Water Yield is defined as 

the average amount of fresh water that runs off in an

unregulated watershed. the ability of rocks saturated to their full moisture capacity to
give up part of the water by free flow under the influence of gravity.

Water yield is an estimate of freshwater input (for example, rain, snow and snowmelt)
flowing into streams and rivers. Many factors affect water yield, including
precipitation, temperature, watershed size and location, and primary water source (in
other words, rainfall or snowmelt).

It is also the amount of water which a stream supplies for the satisfaction of human
requirements such as drinking, agriculture, hydropower production, livestock
management, and development.

Criteria for streams water yield for the human requirement is that water should be
supplied in:

 Quality of Discharge
 Runoff regime

The amount of any changes in water yield can affect both natural ecosystems and
communities. For example, spring flows between April and June that are driven by
snowmelt and rain are important for water management strategies such as filling
reservoirs to redistribute water to typically lower-flow seasons. July to September
summer flows are critical for economic sectors such as agriculture, and recreational
pursuits such as fishing and boating. October to December represent autumn flows,
which are typically low as temperatures drop and precipitation shifts from rain to
snow. Winter flows (January to March) are typically the lowest of the year and are
maintained by groundwater stores from the previous spring and summer, but are
critical for aquatic ecosystems and municipal uses.

Two types of water quantity parameters are evaluated for each hydrometric station:

Annual water yields – tell us the total amount of water every year (October 1 to
September 30).

the difference between the precipitation that falls in that watershed and total
evapotranspiration, assuming that there is no net storage in vegetation or soils over the
course of a year

Seasonal water yields – give us an indication of winter, spring, summer and autumn
water availability.

estimates the amount of water produced by a watershed, arriving in streams over the
course of a year.

Annual and seasonal yields on unregulated rivers are primarily affected by climate
variability, while regulated rivers may be affected by both climate variability and
water management strategies (for example, hydroelectric dams).
As a result of the effects of forest vegetation on rainfall interception and increased
evapotranspiration, water yield usually increases when forests are transformed into
systems with lower biomass and decreases after revegetation processes. However, the
hydrological impact of these processes varies greatly and depends on several factors,
mainly:

Climate conditions. The impact of forest clearance on water yield is higher in humid
than in drier climates. The main reason for this is that, under wet climate, differences
in evapotranspiration rates between land covers are larger. In an extensive modeling
and metaanalysis study using worldwide hydrological data from a large number of
experimental catchments, showed that, for annual precipitation below 500 mm, the
differences in water loss (including both transpiration and interception processes)
between forest cover and short vegetation were very small. It is worth noting that for
the Mediterranean basin, large areas on the southern rim are classified as arid or
semiarid, with annual precipitation below 300 mm. In these areas, characterized by
very high evapotranspirative demand and low precipitation, water loss to the
atmosphere may be similar for all types of natural vegetation cover. In addition, wet
climates frequently contain a period of water surplus, which allows water recharge in
deep soil layers that may favor subsequent water release, particularly in open areas
and cleared forests [57]. However, the effects of clearance are shorter in wet climates
because vegetation recovers strongly and more rapidly [56, 58].

The extent and spatial distribution of the land-cover disturbance. a review carried out
in the United States reported a minimal threshold of forest reduction at the catchment
scale between 20% and 50% before significant changes in water yield are detected. In
oak forests under Mediterranean conditions of the western United States
(California), showed that a 14% reduction in tree cover had no significant effect
on streamflow. A similar result was found for an oak forest in Turkey, where an 18%
reduction of forest cover caused no significant increases in river discharge.

Soil characteristics and depth. In his review of forests and water,

Andréassian [57] indicated that the effects of a change in vegetation cover are
particularly noticeable where the soils are deep enough, as the volume of water
extracted by forest trees (with deep roots) is higher than that extracted by shorter
vegetation. In addition, both Cosandey [61], in the French Massif Central, and
Stednick [58], in paired catchments distributed all over the United States, suggested
that if the (high) permeability that characterizes forest soils is maintained after forest
clearance, tree removal will only have a very small impact on water yield.

