Arroyo Engineering in an Urban Environment

Abstract

Planning and design of arroyo hydraulic structures in an urban environment must be carried out within significant constraints. These constraints include limits to data, analytic method, and result transfer. Such constraints can be progressively overcome through an approach combining synoptic study of fluvial geomorphologic process with diverse, experimental, and subjective approaches to design solutions. Technology transfer should focus on appropriate utilization of natural tendencies, not standardized details of construction. Urban planning and hydrologic engineering should jointly pursue arroyo management; realistic policy and workable design must each be founded on comprehensive evaluation and feedback. There is equally as much need to understand qualitatively the behavior of the entire arroyo system as there is to quantitatively determine mechanics within the system. Structural improvements will stem from the experiential, technical, and innovative breadth of the designer. Development in each should be pursued. Arroyo engineering is yet a relatively unsophisticated technology. Rigor is required as an extension of, not replacement for, critical insight.