Watershed Engineering and Management-

Streamflow Measurement and Analysis

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Fall 2020
Discussion
 THE HYDROLOGIC CYCLE

**** CLOUD FORMATION

* * * *PRECIPITATION

EVAPORATION

SNOWMELT FROM
RUNOFF FALLING RAIN
WT

FROM WET
SPRING OVERLAND VEGETATION
FLOW AND
IL PUDDLES
INTERCEPTION TRANSPIRATION
FROM STREAMS
INFILTRATION
DEPRESSION AND
STORAGE OPEN WATER
WT
SOIL MOISTURE
WATER TABLE (WT)
WT

GROUNDWATER
BASE FLOW
STREAM
FLOW LAKE
OR
Several factors determine which pathways are followed by water: SEA

landscape position, soil type, vegetative cover, land use, landscape position and geologic
conditions underlying the watershed, and the intensity and rates of rainfall or snowmelt over
3 the
watershed.
 Water Flow into Stream Channels
Recall the definition of a watershed: All points enclosed within an area from which rain
falling at these points will contribute water to outlet

Water flows into a channel from the upper to lower reaches with the cumulative volume of water
in the channel increasing. At the outflow of any watershed, the magnitude of flow through each
of these pathways along the channel continuum determines the integrated streamflow response
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over time.
 Streamflow Regimes
Some rivers show a flow of water all the time, even long after the last rainstorm in the
watershed. Such a river is called a perennial stream. Other rivers flow for only a short time
after a rainstorm, and for the rest of time, usually most of the time, their beds are dry. Such a
river is called an ephemeral stream. Some rivers lie between these two extremes: during the
wetter part of the year they flow as a perennial stream, whereas during the drier part of the
year they flow as an ephemeral stream. Such a river is called an intermittent stream.

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Streamflow Regimes- Seasonal cycle
around the US

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 Hydrograph
A hydrograph is a graph showing the rate of flow versus time past a specific point in a river,
channel, or conduit carrying flow. The hydrograph is the response of a given catchment to a
rainfall input. It consists of flow in all the three phases of runoff, viz. surface runoff, interflow
and base flow and embodies in itself the integrated effects of a wide variety of catchment and
rainfall parameters having complex interactions.
Hydrograph has three characteristic regions: (i) the rising limb AB, joining point A, the starting
point of the rising curve and point B, the point of inflection, (ii) the crest segment BC between
the two points of inflection with a peak P in between, (iii) the falling limb or depletion curve
CD starting from the second point of inflection C

Typically groundwater feeds a perennial

stream, baseflow is the portion of streamflow
that comes from groundwater or other delayed
sources

What design information does the hydrograph

provide an engineer and what is it used for?
Peak flow
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 Discussion- Floodplain Development

What Is a Floodplain?
Floodplains are low-lying lands next to waterways that are naturally subject to flooding.
Special development standards apply to those areas that have been designated as the
“100-year floodplain.”

Flash Flood on the Santa Cruz River

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 Water Flow into Stream Channels

Following rainfall storms the hydrograph rises

in response to the quicker responding pathways of
flow to the stream channel.
The most direct pathway is channel interception.
Surface runoff, also called overland flow, is the
water that flows over the soil surface as the result
of flows from impervious areas on the landscape

In general, runoff is defined as “the water flow that

occurs when soil is infiltrated to full capacity and
excess water from rain, meltwater, or other sources
flows over the land”

Interflow is subsurface flow that is part of excess

precipitation that infiltrates but arrives at the stream
channel over a short enough period to be
considered part of the storm hydrograph
The sum of channel interception, surface, and interflow is called stormflow, direct
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runoff, or quickflow.
 Water Flow into Stream Channels

The stormflow volume is the sum of flow that is above baseflow and is directly attributed to a
particular rainfall or snowmelt event. Stormflow and flood studies do not normally attempt to
separate the pathways of flow; however, some insight into possible major pathways of flow can
be inferred by examining the stormflow response to large rainfall or snowmelt events in the
context of the magnitude, intensity and duration of rainfall, and the watershed antecedent
moisture conditions. 10
 Factors Affecting Stormflow Response

The factors that determine the magnitude of stormflow volume and peak flow can be
separated into those that are fixed and those that vary with time. 11
Factors Affecting Stormflow Response

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 Measuring streamflow- Definition
Runoff is defined as the water flow that occurs when soil is infiltrated to full capacity and
excess water from rain, meltwater, or other sources flows over the land. Runoff follows
terrain into streams to generate streamflow.
In mathematical terms, the variable Q is often used to represent the amount of runoff, and
measure it in volume, but express it as depth (usually in inches).

