An Alternative Model Calibration Strategy for Watersheds Lacking Proper Data Records: Case Study of Riohacha, Colombia

The city of Riohacha presents a disorganized development model that added to recurrent events of intense rains, cause increasingly flood disasters. Due to the complexity and the hydrographic density of the region and the need to propose systemic solutions to flood problems, it was used mathematical modelling tools. Within the modelling process, calibration and validation are two fundamental actions that must precede the use of the hydrodynamic model. However, most of the river basins around the world lack hydrometeorological information, indispensable for calibration process. The present work develops a new approach for the calibration process, based on interviews and retrieval of historical information by flood marks. This new approach enables calibration in a scenario where there is a lack of information for the calibration process. Thus, the result of this work can be used as a conceptual basis of support in the calibration process for future hydrodynamic models in places where there is little or no information to support the process.