The Brazilian Electric Sector Experience in Flood Control

Abstract

The objective of this work is to report the Brazilian experience in the Flood Control Problem Analyses by the determination and allocation of flood control space in its reservoirs. The Volume x Duration Curve Method (Beard, 1963) of flood control space determination is still the current solution for the problem. The research of new methodologies was tried in order to avoid difficulties, such as allocation, in the use of this method. As a matter of fact this method just gives the maximum flood control storage for the wet season and a constant allocation of it could reach a higher energetic deficit risk. The Surplus Volumes Method, also presented here, is an alternative for the flood control storage evaluation without overcoming, however, the allocation question. Another alternative is the Critical Trajectories Method (Kelman, 1983), which is an extension of the Surplus Volumes Method. This one solves the problem of allocation by indicating the flood control storage variation through the rainy period. However, this method demands synthetic daily mean streamflow series. The results presented by the three methods for the Sobradinho reservoir (34.116 km3) on the São Francisco River on the Northeastern Region of the country, are compared ones.