Streamflow is the flow of water in the streams, rivers and other channels. Discharge is
defined as the volume rate of flow within a river or stream, or as the rate of flow of runoff
that flows from (through) the exit point of a watershed.
In mathematical terms, the variable Q or q is also most often used to represent discharge,
much like runoff (so be careful to note which is which in your textbook and other reference
materials!). Discharge is typically expressed in units of cfs and cms.

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 Why is measuring streamflow important?

Streamflow is the primary mechanism by which water moves from upland watersheds to ocean
basins. Streamflow measurements or methods for predicting streamflow characteristics are
needed for various purposes.

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 Why is measuring streamflow important?

This webpage from the USGS Water Science School lists of reasons to measure streamflow.

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 Measuring Discharge
Most measurement of river discharge makes use of a simple equation that relates discharge Q
past a cross section to the area A of the cross section and the mean velocity U of flow past that
cross section:
A simple way of estimating discharge is to observe the time it takes for a floating object
that is tossed into the stream to travel a specified distance. Q = VA
where Q is the discharge (m3/s); V is the velocity (m/s); and A is the cross section (m2).

https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/water-science-school/science/how-
streamflow-measured?qt-science_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects

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 Measuring Discharge

For practical purposes, however, between 10 and 20

sections are commonly used depending on the
channel width.
 Measuring Velocity to Calculate Discharge
Velocity distribution in a channel is not uniform over the width and depth of the channel. The
greatest velocity occurs just under the water surface in the deepest part of the channel of a
straight reach and is zero along the boundary of flow. Velocity of the stream is usually
measured by a current meter with the following general rules:
1- Two measurements are made for each section at 20% and 80% of the total depth more and
then averaged for depths > 0.5 m.

2- One measurement is made at 60% of the depth for depths <0.5 m.

3- A current meter smaller than a standard current meter, such as a pygmy current meter, is
used to measure velocity of shallow streams less than about 0.5 m deep.

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The most critical aspect of stream gauging is the selection of a control section, that is,
a section of the stream for which a rating curve is to be developed. Information concerning
measurement of streamflow and analysis of streamflow data can be obtained from the US
Geological Survey. Also take a look at the Video 1 and 2
 Precalibrated Structures for Streamflow
Measurement
Precalibrated structures are often used on small watersheds, usually less than 800 ha in size
because of their convenience and accuracy. Because of their greater accuracy, weirs are often
used for gauging small watersheds, particularly those with low flows. Flumes are preferred
where sediment-laden streamflows are common.

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Precalibrated Structures for Streamflow
Measurement

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 Monitoring Streamflow in the United
States
The USGS National Water Information System is the primary portal to streamgage
data in the US.

https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/rt 22
 Ungauged Streams
An estimation of streamflow discharge can be needed for a variety of purposes, but frequently
hydrologists and watershed managers are concerned with the magnitude of flood flows.
Approximations of streamflow can sometimes be made by extrapolating information from a
similar basin that is instrumented with a gauge.

Two commonly used methods for estimating stream discharge at known stages (depths)
of flow where no stream gauge exists are the Manning and the Chezy equations. Manning and
Chezy equations are most often used to estimate a previous peak streamflow.

High watermarks located after a stormflow event

has ended can be used to estimate the depth of
flow. Sometimes, this estimate is obtained by
measuring the height of debris caught along the
stream channel
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 Estimating Peak Discharge
The most frequently needed result in surface water modeling is an estimate of peak discharge.
The rational method is commonly applied for estimating the peak stormflow discharge from
rainfall events occurring on small watersheds having relatively uniform land-use conditions.
-The simplest approach to predict the discharge is the Rational Method.
-This method was developed for small watersheds, usually undergoing urbanization (i.e. 40
hectares or 100 acres)

Qp peak stormflow discharges (m3/s);

C is the runoff constant (see Table 6.2 in the book);
Pg is the rainfall intensity (mm/h) of a storm with a duration at least equal to the time
of concentration (Tc) on the watershed;
A is the area of the watershed (ha);
Km is a constant, 360 for metric units (1 for English units).
Assumption:
- Storm duration must be equal to the time of concentration of the watershed (the time
needed for water to flow from the most remote point in a watershed to the watershed outlet).
- Rainfall intensity is uniform over watershed and over duration of storm.
- Runoff is invariant with time (i.e. soil conditions unchanging with time).

