Development of coupled hydrologic-hydrodynamic-wave flood forecasting system for Lake Champlain

Lake Champlain is a binational lake bordered by New York on the west side, Vermont on the east side, and Quebec in the north. In recent years, severe floods caused by intense rain events and spring runoff caused significant destruction of property and infrastructure in the Lake Champlain Basin. In addition, high lake water levels provided conditions for more shoreline destruction by wind waves and storm surges that build over the long north-south fetch of the lake. In 2016, the International Joint Commission began a $14M, 5-Year study to explore solutions to flooding in the binational Lake Champlain-Richelieu River system. The study was prompted by the record flood of 2011. To improve predictions of future flood events, a flood forecasting system was developed for the Lake Champlain-Richelieu River basin. The system resolves river- and wind-driven spatial variability in water levels, surface waves, and the associated extent of coastal inundation, thus improving upon an existing one-dimensional model that is currently used for forecasting by the NWS Northeast River Forecast Center (NERFC). Grant no. NA17OAR4320152