U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Fact Sheet 2015–3008

January 2015

Flood-Inundation Mapping for the Blue River and Selected 

Tributaries in Kansas City, Missouri, and Vicinity, 2012

Overview 

Kansas City, Missouri, has severely flooded many times, 

most notably in 1951, 1961, 1977, 1984, 1990, 1998, and 2010 

(National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National 

Weather Service, 2014). During the past 30 years these floods 

resulted in damages within Kansas City costing tens of millions 

of dollars and more than 25 casualties (U.S. Army Corps of 

Engineers, 1967; Hauth and Carswell, 1981). 

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and City of Kansas 

City, Missouri, operate multiple streamgages along the Blue 

River and tributaries in and near the city. Knowledge of water 

level at a streamgage is difficult to translate into depth and 

areal extent of flooding at points distant from the streamgage. 

One way to address these informational gaps is to produce 

a library of flood-inundation maps that are referenced to the 

stages recorded at a streamgage. By referring to the appropriate 

map, emergency responders can discern the severity of flooding 

(depth of water and areal extent), identify roads that are or may 

be flooded, and make plans for notification or evacuation of 

residents in harm’s way for some distance upstream and downstream from the streamgage. The USGS, in cooperation with the 

city of Kansas City, Missouri, developed a library of flood-inundation maps for the Blue River and selected tributaries.

Creation of Flood-Inundation-Map Library

Computation of Water-Surface Profiles

Water-surface profiles showing the distribution of streamflow for a range of stage-flow conditions in 15 mapped reaches 

along the Blue River and selected tributaries (fig. 1) were 

simulated using one-dimensional (HEC-RAS, version 4.1; 

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 2010) or two-dimensional 

Flood-inundation map of Lower Blue River in Kansas City, 

Missouri, at Blue River at 12th Street reference gage stage 

of 44.0 feet falling within the National Weather Service 

designation of “major flood stage” at this forecast point. The 

green area denotes an area susceptible to flooding at this 

stage but it is protected by a levee.
(FST2DH, release 3.3.3; Froehlich, 2003) steady-state hydraulic models. Results in Heimann and others (2014) update and 

increase the resolution of inundation maps produced by Kelly 

and Rydlund, (2006) and Kelly and Huizinga (2008) and 

account for Blue River channel modifications (widen, deepen, 

and straighten channel) completed by the U.S. Army Corps of 

Engineers in 2010 to increase channel conveyance in the lower 

Blue River Basin (fig. 2).

Hydrologic Data

The study-area hydrologic network 

consists of 15 streamgages (figs. 1 and 3). 

Continuous stream stage generally is measured 

every 15 minutes, transmitted hourly by a satellite 

radio in the streamgage, and made available on the 

Internet through the USGS National Water Information System (NWIS; U.S. Geological Survey, 

2014a). The stage-streamflow ratings from nine 

streamflow-gaging stations and documented 

high-water marks (Donald Wilkison, U.S. Geological Survey, written commun., 2013) from the 

June 14, 2010, flood were used in the calibration 

of the hydraulic models. 

Hydraulic Models

Steady-state flow data consisted of flow 

regime, boundary conditions, and peak flows 

that produced water-surface elevations at the 

streamgage cross section that matched target 

water-surface elevations. Flood-inundation maps 

were produced for even 1-ft increments of stage 

that were referenced to the local streamgage 

datum; the target elevations ranged from about 

bankfull to the stage corresponding to the 0.2-percent annual exceedance probability flow (equivalent to a 500-year recurrence interval flow). Model 

calibration was done by adjusting roughness coefficients (Manning’s n values) until the results of 

the hydraulic computations closely agreed with the 

observed water-surface elevations or stages from 

the coinciding stage-streamflow rating. 

Development of Flood-Inundation Maps

Flood-inundation maps were created in a 

geographic information system (GIS) by combining simulated water-surface profiles and terrain 

elevation data (fig. 4). The terrain model data were 

derived from lidar data and stream channel and 

bridge surveys at selected locations. Estimated 

flood-inundation boundaries for each simulated 

profile in HEC-RAS were developed with HEC–

GeoRAS software (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 

2009), which allows the preparation of geometric 

data for import into HEC–RAS and processes 

simulation results exported from HEC–RAS 

 (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 2010). 

Flood-Inundation Map Delivery

A Flood-Inundation Mapping Science Web site (http://

water.usgs.gov/osw/flood_inundation/; U.S. Geological Survey, 

2014b) has been established to make USGS flood-inundation 

study information available to the public (fig. 5). The site links 

to a mapping application that presents map libraries and provides detailed information on flood extents and depths for modeled sites. The mapping application enables the production of 

customized flood-inundation maps from the map library for the 

Figure 1. Site map of Blue River and tributary flood-inundation map reaches and 

streamgages.

