Without-Project Conditions Workshop

Objective

(60 mins) – In this hands-on workshop participants use their previously generated HEC-FDA study files to perform a without-project analysis for the Muncie, Indiana example study, including the computation and evaluation of expected annual damage and equivalent annual damage.

Downloadable Workshop Materials

Software Version

HEC-FDA Version 2.1 Beta will be used during this course.  Download the portable version of the software by following the instructions provided, here: Download the HEC-FDA Software. Detailed instructions are included on this page.

Workshop Datafiles

Download Zipped Workshop Datafiles:  

  • Review the Example Study Data to familiarize with some of the data in this workshop. 
  • The starting point for this Workshop 4 is the resulting study files from Workshop 3. You may EITHER:
    • Use your own study files from Workshop 3, OR 
    • Download the solution files at the bottom of the Workshop 3 page

Workshop Overview

The purpose of this workshop is to have you learn how to enter data for and analyze one (without project) plan for two years (base and most likely future year). You will interpret economic results using HEC-FDA.

  • Steps already completed for the students include:
    • Creating the study
    • Setting the study properties
    • Importing the terrain, impact area set and hydraulic data
    • Entering the analytical existing condition flow-frequency functions (exceedance probability functions)
    • Entering the existing condition stage-discharge function with uncertainty
    • Import structure occupancy types
    • Import without-project base year structure inventory data
    • Compute and evaluate stage-damage relationships and associated uncertainties for the without-project base year
  • Students will complete the following steps in this workshop:
    • Import a second structure inventory for the without-project (existing conditions) future year
    • Compute and evaluate stage-damage relationships and associated uncertainties for the existing conditions future year
    • Compute the without project conditions expected annual damage (EAD) estimates for the base and most likely future year
    • Compute equivalent annual damages (EqAD) estimates for the without-project conditions

Introduction

In previous workshops, you have configured the study and entered data for the without-project base year condition. If none of the functions changed under future conditions (probability, stage-discharge, or stage-damage), we would have to evaluate only the base year conditions.  However, in this workshop, you will enter data and compute expected annual damage for the with-project, most likely future year condition.

For the purpose of this workshop, the most likely future year will be evaluated using a new future structure inventory. In the new (without-project conditions) future inventory, the number of commercial structures has been doubled to reflect an economic forecast that suggests significant growth in the concentration of commercial activity in Muncie between the base and most likely future years. 

Instructions

Task 1 – Open the Starting HEC-FDA Study

  1. Open the HEC-FDA Version 2 software. 
  2. From the File menu, click Open. The Open Study dialog opens as a tab.
  3. Click the ellipse button in the Study Path box to open the Select File browser window.
  4. Navigate to the Workshop 4 starting project (e.g., C:\Workshops\FDA\startingWS\WS4_Start), select the *.sqlite HEC-FDA file and click Open.
  5. From the Open Study tab, click OK.

Task 2 – Import Future Without-Project Economic Data

Economic data consists of the data needed to translate the hazard into dollar-denominated consequences in the floodplain: a structure inventory and occupancy type data. This data makes up the exposure and vulnerability pieces of the consequences equation.

  1. From the Study Tree, under Economics, right-click on Structure Inventories and select Import From Shapefile. The Import Structure Inventory opens as a tab.
  2. From the importer enter a name in the Name box (e.g., Future Without Project), and enter a description for the relationship (e.g., Inventory for the without-project future conditions (In the future year, the number of commercial structures has been doubled to reflect an economic forecast suggesting significant growth in the concentration of commercial activity in Muncie, in between the base and most likely future years.)).
  3. From the Structure Inventory Shapefile box select the ellipse button to open the Select File browser window.
  4. Navigate to the folder containing the future structure inventory file (e.g., C:\Workshops\FDA\data\MuncieData\StructureInventories\future-year_without-project), select the file "FutureMuncie.shp" and click Open.
  5. The importer is a two part import wizard. From the first window select the following in the Required Attributes:
    1. Select the Ground Elevation and Foundation Height radio button. The wizard updates to provide options for defining the ground elevation.
    2. Set the Ground Elevation Source by selecting the Terrain radio button.

    3. Make the following selections for the Import Attributes:

      NameImport Attributes Selection
      Structure IDTARGET_FID
      Occupancy Typeocctype
      Foundation Heightfound_ht
      Structure Valueval_struct
      Content Valueval_cont
      Vehicle Valueval_vehic
    4. Click Next to access the next window in the import wizard.
  6. The import wizard updates to display selection criteria for assigning the occupancy types for the structure inventory. When and HEC-FDA project contains multiple occupancy types the Load Occupancy Types from the Following Sets panel contains a list of the imported occupancy types. Only one occupancy types file has been imported for you; therefore, there is only one option to select in this panel.
  7. The second import wizard window also displays the Default Occupancy Type Assignments. Review the default selections and confirm that the default selection matches the imported occupancy types. For example, RES3A should have "NSI_OccTypes MuncieOccTypes20241125 | RES3A" as the default assignment.
  8. When finished reviewing the default assignments, click Finish. The import wizard closes and the imported future structure inventory displays in the Study Tree.

