HYDROLOGY - BASIC CONCEPTS

Hydrology

Hydrology is the science of the waters of the earth and its atmosphere. It deals with
occurrence, circulation, distribution and movements of these waters over the globe
and their interaction with the physical and biological environments.

Engineering Hydrology

Engineering hydrology is the branch of hydrology which deals with estimation of

water resources and related hydrologic quantities. It also investigates hydrologic
problems such as floods and droughts, and develops strategies to mitigate them.

Need for the Hydrologic Studies

The need of the hydrologic studies arises from the following problems:

a. Uncertainty of precipitation and its seasonal occurrence

b. Seasonal flow of rivers, and
c. Population growth and rising standards of living

In many countries water is the main source of energy and the agriculture is an
important sector for their economic growth. Although water is vital to life, but the
precipitation which is the main source of water, is an uncertain phenomenon i. e. there
might be plenty of rainfall when we do not need it and no rain when it is required. So
we need to plan accordingly. It is necessary to store surplus water when and where
available and to use it when and where required. Uncertainty of precipitation makes
the study of various features of hydrology exceedingly important, which then will be
helpful in better planning and development of water resources.

The flow in rivers varies from season to season. There are low flows during lean
period and high flows during floods. The floods although bringing fertile silts, but are
hazardous to human life and property. Flood mitigation is necessary to safeguard
human life, livestock, cash crops and against spread of disease.
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The increased population and rising standards of living have greatly increased the
demands of water. Hydrologic studies are of utmost importance for planning and
development of water resources to meet these demands.

Importance of Hydrology in Civil Engineering

Hydrology has an important role in the design and operation of water resources
engineering projects like irrigation, flood control, water supply schemes, hydropower
projects and navigation. Many important civil engineering projects have failed
because of improper assessment of hydrologic aspects of the projects. Hydraulic
structures which are very important civil engineering projects and cost millions of
dollars may fail due to improper hydrologic design. For example, a dam may fail due
to inadequate spillway capacity. There may be reservoir operational problems due to
lack of hydrologic data like probable inflows, evaporation and seepage. There might
be failure of a bridge or a culvert if its maximum design flood is not estimated
properly. Construction of a dam may cause problem for bridges upstream and
downstream if proper hydrologic studies regarding floods and erosion downstream are
not estimated and taken into account in design. Groundwater studies are important for
installation of tube wells and irrigation projects. These are just a few examples which
show the importance of hydrologic studies for civil engineering projects.

Major Aspects of Hydrology

The main jobs of a hydrologist are collection and analysis of data, and making
predictions out of this analysis.

i. Collection of Data

The hydrologic data comprises:

a. Rainfall Data
b. Snowfall and Snowmelt Data
c. Runoff Data (Catchment Runoff and Stream Flows), and
d. Groundwater Data

ii. Analysis of Data

Analysis of hydrologic data includes checking it for consistency and homogeneity as

well as finding its various statistical parameters.

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iii. Prediction

Prediction means finding design values and maximum possible floods and droughts.
Various approaches for prediction of hydrologic values are:

a. Statistical Approach
b. Physical Approach
c. Deterministic Approach

Sciences Involved

Hydrology is a very broad subject and it needs support from allied sciences such as
Physics, Mathematics, Geology, Geography, Meteorology, Forestry, Agriculture and
Hydraulics.

Major Hydrologic Projects

Engineering Hydrology provides hydrologic data essentially required for a variety of

projects, such as:

a. Hydraulic Structures like Dams, Bridges, Head-works, Spillways and

Culverts etc.
b. Hydroelectric Power Generation
c. Flood Control Projects
d. Irrigation Projects
e. Environmental Pollution Control, and
f. Planning and Execution of Water Resources Development Projects

Following is an exhaustive list of projects dealt with in Hydrology:

Design of:

o Surface water reservoirs

o Groundwater reservoirs
o Urban storm water sewers and airport drainage systems
o Urban water distribution systems
o Flood control structures (Dikes, River Improvement Works, etc.)
o Navigational systems (Locks, Ports, etc.)
o Agricultural drainage systems
o Temporary construction and mining drainage systems
o Tunnels and underground excavations
o Flow control systems for highway development

