How to investigate flow issues in waterways
When using the Water Overlay, water should usually be able to flow freely through waterways. For some situation, it may be evident that water should not be able to flow further, such as at a properly configured weir or pump, or when the bottom of the waterway rises or has an obvious bump.
How to check whether water flows properly
You may be able to see visually on the overlay where potential issues exist, but by placing a measurement in the waterway you will be able to see more accurately how much water is where in the waterway.
- Ensure the Water Overlay has a surface last value result type and a surface elevation.
- Open the measuring tool.
- Create a line measurement, with one endpoint at the start of the waterway, and the other endpoint at the end of the waterway.
- Set the primary overlay to surface last value, the base overlay to surface elevation, and activate "sum".
- Set the measurement graph display mode to "fit to graph".
- You now see the water level across the length of the waterway.
See if the resulting summed line is (nearly) flat, or if there is a point where the water level suddenly jumps to a different level.
What can you look for when a flow issue is found
Because inhibited waterflow can have a number of causes, there isn't a single fix for all situations. Check whether any of the following apply to your situation, and interpret in the context of your own use-case what the desirable solution would be.