Question 1

In a certain alluvial basin of 100 km2, 90 Mm3 of ground water was pumped in a year and the ground water
table dropped by about 5 m during the year. Assuming no replenishment, estimate the specific yield of the
aquifer. If the specific retention is 12%, what is the porosity of the soil?

Question 2

A river is subject to annual flooding. Based on the observed annual maximum, over the last 50 years, the
data plot as a straight line on a semi-log paper (provided by your instructor), with a return period plotted
on the logarithmic scale. The maximum recorded flood is 1400 m3/s and the minimum is 200 m3/s. The
design discharge selected was 1400 m3/s. What is the probability of the design discharge being exceeded
during the next 20 years? Use the Weibull plotting position formula.

Question 3

A 50 km long finger lake is subject to wave action with given heights and return periods (as shown below).
A hydro station is located downstream of the lake and can accept a 20% risk that its protective barrier will
be overtopped by waves at least once in a 20-year period. Determine the minimum height of the barrier.

Wave height (m) 4 3 2.5 2 1.5

Return period (years) 100 50 30 15 10

Question 4

The average annual peak streamflow at a site with a 25 year record is 1000 m 3/s with a standard deviation
of 400 m3/s. For a 50-year recurrence interval, estimate the magnitude of the 50-year flood.

Question 5

The analysis of annual flood peaks on a stream with 60 year of record indicates that the mean value of the
annual peaks is 800 m3/s. The standard deviation of the peaks is 120 m3/s.

(a) Find the probability of having a flood next year of magnitude equal to or greater than 1120 m3/s.
(b) What is the probability that at least one flood of such magnitude or greater will occur during the
next 25 years?
(c) What is the magnitude of a flood with a recurrence interval of 20 years?

Assume normal distribution is applicable.

Question 6

The mean of the annual flood peaks on a given river is 1000 m3/s and the standard deviation of these flood
peaks is 170 m3/s. What is the probability of a flood equalling or exceeding 1150 m3/s within the next 5
years on this river?

Question 7

A man starts pumping a 45-cm-diameter well at a constant rate. In the first 60 days of pumping the
drawdown is 3 m. What additional drawdown might be expected if the pumping were to be continued for
another 60 days at the same rate? Assume the well penetrates an artesian aquifer 40 m thick. The aquifer
consists of sandstone having a coefficient of permeability of 4.1 m/day.

Question 8

To pump water from a confined aquifer, a well is constructed. Two observation wells, OW1 and OW2 are
constructed at a distance of 100 m and 1000 m, respectively. Water is pumped from the pumping well at a
rate of 0.2 m3/min. At steady state, drawdown is observed as 2 m in OW2 and 8 m in OW1. Determine the
hydraulic conductivity, K, and transmissibility, T, if the aquifer is 20 m thick.

Question 9

Statistical analysis of the annual floods of the Finger River (1876-1968) using normal distribution yielded the
100-yr and 10-yr floods as 42800 and 22700 m3/s, respectively.

Determine:

(a) the magnitude of a 20-yr flood

(b) the probability of a flood of magnitude 35000 m3/s
i. occurring in the next 10 years,
ii. in the next year itself

Question 10

Assume that an aquifer being pumped at a rate of 1.36 m3/min is confined and pumping test data are given
as follows. Find the coefficient of transmissibility T and the storage coefficient S. Assume r = 17.0 m.

Time since pumping started (min) 1.3 2.5 4.2 8.0 11.0 100.0
Drawdown, Z (m) 1.4 2.5 2.8 3.7 4.6 8.8

Question 11

Given an initial infiltration capacity fo of 7.4 cm/hr and a time constant k of 0.28 hr-1 derive an infiltration
capacity versus time curve if the ultimate (final) infiltration capacity is 1.3 cm/hr. For the first 8 hours,
estimate the total volume of water infiltrated in inches over the watershed.

Question 12

The direct surface runoff volume from a 11.0 km2 drainage basin is determined by planimeter from the area
under the hydrograph to be 285 m3/s-hr. The hydrograph was produced by a 4.3 cm/hr rainstorm with a
duration of 5 hr. Determine

(a) the net rain and

(b) the φ-index

Question 13

Over a period of 30 years a particular agricultural watershed was urbanized. Before urbanization with
particular antecedent conditions the average loss rate may be assumed to have been 7.62 mm/hr.
The 1-hr unit hydrographs for this watershed were determined to be approximately as follows:

Before urbanization

115 m3/s
3 hr 6 hr

(a) Determine the area of the watershed in hectares

(b) Show the hydrograph of the flow for a 2-hr storm in which 12.7 mm of rain fell during the first hour
and 15.24 mm during the second hour. Assume a uniform loss rate and neglect base flow.

Question 14

The following are the ordinates of the 9-hour unit hydrograph for the entire catchment of the Kafubu
Stream:

Time 0 9 18 27 36 45 54 63 72 81 90
(hr)
Flow 0 69 1000 210 118 74 46 26 13 4 0
(m3/s)

The catchment characteristics are: A = 4480 km2, L = 318 km, Lca =198 km

Derive a 3-hr unit hydrograph for the catchment area of the Kafubu River up to the head of the Kafubu
Dam, approximately 284 km downstream of the source. The catchment characteristics of this sub-
catchment are:

A = 3780 km2, L = 284 km, Lca = 184 km

Use Snyder’s approach.