INSTITUTE FOR WATER RESOURCES
Software Wins Innovation Award for Predictive Flooding Capabilities Following Fires The Institute for Water Resources’ (IWR) Hydrologic Engineering Center (HEC), located in Davis, California, took home the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Innovation of the Year Award for adding Post-Wildfire Modeling capabilities to its software. These software capabilities provide prediction tools that engineers can use to anticipate a unique type of flooding that can follow a combination of fire and floods.
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he software development was led by a USACE project delivery team with collaboration between HEC, the Engineer Research and Development Center’s
BY ANA ALLEN
124 I AMERICA’S ENGINEERS
(ERDC) Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory, and USACE district engineers, who incorporated the post-wildfire modeling capabilities into HEC’s hydrology and hydraulic software. What resulted was award-winning predictive capabilities that advances the nation’s fight
Tim Fairbank, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Los Angeles District, describes the design of a berm and diversion channel constructed to protect residents of the Rainbow Canyon subdivision (near background) following a series of debris flows associated with the 2013 Carpenter One fire in the Spring Mountains, Nevada. Portions of the burn scar are visible on the mountainside in the background. The photo includes the attendees of the first USACE CWMS (Corps Water Management System) Wildfire Workshop held in Las Vegas, Nevada, April 24-27, 2023. The Institute for Water Resources’(IWR) Hydrologic Engineering Center (HEC), located in Davis, California, won the USACE Innovation of the Year Award for adding post-wildfire modeling capabilities to its software. These software capabilities provide prediction tools that engineers can use to anticipate a unique type of flooding that can follow a combination of fire and floods. USACE PHOTO
against floods, and especially post-wildfire flooding. Hydrologic Engineering Center Director Chris Dunn highlighted the significance of the achievement. “The team’s efforts culminated in truly groundbreaking capabilities, which are of great value to the nation and to the engineers who use the tools. The engineers analyze watersheds where wildfires have occurred, and they attempt to predict what could happen in watersheds where wildfires may occur in the future. The incorporation of these capabilities into Hydrologic Engineering Center-Hydrologic Modeling System (HEC-HMS) and Hydrologic Engineering Center-River Analysis System (HEC-RAS) will better help engineers, emergency planners, and the public understand their risks and appropriately prepare. A big part of our jobs is to understand and help others understand their risks. These capabilities have helped us to do so in a big way.” According to Stanford Gibson, HEC’s sediment transport specialist, the modeling tool is increasingly relevant due to an uptick in wildfires in the western United States and the destructive or deadly nature of wildfires, and the potential for mud and debris flows to follow. “Wildfires are kind of a big deal these days. But after the wildfire, the danger isn’t over. The fire changes the landscape, so subsequent rain can cause sudden mud and
