2023. May 19.
The main function of a reservoir is to stabilize the flow of water, either by regulating a varying supply in a natural stream or by satisfying a varying demand by the ultimate consumers. The flood peak reduction can be estimated through the analysis of the annual peak flow values while the changes in monthly runoff can be quantified applying the Pardé coefficient. These calculations let us express the efficiency of the reservoirs (or reservoir systems) in terms of the overall reservoir (storage) volume.
The student needs to identify suitable catchments/streams for the study. Those watercourses can be studied which a) have observed outflow dating back before the build of the first reservoir, or b) have one significant reservoir which has both observed outflow and inflow. The most recent collection on floods in small catchments of Hungary is a good guideline to identify such catchments. The book also contains the time series of the annual peak flows. After the study catchments were identified and observed discharge time series were collected, the analysis described above needs to be carried out. These calculations can be extended according to the time available (for example, an additional analysis of catchment precipitation can be performed).
Software requirement: Matlab/Excel