Abstract
Digital flood-inundation maps for a 15.5-mi reach of the DuPage River from Plainfield
to Shorewood, Illinois, were created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
in cooperation
with the Will County Stormwater Management Planning Committee. The inundation maps, which
can be accessed through the USGS Flood Inundation Mapping Science Web site
at http://water.usgs.gov/osw/flood_inundation/ depict estimates of the areal extent of flooding
corresponding to selected water levels (gage heights or stages) at the
USGS streamgage at DuPage River at Shorewood, Illinois (sta. no. 05540500). Current
conditions at the USGS streamgage may be obtained on the Internet at
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/usa/nwis/uv?05540500. In addition, the information has been
provided to the National Weather Service (NWS) for incorporation into their
Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service (AHPS) flood warning system
(http://water.weather.gov/ahps/). The
NWS forecasts flood hydrographs at many places that are often colocated with USGS
streamgages. The NWS-forecasted peak-stage information, also shown on the DuPage
River at Shorewood inundation Web site, may be used in conjunction with the maps
developed in this study to show predicted areas of flood inundation.
In this study, flood profiles were computed for the stream reach by means of
a one-dimensional step-backwater model. The hydraulic model was then used to determine
nine water-surface profiles for flood stages at 1-ft intervals
referenced to the streamgage datum and ranging from NWS Action stage of 6 ft to
the historic crest of 14.0 ft. The simulated water-surface profiles were then
combined with a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) (derived from Light Detection And
Ranging (LiDAR) data) by using a Geographic Information System (GIS) in order
to delineate the area flooded at each water level.
These maps, along with information on the Internet regarding current gage height from USGS streamgages and forecasted stream stages from the NWS, provide emergency management personnel and residents with information that is critical for flood response activities such as evacuations and road closures, as well as for postflood recovery efforts.
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First posted December 2, 2013
- Map Sheets
DuPage River at Shorewood, Illinois (each sheet—image is at least 474 KB and each PDF is at least 7.19 MB).
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