MODULE 1

(CE 107 – Hydrology

OVERVIEW

HYDROLOGY & This module introduces the concept of hydrology

and the hydrologic cycle.
HYDROLOGIC CYCLE

LEARNING OUTCOMES
Engr. Leo M. Sauro, D.M.
(+63)-9451136579 Students should be able to understand the field of
leomsauro@gmail.com hydrology and the hydrologic cycle and its significance in
the field of engineering.

INTRODUCTION

Hydrology is the study of water

Water is one of our most important natural

resources. Without it, there would be no life on earth. The
supply of water available for our use is limited by nature.
Although there is plenty of water on earth, it is not always
in the right place, at the right time and of the right quality.
Adding to the problem is the increasing evidence that
chemical wastes improperly discarded yesterday are
showing up in our water supplies today. Hydrology has
evolved as a science in response to the need to
understand the complex water systems of the Earth and
help solve water problems. Hydrologists play a vital role
in finding solutions to water problems, and interesting and
challenging careers are available to those who choose to
study hydrology.

DEFINITION OF HYDROLOGY

 The science of hydrology encompasses the

behavior of water as it occurs in the atmosphere,
on the surface of the ground, and underground.

 In its broadest sense, hydrology is the study of

water in all its phases and includes hydraulics, the
physics and chemistry of water, meteorology,
geology and biology.

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  As used by scientists and engineers, the word
hydrology usually has a considerably narrower
connotation and this is defined as that branch of
physical geography which is concerned with the
origin, distribution, movement and properties of the
waters of the earth. The study of hydrology thus
concerns itself with the occurrence and
transportation of water through air, over the ground
and through the strata of the earth and this
includes three important phases of what is known
the hydrologic cycle, namely: rainfall, runoff and
evaporation.

 However, engineering hydrology includes those

segments of hydrology pertinent to the design and
operation of engineering projects for the control
and use of water.

HYDROLOGY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

The most important uses of hydrology in the field of

water resources engineering, are in the structural and
hydraulic design of water control structures, irrigation and
drainage systems, hydropower generation, flood control,
erosion control and pollution abatement.

Structural and Hydraulic Design

In any type of reservoir, provision must be made

for passing flood flows over or around the dam. The
spillway section capacity, the height of dam, downstream
protection works, etc. depend on the correct assessment
of flood flow and routing. An underestimate may result an
unsafe design and an overestimate may lead to
unnecessary expenditure.

Irrigation and Drainage Systems

The hydrologic problems in irrigation are similar to those

in water supply but on a larger scale. Today, we
increasingly find ourselves confronted with limiting
conditions because of more ambitious program of
irrigation and complexities of the problem correspondingly
increase. On some rivers, water requirements to irrigate
the available farmable land far exceed the total flow and
the downstream projects have to depend on return flow
from upstream projects.

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 More and more, the hydrologist is called upon to evaluate
new projects in areas where the margin of safety is
already low or to discover new sources of water for
projects in difficulty or to develop more economical
methods of water use.

On the other hand, because of the uncontrolled siltation

in rivers, streams and other bodies of water, flooding of
prime agricultural areas, especially rice lands, have been
already frequently experienced during the rainy season.
To make these areas once again productive even during
the rainy months, flood waters should be drained. Hence,
drainage systems should be designed properly
considering the hydrologic conditions in the area.

Hydropower Generation

Hydrologic studies are essential to the planning of any

water power development and for many existing plants,
the operating schedule is dependent on a perpetual
hydrologic inventory and prediction system. To
determine the feasibility of a “run-of-the-river” plant,
operating with pondage, just sufficient to tide over the
peak demand hours of each day, a reliable prediction is
needed of the absolute minimum daily flow that may be
expected of the stream and of the percentage of time that
various other low rates of flow may be expected to exist.
For the “storage plant”, low seasonal flows rather than
low daily flows are the important parameters and
reservoir drawdown studies must be made to determine
the prime power possibilities of the site and relative
economics of various heights of dam and capacities of
turbine generator units.

Flood Control

Flood control projects range from small

improvements such as localized dredging or channel
straightening to gigantic, basin-wide development
involving outlays of money. For such projects, it is
necessary first to analyze statistically the probable
frequency of floods of various magnitudes so that
potential future flood losses may be predicted. Then, a
“design flood” must be synthesized and a variety of
preliminary plans prepared for works that might protect
against it. After this, a number of the more promising
alternatives must be studied in detail, either analytically or
by means of hydraulic methods.

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 Closely allied to flood control is flood prediction. These
forecasts which achieve a remarkably high degree of
accuracy are the joint work of hydrologists and
meteorologists.

Erosion Control

Erosion control is basically allied to the

sedimentation of reservoirs, the problem which affects
reservoir operation and its life. Reservoir sedimentation
is a function of the quality of runoff water from
watersheds. The higher the rainfall intensity, the more
soil sediments are carried by the runoff water.

