Hello,
I am currently working on a project to determine the feasibility of hydropower generation (1 MW) in Tulare county (CA). For this project, we are also looking to perform a preliminary analysis of the potential environmental effects of hydropower at the proposed dam site. Mainly, we are looking at the potential changes in water temperature and dissolved oxygen using inputs such as flow, total releases, dam height, reservoir volume and other parameters from nearby weather stations.
This project is in its very initial stages and I do not have cross sectional data to begin with.
I have the following data for the time period 1949 to 2011
1. Daily Inflow into the proposed Reservoir (from USGS gage).
2. Reservoir Storage – 5000 ac-ft
3. Daily Total Releases+ Spill from the Reservoir (simulated from a model)
4. Downstream boudary flow (USGS gage)
5. Max and Min Temperature (2006 to 2011)
Any guidance on using HEC-RAS for preliminary analysis of WQ parameters such as temperature/ DO will be very useful.