An International Perspective on the Selection of Inflow Design Flood

Inflow design flood (IDF) is selected following certain guidelines or criteria for hydrologic dam design. Fundamental to the development of these guidelines is the classification of dams and consequences of failure thereof. The guidelines for the selection of an IDF for a dam may vary from one country to another and from state to state within the same country. The objective of selecting an appropriate IDF is to achieve dam safety and reduce the risk of dam failure and mitigate consequences of failure. Measures of safety, risk, and consequences are not uniform across the world. The objective of this study therefore is to provide an international perspective of the guidelines employed for the selection of IDF for dam design.