4.

Watershed Hydrologic Budgets

4.1 Watershed (Catchment area)

A watershed is an area of land that drains or “sheds” water into a specific water body. Every
body of water has a watershed. Watersheds drain rainfall and snowmelt into streams and
rivers. These smaller bodies of water flow into larger ones, including lakes, bays, and oceans. It
is also known as drainage area or drainage basin.

fig 2. Catchmen area

4.2 Hydrologic equation/ Water balance equation

The hydrologic equation is simply the statement of the law of conservation of matter and is
given by,

This equation states that during a given period, the total inflow into a given area must equal
the total outflow from the area plus the change is storage.

While solving this equation, the ground water is considered as an integral part of the surface
water and it is the subsurface inflow and outflow that pose problems in the water balance
studies of a basin.

1- Water budget (balance) equation for surface water:

2- Water budget (balance) equation for groundwater:

3- Water budget (balance) equation for hydrologic system:

Q and P are the only quantities that we can try to measure directly. If steady state is assumed,
these measurements can be used to calibrate models of evapotranspiration and groundwater
flow.

From an engineering point of view we are interested in understanding what controls Q.

In terms of rainfall-runoff relationships,

R = P-L
All the terms in the equation have the dimensions of volume. Alternatively, these terms can
also be expressed in the unit of depth, e.g. m, cm, mm.

 To convert depth to volume, multiply depth by catchment area.

 To convert flow rate to volume, multiply flow rate by time duration.
 To convert volume to depth, divide the volume by catchment area.

Solved Examples

Example 1

This is also known as the runoff coefficient

2. A river each had a flood wave passing through it. At a given instant the storage of water in
the reach was estimated at 15.5 ha. What would be the storage in the reach after an interval of
3 hours if the average inflow and outflow during the time period are 14.2 m 3/s and 10.6 m3/s
respectively

Solution:
Initial Storage= 15.5 ha. = 15.5 x104 m3

Inflow rate= 14.2 m3/s

Inflow volume in 3 hours= 14.2 x 3x 60x 60 = 153360 m 3

Outflow rate= 10.6 m3/s

Outflow volume in 3 hours= 10.6 x 3x 60x 60 = 114480 m3

Final Storage=?

From the water budget equation,

Inflow-Outflow= Change in storage

Inflow-Outflow= Final storage-Initial Storage

153360-114480 = Final storage-15.5 x 104

Final Storage= 38880+15.5×104 = 193880 m3

3. How much irrigation is required during the growing season if the crop requires 850 mm of
water for optimal production? How many liters of water will be pumped if the field is 10 ha?

Solution

Inputs – Outputs = Change in Storage

Inputs = precipitation (500 mm) + irrigation (?)

Outputs = runoff (15 mm) and deep seepage (50 mm)

Change in storage = Water required by plants (850 mm)

(500 + I) – (15 + 50) = 850

Irrigation = 415 mm
Liters of water = 415 mm * 10 ha

= 0.415 m * 100,000 m2

= 41500 m3 = 41,500,000 L

Home work

1. Estimate the constant rate of withdrawal from a 1375 ha reservoir in a month of 30 days
during which the reservoir level dropped by 0.75 m in spite of an average inflow into the
reservoir of 0.5 million m3/day. During the month the average seepage loss from the reservoir
was 2.5 cm, the total precipitation was 18.5 cm and total evaporation was 9.5 cm.