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"

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#

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#

#

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#

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94°40' 94°30'

39°10'

39°00'

38°50'

Basemap from U.S. Geological Survey 1:250,000 data, 1994

Web Mercator projection, North American Datum of 1983

EXPLANATION

0 2.5 5 MILES

0 2.5 5 KILOMETERS

Blue River Basin

CASS COUNTY

JACKSON COUNTY

CLAY COUNTY

WYANDOTTE COUNTY

JOHNSON COUNTY

MIAMI COUNTY

(06893000)

(06893557)

(06893562)

(06893150)

(06893195)

(06893400)

(06893500)

(06893510)

(06893530)

(06893553)

(06893578)

(06893588)

(06893590)

(06893080)

(06893100) KANSAS

MISSOURI

(06893500)

(06893530)

Flood-inundation map reach extent #

City limits of 

Kansas City,

Missouri

Indian Creek

Blue River

Blue River

Dyke Branch

Br ush Creek

Missou ri River

Levee protected 

area

Blue River Basin 

boundary

U.S. Geological Survey continuous 

record streamgage and number

U.S. Geological Survey stage-only 

gage or furnished record gage 

and number

Streamgage used as National 

Weather Service forecast point

Inundation determined 

using hydraulic model

Inundation determined 

using water-surface 

elevation of Missouri 

River backwater 

KANSAS

MISSOURI

#

"

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KANSAS

MISSOURI
15 study reaches. A link on this Web site connects to the USGS 

NWIS, which presents the current stage and streamflow at the 

USGS streamgages to which the inundation maps are referenced. A second link connects to the National Weather Services 

Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service (AHPS) Web site 

(National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National 

Weather Service, 2014) so that the user can obtain applicable 

information on forecasted peak stage at forecast points. The 

estimated flood-inundation maps are displayed in sufficient 

detail so managers can respond efficiently to flooding and decisions for emergency response can be made accordingly. 

Figure 2. Channel modifications along the lower Blue River in 

Kansas City, Missouri.

Figure 3. U.S. Geological Survey streamgage at the Blue Ridge 

Boulevard Extension, Kansas City, Missouri.

Figure 4. Simulated water-surface profile, digitalelevation model, and developed flood-inundnation 

map for the Blue River at 63rd Street, Kansas City, 

Missouri, map reach.

Simulated water-surface profile

Digital-elevation model

Flood-inundation map

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References Cited

Froehlich, D.C., 2003, User’s manual for FESWMS FST2DH—

Two-dimensional depth-averaged flow and sediment transport 

model: Federal Highway Administration Report No. FHWARD-03-053, [variously paged].

Hauth, L.D. and W.J. Carswell, Jr., 1981, Floods in Kansas City, Missouri and Kansas, September 12–13, 1977: U.S. Geological Survey

Professional Paper 1169, 47 p.

Heimann, D.C.,Weilert, T.E., Kelly, B.P., and Studley, S.E., 2014, 

Flood-inundation maps and Wetland Restoration Suitability 

Index for the Blue River and selected tributaries, Kansas City, 

Missouri, and vicinity, 2012: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific 

Investigations Report 2014–5180, 23 p., http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/

sir/20145180.

Kelly, B.P., and Rydlund, P.H., Jr., 2006, Estimated flood-inundation 

mapping for the lower Blue River in Kansas City, Missouri, 

2003–05: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report

2006–5089, 27 p.

Kelly, B.P., and Huizinga, R.J., 2008, Estimated flood-inundation 

mapping for the Upper Blue River, Indian Creek, and Dyke Branch 

in Kansas City, Missouri, 2006–08: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2008–5068, 34 p. plus appendixes.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Weather 

Service, 2014, Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service, accessed 

June 20, 2014, at http://water.weather.gov/ahps/forecasts.php.

South Kansas City Observer, 2010, “More rain overnight leads to 

(more) southland flooding”, accessed September 18, 2014, at 

http://southkansascityobserver.blogspot.com/2010/06/more-rainovernight-leads-to-more.html.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 1967, Flood plain information, Blue 

River within Kansas City, Missouri: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District, 31 p.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Hydrologic Engineering Center, 

2009, HEC-GeoRAS, GIS Tools for Support of HEC–RAS 

using ArcGIS, User’s Manual, version 4.2,: Vicksburg, Miss., U.S. 

Army Corps of Engineers, [variously paged]. 

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Hydrologic Engineering Center, 

2010, HEC–RAS River Analysis System, Hydraulic Reference 

Manual, version 4.1: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, [variously 

paged].

U.S. Geological Survey, 2014a, USGS surface-water data for the 

Nation: U.S. Geological Survey, National Water Information System, accessed June 2014 at http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/sw.

U.S. Geological Survey, 2014b, USGS Flood Inundation Mapping 

Science: U.S. Geological Survey, accessed June 2014 at http://

water.usgs.gov/osw/flood_inundation.

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Stage = 41.0 ft Stage = 59.0 ft

USGS Flood-Inundation Mapper Web site 

http://wim.usgs.gov/FIMI/ 

USGS Real-time streamgage from National Water Information 

System (NWIS) Web site (U.S. Geological Survey, 2014)

Developed flood map library

NWS Flood Forecast from AHPS Web site (National Oceanic 

and Atmospheric Adminstration, National Weather Service, 

2014) (Available at selected streamgages)

Figure 5. U.S. Geological Survey flood-inundation 

mapping science Web site components and display.

For more information concerning this publication, contact:

Director, Missouri Water Science Center

U.S. Geological Survey

1400 Independence Road, MS-100

Rolla, MO 65401

(573) 308-3667

Or visit the Missouri Water Science Center Web site at:

http://mo.water.usgs.gov/

By David C. Heimann1, Trina E. Weilert2, Brian P. Kelly1, 

and Seth E. Studley1

1

U.S. Geological Survey 

2

Currently U.S. Department of Agriculture, formerly 

U.S. Geological Survey

ISSN 2327-6932 (online)

http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/fs20153008

Banner photograph credit: http://southkansascityobserver.blogspot.

com/2010/06/more-rain-overnight-leads-to-more.html, June 15, 2010.