Introduction to Engineering

Hydrology

Dr. Rallapalli Srinivas, Department of Civil Engineering

Engineering Hydrology, CE F321
Learning outcome
• History of Hydrology
• Water Resources Assessment
• Water Resources Planning
• Various applications of Hydrology
• Introduction to climate change and irrigation
• Systems thinking
• Hydrologic Cycle
 History
 Period of Speculation (prior to 1400 AD): Many hydraulic
structures were known to have been constructed e.g., Arabean
wells, Persian Kanats (qanats) (underground channels), Egyptian
and Mesopotamian irrigation projects, Roman aqueducts, Water
supply and drainage projects in Indus valley.
 Period of Observation (1400 – 1600 AD)
 Period of Measurement (1600 – 1700 AD): Measurement of
rainfall, runoff, evaporation and study of artesian wells were taken
up.
 Period of Experimentation (1700 – 1800 AD): New discoveries
like Bernoulli ’ s piezometer, pitot tube, Current meter, Borda ’ s
tube, Chezy’s formula and D’Alembert’s principle etc.
 History
 Period of Modernisation (1800 – 1900 AD): Darcy’s law,
Dupuit-Thiem ’ s well formula, Weir discharge formula,
Kutter’s determination of Chezy’s C, Manning’s equation
 Period of Empiricism (1900- 1930 AD)
 Period of Rationalisation (1930 – 1950 AD): Use of Unit
Hydrograph, Horton ’ s determination of rainfall excess,
Theis well hydraulics, Gumbul’s extreme value frequency
etc.
 Period of Theorisation (Since 1950): Water resources
Development Center (WRDC), World Meteorological
Organisation (WMO), International association of Scientific
Hydrolgy (IASH), National Institute of Hydrology (NIH)
 HYDRO means water
LOGY means science
What is Hydrology is the science that deals with the occurrence,
hydrology? circulation and distribution of water above and below earth’s
surface, their chemical and physical properties, and their
reaction with their environment, including their relation to
living things. The domain of hydrology embraces the full life
history of water on the earth.
What is hydrology?
Hydrologic cycle (basics)
Hydrologic cycle (basics)
WHY DO I NEED TO STUDY HYDROLOGY?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sds3dB-hA8E
Kedarnath floods (2013)
Kerala floods (2019)
Tehri dam
Droughts
Agricultural
water
management
Culvert design
Designing drainage
River water management
Applications of Hydrology
The earth system

Earth's four spheres:

• Lithosphere (solid earth)
• Atmosphere (air blanket)
• Biosphere (living organisms)
• Hydrosphere (water)

Freshwater:
Hydrosphere:
Ice 97%
Oceans 97% Groundwater 27%
Freshwater 3% Lakes 0.5%
Atmosphere 0.001% Soil water 0.15%
Rivers 0.005%
 Oceans
97.4%
Glaciers, Ground Lakes,
Snow & water swamps &
permafrost 1.05% rivers
1.525% 0.025%

The world’s water resources

At present we are using recklessly

underground water
 World population increased 300% in 20th
century and use of water increased 700%
 Since 1950 the world population has doubled
but water consumption has increased six-fold
 Water use will increase 50% over 2005 level by
2035
 Even though 2.4B people got access to safe
drinking water for first time during 1990s,
estimated 1.7B people still lack safe drinking
water
 A number of major rivers around the world
including the Colorado, Rio Grande, Indus, and
Yangtze no longer reach the sea consistently
 Approximately 2M tons of human waste is
released annually into rivers and streams around
the globe
 Scarcity of water means

1
Increased pollution load in
water bodies

2 Increasing land infertility

3 Decreasing forest cover

ALL THE ABOVE LEAD TO…

When water becomes scarce and per
capita water availability becomes
lesser and lesser –

water quality is
bound to become
inferior and…

diseases and ill

health cannot be
far off…
 INDIAN SCENARIO

WATER AVAILABLITY /PER PERSON

YEAR Cu. M.
1951 3450

1999 1250

2050 760

About 24 million ha area in India lies in the arid zone,

while the semi-arid regions are spread over an area of
60 million ha (encompassing most of Rajasthan). Area
of India is 3.287 million km2
Situation in India
Challenges for our country
Challenges for our country
Challenges for our country
Challenges for our country
 Products Amount of water

1852 m3/ton
Rice

Wheat 1105 m3/ton

Poultry 6000 m3/ton

Beef 16750 m3/ton

1 ton of steel 62601 gallon

1 car 36500 gallon

River linking project
Potential for hydropower
River modeling
Impact of climate change
 Impact of climate change
Agriculture
• 10-40% loss in crop production in India
• India could lose 4-5 million tons wheat production with every degree rise
temperature
• Up to 50% reduction in maize yields
• Rise in coconut yields
• Reduction in apple production
Forest
• Net Primary Productivity is projected to increase by 68.8% and 51.2% under the
respectively
• 39% of forest are likely to undergo vegetation type change
Human health
• Higher mortality from heat stress and vector/water-borne diseases
• Expanded transmission window for malaria
Systems thinking
Systems Thinking is a visualization approach to problem
solving,
Viewing "problems" as parts of an overall whole,
Rather than reacting to specific part(s), outcome(s) or
event(s) potentially contributing to further development
of unintended consequences.
Based on the belief that the component parts of the
whole can best be understood in the context of
“relationships” with each other & with other systems,
rather than in isolation.
 Water resources planning and management
1. Irrigation and drainage
2. Flood control
a) Urban drainage systems
b) River flooding, floodplain zoning
c) Reservoir management
3. Water supply
a) River and reservoir yield
b) Water quality
c) Groundwater resources
4. Hydropower
a) System operation
b) Reservoir design, spillway design
c) Environmental impact assessment
Water resources planning and management

