Assessing the Influences of a Flood Diversion Project on Mitigating River Stage, Inundation Extent and Economic Loss

Abstract

Taiwan usually suffers severe inundation disasters during typhoons and strong rainstorms, and therefore flood mitigation is considered an important issue. To assess the effect of the Yuansantze flood diversion tunnel (YFDT) on flood mitigation at the upstream reaches of the Keelung River, a three-dimensional, unstructured grid, Finite-Volume, primitive equation Community Ocean Model (FVCOM) was used. The model was validated with observed data for water levels and inundation extent during different typhoon events. The simulated results show a good agreement with field measurements of water level with three historical typhoon events but underestimated the measured inundation extent with Typhoon Nari. The validated model was then applied to assess the flood mitigation and economic loss with the YFDT. The results demonstrated that the river level decreases approximately 3 m with the YFDT and that the inundation extent decreases by more than 50% in the Ruifang District with YFDT. The YDFT aims to not only mitigate hazards but also reduce economic losses. The average annual expected benefit after construction of the YFDT is approximately 184 million NTD in the Ruifang District.