Task 3 – Compute Future Without-Project Aggregated Stage-Damage Functions

  1. From the Study Tree, under Economics, right-click on Aggregated Stage-Damage Functions and select Create New Stage-Damage Functions. The Create New Stage-Damage Functions opens as a tab.
  2. Enter a name for the new function in the Name box (e.g., Future Year Without Project), and enter a description for the relationship (e.g., Computed future without-project stage-damage functions for the without-project future conditions.).
  3. Enter the Analysis Year: 2080
  4. Select the Computed radio button and enter the information identified below (if you've been following the naming convention identified in the workshops your options should be the same).
  5. After you complete the configuration, click Compute Curves. Wait until HEC-FDA generates the curves. Scroll through the list of computed curves (you should generate 28 curves). 
  6. Click Save and the created stage-damage function displays in the Study Tree.

Task 4 – Create Scenarios for the Without-Project Base and Future Years

Create Without-Project Base Year Scenario

  1. From the Study Tree, right-click on Scenarios and select Create New Scenario. The Create New Scenario dialog opens as a tab.

    Note:  When first opening a scenario dialog it will probably take some time. Please be patient the dialog will open.

  2. Enter a name for the new scenario in the Name box (e.g., Base Year Without Project), and enter a description (e.g., Existing conditions (without-project) base year scenario.).
  3. Enter the Year: 2031
  4. From the Stage-Damage list select: Base Year Without Project.
    1. From the Left-Bank tab, select the following for the Frequency Relationship and Stage-Discharge lists (if you've been following the naming convention identified in the workshops your options should be the same):
    2. From the Right-Bank tab, select the following for the Frequency Relationship and Stage-Discharge lists:
  5. The default Damage Category selection is RES and Asset Category selection is Structure. Click Preview Compute.
  6. Click Save, and click Close.
  7. From the Study Tree, right-click on the created scenario, and click Compute Scenario. A message box opens asking if you'd like to view the results. Click Yes.
  8. The Results for the scenario opens as a tab. Close the Compute Log tab.

Create Without-Project Future Year Scenario

  1. From the Study Tree, right-click on Scenarios and select Create New Scenario. The Create New Scenario dialog opens as a tab.
  2. Enter a name for the new scenario in the Name box (e.g., Future Year Without Project), and enter a description (e.g., Existing conditions (without-project) future year scenario.).
  3. Enter the Year: 2080
  4. From the Stage-Damage list select the future without project stage-damage function you created for Task 3. (e.g., Future Year Without Project).
    1. From the Left-Bank tab, select the following for the Frequency Relationship and Stage-Discharge lists (if you've been following the naming convention identified in the workshops your options should be the same):
    2. From the Right-Bank tab, select the following for the Frequency Relationship and Stage-Discharge lists:
  5. The default Damage Category selection is RES and Asset Category selection is Structure. Click Preview Compute.
  6. Click Save, and click Close.
  7. From the Study Tree, right-click on the created scenario, and click Compute Scenario. A message box opens asking if you'd like to view the results. Click Yes.
  8. The Results for the scenario opens as a tab. Close the Compute Log tab.

    Alternatively

    Alternatively, you can compute all created scenarios by right-clicking the Scenarios and selecting Compute Scenarios. Once the compute is complete, click Yes to view the results and the Summary Results tab opens.

Task 5 – Create and Compute the Without-Project Alternative

Create New Without-Project Alternative

  1. From the Study Tree, right-click on Alternative and select Create New Alternative. The Create New Alternative dialog opens as a tab.
  2. Enter a name for the new alternative in the Name box (e.g., Without Project), and enter a description (e.g., Existing without-project conditions for the Base Year and Most Likely Future Year).
  3. From the Base Year Scenario box, select the Base Year Without Project scenario you created in Task 4. From the Year box, enter: 2031.
  4. From the Future Year Scenario box, select the Future Year Without Project scenario you created in Task 4. From the Year box, enter 2080.
  5. Click Save. Click Close.
  6. From the Study Tree, right-click on the created alternative, Without Project, and click View Results. Close the Compute Log.

Workshop Discussion Questions

For the without-project conditions, use the scenario and alternative results to answer the following questions.

