Hydraulic model for water management along Dâmboviţa River through Bucharest City, Romania

Abstract

The main objective of the paper is to simulate the steady state flow conditions along the regulated Damboviţa River in Bucharest City. The canal has 11 reaches in series separated by control structures with gated weirs (barrages). The simulations are performed using the 1D HEC-RAS software for flows between 3 and 45 m3/s, in order to find the optimal opening of each set of gates, so that water levels along reaches are kept at the target Normal Pool Levels (NPL) elevation. For the determined operating situations optimized gate openings and gates' rating curves are drawn. The computed water surface profiles for the maximum flow allow for checking if the banks are flooded, whereas velocity values for the minimum, ecological flow of 3 m3/s highlight the reaches over which the biota could be affected during summer drought periods. This model could assist the Water Management Authority's technical staff to better operate the gates in an integrated manner. Since currently gate operations are individually performed at each control structure, such a model would be a primary step in designing and implementing an automatic controlling system for the entire Damboviţa canal in Bucharest City.