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 Estimating Peak Discharge
Procedure:

Step 1: Compute time of concentration for drainage catchment

Time of concentration (Tc) is the time required for the entire watershed to
contribute streamflow at the outlet or, more specifically, the time it takes for water to travel
from the most distant point on the watershed to the watershed outlet.

Step 2: Select design storm rainfall intensity from an IDF curve given a design frequency
and using the computed value for time of concentration as the duration.

Step 3: Determine the appropriate runoff coefficient

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Estimating Peak Discharge

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 Stormflow Response
The stormflow response of a watershed can be characterized by separating stormflow from
Baseflow.
Baseflow is a portion of streamflow that is not directly generated from the excess rainfall
during a storm event. In other words, this is the flow that would exist in the stream without the
contribution of direct runoff from the rainfall. Estimation of baseflow and direct runoff is
useful to understand the hydrology of a watershed, including interaction of surface and sub-
surface water, role of urbanization on runoff generation and the health of aquatic habitat within
a stream. The method presented here is applicable for a single peak hydrograph resulting from
a single storm event.

The stormflow volume is that portion of the

hydrograph above baseflow and is sometimes
called direct runoff or quickflow.

There are several methods have been devised for separating the base flow from the 27
annual hydrograph.
 Baseflow Separation
The stormflow volume is that portion of the hydrograph above baseflow and is sometimes called
direct runoff or quickflow. There is no universal standard of separating baseflow because flow
pathways through a watershed cannot be directly related to the hydrograph that represents the
integrated response of all flow pathways.

The area below the lines represent the contribution of base flow from the total runoff.

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 Stormflow Response

This hydrologic response relationship provides an indication of the stormflow response

or flashiness of a watershed to rainstorms. The hydrologic response for individual storms
can vary from less than 1% to more than 75% depending largely on the antecedent moisture
conditions (AMCs) of the watershed.

One of the central research questions in hydrology is how stormflow is generated. The
understanding of how rainfall generates runoff is relevant to many practical problems. For
example, understanding how stormflow is generated allows one to predict how the quantity, and
water quality, of the runoff changes with time, and when, and how steeply, runoff peaks. This
understanding then allows an assessment how land use and changes in climate affect these
features of a catchment's hydrology. This information is essential for sound decisions concerning
flood risk and land use management.

In practice, stormflow volume is determined by separating baseflow from the total streamflow
resulting from the storm event.

Barthold, F. K., & Woods, R. A. (2015). Stormflow generation: A meta‐analysis of field evidence from small, forested catchments. Water
Resources Research, 51(5), 3730-3753.

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 Stormflow Response

The stormflow response of a watershed to climatic variability, management practices,

and incidences of fire, insects, and disease can be characterized by calculating the average ratio
of stormflow volume to the amount of precipitation of the period of the stormflow.
By comparing stormflow response factors for watersheds with different vegetative cover and
land uses within the same climatic region, the flood-producing potentials for different areas can
be estimated.
Barthold, F. K., & Woods, R. A. (2015). Stormflow generation: A meta‐analysis of field evidence from small, forested catchments.
30 Water
Resources Research, 51(5), 3730-3753.
 Unit Hydrograph
One of the more widely used methods of analyzing stormflow is the UHG method. This
method was first introduced by Sherman in 1932.

A UHG is the hydrograph of stormflow resulting from 1 unit (1 mm 1 inch, or 1 in

depending on units used) of effective precipitation (direct runoff; exclude base flow)
occurring at a uniform rate for a specified time period and areal distribution on a
watershed.

