Modélisation des crues de la MEUSE

MEUSE river flood modelling

¹ BCEOM
² EPAMA

Abstract

A disastrous flooding in December 1993 and January 1995, the Etablissement Public d'Aménagement de la Meuse et de ses Affluents. (EPAMA - public body for the development of the Meuse river and its tributaries) was created in order to carry out a complete modelling study of flooding on the Meuse - a pre-requisite to any future action. The study used a suite of models (hydrology, hydraulics, cartography and damage costs) coupled with a GIS and applied to the whole of the French stretch of the Meuse. The hydraulic model - STREAM, pseudo-2D, "cell " model covering a linear distance of nearly 500 km of valley - formed the core of the study. When this was used in conjunction with other models, it was possible to address every aspect of flood studies on the scale of a large basin - i.e. understanding origins of floods, critique and validation of hydrometric data, understanding of hydraulics, risk mapping, flood damage cost, study of development scenarios, and implementation of a model for real-time forecasting of floods. In this context, use of a hydraulic model such as STREAM makes it possible to meet the multiple objectives of a client, cover long stretches of valley, and attain a high degree of accuracy - the work for the Meuse was carried out at scales of 1/2500 and 1/5000. It also allowed the EPAMA to obtain extremely good knowledge of flooding on the Meuse and of its impacts, starting with very little knowledge and in a very short time (3 years).