Damage By Analysis Year Results

Test Your Knowledge - Question 1

For the without project, base year, which damage category has the most damage (mean Expected Annual Damage (EAD))?

Hint: View the scenario results for the without project base year (should still be open if you were following the instructions). 


Test Your Knowledge - Question 2

A. For the without project, which analysis year had the greatest mean Expected Annual Damage (EAD)?

B. Based on your answer to 2.A. which impact area displayed the greatest mean EAD?

Hint: From the Study Tree, right-click Scenarios and select View Summary Results. The Expected Annual Damage Distribution Summary table can provide you with the answer to these questions. 


Test Your Knowledge - Question 3

How much did the future condition modifications increase total expected annual damages?

Hint: From the Study Tree, right-click on the created scenarios and select, View Results to open both the Without Base Year and Without Future Year scenarios results. Then for both results tabs select the appropriate impact area, Damage outcomes and the Damage with Uncertainty report. Then compare the mean values. Alternatively, review the scenario summary results Expected Annual Damage Distribution Summary table.

Test Your Knowledge - Question 4

For the without project, base year, what dollar amount would you expect annual damage to equal or exceed 25% of the time in the Left-Bank impact area?

Hint: For the without project base year scenario select the appropriate impact area damage with uncertainty report. Select Damage for the Outcomes and Damage with Uncertainty for the Report. On the left-hand side, we have a table with the first, second, and third quartiles of the expected annual damage distribution (EAD). Implicitly, each quartile is associated with an exceedance probability. For example, if you look at the first quartile (25th percentile) from the table, then there is a 75% chance that expected annual damage exceeds the dollar ($) value listed for the First quartile of the EAD Distribution. (Note, this information is also provided in the scenario summary results Expected Annual Damage Distribution Summary table).

Project Performance Results

Test Your Knowledge - Question 5

For the without project, base year, what is the "Target Stage" for impact area, Left-Bank?  How is this stage determined?

Hint:  For the Left-Bank impact area, view the scenario results for the base year. Select the Performance results and identify the interior stage threshold. To understand how the target stage (or threshold) is determined review the Scenarios and Scenario Results pages of the HEC-FDA Version 2.0 User Manual.

Test Your Knowledge - Question 6

What is the average likelihood of "significant" flooding under base year conditions in the Left-Bank impact area, if we are defining "significant" flooding as flooding that exceeds the target stage?

Hint:  For the Left-Bank impact area, view the scenario results for the base year. Select the Performance results for the Annual Exceedance Probability report and identify the expected annual target stage exceedance. Review the System Performance Statistics page of the HEC-FDA Version 2.0 User Manual for more information.

Test Your Knowledge - Question 7

What is the expected chance of not having "significant" flooding if the 2% chance flood occurs under base year conditions in the Left-Bank impact area?

Hint:  For the Left-Bank impact area, view the scenario results for the base year. Select the Performance results for the Annual Exceedance Probability report and identify the expected annual target stage exceedance. Review the System Performance Statistics page of the HEC-FDA Version 2.0 User Manual for more information.

Equivalent Annual Damage (EqAD) Results

Test Your Knowledge - Question 8

What is the mean Equivalent Annual Damage (EqAD) for the without project plan for each impact area? Which impact area has the greatest mean EqAD?

Open the Alternative Summary Results (right-click on Alternatives and select View Alternative Summary Results, select the Without Project alternative and click View) and view the Mean EqAD for each Impact Area. Review the Summary Results section on the Alternative Results page of the HEC-FDA Version 2.0 User Manual for more information.

Test Your Knowledge - Question 9

What is the average Equivalent Annual Damage (EqAD) to the RES category for the without project condition?

Hint:  Open the Alternative Results (right-click on the Without Project alternative and select View Results, select the Damage by Damage Category report) and view the Mean EqAD for each damage category. Review the Damage Category section on the Alternative Results page of the HEC-FDA Version 2.0 User Manual for more information.

Test Your Knowledge - Question 10

What project life (period of analysis) and interest rate was used to calculate the Equivalent Annual Damage (EqAD)?

Hint:  Look below the table used to answer Question 9.

Conclusion

Download the solution project below to compare to your project:

Review the best answers to test your FDA knowledge questions and compare with yours to see how you did!

Return to top of page.

Best Answers to Test Your FDA Knowledge Questions

Note: Your results may not exactly match the results shown here. That's a product of variation in the software since this workshop was created and does not indicate that you did something wrong. Your results should follow the same trends and the values should be somewhat close to the ones shown below.

Test Your Knowledge - Question 1

For the without project, base year, which damage category has the most damage (mean expected annual damage)?

Hint: View the scenario results for the without project base year. 