The effective precipitation is the amount of rainfall or snowmelt in excess of watershed

storage requirements, groundwater contributions, and evaporative losses. In essence, it is
the portion of total precipitation that ends up as stormflow. Therefore, a unit hydrograph
shows the temporal change in flow, or discharge, per unit of runoff (effective
precipitation). The unit hydrograph is a useful tool in the process of predicting the
impact of precipitation on streamflow.

The UHG method is a black-box method that relates stormflow output to a specified
duration of precipitation input.

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 Unit Hydrograph –Why we need it?
The role of unit hydrograph theory in the flood prediction process is to provide an
estimate of streamflow given an amount precipitation.
Once we know how much rainfall or snowmelt has occurred, or is likely to occur, and we
have an idea of how much of this will turn into runoff, we still need to know how the flow
of a stream will be affected over time by that runoff. The Unit Hydrograph provides us
with a way to estimate this, and is an integral part of many hydrologic modeling systems.
The concept of unit hydrograph is based on linear systems theory and follow the
principles of superposition and proportionality. For example, if one inch of excess
rainfall produces a direct runoff peak of 100 cfs then two inch of excess rainfall with
produce a direct runoff of 2 x 100 = 200 cfs. Similarly if one inch of rainfall is followed
by two inch of rainfall, the hydrographs from both rainfall pulses are simply added after
accounting for the necessary time lag. The following figure demonstrates this concept.

The role of unit hydrograph in hydrology

is to provide an estimate of direct runoff
hydrograph resulting from given excess
rainfall hyetograph. In order to use unit
hydrograph as a tool for predicting direct
runoff hydrograph, we first need to
derive a unit hydrograph for a given
watershed. 32
 Unit Hydrograph-Creating a Unit
Hydrograph

A unit hydrograph can be derived from a total streamflow hydrograph at a given stream
gauge location along with the following information:
•The basin area
•The basin–averaged rainfall depth
•The duration over which the excess precipitation occurred
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http://ftp.comet.ucar.edu/
 Unit Hydrograph
Step 1: Select Appropriate Precipitation Event

When deriving a unit hydrograph it is important to start with an archived hydrograph

in which the quick–response runoff portion is from one single storm event. In addition,
that storm should have produced its excess precipitation with nearly uniform coverage
in space and time over the basin.
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 Unit Hydrograph
Step 2: Remove Baseflow Contribution

Recall that a unit hydrograph represents the quick–response runoff.

To make the unit hydrograph show the effect of the quick–response runoff only, we
need to separate out the baseflow portion.

Once we subtract out the baseflow component, the resulting hydrograph shows only the
contribution from excess precipitation, or quick–response runoff.

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 Unit Hydrograph
Step 3: Calculate Quick–Response Volume

The total volume of water from the quick–response runoff needs to be calculated.
This is done by summing the areas under the quick–response runoff hydrograph
for each time step, in this case, hourly.

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 Unit Hydrograph
Step 4: Determine Excess Precipitation Depth from the Basin

Once we have the estimated volume of the quick–response runoff for a basin, we need to
determine what basin–wide average depth would cause that volume. We do this by
spreading this volume out evenly across the entire basin. We derive this mathematically
by dividing the volume of the quick–response runoff by the area of the basin to get the
average depth of the excess precipitation.
For example, assume we have a basin area of 100 square kilometers, which is
100,000,000 square meters. Assume we calculated the volume of water from the quick–
response runoff to be 2,000,000 cubic meters. So dividing the volume by the area, or
2,000,000 cubic meters/100,000,000 square meters, we get 0.02 meters, or 2.0
centimeters. This 2 centimeters is the average depth of excess rainfall over the basin.
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 Unit Hydrograph
Step 5: Adjust the Quick–Response Hydrograph
The excess precipitation depth probably won't be exactly one unit as unit hydrograph
theory requires. So, we have to adjust the quick–response runoff hydrograph to show
what the response from one unit would be. We can determine the adjustment by simply
dividing the hydrograph unit (in this case, one) by the excess precipitation. We then use
this adjustment factor to convert the points on the hydrograph to the unit hydrograph.

