Module 1: Hydrologic Principles

UNIT 1: INTRODUCTION TO HYDROLOGY

Accomplish the pre-assessment quiz. Identify the processes that make-up the water
cycle as shown.

1. _______________

2. _______________

3. _______________

4. _______________

5. _______________

6. _______________

7. _______________

8. _______________

9. _______________

Explore hydrological parameters that are regularly measured and monitored in the
Philippines by browsing the link below:

http://bagong.pagasa.dost.gov.ph/about-us/national-meteorological-and-hydrological-services

This leads you to the website of PAG-ASA (Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and
Astronomical Services Administration), the National Meteorological and Hydrological
Services (NMHS) agency of the Philippines. You will also find links to similar agencies in
other countries of the world such as Japan, China, and India.

Try to browse over a few and look at the similarities of monitored data between these
agencies. Reflect on the significance of hydrological data in applications in civil
engineering, specifically in water resources projects.

Property of and for the exclusive use of SLU. Reproduction, storing in a retrieval system, distributing, uploading or posting online, or transmitting 14
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise of any part of this document, without the prior written
permission of SLU, is strictly prohibited.
 Hydrology is a branch of Earth Science. It is defined as a multidisciplinary subject that
deals with the endless occurrence, circulation, storage, and distribution of surface and
ground water on the earth.

1965-1974 was declared the International Hydrological Decade. Intensive efforts in

hydrologic education research, development of analytical techniques and collection
of hydrological information were promoted on a global basis in universities, research
institutions, and government organizations.

When knowledge of hydrology is used to assess, develop, utilize and manage water
resources, it may be referred to as Applied Hydrology. This includes applications in civil
engineering such as, the design and operation of hydraulic structures, water supply,
wastewater treatment and disposal, irrigation, drainage, hydropower generation, flood
control, navigation, erosion and sediment control. But as it specifically deals with
surface water movement and distribution in space and time, it is likewise referred to as
Surface Water Hydrology; in contrast to Groundwater Hydrology that deals
with water below the surface of the Earth.

The Hydrologic Cycle

The hydrologic cycle is the central focus of hydrology. The cycle has no beginning or
end, and its many processes occur continuously.

(Watch the videos on the hydrologic cycle posted on your Google Classroom or saved in
your USB-OTG learning packet. Take down notes on the pertinent processes mentioned
and visualize their occurrence)

As shown in these videos, water is evaporated from water (lakes, rivers, oceans) and
land (vegetation, soil) surfaces; these moist air masses moves inland until it condenses
to produce precipitation. The precipitation falls from clouds and is dispersed over the
land surface that may be intercepted by vegetation, become overland flow over the
ground surface, infiltrate into the ground and flow through the soil as subsurface flow,
percolate deeper into the soil and flow as ground water, or move in a downward-
gradient direction to accumulate in local streams or rivers discharge into streams as
surface runoff. All these flows eventually emerge in springs or re-enter streams that finally
flow out to the sea where the hydrologic cycle continues.

The sequence of processes may seem simple but it is quite a complex cycle. It is not
one large cycle but a large number of interrelated paths of varying time scales within
continental, regional and local extent. And although the global water content remains
constant, water distribution within these smaller units gradually change due to factors
such as change in land use, climate change and intervention of human activities.

Property of and for the exclusive use of SLU. Reproduction, storing in a retrieval system, distributing, uploading or posting online, or transmitting 15
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise of any part of this document, without the prior written
permission of SLU, is strictly prohibited.
 The figure below provides some insight on the dynamics of the hydrologic cycle of the
annual global water balance relative to an annual land precipitation of 100 units. It can
be seen that 61 percent of this precipitation is lost to evaporation and the remaining 39
percent to surface runoff; and about 90 percent of atmospheric moisture comes from
the oceans.

For most practical problems, a simplified way of analyzing hydrologic phenomena is by

the systems concept. When we perceive the hydrological cycle as a system or a set of
connected parts that form a whole, we may consider at a time, a small portion of the
earth’s surface and the few processes that occur within it. The basic hydrological unit
within which all measurements, calculations, and predictions are made in hydrology is
the watershed.

