CALCULATION AND COMPARISON OF THE FLOOD RISK POTENTIAL DUE TO RAINFALL EVENTS AND SNOW MELT USING TECHNIQUES DEVELOPED FOR FLOOD RISK IN FLORIDA

CASCADE 2001 is a multi-basin flood routing program used in areas of flat terrain. CASCADE was used for different situational elements including the Florida Keys, Broward County, and Pensacola. The goal for this screening tool was to create flood inundation watershed mapping for the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM). After showing the risks of flooding that could occur in Florida, the thought of how useful CASCADE can be in other environmental conditions. The Rocky Mountains were selected to show the effect of flood inundation that can be mirrored in an opposite condition from prior experimentation. We chose to test this program in an area with mountainous terrain like the region of Grand Lake, Colorado.
Rainfall, in collaboration with groundwater tables, ground soil storage and topography have the most effect on the CASCADE modeling program. Effects that were not used in the Florida models but added for Grand Lake included snowmelt. Snowmelt in the Rocky Mountains affects the flow of the Colorado River causing excess discharge that flows throughout the valleys and into Shadow Mountain Lake. WINSRM was a recommended model that could be used to simulate snowmelt during different months of Colorado’s spring season. The effects of snowmelt and rainfall flooding can be compared in relation to each other.