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o Hydraulic structures (Bridges, Culverts, Dams, Barrages)

o Open channels and other river flow control structures
o Flood waves propagation
o Soil conservation
o Sanitary landfills and waste disposal facilities
o Contaminated-soil remedial systems
o Polluted-aquifer containment or restoration systems

Management of:

o Rivers, lakes, wetlands, estuaries and aquifers

o Crops, forests and pasture lands

Prediction and Forecasting of:

o Contamination effects on rivers and lakes

o Contamination propagation in soils and groundwater
o Effect of drainage on flood flows
o Environmental impact of water resources projects
o Environmental impact of deforestation
o Environmental impact of urbanization
o Environmental impact of chemical spills
o Environmental impact of chemical leaks from tanks
o Environmental impact of leachates from landfills
o Environmental impact of pesticide application
o Environmental impact of global climate change
o Flood waves propagation

Questions - A Hydrologist has to Answer

Some of the typical questions that a hydrologist has to answer are:

1. Is the flow of stream sufficient to meet the needs of a city or industry seeking the
water supply, or an irrigation project, or a proposed water resource development,
or navigation, or recreation?

2. Would a reservoir be required in connection with any of the proposed uses and if
so, what should be its capacity?

3. In the design of a flood protection system a barrage, a culvert or a spillway for a

dam, what is the design flood that may be expected to occur with any specified
frequency?

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4. What would be the effect of draining an upland area or a marshy region upon the
flow of stream from the water shed?

5. How would certain changes, removal of forests etc., affect the ground water level
or the stream flow from such an area?

In order to answer the above and other similar questions work is undertaken in three
phases (as also explained), which are collection of data, analysis of data and making
predictions out of this analysis.

The data that must be collected includes stream flow records, precipitation records,
topographic maps, groundwater data, evaporation data and transpiration data.

Hydrologic Cycle

Journey of water from the ocean to atmosphere and back to the earth and ultimately to
the ocean through the processes of evaporation, precipitation, percolation, runoff and
return to the ocean is called hydrologic cycle. The importance of hydrologic cycle in
hydrology is such that Hydrology is also briefly defined as the science of hydrologic
cycle.

Figure 1.1 shows a schematic flow chart of the hydrologic cycle. Though the actual
hydrologic cycle is quite complex, this figure just broadly depicts the sequence of
major events of the cycle. The hydrologic cycle can be broadly divided into two
phases - land phase, and atmospheric phase. Before discussing the two phases of
hydrologic cycle, some of the related terms are defined below:

Infiltration

Precipitation falling on the ground is, to some extent, absorbed by the land. This
absorption of precipitation water by land from the surface of earth is called
infiltration.

Interception

A part of the precipitation is obstructed by vegetation and temporarily remains there.

This process is called interception. Later the intercepted water is either evaporated or
infiltrated.

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Atmosphere

Precipitation

Direct Runoff

Infiltration Evaporation
Ground Water
Flow
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Interception

Surface Storage

Sea
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Depression Storage

A part of precipitation is stored in depressions on the catchment area. This is called

depression storage.

Detention Storage

When the precipitation occurs for a longer duration and at a rate greater than the rate
of infiltration some water is collected on the surface of the earth up to a certain depth.
On attaining a certain depth, the action of gravity makes this water flow. Before it
starts flowing, the water stored on the surface of earth is called detention storage.

Runoff

After the detention storage is built up, as explained above, the water will start flowing
over the ground and is called runoff.

Inter Flow

The part of infiltrated water which moves laterally through the upper soil layers above
the groundwater level and soon joins the stream is called inter flow.

Total Runoff

A part of infiltrated water moves in the form of inter flow which soon joins the
stream, the remaining portion of infiltrated water percolates to deeper layers of the
ground and is stored as groundwater. This groundwater sometimes also joins the
stream flow through springs and seepage process. The stream flow is then called the
total runoff i. e. it is sum of all the components of precipitation water. Direct runoff
plus the losses gives total runoff.

