Lecture 2.

The Water Balance

or Budget
Todd and Mays-Chapter 1
Fetter-Chapter 2, 6
Schwartz and Zhang-Chapter 2
The Global Hydrologic Cycle
Fundamental Water Balance
Equations
∆ =� −�
• Where ∆ = ℎ� � �

•∆ = �� � + � + � �� −
� � � �� + � +
� �� + ��
Inflow Components
• Rainfall
• Uniform and non-uniform
• Scale issues
• Sources of data
• In the United States use
• U. S. Weather Bureau
• Federal Aviation Administration
• Water Management Districts
• Forestry services
• Radar/satilite data
Inflow Components
• Rainfall
• Sources of data
• In various global regions use:
• Country weather services
• Water management agencies
• United Nations Stations
• International aid organizations
• Satellite data
• Radar data
Inflow Components
• Rainfall
• Accuracy of rainfall data
• Gage type
• Tipping bucket with recording transducer system
• Standard fixed bucket type
• 6-inch or 8-inck diameters
• Satellite data-duration of sampling time
• Radar-station spacing
• Length of record in years
• Event recording
Inflow Components
• Rainfall
• Statistical treatment in basin studies
• Scale issues
• Distribution of gaging stations
• Contouring of isohyetal lines
• Thiessen polygon method
• See Chapter 2 in Fetter (2001)
Inflow Components
• Groundwater
• Horizontal flow
• Unconfined vs. confined
• Darcy calculation method
• Flo et ethods usi g Da cy’s la
• Modeling methods
• Vertical flow
• Leakance issue
• Darcy calculation method
• Flo et ethods usi g Da cy’s la
• Modeling methods
Inflow Components
• Groundwater
• Horizontal flow calculated using the
Darcy formula beginning with the top in
the unconfined aquifer and the then
semiconfined aquifers that are vertically
connected and may influence basin in
flow
• Vertical flow is calculated using the Darcy
equation
• Interaction between groundwater flow
and streams
• Explained in next lecture
Inflow Components
• Surface water
• Types of flow contributing to
streams
• Runoff
• Interflow
• Base flow
Inflow Components
• Surface water
• Stream flow measurements into basins
• Gaging stations
• Rating curves and recording
• Overland flow measurements into basins
• Cannot be directly gaged
• Ma i g’s E uatio esti ates
• Surface water flow modeling
Inflow Components
• Surface water
• Gaining and losing streams
• Gaining streams receive flow from
discharging groundwater
• Base flow of the streams comes from
groundwater
• Losing streams contribute water into
basins
• The stream stage is above the water
table
• Most common in arid regions
Outflow Components
• Evaporation
• Direct discharge of water vapor from water or
ice (sublimation)
• Free-surface evaporation
• Measurement is difficult
• Pan method
• New laser technologies
•Effects of ate depth a d te pe atu e
•Effects of egetatio
•Effects of sali ity i c ease
Outflow Components
• Evaporation
• Water loss via soils
• Diffusive loss
• Soil type
• Capillarity
• Hel ig’s experiments in sandy soils
• Maximum depth of diffusive loss
Outflow Components
• Transpiration
• Evaporative loss through plants
• Loss through leaves
• Evaporative loss of rainfall trapped in
vegetation
• Phreataphytes
• Plants that have roots which continuously
grow downward below the water table
• These plants produce large water losses in
arid lands and in some trophic settings (25
million acre-feet per year of loss in the US
West)
• Examples: Saltceder, greasewood, willow,
cottonwood, alfalfa, alder
Outflow Components
• Evapotranspiration (ET)
• Potential ET
• Actual ET
• Site measurement technique
• Lysimeters
• Isolated plots with transducers
• Barrel experiments with individual plants or
crops
• Estimation techniques for landscapes
• Thornthwaite (1944)
• Thornthwaite and Mather (1955; 1957)
• Penman (1948)
• Blaney-Criddle (1950)
Outflow Components
• Evapotranspiration (ET) Estimation by the
Thornthwaite (1944) method
� a
• = . ) ,Where
��

