Calibration of HEC-RAS Model for One Dimensional Steady Flow Analysis—A Case of Senegal River Estuary Downstream Diama Dam

The Sahelian regions have experienced a drought that has made them vulnerable to hydro-climatic conditions. Strategies have been developed to reduce this vulnerability. The governments of Senegal, Mauritania, Mali and Guinea have created the Organization for the development of the Senegal River (OMVS in french) with the aim of realizing large hydraulic installations. This resulted in the construction of the Diama and Manantali dams in the Senegal River Basin. The first aims to stop the saline intrusion, the second to regulate the flow of the river, to allow the irrigation of agricultural perimeters, and to produce electrical energy. The impoundment of the Diama dam has modified the hydraulic behavior of the estuary. The purpose of this study is to carry out the hydraulic modeling of the estuary of Senegal river downstream of the Diama Dam in transient mode by the HEC-RAS software. Two geometric models were constructed on the basis of a digital terrain model (DTM) using the Arc-GIS and HEC GeoRAS soft wares after processing the collected topographic data. The first geometric model, of which the areas of Senegal river downstream Diama Dam have been represented by cross-section, is one-dimensional. The second one is also one dimensional; in this model, the area of the Senegal River estuary downstream Diama Dam is introduced as water storage zones. The components of these models are the stream sections, lateral links, and storage areas. The flood hydrograph downstream Diama Dam is introduced as conditions at the upstream limits of the models while the tidal is introduced as a downstream condition. After the stability and calibration, the results given by HEC-RAS simulations are the variations of the water levels, the temporal variations of the flow rates for each section, the maximum flow velocities and the propagation times of the flood waves. The analysis and comparisons of these results strongly suggest using HEC-RAS issues as a decision-making tool helping to manage floods during times of crisis.