The runoff can be expressed in depth units for a certain area or it can be expressed in
volume units. It can also be expressed in discharge units for a specified time.

Now we come back to explain the hydrologic cycle.

Atmospheric Phase of Hydrologic Cycle

Atmospheric phase of hydrologic cycle starts with the formation of clouds after
vaporization from water bodies and ends after the occurrence of precipitation.

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Land Phase of Hydrologic Cycle

After occurrence of precipitation, water comes in contact with the earth surface and
hydrologic cycle enters the land phase. Part of precipitation is infiltrated and a part of
it, depending upon circumstances, is intercepted by trees and vegetation. If there are
depressions in the surface upon which precipitation falls, a part of precipitation will
be stored in the depressions in the form of depression storage. All of these parts are
liable to vaporization. Rainwater stands on the surface of earth where it falls, after
various losses, depending upon the rate of rainfall. When the depth of standing water
becomes sufficient it starts flowing over the ground surface in the form of surface
runoff. During the travel of surface runoff towards streams, again a part of water is
infiltrated and a part of it is evaporated. A part of infiltrated water moves laterally
through the upper soil layers above the groundwater level, in the form of interflow
which soon joins the stream flow. The remaining portion of infiltrated water
percolates to deeper layers of the ground and is stored as groundwater. Sometimes this
ground water joins the stream flow through spring or seepage process. The stream
flow is then called the total runoff. The total runoff from the streams goes back to the
oceans subjected to vaporization throughout its travel. The depression storage is either
evaporated or infiltrated into the ground and similar is the case of interception. The
ground water also may go to oceans after a long time.

Example 1.1

A precipitation measuring 125 mm occurred over a catchment. If the infiltration,

interception, depression storage and other losses are 50 mm, find direct runoff and
total runoff.

Solution

Precipitation P = 125 mm
Losses L = 50 mm
Direct runoff (DRO) = P – L = 125 – 50 = 75 mm
Total runoff = DRO + L = 75+50 = 125 mm

Note that „x‟ inches of runoff means that water is spread uniformly over the
catchment having „x‟ inches depth. Runoff in volume units can be obtained by
multiplying the depth with the area of the catchment.

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Hydrologic Equation

The hydrologic equation states that for a given time interval, difference of inflow to
and outflow from a system is equal to change of storage of the system. In its
differential form it states that rate of volume inflow minus the rate of volume outflow
is equal to the rate of change of storage. Mathematically

I - O = ∆S/∆t ---------------------------- Eq.1.1

Where,
I = Rate of volume inflow (volume/time), measured in m3/sec, ft3/sec, etc.
O = Rate of volume outflow (volume/time) measured in m3/sec, ft3/sec, etc.
∆S/∆t = Rate of change of storage in time („S‟ represents storage and
„t‟ represents time i.e. Volume/time)

The above equation is a storage equation which only approximates some hydrologic
processes.

Components of Inflow

There are two components of inflow, viz.

a. precipitation over the catchment and reservoir, and
b. surface or groundwater flow from other catchment areas.

Components of Outflow

Three components of outflow are:

a. surface evaporation
b. groundwater seepage, and
c. direct runoff i.e water taken for irrigation or to spill ways for producing
power

If we fix the time and take the volume units, then the hydrologic equation can be
written as,

Total volume inflow – The volume outflow = Total change in volume of the system

This is hydrologic or storage equation. It is used in many different ways. If, for
example, assuming inflow changes linearly from „I1‟ to „I2‟ in time „∆t‟, the outflow
changes linearly from „O1‟ to „O2‟ and storage changes from „S1‟ to „S2‟ in this time,
the equation can be written as:

( I1 + I2 ) / 2 - ( O1 + O2 ) / 2 = ( S2 – S1 ) / - - - - - Eq. 1.2

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If we fix time „∆t‟ and talk about total inflow in certain time „∆t‟, total outflow and
total change in storage in that time, the hydrologic equation can be written as:

Volume inflow - Volume outflow = Total change in storage.

