel reach and pond routing, allow multi-
stage outlets, and are relatively user friendly.
The reports (especially graphics) are a huge
step up from WinTR software. If you plan to do
much design or review of stormwater detention
practices, this is the way to go.
Recommendations - Hydrographs
¾ Find a proprietary hydrologic modeling
software package that fits your needs.
¾ Focus on subdividing the BMP drainage area
appropriately.
¾ Use the published SCS Dimensionless Unit
Hydrograph (with 484 peak rate constant) to
convert rainfall excess to a runoff hydrograph.
Look for local/regional research or studies that
would suggest modifying the peak rate
constant for local conditions.
 Recommendations - Routing
¾ Work to conceptually understand the pond
(hydrograph) routing process.
¾ Find a proprietary hydrologic modeling
software package that fits your needs.
¾ Practice pond routing for different development
scenarios (with and without WQv, range of pre-
and post-development flow peaks) and outlet
types (orifices, weirs, multi-stage outlets).