For example, our unit hydrograph depth measurement is 1 cm, and we just calculated
the excess precipitation depth to be 2 cm . That gives us an adjustment factor of 0.5,
which we can use to calculate each data point in the hydrograph.
Once we multiply each point on the hydrograph by our adjustment factor of 0.5, our
resulting unit hydrograph is for exactly 1 cm of excess precipitation. Note that for a
hydrograph the Y–axis shows flow, such as cubic meters per second (cms). For a unit
hydrograph, the Y–axis shows flow per unit, for example, cms per cm .

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 Unit Hydrograph Step 6: Determine Duration
The duration of a unit hydrograph refers to a continuous time period during which one
unit of excess precipitation occurred. If it took 6 hours for the one unit of excess to
occur, we have a 6–hour unit hydrograph. Remember, the unit hydrograph duration
does not refer to the duration of the streamflow response. Recall that the water that
infiltrates and percolates into deeper storage and baseflow is not part of excess
precipitation. We can estimate this portion of the precipitation by applying a constant
loss function to the rainfall. Recall that we have already calculated the depth of the
excess precipitation to be 2.0 cm . Now, we need to know how long it took for that excess
to occur. So we move this loss function line such that the amount of precipitation above
the line is equal to the depth of excess precipitation that we already calculated for the
basin. Below that line the precipitation goes to long–term storage. Above the line is the
excess precipitation.

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 Unit Hydrograph Final Unit Hydrograph

Now we have an excess precipitation bar graph. Note that there are only 6 hours
represented, compared to 9 hours in the original total rainfall graph. That means the
excess rainfall duration is 6 hours, thus we will derive a 6–hour unit hydrograph.
Notice that the amounts from hour to hour on this graph are not truly uniform. This is
typical.
For purposes of calculating a unit hydrograph duration, however, we assume that all
excess precipitation occurred uniformly in time.

At the end of these steps, we have a 6–hour unit hydrograph. It shows the streamflow
response to 6 hours of excess precipitation that produced one unit of depth.
A rainfall–runoff model for a real event would incorporate the information from this
unit hydrograph to predict the streamflow.

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Unit Hydrograph

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 Unit Hydrograph-Rainfall Magnitude
Variations
How do we adapt a unit hydrograph for a storm with variations in rainfall magnitude
over time?
Here we have a 6–hour unit hydrograph where 1 depth unit of excess rainfall results in a
peak flow shown here in green. But we actually had 2 depth units of excess precipitation
in that 6 hours.
So we apply a simple proportional adjustment so that 2 depth units result in a peak flow
that is 2 times greater than with 1 depth unit.
Similarly, 0.5 depth units of excess precipitation would cause a flow magnitude only half
of the magnitude that one depth unit of excess precipitation would cause.

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 Unit Hydrograph-Rainfall Duration
Variations
You may have a 6–hour unit hydrograph, but your current storm only produced 1 hour
of excess precipitation. There are certain methodologies that can be applied to the
available unit hydrograph to produce a unit hydrograph of either longer or shorter
duration. The "Lagging" and "S–Curve" methods are two examples of these
approaches. It is also called summation curve, as it is obtained after summation of
infinite number of D-h UHGs lagged by D-hour. Its shape is in English word “S”
therefore it is named as the S-curve. This is used as a method to derive the UHG of any
effective rainfall (ER) duration using a given ER duration UHG. The ordinate of S –
curve at time segment is the sum of all the ordinates of D-hour falling at the time
segment.

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 Unit Hydrograph-Synthetic Unit Hydrographs
Application of the UHG method can be limited on many watersheds because both rainfall and
streamflow data must be available as mentioned earlier. Because streamflow data are often not
available, synthetic UHG methods have been developed. These methods consist of
mathematical expressions that relate measurable watershed characteristics to UHG
characteristics. Streamflow hydrographs for ungauged watersheds can be estimated with
synthetic UHG models if loss rates can be approximated.

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 Streamflow Routing
In simple terms, streamflow routing is a way to describe the movement of water from one
point to another along a river. Furthermore, the shape, speed, and magnitude of a flood wave
change as it moves down stream and more drainage is accumulated. Routing is the process of
predicting the shape of a hydrograph at a particular location in a channel, reservoir, or lake.
That hydrograph shows the effect of a measured or estimated flow—or discharge— at some
other location, typically upstream. One important factor in determining how streamflow varies
along a stream is the geometry of the channel and flood plain.

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