CE4022 Hydraulic Design

2018 Intake - Semester 6

Lecture Note 3-2 Module: CE 4022 –
Catchment Delineation Hydraulic Design

Dr. H. G. L. N. Gunawardhana
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering Group
Department of Civil Engineering

July 2022
What is the Definition of Watershed?
Catchment Area / Watershed / Drainage Basin…

• This is the basic hydrologic unit for most

water related studies and investigations
• The area of land draining into a stream or a
water course at a given location (single outlet)
is called catchment area / drainage area /
drainage basin / watershed.
• A catchment area is separated from its
neighboring areas by a ridge called drainage
divide.
Catchment Delineation
 Watershed Parameters
Watershed length: a measure of the travel time of water through a
watershed. The watershed length is therefore measured along the principal
flow path from the watershed outlet to the basin boundary.

Length to the centroid of area: The distance measured along the main
channel from the basin outlet to the point on the main channel opposite the
center of area.

Channel slope: The elevation difference between the endpoints of the main
channel divided by the channel length.

Watershed slope: The average land slope of the watershed should not to be
confused with the slope of the flow path. It can be determined as follows.

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 Digital Elevation Models (DEM)
❑ Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) are grids of elevation.
❑ Watershed delineation can be based on DEMs rather than contour lines.

Source: Abesinghe et al., (2017)

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/313771386
 DEMs for hydrology

slope

altitude

aspect

drainage basins stream networks

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 Watershed and Watershed Divide

Watershed/
catchment
Watershed/
catchment
Watershed delineation
❑ Contours close together indicate a steep slope.
❑ Contours far apart indicate a gentle slope.
❑ So, the direction of flow is always perpendicular to the contour lines, since
this is the steepest slope
 Watershed Delineation
When contour lines cross a stream, they form a “V” that always points uphill

Identify the watershed outlet. Mark with .

Mark high elevation points with

Trace outline of watershed, connecting high points.

Cross contours at right angles. Form a closed

and continuous boundary.

A drainage boundary will not intersect a stream

or flow path except at the drainage area outlet.