• What maximum flows, after different years are expected

at a spillway, or a highway culvert in a city drainage
system?
• What minimum reservoir capacity will be sufficient to
assure adequate water for irrigation or municipal water
supply during droughts?
• How much quantity of water will become available at a
reservoir site, and when will it become available?
• What effects on the river water levels will be produced
after the construction of proposed reservoirs, levees or
any other controlling structures?
System Components, Planning
Scales and Sustainability

• The natural river subsystem in which the physical, chemical

and biological processes take place
• the socio-economic subsystem, which includes the human
activities related to the use of the natural river system
• The administrative and institutional subsystem of
administration, legislation and regulation, where the
decision and planning and management processes take
place.
Inadequate attention to one destroys the value
of any work done to improve the performance
of the others.
Interaction between subsystems,
• How land and water are managed in one part of a river basin can affect
the land and water in other parts of the basin.

• For example, the discharge of pollutants or the clearing of forests in the

upstream portion of the basin may degrade the quality and increase the
variability of the flows and sedimentation downstream.

• The construction of a dam or weir in the downstream part of a river may

prevent fish from travelling upstream. To maximize the economic and
social benefits obtained from the entire basin, and to ensure that these
benefits and accompanying costs are equitably distributed, planning
and management is often undertaken on a basin scale.
Global freshwater resources
Glaciers: A glacier is a huge mass of
ice that moves slowly over land.
Glaciers are often called “rivers of
ice
Groundwater: Water found
underground in the cracks and spaces
in soil, sand and rock. It is stored in and
moves slowly through geologic
formations of soil, sand and rocks
called aquifers.
Global freshwater resources
Freshwater lakes: Natural
freshwater lakes account for about
0.26% of freshwater resources.
Canada has 50% of the lakes
Reservoirs: Artificial lakes created
by man for irrigation, drinking
water, hydropower
Global freshwater resources
Wetlands: A wetland is a distinct ecosystem
that is flooded by water, either permanently
or seasonally. The primary factor that
distinguishes wetlands from other land
forms or water bodies is the characteristic
vegetation of aquatic plants, adapted to the
unique hydric soil.
Marshes are nutrient-rich wetlands
that support a variety of reeds and
grasses, while swamps are defined by
their ability to support woody plants
and trees. Bogs are characterized by
their poor soil and high peat content,
while fens have less peat and more
plant life than a bog. A lagoon is a
shallow body of water separated
from a larger body of water by reefs,
barrier islands, or a barrier peninsula.
A reef is a ridge of material at or near
the surface of the ocean. Reefs can
occur naturally. Natural reefs are
made of rocks or the skeletons of
small animals called corals. Reefs can
also be artificial—created by human
beings
Global freshwater resources
Rivers and streams: A river is
a large, flowing water body
that merges into a sea or an
ocean. The tributaries of a
river are known as streams,
creeks, and brooks.
 Hydrologic cycle (in detail)
• Hydrological cycle also known as Water cycle or Hydrolic
cycle is the continuous movement of water in different
phases on above or below the surface of land.
• Water never leaves the Earth. It is constantly being cycled
through the atmosphere, ocean, and land. This process,
known as the Water Cycle, is driven by energy from the
sun.
• The hydrologic cycle has a profound effect upon climate
prediction.
Components of Hydrologic cycle
Evaporation
Evapotranspiration
Condensation

• Condensation is the process by which

water vapor changes into water. Water
vapor condenses to form dew, fog or
clouds.
• Condensation takes place due to
cooling of air. As water (in the form of
gas) rises higher in the atmosphere, it
starts to cool and become a liquid
again.
• When a large amount of water vapor
condenses, it results in the formation of
clouds.
Transpiration
Precipitation
Infiltration
• Some precipitation seeps into
the groundwater and is stored in
layers of rock below the surface
of the Earth.
• This water stays there for varying
amounts of time. Some water
may evaporate into the
hydrologic cycle within days,
while other water will stay in the
ground for centuries or more.
• This process of precipitation
seeping into the groundwater is
called infiltration.
• It is measured in inches per hour
or millimeters per hour.
• It is measured using
infiltrometer.
Runoff
Storage components of hydrologic cycle

Transportation components Storage components

• Precipitation • Storage on land surface
• Evaporation (ponds, lakes,
• Transpiration depressions, rivers, etc.)
• Infiltration • Soil moisture
• Runoff • Groundwater
Water budget equation
• The quantities of water going through various paths of the
hydrologic cycle in a given system can be described by
the continuity principle known as water-budget equation

Catchment area
The area of land draining into a stream or a water course at
a given location. Also known as drainage basin, In USA it is
known as watershed
A catchment area is separated from its neighbouring areas
by a ridge called divide.
Catchment area
Let’s see these videos to understand better:
Video 1
Video 2
Water budget equation
Water budget equation
 Water budget equation
where L = losses = water not available to runoff due to
infiltration (causing addition to soil moisture and
groundwater storage), evaporation, transpiration and
surface storage.
Numerical
Solution
THANK YOU
Q&A