Hydrodynamic Modeling of Wetlands for Flood Detention

The application of a link-node model in modeling hydrodynamics of wetland areas related to flood detention design is presented through the description of modeling and design efforts of an actual project, the first privately-owned wetland mitigation bank in Florida. The 142-ha project is located in the Chapel Trail Preserve of the City of Pembroke Pines, South Florida, where a degraded site is transformed into a healthy, self-sustaining wetland ecosystem. Creation of the wetlands, located adjacent to an existing development, required careful evaluation of drainage conditions. To properly design the wetland site, a hydrodynamic model was developed which allowed sizing of hydraulic structures and computation of maximum water surface elevations. The paper presents model description and calibration using field data, parameter sensitivity, general application in the project and use as a design tool. The model was found to be a valuable tool that can be applied in similar projects. Copyright Kluwer Academic Publishers 1998