Chapter 

One
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Introduction
Applications in Civil Engineering
Hydrologic Cycle and its component
Water Budget Equation

Tip

Water in World
Water in Ethiopia
 HYDROLOGY
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• Hydrology is the science of water. It is a

science that deals with the occurrence (gas,
liquid and solid), Circulation (on air / atmosphere,
on ground, underground) and distribution
(Hydrosphere : 15 km above the ground and
Lithosphere : 1 km below ground ) of water of the
earth and earth’s atmosphere.
• A practitioner of hydrology is called a
hydrologist.

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 CLASSIFICATION OF HYDROLOGY 
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• Scientific Hydrology
– The study of water which is concerned
chiefly with academic aspects / focus on
development of scientific knowledge/
Eg. Age of the water on the earth.
• Engineering / Applied Hydrology
– a study concerned with Engineering
application .
Eg. Estimation of quantity of water resources.

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 ENGINEERING HYDROLOGY
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It is an applied science and deals with those

segments of the field pertinent to planning,
design, and operation of engineering projects for
the control and use of water.
In a general sense, it deals with:
– Estimation of water resources
– The study of processes such as precipitation, 
abstractions, runoff… and their interaction
– The study of problems such as floods and 
droughts and strategies to combat them
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 ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS
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Hydrology finds its greatest application in the

design and operation of water resources in
engineering projects, such as
 water supply,
 irrigation,
 hydropower,
 Highway
 flood control, and
 navigation.

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 HYDROLOGICAL CYCLE
• Is a descriptive term applied to the general circulation
of water from atmosphere to the ground, to the seas,
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back to the atmosphere through various stages or

process such as precipitation, interceptions, runoff,
infiltration/ percolation, evaporation and transpiration.
• Water on earth exists in a space called the hydrosphere
that extends about 15 km up into the atmosphere and
about 1 km down into the lithosphere, the crust of the
earth.
• A convenient starting point to describe the cycle is in
the ocean. Water in the oceans evaporate due to the
heat energy provided by solar radiation. The water
vapor moves upward and form clouds. While much of
the clouds condense and fall back to the oceans as rain,
a part of the clouds is driven to the land areas by wind.
• Its processes occur continuously.
Addis Ababa University
 COMPONENTS OF THE HYDROLOGIC CYCLE
The major components of the hydrologic cycle are:
• Precipitation: is all forms of moisture falling to the ground, i.e.,
rainfall, snow, hail etc
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• Evaporation: the process whereby liquid water changes into

gaseous form
• Transpiration: is the process where plants absorb water through
the roots and then give off water vapor through pores in their
leaves.
• Interception: part of a rainfall or snowfall which is retained by the
plant leaves or buildings. It does not contribute to runoff.
• Depression storage/ Surface detention: the excess rainfall which is
temporarily stored in surface depressions
• Infiltration: the process whereby water enters a few depths into
the subsoil
• Groundwater: the water resource which is found deep in the
ground
• Runoff: water which flows over or below the land surface from
excessive precipitation
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 HYDROLOGICAL CYCLE and CONCEPTS
Standard Concepts (Physical prespective)
– Precipitation
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– Evaporation / Evapotranspitation
– Surface Water
– Groundwater

Precipitation
Evaporation
Evaporation
Evaporation (ET)

Ocean
Infiltration runoff

Precipitation
Aquifer
Evaporation/ET
Surface Water
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Groundwater
 HYDROLOGICAL CYCLE: 
System Circulation
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 HYDROLOGICAL CYCLE: 
Quantified
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 Water Budget Equation
• It is important to note that the total water resources of the earth is 
constant due to water cycle.
• The quantity of water going through various individual paths of 
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the hydrologic cycle can be described by the continuity equation 
known as water budget equation.
 Water Budget Equation
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Mass in flow – Mass outflow = Change in 
storage
P ‐ Q ‐ G ‐ ET ‐ S = 0
P = Precipitation
Q = Stream discharge
G = Groundwater Discharge
ET = Evapo‐transpiration
S = Change in Storage

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 Water Budget Equation
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Assume the ground water divide

coincide with the surface water divide.

All terms in the equation have the same

dimensions or units.
• Unit of volume or depth, i.e., depth over the
catchment area.

All process are considered in fixed time

period.
 Example 1
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• The following yearly data were collected

from a 2000 km2 catchment. Total
precipitation is 620mm, total combined
loss due to evaporation and
transpiration is 150mm, estimated
groundwater outflow is 100mm, and
mean surface runoff at the outlet is
350mm. What is the change in volume of
water (m3) remaining in storage in the
catchment at the end of the elapsed year.
 Example 2
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• In a given year, a watershed with a

drainage area of 215 km2 received 900 mm
of rainfall. The average flow rate
measured at the outlet of the watershed
was 3.1 m3/s. Estimate the amount of
water lost due to the combined effects of
evaporation and transpiration. Assume
the annual change in storage is zero.
 Example 3
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• In a given month, 300 ha lake has 14

3 3
m /sec inflow and 13 m /sec outflow.
3
Total storage increase 6 m . ENMA
gauge near the lake records total of 1.5
cm precipitation over the lake in a given
month. Assume, there is no infiltration
loss from the lake. Determine
evaporation loss in mm from a lake in a
month.
 Example 4
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A lake had a water surface elevation of 103.2m

above datum at the beginning of a certain month. In
that month, the lake received an average inflow of
6.0m3/s from surface runoff sources. In the same
period, the outflow from the lake had an average
value of 6.5m3/s. Further, in that month, the lake
received a rainfall of 145mm and the evaporation
from the lake surface was estimated as 6.10cm.
Calculate the water surface elevation of the lake at
the end of the month. The average surface area can
be taken as 5000ha. Assume that there is no
contribution to or from the ground water storage.
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 How much water do we have?
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Total volume of water on the planet:
1386 million cubic kilometers (Mkm3)

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 World Water
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Total quantity of water in the world = 1386 Mkm3

 Oceans approximately 96.5 % …. Saline
 Land (3.5%) ……. 1% ……. Saline water
2.5%.... Fresh water

Approximately 35 Mkm3 fresh water

Out of 35 Mkm3 …….

10.6 Mkm3 (30%)….. Liquid and fresh
24.4 Mkm3 (70%) ….. solid (frozen state)

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 ETHIOPIA
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o Area: 1.13million square kilometer
(1,119,683 km2 of dry land and 7,444 km2 water area)
o Altitude:
o 125m below sea level ( Danakil Depression) and 
o 4600m above sea level ( Ras Dashen Mountain)
o Temp:
o Mean annual temperature between 150 c– 200c
o Rainfall:
o Mean annual rainfall between 200mm – 2200mm
o Population: > 100 million

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 ETHIOPIA WATER RESOURCE
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Addis Ababa University
ETHIOPIA MAJOR BASINS 

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Addis Ababa University