•�= . 3-0.0000441(TE)2 +
0.01792TE + 0.49239
• U= evapotranspiration for a given period (e.g.,
cm/month or consumptive water use)
• T=mean monthly temperature in 0C
• TE= Tho th aite’s temperature-efficiency index
being equal to the sum of 12 monthly values of
� 1.514
the heat index � = ) , where t in the mean
5
monthly temperature in 0C
Outflow Components
• Evapotranspiration (ET) Estimation by the
Penman (1948) method
��+ . 7�
• = , where
�+ . 7
• = .3 ɘa -ɘd )(1=0.00098w2)
• H=R(1-r)(0.18+0.55s)-B(0.56-0.092ed0.5)(0.10
+ 0.90s)
• U=evapotranspiration, mm/day
• A=slope of saturated water vapor pressure
curve of air at absolute temperature in 0F
• H=accumulated degree-days above minimum
growing temperature for growing season or
accumulated degree-days of maximum daily
temperature above 320 for growing season
Outflow Components
• Evapotranspiration (ET) Estimation by the
Penman (1948) method
��+ . 7�
• = , where
�+ . 7
• = .3 ɘa -ɘd )(1=0.00098w2)
• ɘa=saturation vapor pressure at mean air
temperature in mm of Hg
• ɘd=saturation vapor pressure at mean dew point
(actual vapor pressure in air) in mm of Hg, being
equal to ɘa multiplied by relative humidity in
percent
• W2 =mean wind velocity at 2 m above the ground
in miles/day or equal to w is measured wind
velocity in miles per day at height h in feet
Outflow Components
• Evapotranspiration (ET) Estimation by the Blaney-
Criddle (1950) method
�
• = = ℎ = �
• U=evapotranspiration, monthly in inches
• K=annual, seasonal or monthly consumptive use
coefficient
• p=percent daytime hours of year occurring during
period divided by 100
• t=mean monthly temperature in 0F
Outflow Components
• Extinction depth is the maximum depth of
the water table position that is affected by
evapotranspiration water loss.
• Maximum root penetration
• Affected by phreataphyte vegetation,
which may have no extinction depth until
bedrock is penetrated
• Can change with time as landscape
vegetation changes
Outflow Components
• Groundwater
• Horizontal flow
• Unconfined vs. confined
• Darcy calculation method
• Flo et ethods usi g Da cy’s la
• Modeling methods
• Vertical flow
• Leakance issue
• Darcy calculation method
• Flo et ethods usi g Da cy’s la
• Modeling methods
Outflow Components
• Groundwater
• Horizontal flow calculated using the
Darcy formula for the uppermost
unconfined aquifer and the then for
hydraulically-connected, underlying,
semiconfined aquifers that may
influence basin in flow
• Vertical flow calculated using the
Darcy equation
• Explained in next lecture
Outflow Components
• Surface water
• Stream flow measurements out of basins
• Gaging stations
• Rating curves and recording
• Overland flow measurements out of basins
• Cannot be directly gaged
• Ma i g’s E uatio esti ates
• Surface water flow modeling
Effects of Man on Water Balance
1) Direct consumptive water use
• Withdrawal from surface water and remove
from system (no return flow)
• Withdrawal from groundwater and no return
flow to source aquifer
• Pump from either source and transport from
system
2) Direct water use with return flow (partially
consumptive)
• Pump from unconfined aquifer with irrigation
inefficiency
• Pump from semiconfined aquifer, irrigate
unconfined aquifer (partial recharge)
Effects of Man on Water Balance
3) Damming of streams or rivers
• Alteration of flows
• Increase in surface area causing increased
evaporative losses
• Irrigation canals (unlined or lined)

4) Drainage enhancement/flood control

• Canals and ditches can reduce water levels
• Canals and ditches alter the main channel flows
in streams
• Causes over-drainage of unconfined aquifer