Flood-inundation Maps For Dardenne Creek In St. Charles County, Missouri, 2019
Abstract
Digital flood-inundation maps for a 9.9-mile reach of Dardenne Creek, St. Charles County, Missouri, were created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Transportation, St. Charles County, and the Cities of O’Fallon and St. Peters, Mo. The flood-inundation maps, which can be accessed through the USGS Flood Inundation Mapping Program website at https://www.usgs.gov/ mission- areas/ water- resources/ science/ flood- inundation- mapping- fim- program, depict estimates of the areal extent and depth of flooding corresponding to selected water levels (stages) at the USGS streamgages 05514860 Dardenne Creek at Old Town St. Peters, Mo., and 05587450 Mississippi River at Grafton, Illinois. Near-real-time stages at these streamgages may be obtained from the USGS National Water Information System at https://doi.org/ 10.5066/ F7P55KJN or the National Weather Service Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service at https://water.weather.gov/ ahps2/ hydrograph.php? wfo= lsx&gage= drcm7 and https://water.weather.gov/ ahps2/ hydrograph.php? wfo= lsx&gage= grfi2, which also forecasts flood hydrographs at these sites (sites DRCM7 and GRFI2).
Flood profiles were computed for the Dardenne Creek stream reach by means of a one-dimensional model for simulating water-surface profiles with steady-state flow computations. The model was calibrated by using the current stage-streamflow relation at the USGS streamgages 05514840 Dardenne Creek at O’Fallon, Mo., and 05514860 Dardenne Creek at Old Town St. Peters, Mo., and the documented high water marks from the flood of December 2015.
The hydraulic model was then used to compute 17 water surface profiles for flood stages at 1-foot (ft) intervals referenced to the streamgage datum and ranging from 16 ft, or near bankfull, to 32 ft at the reference streamgage 05514860. Stages in the lower Dardenne Creek can be affected by backwater from the Mississippi River; therefore, several sets of water-surface profiles were developed representing the extent of varying levels of backwater as referenced to the USGS streamgage 05587450 on the Mississippi River at Grafton, Ill. The upper stage for each map library exceeds the stage corresponding to the estimated 0.2-percent annual exceedance probability flood (500-year recurrence interval flood) at the streamgage location. The simulated water-surface profiles were then combined with a geographic information system digital elevation model (derived from light detection and ranging data having a 0.26-ft vertical accuracy and 0.71-ft horizontal resolution) to delineate the area flooded at each water level.
The availability of these maps, along with realtime information regarding current stage from the USGS streamgage and forecasted high-flow stages from the National Weather Service, will provide emergency management personnel and residents with information that is critical for flood mitigation, preparedness and planning, flood-response activities such as evacuations and road closures, and postflood recovery efforts.
Recommended Citation
D. Heimann et al., "Flood-inundation Maps For Dardenne Creek In St. Charles County, Missouri, 2019," Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5060, U.S. Geological Survey, Jan 2020.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20205060
Department(s)
Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering
Publication Status
Public Domain
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
2328-0328
Document Type
Article - Journal
Document Version
Citation
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2026 U.S. Geological Survey, All rights reserved.
Publication Date
01 Jan 2020
Comments
Although this report is in the public domain, permission must be secured from the individual copyright owners to reproduce any copyrighted materials contained within this report.
Recommended Citation: Heimann, D.C., Voss, J.D., and Rydlund, P.H., Jr., 2020, Flood-inundation maps for Dardenne Creek in St. Charles County, Missouri, 2019: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2020–5060, 14 p., https://doi.org/ 10.3133/ sir20205060.
Associated Data for this Publication: Heimann, D.C., Voss, J.D., and Rydlund, P.H., Jr., 2020, Geospatial datasets for the flood-inundation study of Dardenne Creek, St. Charles County, Missouri, 2019: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9QPY9MI.
Acknowledgements: The authors wish to thank the Missouri Department of Transportation, St. Charles County, and the Cities of O’Fallon and St. Peters, Missouri, for support in the development of flood inundation maps and the operation and maintenance of the streamgages used for this study. The authors acknowledge Wood Environment and Infrastructure Solutions, Inc., for providing the original hydraulic model used in this study. Special thanks are given to the National Weather Service for their continued support of the U.S. Geological Survey Flood Inundation Mapping Program.