In many countries, the determination of the parameters of the wave, likely to be produced after the failure of a dam, is required by law, and systematic studies are mandatory. There is a necessity to develop adequate numerical solvers which are able to reproduce situations originated from the irregularities of a non-prismatic bed and to model the complete equations that progress despite the irregular character of the data. Many hydraulic situations can be described by means of a one-dimensional (1D) model, either because a more detailed resolution is unnecessary or because the flow is markedly 1D. Many techniques have been developed recently for systems of conservation laws in 1D (in the context of gas dynamics). Some years after their adoption for solving problems in gas dynamics, upwind and total variation diminishing (TVD) numerical schemes have been successfully used for the solution of the shallow water equations, with similar advantages. Their use is nevertheless only gradually gaining acceptance in this sector. The performance of some of these techniques for practical applications in river flow is reported in this work.