A watershed, drainage area, or river basin is

the area of land draining in a stream or a
water course at a given location. It is
delineated from its neighboring areas by
tracing the ridge or divide, on a
topographic map. The boundary set on the
ground surface is assumed to coincide with
the subsurface divide.

(Train yourself to recognize catchment areas by looking through satellite imagery on

Google. A good starting point would be a river. Pick any river and then zoom in/out to
identify and trace back the mountain ridges where rainwater would drain from. Follow the
ridge until the boundary of the catchment area closes)

Property of and for the exclusive use of SLU. Reproduction, storing in a retrieval system, distributing, uploading or posting online, or transmitting 16
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise of any part of this document, without the prior written
permission of SLU, is strictly prohibited.
 Here’s one that you may want to try out! Do you see the mountain ridges? These are the highest
elevations on the topography. Can you trace out the catchment area that drains to the river?
Do you see other catchment?

Typical watershed area shapes are either

elongated or concentrated. The difference
in shape affects timing and peak flow of
runoff to the outlet. In general, the larger the
watershed area, the greater the surface
runoff rate, the greater the overland flow
rate, and the greater the stream flow rate.

Formulas developed to relate peak flow to watershed area will be discussed in later
sections of this Module.

The Water Balance

When a watershed is represented as a hydrologic
system, a water budget may be developed to
account for the flow pathways and storage
components. This is called the water budget
equation,
𝒅𝑺
𝑰−𝑸 =
𝒅𝒕

Where: 𝐼= inflow, 𝑄= outflow and = change in storage, are in CFS or m3/s

Property of and for the exclusive use of SLU. Reproduction, storing in a retrieval system, distributing, uploading or posting online, or transmitting 17
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise of any part of this document, without the prior written
permission of SLU, is strictly prohibited.
 Another expression for the water budget in a watershed for a time interval may be
written as:
𝑷 − 𝑹 − 𝑮 − 𝑬 − 𝑻 = ∆𝑺

where: 𝑃= precipitation, 𝑅= runoff, 𝐺= net groundwater flow, 𝐸= evaporation,

𝑇= transpiration and ∆𝑆= change in storage

Note that infiltration 𝐹 cancels out in the equation since it is lost from the surface but
gained back in the groundwater. A runoff coefficient may be defined by the ratio of
runoff and precipitation over any watershed.

Typical units for the water budget equation are as follows:

Flow rate CFS or m3/s

Time seconds, day, month, year
Depth inches or mm
Area acres, mi2, km2

Illustrative example 1. For a given month, a 300-acre lake has 15 cfs of inflow, 13 cfs of
outflow, and a total storage increase of 16 ac-ft. A USGS gage next to the lake
recorded a total of 1.3 in. precipitation for the lake for the month. Assuming that
infiltration loss is insignificant for the lake, determine the evaporation loss, in inches, over
the lake for the month.

For a time interval of a month, we first write down

the water balance equation using the lake
surface, treated as if it were a watershed on its
own, as the reference for inflow and outflow.
Hence precipitation is inflow while evaporation is
outflow so that from,

𝑑𝑆
𝐼−𝑄 = → 𝑷 + 𝑰 − 𝑸 − 𝑬 = ∆𝑺
𝑑𝑡

Since we are looking for evaporation loss in inches, we may as well adopt this as the
unit to be used across the equation. Thus, precipitation remains 𝑃 = 1.3" the other
parameters still need to be converted.
For inflow and outflow which are given in cfs, we divide these by the lake’s surface area
to convert it to depth per month.

𝑓𝑡 12𝑖𝑛 60𝑠 60𝑚𝑖𝑛 24ℎ𝑟 30𝑑

15 × × × × ×
𝑠 𝑓𝑡 𝑚𝑖𝑛 ℎ𝑟 𝑑 𝑚𝑜
𝐼= = 35.7025 𝑖𝑛𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠
43560𝑓𝑡 12𝑖𝑛
300𝑎𝑐 × ×
𝑎𝑐 𝑓𝑡

*Note that a month is taken as having 30 days and since this is the set time interval, all
answers are relative to this month.

