Case Study: Design of Flood Control Systems on the Vara River by Numerical and Physical Modeling

In the present paper, we investigate the effectiveness of a flood defense project based on storage reservoirs, presently under study for the Magra River and Vara River (Italy). We have focused the analysis on two detention reservoirs and studied their response to different hydrological scenarios mostly in terms of flood mitigation efficiency, leaving aside sediment transport issues. The analysis has been carried out with the aid of a physical model and one-dimensional numerical simulations. Experimental and numerical simulations have been performed spanning a wide range of hydrological conditions. Some of the results can be generalized for different applications where similar flood control systems are employed.