Guides to water, flood and subsurface energy decisions

Plain-English guides to the questions behind KAI's work: how to design a flood trigger and measure its basis risk, where to drill a borehole, what NEMA effluent compliance takes, how a geothermal doublet cools and what a CO₂ storage screening study must answer. Each one uses KAI's published cases where they exist, cites its sources and says what KAI does and does not offer.

Flood triggers and anticipatory action

How to design a parametric flood trigger, and how to measure its basis riskDesign a parametric flood trigger in five steps and measure basis risk: on GloFAS 5.0, a 1-in-5 trigger paid 33 of 60 flood years, with 34 false payouts.7 min read
Can GloFAS set a flood trigger where there is no river gauge?On 14 Spanish gauges, a GloFAS 4.0 flood trigger in m³/s paid in 6 of 60 flood years; GloFAS 5.0 raised it to 26. What that means for ungauged rivers.8 min read
Anticipatory action trigger design: from a forecast to a decisionHow anticipatory action triggers turn a forecast into a decision: readiness and action thresholds, lead time, hit and false alarm rates, and protocols.7 min read

Flood forecasting and early warning

Flood early warning system design: what a district or utility actually needsFlood early warning system design: forecast points, Watch and Warning levels agreed with users, lead time and skill checks, with WMO and GloFAS guidance.7 min read

Geothermal

Carbon sequestration and gas storage

Groundwater and drilling

Borehole siting: how to raise drilling success before you pay the drillerHow to site a borehole from records, not hope: depth to water, drilling odds and a blind test on 595 held-out wells (AUC 0.83) before the rig arrives.8 min read

Industrial water and compliance

Industrial water in Uganda: water balance, losses and compliance with NEMA effluent standardsNEMA 2020 effluent limits for Ugandan factories and parks, a water balance that shows losses, and tracing a spike to its source (58% first time).7 min read

Subsurface characterisation

Why core plugs mislead: core plug kv/kh, bedding and upscaling permeabilityPaired plugs from Groningen core give kv/kh of 0.95; laminated beds built from the same plugs give 1:20 to 1:360. Why, and how to upscale honestly.7 min read

Hydropower, rivers, geotechnics, irrigation and digital twins

Rating curve development and river surveys: getting flood levels rightRating curve development step by step: ADCP gaugings, datum checks, fitting, extrapolation above the highest gauging, hysteresis and HEC-RAS calibration.7 min read

Written by KAI Water & Energy. Numbers come from our open case studies on GitHub or from the sources cited in each guide.