Property of and for the exclusive use of SLU. Reproduction, storing in a retrieval system, distributing, uploading or posting online, or transmitting 18
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise of any part of this document, without the prior written
permission of SLU, is strictly prohibited.
 𝑓𝑡 12𝑖𝑛 60𝑠 60𝑚𝑖𝑛 24ℎ𝑟 30𝑑
13 × × × × ×
𝑠 𝑓𝑡 𝑚𝑖𝑛 ℎ𝑟 𝑑 𝑚𝑜
𝑄= = 30.9421 𝑖𝑛𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠
43560𝑓𝑡 12𝑖𝑛
300𝑎𝑐 × ×
𝑎𝑐 𝑓𝑡

For total storage increase, the unit is given as acre-ft. Since acre represents area and ft
represents depth, their product gives acre-ft, a common way of indicating volume in
hydrology. To convert this to depth per month, we simply divide the volume by the area
of the lake surface,
16 𝑎𝑐𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑡 12𝑖𝑛
∆𝑆 = × = 0.64 𝑖𝑛𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠
300𝑎𝑐 𝑓𝑡

Substituting our values in the equation,

𝑃 + 𝐼 − 𝑄 − 𝐸 = ∆𝑆

1.3 + 35.7025 − 30.9421 − 𝐸 = 0.64 𝑬 = 𝟓. 𝟒𝟐𝟎𝟑 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒉

Illustrative example 2. A lake had a water surface

elevation of 103.2 m above datum at the beginning of a
certain month. In that month, the lake received an
average inflow of 6 m3/s from surface runoff sources. In the
same period, the outflow from the lake had an average
value of 6.5 m3/s. Further in that month, the lake received a
rainfall of 145 mm and evaporation from the lake surface
was estimated as 6.10 cm. Write the water budget
equation for the lake and calculate the water surface
elevation of the lake at the end of the month. The average
lake area is 5000 ha. Assume that there is no contribution
to or from groundwater storage.

Similar to the previous problem, we first establish the water

budget equation,
𝑃 + 𝐼 − 𝑄 − 𝐸 = ∆𝑆

To determine the change in the water surface elevation of the lake, we need to
determine the change in volume storage in the lake that transpired over the given
month. In this case, we will use volume as our unit of measurement.

To convert inflow and outflow given as discharge rates, we simply multiply the time
interval which is one month.

𝑚 30𝑑 24ℎ𝑟 60𝑚𝑖𝑛 60𝑠

𝐼= 6 × 1𝑚𝑜 × × × × = 15552000 𝑚
𝑠 𝑚𝑜 𝑑 ℎ𝑟 𝑚𝑖𝑛

Property of and for the exclusive use of SLU. Reproduction, storing in a retrieval system, distributing, uploading or posting online, or transmitting 19
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise of any part of this document, without the prior written
permission of SLU, is strictly prohibited.
 𝑚 30𝑑 24ℎ𝑟 60𝑚𝑖𝑛 60𝑠
𝑄 = 6.5 × 1𝑚𝑜 × × × × = 16848000 𝑚
𝑠 𝑚𝑜 𝑑 ℎ𝑟 𝑚𝑖𝑛

To convert rainfall and evaporation to their equivalent volumes for that month, we
multiply the depth by the lake area and the time interval,

145𝑚𝑚 𝑚 10000𝑚
𝑃= × 5000ℎ𝑎 × = 7250000 𝑚
𝑚𝑜 1000𝑚𝑚 1ℎ𝑎

6.10𝑐𝑚 𝑚 10000𝑚
𝐸= × 5000ℎ𝑎 × = 3050000 𝑚
𝑚𝑜 100𝑐𝑚 1ℎ𝑎

Substituting in 𝑃 + 𝐼 − 𝑄 − 𝐸 = ∆𝑆,
7250000 + 1552000 − 16848000 − 3050000 = ∆𝑆 ∆𝑺 = 𝟐𝟗𝟎𝟒𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝒎𝟑

