HYDROLOGY

INTRODUCTION AND DESCRIPTIVE HYDROLOGY

 FIELDS OF WATER RESOURCES ENGINEERING
• CONTROL OF WATER
• Flood mitigation, storm drainage, sewerage, and highway culvert design.
• To prevent excessive damage to property, inconvenience to the public, or loss of life.
• UTILIZATION OF WATER
• Water supply, irrigation, hydro-electric power development, and navigation improvements.

• POLLUTION CONTROL/WATER QUALITY MANAGEMENT

• Pollution threatens the utility of water for service and irrigation uses and seriously despoils the aesthetic
value of bodies of waters.
 NINE MAIN FUNCTIONAL FIELDS OF WATER
RESOURCES ENGINEERING

CONTROL OF EXCESS WATER CONSERVATION (QUANTITY) CONSERVATION (QUALITY)

1. FLOOD MITIGATION 5. WATER SUPPLY 9. POLLUTION CONTROL

2. STORM AND DRAINAGE 6. IRRIGATION

3. BRIDGES AND CULVERTS 7. HYDROPOWER

4. SEWERAGE 8. NAVIGATION
 QUANTITY OF WATER
• HOW MUCH WATER IS NEEDED?

• It involves social and economic problems as well as engineering.

• On the basis of economic analysis, a decision must be made concerning the span of years for which the
proposed projects will serve.

• Diversion (withdrawal) – water withdrawn is the total volume taken from a water source.
• Diversion dams do not generally impound water into a reservoir, instead the water is diverted into an artificial
water course or canal.

• Consumption – water that is evaporated or combined in a product and is no longer available for use.
• HOW MUCH WATER CAN BE EXPECTED?

• Peak rates of flow are usually the basis of design of projects to control excess water.
• Ex. A stream rises to a peak flow after each precipitation event.

• Volume of flow during longer periods of time is of interest in designing projects for use of water.

• Since the future cannot be accurately forecasted, hydrology involves assessment of probability.
• WHO MAY USE THE WATER?

• The water flowing in a stream is not necessarily available for use by every person or group desiring it.
Water rights are protected by law.

• The right to use water has considerable value especially in regions where water is scarce.

• Diversion of natural streamflow may cause property damage and alterations in natural flow conditions
are governed by legal restrictions.
 WATER QUALITY
• Water must often withstand certain tests of quality depending on the type of usage for safety and
overall protection and/or conservation. Problems regarding water quality are encountered in
planning water supply and irrigation projects and in the disposal of waste water.

• Chemical and bacteriologic tests are employed to determine the amount of character of impurities
in water. Physiologists then evaluate the effects of these impurities to set standards of acceptable
quality.

• Engineers must then provide facilities for removing impurities from the water by physical, chemical,
or biological methods. Hydrologic studies are necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of the
wastewater management plan.
 HYDRAULIC STRUCTURES
• Are relatively massive as compared with buildings and bridges, and the structural design involves
much less fine detail.

• The shape and dimensions are often dictated by the hydraulic characteristics it must possess and
hence are dictated by the application of fluid mechanics. Frequently involves curved and/or
warped surfaces and sometimes intricate detail for fates, valves, control systems and etc.

• Geologic investigations are an important part of the preliminary planning to select the most
satisfactory location for a hydraulic structure from a structural viewpoint.
 ECONOMICS IN WATER RESOURCES ENGINEERING

• The special ability of the engineer is reflected in the planning of the project considering its cost-
effectivity (value engineering).

• Precipitation and stream flow vary yearly. It is usually uneconomic to design a project that
provides protection against the worst possible flood or drought that could conceivably occur.

• Economic analysis is dependent on hydrologic analysis of the probability of occurrence of extreme

floods or droughts.
 SOCIAL ASPECTS OF WATER RESOURCES
ENGINEERING
• Most water projects are funded and planned for by some governmental unit or by a public utility.
Many such projects become controversial political issues and are debated at length by people
whose understanding of the basic engineering aspect of the problem is limited.

• It is a clear responsibility of the engineer who has the knowledge to take a firm position in the
public interest to prevent decisions being made on political or emotional grounds.

• Throughout any negotiations concerning a public financed project, the engineer should adhere
carefully to the code of ethics of the professional society.
 PLANNING OF WATER-RESOURCES PROJECTS

• STEPS IN PLANNING A WATER-RESOURCES PROJECT:

1. Political Incentive
2. Definition of Alternatives
3. Technical Feasibility
4. Economic Feasibility
5. Social and Environmental Acceptability
6. Financial Feasibility
7. Political Practicality
 HISTORY OF WATER-RESOURCES ENGINEERING
• The earliest large-scale drainage and irrigation works are attributed to Menes, founder of the first
Egyptian dynasty, about 3000 B. C.. These works were followed by many varied projects in the
Mediterranean. Including dams, canals, aqueducts, and sewer systems.

• These early works were not designed and built by engineers in the modern sense of the word.

• It was not until the time of Leonardo da Vinci (about 1500 A.D. ) that the idea that precipitation was
the source of streamflow received any real support and many years later before it was proved.
• Since no materials suitable for large pressure pipes were available to the Romans, their aqueducts
were designed as massive structures to carry water under atmospheric pressure at all times.

• The first effort at organized engineering knowledge was the founding of École des Ponts et
Chaussées, Paris in 1760.
 THE FUTURE OF WATER RESOURCES ENGINEERING
• Modern medical science together with modern sanitary engineering has reduced death rates and increased
life expectancy.

