Characterization of dam failure flooding in an urban reservoir under different rainfall conditions

In water conservation projects, reservoirs play a key role in controlling and regulating floods. In recent years, extreme rainfall events have occurred more frequently. Urban reservoirs in danger under extreme rainfall happen occasionally. The breaching of urban reservoirs seriously threatens the lives and property of the population downstream. A lack of clarity regarding the characterization of the flooding response remains owing to urban reservoir overtopping under different rainfall conditions. This study used observed data from the heavy rainfall event in Zhengzhou on July 20, 2021, with Jiangang Reservoir in Zhengzhou as the study site. The study designed a storm-flood process with different rainfall scenarios that combines the long-duration rainstorm formula and Chicago rain pattern method, establishing a response relationship between extreme rainfall and flooding processes. Flood evolution simulation analyses were carried out for different scenarios of rainfall and flooding processes under three working conditions: rainfall only, dam failure only and dam failure coupled with rainfall, to characterize the flood response due to dam failure under different rainfall conditions. The results showed that the peak of the rainfall occurs earlier in the total rainfall calendar time, the faster the dam failure rate of the reservoir. As the rain peak occurs at a time that is later in the total rainfall calendar, and the recurrence period and rainfall duration increase, the flood volume increases and urban inundation becomes more severe. The rainfall type had less of an effect on the difference in the extent of inundation between different working conditions. The extent of flood inundation for the dam failure-coupled rainfall scenario is much greater than that for the dam failure only scenario. The increase in inundation extent in the dam failure coupled rainfall scenario at the higher levels of flood severity is smaller. Study results provide hydraulic element support for flood hazard assessment.