Characteristics of the vegetation. In their review, Bosch and Hewlett [56] indicated

that the impact of forest clearance was greater for conifers, followed by deciduous
hardwood forest and scrubs. These results were confirmed by Sahin and Hall [62],
who showed that, for the same level of reduction in tree canopy cover, the resulting
increases in annual water yield were higher for conifers (20–25 mm/year) and
deciduous hardwood forest (17–19 mm/year) than for scrubs or eucalyptus cover (5–
6 mm). Andréassian [57] argued that the effects of forest thinning on water yield may
also depend on the age and physiology of vegetation, as tree transpiration is
sometimes much higher in young individuals than in older trees. He illustrated these
effects with an example of eucalyptus plantations, where water yield decreased
rapidly after 2 years of tree clearance due to strong transpiration by young eucalyptus
trees. These are important considerations when assessing the hydrological impact of
revegetation on abandoned farmlands, as the new forest may comprise pioneer and/or
introduced species with different physiological characteristics from the original tree
vegetation

In arid and semiarid areas, the impact of a change in vegetation cover on water yield
should be small, given the negligible differences in evapotranspiration between
different types of vegetation. However, some authors have indicated that the water
yield effects of land-cover management can be reinforced for semiarid woodlands
located in (i) areas where the water table is close to the ground surface, as tree and
shrub vegetation can transpire important amounts of water in these locations; (ii) areas
with a mismatch of rainfall and evapotranspirative demand between cold and warm
periods (as in the Mediterranean region), because this favors water recharge to the
deep soil layers during the cold/wet period, and (iii) areas where soil/bedrock
properties allow a rapid vertical transmission of water to deep layers and stores.

Water Governance
The emphasis of water management has been on more efficient extraction and the
increase in the water yield of river systems by increasing built infrastructure,
including increasing dam capacities and building new dams, pipelines, and water
transfer tunnels. Other technology options to provide more water could include the
reuse of domestic waste water and desalination of seawater and acid mine water.
Water governance has not emphasized demand-side management or the
implementation of new technology to reduce water needs. The absence of a
conservation program strongly affects the ability to respond to water shortages
(Blignaut and van Heerden, 2009). The effects of human population growth and of
effective governance appear to be much more important than climate change in
determining the short-term and medium-term demand on water.

 Water Yield Assessment

The water yield of a watershed may either be measured directly on a single outlet on
the main stream or be calculated through empirical equations based on important
physical properties of a particular watershed. Using the directly measured runoff
values is, of course, the best way, but since it takes a long time and investments, the
empirical method is preferred in applications.

The methods of water yield assessment

Direct Measurement Method: Water Yield can be roughly calculated by dividing the
mean annual volume of stream flow (expressed in cubic meters per year) that is
produced in a nested watershed (expressed in square kilometers).

The area of a nested watershed can be determined using the following approach:
 Fig. 11.1. Direct Measurement Method for Water Yield Estimation.
(Source: Alberta Water Portal, 2013)
The watershed associated with Station 1 (orange area in the Figure on the left) has a
nested area of 15 km2 and a gross area of 15 km2 (they are the same, as no further
upstream watershed exists).

The watershed associated with Station 2 (green area in the Figure on the left) has a
nested area of 10 km2 and a gross area of 25 km2 (sum of this green watershed and
the upstream orange watershed).

The water yield can also be expressed in mm, as both precipitation and evaporation
are typically expressed in mm. For example, a watershed with 1,000 mm annual
precipitation, and an annual 40%, (i.e. 400 mm), water loss due to evaporation, would
have a water yield of 600 mm per year.

Water Budget Approach: Water yield from watersheds with deep soils and high
infiltration capacities can be estimated with a water budget approach. Soil moisture
storage characteristics govern the relationship between precipitation and water yield.
Monthly values of precipitation and potential evapotranspiration (PET) are the only
data required in this method. Soil moisture storage characteristics can be estimated
from soil textural properties and the effective rooting depth of vegetation. The
difference in precipitation and PET is considered roughly as the water yield from the
watershed.
Upstream-Downstream Consideration: Increasing water yield from upland watersheds
does not necessarily result in a significant increase in water yield at downstream
reservoir sites or locations where water is extracted from the channel. As the distance
increases between treated watersheds and the storage reservoir, opportunities for
water losses from surface and channels (lateral and vertical losses of water from
channels’ sections) increase as well. Riparian or phreatophyte vegetation along stream
courses can result in large losses of water by transpiration. Likewise, transmission
losses (leakage) within the channel can exceed any water yield increases from
upstream areas, particularly in the case of ephemeral streams. Transmission losses can
be approximated by:

1. Estimating the hydraulic conductivity of stream bottom material

2. Applying the hydraulic conductivity to the total area that is wetted by flow, and
3. Applying the above for the time duration of flow

Benefits of Water Yield Assessment

The benefits of water yield assessment can be listed as below

 The assessment of water yield provides reliable information on availability of

water resources (surface and ground water) to plan their extraction and uses.
 It integrates the land processes affecting the water movement above and below
the ground surface and thus reflects the management of watershed physical
properties required to improve the water yield.

 It provides information of interactions between head watershed to the tail

watershed and thus provides a view on whether to develop conservation measures
at head watershed to the tail watershed.

 It provides information on water availability at a particular location of watershed

as annual, seasonal and at even smaller time scale. This can be well used for
planning the water use activities.

 Provides an idea on surface and ground water interaction in the watershed.