Flood Prevention Measures for the Valley of the Rio Aguan, Honduras

Abstract

The Rio Aguan Valley in northern Honduras constitutes one of the few regions of this mountainous country suitable for large scale agricultural development. This development is however inhibited by regular and damaging flood events which cause inundation of the flood plain to depths of up to 4m. The Government of Honduras with the support of the United Nations has embarked on a planned integrated development of the Aguan Valley which includes measures to improve the security from flooding of the infrastructure and the cultivated lands.

The Rio Aguan in its lower reaches from Saba to the sea outfall at Santa Rosa takes the form of a classic meandering sand bed channel which, at several locations, is perched above flood plain levels. There is clear evidence of the lateral instability of the water course with numerous sections of old channel visible on aerial photographs. Flood flows are further complicated by the existence of a modern road embankment which crosses the valley at Durango.

Sir William Halcrow and Partners, in collaboration with Hydraulics Research, Wallingford have carried out a feasibility study to identify suitable flood protection and land drainage measures for the Lower Aguan Valley. The paper describes how these measures were developed with the aid of a numerical river model and a numerical sand transport model of the lower reaches together with a physical hydraulic model of the Durango Bridge crossing.