If further, we fix the area of the system (for example, we talk of a catchment) and
assume inflow as precipitation „p‟, the outflow as the losses „L‟ and runoff „R‟ then
the equation can be written as:

P – L – R = D - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Eq. 1.3

Where „D‟ is the depression storage.

This concept is further applied to discuss the water budget of a catchment.

Example 1.2

Flow of River Chenab at Marala Barrage varied linearly from 34 cumec (m3/sec) to
283 cumec in 10-hours during a flood. The flow variation at Khanki Barrage,
downstream of Marala was observed to be from 28 to 255 cumec during the above
mentioned time. Assuming no lateral flow in or out of the reach, find out the rate of
change of storage of the river reach between Marala and Khanki. What is total change
in storage of the reach in this period?

Solution
I1 = 34 cumec I2 = 283 cumec
O1 = 28 cumec O2 = 255 cumec
I = ( I1 + I2 ) / 2 = ( 34 + 283 ) / 2 = 158.5 cumec
O = ( O1 + O2 ) / 2 = ( 28 + 255 ) = 141.5 cumec
∆S/∆t = ?
According to hydrologic equation
( I1 + I2 ) /2 - ( O1 + O2 ) / 2 = ∆S/∆t
158.5 - 141.5 = ∆S/∆t = 17 cumec
∆t = 10 hours = 10 x 60 x 60 = 36,000 sec
Total change in storage = ∆S = (∆S/∆t) x ∆t
= 17 x 36,000 = 612 x 10³ m3

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Example 1.3

Water at a constant rate of 370 cumec was observed to be entering into Tarbela
Reservoir in a certain season. If outflow from the reservoir including infiltration and
evaporation losses is 280 cumec, find out the change in storage of reservoir for 10
such days. Also convert your answer into Hectare-Meter.

Solution
I = 370 cumec
O = 280 cumec
ΔS = ?
According to hydrologic equation,
I - O = ΔS / Δt
370 – 280 = ΔS / Δt =90 cumec
Δt =10 x 24 = 240 hours = 240 x 60 x 60 = 864x10³ sec
Total change in storage = ΔS = (ΔS / Δt) x Δt
= 90 x 864x10³ = 777.6x104 m3
= 777.6x104 / 104 = 777.6 Hectare-m

Water Budget in a Catchment

The water budget of a catchment is similar to budget of a country. The water budget
in a catchment can be given by hydrologic equation. If we take the inflow as the
precipitation „P‟ on the ground surface , outflow as interception losses „Li‟, surface
runoff „R‟ and evaporation „Le‟ and the change in storage due to Infiltration „F‟ and
Depression storage „D‟, the hydrologic equation is expressed as:

P - ( Li + R + Le ) = D + F
or R = P - ( Li + Le + D + F )
R = P- The Losses.
R=P-L

If all the quantities on right-hand-side of the above equation could be measured, the
surface runoff of a given catchment as result of a known precipitation could easily be
determined. But unfortunately, it is very difficult to get these values directly. The

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hydrologists have therefore evolved a number of direct and indirect techniques to find
the rainfall - runoff relationship described by the above equation.

Example 1.4

A part of catchment area of Hub River measuring 78 km² received 100 mm of rainfall
in 3 hours due to a storm. A drainage stream joins this part of catchment to the Hub
River. The stream was dry before rainfall and there was flow in the stream for a
period of 2.5 days with an average discharge of 10 cumec. After the storm runoff, the
stream again became dry. Find the losses, direct runoff and total runoff in cumec and
Hectare-meter.