Answer: PUB

Test Your Knowledge - Question 2

A. For the without project, which analysis year has the greatest mean Expected Annual Damage (EAD)?

A. Answer: Without Future Year

B. Based on your answer to 2.A. which impact area displayed the greatest mean EAD?

B. Answer: Left-Bank

Hint: From the Study Tree, right-click Scenarios and select View Summary Results. The Expected Annual Damage Distribution Summary table can provide you with the answer to these questions.


Test Your Knowledge - Question 3

How much did the future condition modifications increase total expected annual damages in the Left-Bank impact area?

Hint: Open both the Without Base Year and Without Future Year scenarios and select the appropriate impact area. Then for both results tabs select Damage outcomes and the Damage with Uncertainty report and compare the mean values. Alternatively, review the scenario summary results Expected Annual Damage Distribution Summary table.

Answer: 2031 = $2,283,168.15 and 2080 = $2,288,227.58 for a difference of +$5,059.43.

Test Your Knowledge - Question 4

For the without project, base year, what dollar amount would you expect annual damage to equal or exceed 25% of the time in the Left-Bank impact area?

Hint: For the without project base year scenario select the appropriate impact area damage with uncertainty report. Select Damage for the Outcomes and Damage with Uncertainty for the Report. On the left-hand side, we have a table with the first, second, and third quartiles of the expected annual damage distribution (EAD). Implicitly, each quartile is associated with an exceedance probability. For example, if you look at the first quartile (25th percentile) from the table, then there is a 75% chance that expected annual damage exceeds the dollar ($) value listed for the First quartile of the EAD Distribution. (Note, this information is also provided in the scenario summary results Expected Annual Damage Distribution Summary table).

Answer: $3,060,275.19

Test Your Knowledge - Question 5

For the without project, base year, what is the "Target Stage" for impact area, Left-Bank?  How is this stage determined?

Hint:  For the Left-Bank impact area, view the scenario results for the base year. Select the Performance results and identify the interior stage threshold. To understand how the target stage (or threshold) is determined review the Scenarios and Scenario Results pages of the HEC-FDA Version 2.0 User Manual.

Answer: 944.61 feet. For impact areas without levees, the threshold (or target stage) is the stage at which 5% of the damage of the 1% event occurs. This is considered to be the stage at which significant damage begins.

Test Your Knowledge - Question 6

What is the average likelihood of "significant" flooding under base year conditions in the Left-Bank impact area, if we are defining "significant" flooding as flooding that exceeds the target stage?

Hint:  For the Left-Bank impact area, view the scenario results for the base year. Select the Performance results for the Annual Exceedance Probability report and identify the expected annual target stage exceedance. Review the System Performance Statistics page of the HEC-FDA Version 2.0 User Manual for more information.

Answer: 15.43%

Test Your Knowledge - Question 7

What is the expected chance of not having "significant" flooding if the 2% chance flood occurs under base year conditions in the Left-Bank impact area?

Hint:  For the Left-Bank impact area, view the scenario results for the base year. Select the Performance results for the Annual Exceedance Probability report and identify the expected annual target stage exceedance. Review the System Performance Statistics page of the HEC-FDA Version 2.0 User Manual for more information.

Answer: .64%. Assurance for the 2% chance event (Frequency 0.02). 

Test Your Knowledge - Question 8

What is the mean Equivalent Annual Damage (EqAD) for the without project plan for each impact area? Which impact area has the greatest mean EqAD?

Hint:  Open the Alternative Summary Results (right-click on Alternatives and select View Alternative Summary Results, select the Without Project alternative and click View) and view the Mean EqAD for each Impact Area. Review the Summary Results section on the Alternative Results page of the HEC-FDA Version 2.0 User Manual for more information.

Answer: Left-Bank - $2,285,179.93 Right-Bank - $95,194.02

Test Your Knowledge - Question 9

What is the average Equivalent Annual Damage (EqAD) to the RES category for the without project condition?

Hint:  Open the Alternative Results (right-click on the Without Project alternative and select View Results, select the Damage by Damage Category report) and view the Mean EqAD for each damage category. Review the Damage Category section on the Alternative Results page of the HEC-FDA Version 2.0 User Manual for more information.

Answer: $941,677.67.

Test Your Knowledge - Question 10

What project life (period of analysis) and interest rate was used to calculate the Equivalent Annual Damage (EqAD)?

Hint:  Look below the table used to answer Question 9.

Answer: A Discount Rate of 2.5% and Project Life (Period of Analysis) of 50 years

Related Topics

For the list of resources below, either select a specific page to view the related information, or click on a page label to see all the pages for a specific topic (e.g., fda_help_resources).