The answer indicates that there was an increase in the volume of water stored in the
lake over the month, thus, an increase in the water surface elevation. To determine this
change in elevation, we divide the volume by the surface area of the lake,

∆𝑆 = ∆𝑉 = ∆𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑣 × 𝐴 2904000 𝑚 = ∆𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑣 × 5000ℎ𝑎 × ∆𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑣 = 0.0581 𝑚

To determine the lake’s water surface elevation at the end of the month,

103.2 + 0.0581 = 𝟏𝟎𝟑. 𝟐𝟓𝟖𝟏 𝒎 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒎

Give these problems a go! Illustrate your solution.

1. A swimming pool (20 ft X 20 ft X 5 ft) has a small leak at the bottom. You are
given measurements of rainfall, evaporation, and water level on a daily basis for
10 days. As an engineer, use the water balance to determine the average daily
leakage out of the swimming pool in ft3/day. Assume the pool is exactly 5 ft (60
inches) deep at the end of day 1.

DAY 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Evaporation, in 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5
Rainfall, inches 1.0 2.0 4.0
Measured Water level, in 60 52

2. In a given month, a watershed with an area of 1500 m2 received 100 cm of

precipitation. During the same month, the loss due to evaporation was 15 cm.
Ignore losses due to transpiration and infiltration due to ground water. What
would be the average rate of flow measured in a gage at the outlet of the
watershed in m3/day?

Property of and for the exclusive use of SLU. Reproduction, storing in a retrieval system, distributing, uploading or posting online, or transmitting 20
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise of any part of this document, without the prior written
permission of SLU, is strictly prohibited.
 Accomplish the self-evaluation checklist for Unit 1.

I understand the definition of hydrology.

I browsed the PAG-ASA website.
I watched the videos on water cycle in its entirety.
I am able to distinguish between the different processes in
the hydrologic cycle.
I can clearly delineate a catchment from a Google map.
I understand and can formulate the water budget equation.
I am able to solve problems on the water budget equation.
I posted a comment on the forum.

Individual Coursework:
Journal Paper Review in CE 3141 Hydrology

Look for a journal article published within year 2006 to present. The journal paper/ article
should be on case studies of engineering projects that failed due to improper
assessment of hydrologic aspects such as failure of hydraulic structures: dams, levees,
dikes; flooding, water shortage, saline intrusion, etc.

Browse on open access journal internet sites or on e-sources from the SLU library on the
topic you chose. Download the journal/ research article. Please do not purchase the
journal/ research article, it is not necessary.

Make sure that you are not reviewing the same paper as any of your classmates. To
facilitate this, an enlistment will be posted on the Google classroom to collect your
name and the title of the journal you intend to review. The sooner you have one, the
better.

The requirement is to critique and review the journal article. Below is a suggested step-
by-step procedure on how you could accomplish this successfully.

1. Read the article.

This is usually a short read. Start by just reading the abstract, introductory statements of
each paragraph and then the conclusions.

Property of and for the exclusive use of SLU. Reproduction, storing in a retrieval system, distributing, uploading or posting online, or transmitting 21
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise of any part of this document, without the prior written
permission of SLU, is strictly prohibited.
 2. Read the article again.

This time, read the entire article, reread it several times until you get the gist of the
paper. When you are ready, start taking down notes on the essential parts and
highlights. You may need to do additional research and reading to understand these as
you are required to comment and have your own opinions on the article and the topic.

3. Try to rewrite the article in your own words.

Do not copy the article verbatim. Review your notes and delete items you deem
unnecessary.

4. Compose your journal review. Check the assignment guide for the content of
your paper.

Property of and for the exclusive use of SLU. Reproduction, storing in a retrieval system, distributing, uploading or posting online, or transmitting 22
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise of any part of this document, without the prior written
permission of SLU, is strictly prohibited.