Solution

According to hydrologic equation,

Area of catchment A= 78 km2 =78x106 m2
P = 100 mm =0.1 m
Q = 10 m3/sec
t = 2.5 days = 2.5 24x60x60 sec
Total runoff = PxA = ( 0.1 ) x 78 x 106 = 7.8x106m3
= 7.8x106 / 104 = 780 Hectare-m
DRO = 10x2.5x24x60x60=2.16x106 m3=216Hectare-m
L=P-R = 7.8x106 - 2.16x106 = 5.64x106m3
= 564 Hectare-m

Example 1.5

Assume that Mangla Reservoir has surface area of 39 sq. km in the beginning of a
certain month and the water depth is 76.20 m for this whole surface of the lake.
Further assume that sides of reservoir are nearly vertical. Now in that month the
reservoir received an average inflow of 226.50 cumec as a direct runoff, and direct
precipitation of 125 mm. The outflow from the reservoir was 170 cumec and
evaporation and seepage losses were estimated to be 113 mm during that month. Find
out depth of reservoir at the end of that month and total increase or decrease in the
storage.

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Solution

The hydrologic equation will be applied to solve this water budget related problem.

Δt = 1 month = 30 x 24 x 60 x 60 = 2.592x106 sec.

Total inflow as direct runoff = I x Δt = 226.50 x 2.592x106 m3
= 587.088x106 m³
Addition from precipitation = precipitation x surface area of reservoir
= (125/10³)x39x106 = 4.875x106 m3
Total outflow = O Δt = 170 x 2.592x106 = 440.64x106 m3
Losses = ( Evaporation + Seepage ) x Surface area of reservoir
= (113/10³)x39x106 = 4.407x106 m3
Now the total change in volume of storage
= total volume of inflow + total volume of precipitation – ( total volume
of outflow + total volume of losses )
=587.088x106 + 4.875x106 – ( 440.64x106 + 4.407x106 )
= 146.916x106 m3
Change in depth of reservoir = change in storage / surface area
= 146.916x106/ 39x106=3.77 m
Depth at the end of month = depth in the beginning + change in depth
= 76.20 + 3.77 = 79.97 m

Application of Hydrology to Environmental Problems

Most of environmental aspects are directly or indirectly related to water. Floods have
environmental effects, droughts affect the environment, constructing a dam or a
barrage has environmental effects, groundwater pollution affects environment. All
forms of life are water-dependent. Land, air and water are interrelated. As world‟s
population is increasing, living standards are rising and the recreational demands are
growing, as a result of which, there are new developments in industry and food
production. Due to these man-made activities, water demands are increasing and the
environment is changing day by day. Planning and development of sustainable water
resources has become a challenging job for hydrologists. It is very important to
understand the hydrologic process in order to develop water resources with least harm
to the environment.

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Questions

1. Write a note on importance of Hydrology in Civil Engineering.

2. Explain “Hydrologic Cycle”.

3. What is Hydrologic Equation?

4. What is meant by Catchment Area, Why is it studied? Do Basin and

Watershed mean the same? Explain.

5. Define the term Runoff and describe various units to express runoff.

Exercise

1. During July, 1996 monthly inflow to Tarbela Reservoir was 20 billion

cubic meters and outflow was 18.70 billion cubic meters. Find the rate of
change of storage and change in storage during the period.

2. At Basha Reservoir the storage volume is 11,410 million cubic meters at

elevation of 1,180 m. If inflow is 11,500 cubic meters per second. Find the
time to fill the reservoir up to mentioned elevation. Assume that losses are
negligible.

3. Mangla Lake had a water surface level of 650 m above a datum at the
beginning of a certain month. In that month the lake received an average
inflow of 250 cumecs. There was an outflow of 150 cumecs. In the same
month, the lake received a rainfall of 150 mm and the evaporation from
the lake surface was 5 cm. Using hydrologic equation, estimate the water
surface elevation of the lake at the end of the month. Assume the lake
surface area as 450 hectares and that there was no contribution to or from
the groundwater storage.

4. A catchment area of 100 Sq. Km. in Gilgit received a rainfall of 12 cm

from a 3-hours storm. At the outlet of the catchment, a natural stream had
a steady flow of 10 cumecs before the storm and experienced a runoff
lasting for 20 hours with an average discharge value of 90 cumecs. The
stream was again to its original steady state with a flow of 10 cumecs.
Estimate the losses and ratio of runoff to precipitation.

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