Water School

What is the National Flood Insurance Program?

Flooding, Hydrology

The National Flood Insurance Program is a federal insurance program under which flood-prone areas are identified and flood insurance is made available to residents of participating communities that agree to adopt and enforce floodplain management ordinances to reduce future flood damage. For additional information and qualification requirements, click here.

What is the gage height or stage?

The gage height or stage is the height of the water surface above an established datum point, such as in a river above a predetermined point. The gage height does not represent the depth of the river.

What is a flood?

A flood is any relatively high streamflow that overflows the natural or artificial banks of a stream.

What is discharge?

Discharge is the volume of fluid passing a point at a specific point intime, commonly expressed in cubic feet per second, million gallons per day, gallons per minute, or seconds per minute per day.

What is constant level?

Hydrology, Lake Levels

Constant level is a term given to the practice of maintaining a body of water at a specific elevation. No natural body of water has a constant level. While some fluctuate more than others, all-natural bodies of water change on a daily basis, some rapidly during floods.Few man-made reservoirs have the ability to be maintained at a constant level as evaporation, drought, water use and/or flooding affect elevation levels.

What is cubic foot per second?

Hydrology

The measurement cubic foot per second (cfs or ft3/s) is the rate of water movement representing a volume of 1 cubic foot passing a given point during 1 second. This measurement is equivalent to approximately 7.48 gallons per second or 448.8 gallons per minute.

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