Hydrology, PAE 2020

1. Water Cycle, Watershed

 Hydrology
-It is the science which deals with occurrence, distribution and movement
of water on the Earth including that in the atmosphere and below the
surface of the Earth.

Formal Definition

-Also includes effects on human activities on the occurrence, distribution

and movement of water

- Usually also includes aspects of wáter quality

-Provides the theoretical background to Water Resources Management

and part of key Civil Engineering competences
Water Availability

World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP), March 2012.

Video on Water Availability
Water Cycle and its components

Precip.

Runoff

River
Water Cycle and its components
Spanish (Sanchez San Roman, 2017)

Percolación Esc. superficial + hipodérmica =

Esc. Directa (Direct Flow)
Ascension
Recarga Capilar

Esc. subterránea = Esc. Base (Baseflow)

1674 – Perrault (Seine River, France), runoff measurements, surface

water hydrology
1857- Darcy (France), theory of groundwater flow
Water Cycle and its components
Chow, 1964)

Water cycle--- always in movement!!!

1.Transpiration, 2. Condensation, 3. Precipitation, 4. Infiltration,5. Subsurface flow
(interflow, throughfall, flujo hipodermico), 6. Surface runoff, 7. Groundwater flow,
8. Evaporation
Video on Water Cycle
 Water Subcycles

Rapid Cycle. (“visible”)

Surface water in rivers, lakes or oceans evaporates
and forms clouds, that are moving and finally
release condensated water
Process time Hours to Days

Slow Cycle (“invisible”). Water infiltrates

and emerges on the surface after long time
periods.
Process time Months to Thousands of Years

Geological Cycle. Water trapped in

geological structures („fossil“)
Process time to Milions of Years
Streamwater/groundwater interactions

may vary with time

Gaining stream Losing stream Disconnected Stream

Precipitation/Runoff Relationship

Precipitation
Hyetograph

Discharge time

River

Water Table time

Hydrograph
 Watershed (Basin, Drainage Basin,
Catchment, Cuenca)

Salida
Outlet (Gauge)

- any area of land where precipitation collects and drains off into a common
outlet, such as into a river, lake, bay, or other body of water.

- PRINCIPAL UNIT of water balance and other hydrological studies

Watershed (Basin, Drainage Basin,
Catchment, Cuenca)

Many watersheds are not closed – there are water inputs and
outputs from/to other watersheds

Musy et al, 2001)

 Watershed (Basin, Drainage Basin, Catchment, Cuenca)
Topographical Divide

Includes groundwater flow

(hydrogeological watershed)
Hydrogeological Divide

from 1000 km2 of size, the real watershed is

typically equal to the topographical watershed
Musy, 2001
Water Balance

- Quantification of the water cycle components in a given watershed over a given

time (month, year,…)
- Balance of Inputs and Outputs (Mass conservation), in a common unit (mm)
Following mean annual values were determined in a watershed of 2400 km2:
precipitation 780 mm, runoff 553 Hm3 (=553 x 106 m3). No water inputs or
outputs from/to other watersheds. Compute the mean annual
evapotranspiration in this watershed.

Runoff depth
(lámina) =

Evapotranspiration
 Water Balance
∙ in an ideal natural basin
P = ET + R + ∆S
Precipitation, Evapotranspiration, Runoff, Storage

Condicions:
-no inputs/outputs from/to other catchments (impermeable background)
-∆S = cero over a long period of time (decades)
.

in a highly exploited basin

P-ET (Hydric Availability) = Hydric Demand + ∆ (Hydric Surplus or
Deficit)
Additional reading (Sidweb)
Sanchez San Román, F.J. (2017): Hidrología Superficial y Subterránea.

R=?
The following monthly water balance of a lake (area 107 m2) is presented:
River inflow 7 x 105 m3/month
River outflow 8 x 105 m3/month
Pumping for irrigation 10 L/s
Precipitation monthly 6 cm
Evaporation monthly 10 cm

There are no other superficial inflows or outflows.

As a result of the balance, the lake level has dropped within that month by
3cm.

Compute the subsuperficial+groundwater inflow to the lake within that month,

in mm.

Input: 70mm + 60 mm + x
Output: 80mm + 100mm + 2.6 mm
Delta S = -30 mm
X=approx 23 mm
Watershed Size
 Factors that affect the shape of a hydrograph
2 neighboring watersheds – same area, same rainfall amount.
However, the runoff responses of the watersheds are different. Why?
Discharge (caudal)

Time
Factor Steepness

A B
Factor Stream Density
Factor Watershed Shape

B
A
 Basin Compaction Index ( Index of Gravelius)

KG close to 1 – round
watershed shape, rapid
runoff
Factor Meandering Stream
A
B
Factor Roughness, Urban Areas
Hydrograph A

A
B
Hydrograph B
Factor Land Use,Vegetation

B
A
 Factor Geology and Soils
Hydrograph B Hydrograph A

Arena Limo Arcilla

 Stream Order System (Horton 1945, Strahler, 1957)
Read in Chow (1988), p.166 to 170

i…stream order

Law of Stream Numbers

Law of Stream Lengths

Law of Stream Areas

The coefficients serve for comparison of
basins (for example, when predicting high flow
in an unknown basin using data from a known
basin)
Ephemeral Stream (Corriente efímera)
a stream that flows only briefly during and following a period of rainfall in the
immediate locality (approx. 30 days/ year)

Zapotal River, Sta. Elena Province, Ecuador

 Endorheic and Exoreic Basins
Endorheic basin - watershed that allows no outflow to other external
bodies of water, such as rivers or oceans , but converges instead into lakes or
swamps, permanent or seasonal, that equilibrate through evaporation.

Okawango
Titicaca

Exoreic basin - watershed that allows outflow to other external bodies of

water, such as rivers or oceans
 Stream Channel Structure

Cuenca Alta

Colecction Cuenca Media

of eroded Cuenca Baja
materials Transport of
eroded Deposition of
materials eroded
materials

U.S. EPA, 1991