Create Water lets you add a flat water level to your terrain so you can visualize standing water, measure water volumes, and simulate different flood or retention levels. It is useful for working with reservoirs, drainage ponds, retention basins, fracking pools, and other areas where you need to understand how water interacts with the surrounding terrain.


The Create Water tool is available from the Water area of the HOME tab. You can create water by selecting an elevation directly from the terrain, then adjust the water level or use additional tools to find where the water intersects the terrain and isolate the area you want to analyze.


This article explains how to create a Water feature and use Water Level, Intersect Terrain, and Clip Water to prepare it for visualization and volume calculations.



Overview


How to Create Water

The Create Water tool creates a flat plane at an elevation you select from the terrain. This gives you a quick way to represent standing water and see which parts of the terrain fall above or below that water level.


To create water:

  1. Click Create Water from the HOME tab.
  2. Move your cursor over the terrain in the Viewport. The elevation at your cursor location is displayed next to the pointer.
  3. Left-click the terrain at the elevation you want to use as the water level.
  4. A Water feature is created at that elevation. Select the Water feature to access additional functions from the TOOLS for Water tab.


Water is created as a continuous flat plane across the project because standing water maintains a consistent elevation.

  • The translucent blue plane represents the selected water elevation.
  • Where the water elevation is above the Elevation Terrain, the blue Water feature is visible over the terrain.
  • The plane also extends beyond the Image Terrain, making it easier to see how the selected elevation relates to the entire project area.


Change the Water Level

Water Level lets you change the elevation of an existing Water feature. This is useful when you want to test different water elevations without creating a new Water feature each time.


Enter the desired elevation or use the arrows to raise or lower the water level. As the elevation changes, you can immediately see how more or less of the terrain is affected.

 

Note: The Create Water tool is primarily designed to represent and measure standing water.


Intersect Terrain

Intersect Terrain creates geometry where the Water feature meets the Elevation Terrain. This gives you an outline of the area reached by the selected water elevation and provides geometry that can be used for additional analysis.


When the intersection forms a completely enclosed area, a Boundary is created. The Boundary can then be used to create a Surface for calculating the volume of water.


Note: If the water and terrain form an enclosed intersection, a Boundary is created. If the intersection remains open, a Polyline is created instead.


Clip Water

Clip Water removes portions of the Water feature that you do not need, leaving only the area you want to visualize or analyze. For example, after creating a Boundary around a reservoir, you can clip away the water outside the reservoir so the Water feature represents only the area of interest.


To clip water:

  1. Select the Water feature and the Boundary you want to use for the clip.
  2. Open the TOOLS for Water tab.
  3. Click Clip.


Note: Clipping permanently changes the Water feature. You cannot unclip it afterward. If you need to use a different clipping area, create a new Water feature and clip it again.


Tips to Get the Most Out of the Water Tool

Terrain and water intersections can become more complex when a site contains multiple low areas, disconnected basins, openings in the terrain, or other terrain features that interrupt a continuous intersection.


After using Intersect Terrain:

  • Review the resulting Boundaries and Polylines and delete any geometry that is not needed for your analysis.
  • Use the tools available in the TOOLS for Boundary tab to adjust an intersected Boundary when necessary.
  • For sites containing separate retention areas or different standing water elevations, consider creating multiple Water features so each area can be represented and analyzed independently.


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