• Modern standards of personal cleanliness require vastly more water than what was used a century ago.

• The increasing population requires expanded acreage for agriculture, much of which must come through land
drainage or irrigation.

• Increasing populations also mean an increase in the urbanization of land resulting in the attention for storm
drainage, water supply, and sewerage.

• The development of civilization has increased the importance of water resources engineering.
• The water resources engineers of the future will find themselves deeply involved with new
technology and concepts.
• Reclamation of wastewater
• Weather modification
• Land management to improve water yield
• New water saving techniques

• The conflict between preserving our ecosystem and meeting the “needs” of people for water
management must certainly lead to new approaches in water management and quite possibly to
new definitions of need.
HYDROLOGIC CYCLE
• Fresh water supply is renewed by the hydrologic cycle, which is an immense solar distillation
system. Water evaporated from the oceans is transported over the continents by moving air
masses.

• When this moisture-bearing air is cooled to its dew-point temperature, the vapor condenses into
water droplets forming fog or cloud. The cooling occurs when the moist air is lifted to higher
elevations.

• Lifting occurs in three ways:

• Orographic lifting
• Frontal lifting
• Convective lifting
• OROGRAPHIC LIFTING:
• Occurs when the air is forced upward over the underlying terrane.
• FRONTAL LIFTING:
• Occurs when the air mass is pushed up by a cooler air mass.
• The boundary between the two air masses is called a frontal surface.
• CONVECTIVE LIFTING:
• The moist air may be heated from below as it passes over a warmer surface. This may result in a
convective thunderstorm.
• About 2/3 of the precipitation that reaches the land surface is returned to the atmosphere by
evaporation from water surfaces, soil, and vegetation and through plant transpiration.

• The remaining 1/3 returns ultimately to the ocean through surface or underground channels.

• Only a small portion of the moisture (usually much less than 10%) that passes over aby given point on
the earth’s surface is precipitated. Hence, moisture evaporated from the land surfaces is a minor part
of the total atmospheric pressure.

• The science of hydrology is devoted to a study of the rate of exchange of water between phases of
the cycle and in particular to the variations in this rate with time and place.
 THE RIVER BASIN
• A river basin is the tributary to a given point on a stream and is separated from adjacent basins
by a divide, or ridge, that can be traced on topographic maps.
• Catchment Basin, Watershed, Catchment Area.
 TYPES OF PRECIPITATION
• Precipitation includes all water that falls from the atmosphere to the earth’s surface.

• Hydrologists are interested in distinguishing only between liquid precipitation (rainfall) and frozen
precipitation (snow, hail, sleet, and freezing rain).

• Rainfall runs off to the streams soon after it reaches the ground and is the cause of most floods.

• Frozen precipitation may remain where it falls for a long time before it melts.

• Snowfields serve as vast reservoirs that store water precipitation until spring thaws release it near the
time it is required for irrigation.
 FOG DRIP AND DEW
• Fog consists of water droplets so small that their fall velocities are negligible. Fog particles that contact
vegetation may adhere, coalesce with other droplets, and eventually form a drop large enough to fall
to the ground.

• The loss of heat by radiation from the soil causes cooling of the ground surface and of the air above it.
Condensation of the water vapor present in the air results in a deposit of dew.
 PRECIPITATION MEASUREMENT

• Amount of precipitation is expressed as the depth in inches or millimeters that falls on a level
surface. This may be measured as the depth of water deposited in an open, straight sided
container.

• Research Work # 2 : Types of Precipitation Measurement Equipment.

 COMPUTATION OF AVERAGE PRECIPITATION
• Large differences in precipitation are observed within short distances in mountainous terrane or
during showery precipitation in a level country.

• It is sometimes necessary to estimate the average precipitation over a given area. The simplest
method of doing this is to compute the arithmetic average of the recorded precipitation values at
stations in or near the area.

• The precipitation at each station may be weighted in proportion to the area the station is assumed
to represent.
 THIESSEN NETWORK
• PROCEDURE:
• All gauges and stations in and around the basin are marked.
• From triangles by connecting adjoining stations.
• Draw perpendicular bisectors on the lines connecting the stations that should result to polygons.
• Determine the area of each polygon.
• Use the formula:
• P av= (A1P1+A2P2+…+AnPn)/ΣA
• Where:
• An = Area of station n
• Pn = Precipitation of station n
• Pav = Average precipitation
• ΣA = Summation of area / Area of river basin
 ISOHYETAL METHOD
• ISOHYET – A line joining points of equal rainfall magnitude.
• PROCEDURE:
• All gauges and stations are marked where the precipitation measurement is also placed.
• By eye approximation draw the isohyets in a way similar to drawing contours on a topographical map.
• Determine the area between isohyets.
• Use the following formula:
• P av= (((P1+P2)/2)A1)+…+(((Pn+Pn+1)/2)An)/ΣA
• Where:
• pn = Precipitation of isohyet n
• P1 = Precipitation of isohyet 1
• An = Area between isohyet n and n+1
• A1 = Area between isohyet n and 1 and 2
 ARITHMETIC MEAN METHOD
• The average precipitation is taken by summing up all the gauge station measurements and dividing
it by the number of gauge stations within the catchment basin.
 MISSING RAIN FALL DATA
• In instances where one or more of the gauge stations failed to operate, an interpolation of the
data becomes necessary in order to be able to proceed with the calculation.

INVERSE DISTANCE METHOD

• Widely used by the United States Weather Bureau
• The missing data is calculated from at least three surrounding stations.