Pollution Abatement

The enormous growth of population and large scale

industrialization in many countries of the world have
brought about many public health problems, not the least
important of which is that of the pollution of streams.
Many rivers downstream from cities have become open
sewers dangerous to public health and destructive of fish
and other wild life and natural beauty. Complete
prevention of stream pollution, although possible on some
streams, is not economically feasible. It is here that the
hydrologist comes to the assistance of the sanitary
engineers. A complete stream pollution control study
must include an investigation of stream flow, particularly
the magnitude and duration of low flows. In some
instances, the augmentation of low flows by means of
reservoir, has proven to be at least as important to the
control of stream pollution as have investments in
additional sewage-treatment plants.

THE HYDROLOGIC CYCLE

Hydrologic cycle is the descriptive term applied to the

general circulation of water from the seas to the
atmosphere, to the ground and back to the seas again.
Beginning with evaporation from the water surfaces into
the atmosphere, the vapor condenses by various
processes, causing precipitation on the earth surface, of
which a part is retained on land in the soil, the surface
depressions and on vegetation, and again returns to the
atmosphere by evaporation and transpiration and the
balance does back into the sea through devious surface
and underground channels. A diagram of the hydrologic
cycle is shown below.

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 Source: https://www.bing.com/images/search?
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Fig. . The hydrologic cycle.

The hydrologic cycle continuously keeps a balance

between the water of the earth and the moisture in the
atmosphere. In order to better understand the hydrologic
cycle, we should know the meaning of the different
processes included in the cycle, as follows:

Evaporation – is the escape of water molecules from

land and water surfaces into the atmosphere in the
gaseous form.

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 Transpiration – is the evaporation of water from the
leaves of plants.

Precipitation – is the fall of moisture from the

atmosphere to the earth’s surface in any form.

Infiltration – the vertical entry of water into the earth’s

surface.

Percolation – is the downward movement of water

through the soil profile beyond the rootzone depth.

Overland flow (surface runoff) – is that water which

travels over the ground surface to a stream or a surface
depression.

Interflow – is that water which moves through the subsoil

until it reaches the stream or surface depression but at a
much later time than overland flow.

Base flow (dry-weather flow) – is that water coming

from the groundwater reservoir which eventually
discharges into the streams if the water table intersects
the stream channels of the basin.

Seepage – is the movement of water in any direction

through the pores from a reservoir or irrigation canal into
the soil or substrata outside the water source.

Surface storage – is that portion of the precipitation

which is stored on depressions in the ground surface.

Soil water – is that water that is stored in the rootzone

depth of plants.

Groundwater – is that water that occurs within the voids

of the rocks and underground geologic formations.

The hydrologic cycle has some peculiarities as compared

to other atmospheric cycles, as follows:

An outstanding peculiarity of the hydrologic cycle is that

water resource is inexhaustible, in so far as it is available
every year again and again, though often varying in
quantity from year to year, while maintaining a fairly
reliable average over a period of years.

Another peculiarity of this cycle is that the availability of

water varies geographically and periodically.

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 The hydrologic cycle may be said to be determined by
conditions of three kinds:

The nature and application of the radiant energy from the

Sun, that keeps up the circulation.

The inherent properties of the material of circulation, i.e.

of the water itself.

The structure of the natural reservoirs and conduits, i.e.

of the atmosphere, the land surface, and the soil and
rocks, which hold water or conduct it in its course.

SUMMARY

Hydrology is the science that encompasses the

occurrence, distribution, movement and properties of the
waters of the earth and their relationship with the
environment within each phase of the hydrologic cycle.
The water cycle, or hydrologic cycle, is a continuous
process by which water is purified by evaporation and
transported from the earth's surface (including the
oceans) to the atmosphere and back to the land and
oceans. All of the physical, chemical and biological
processes involving water as it travels its various paths in
the atmosphere, over and beneath the earth's surface
and through growing plants, are of interest to those who
study the hydrologic cycle.
There are many pathways the water may take in
its continuous cycle of falling as rainfall or snowfall and
returning to the atmosphere. It may be captured for
millions of years in polar ice caps. It may flow to rivers
and finally to the sea. It may soak into the soil to be
evaporated directly from the soil surface as it dries or be
transpired by growing plants. It may percolate
through the soil to ground water reservoirs (aquifers) to
be stored or it may flow to wells or springs or back to
streams by seepage. The cycle for water may be short,
or it may take millions of years.
People tap the water cycle for their own uses. Water is
diverted temporarily from one part of the cycle by
pumping it from the ground or drawing it from a river or
lake. It is used for a variety of activities such as
households, businesses and industries; for irrigation
of farms and parklands; and for production of electric
power. After use, water is returned to another part of the
cycle: perhaps discharged downstream or allowed to
soak into the ground.

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 Used water normally is lower in quality, even after
treatment, which often poses a problem for downstream
users.

The hydrologist studies the fundamental transport

processes to be able to describe the quantity and quality
of water as it moves through the cycle (evaporation,
precipitation, streamflow, infiltration, groundwater
flow, and other components). The engineering
hydrologist, or water resources engineer, is involved in
the planning, analysis, design, construction and operation
of projects for the control, utilization, and management of
water resources.

STUDENT ACTIVITY/ASSESSMENT

Infer how human activity and development can affect the

hydrologic cycle especially the rate of infiltration and
runoff in the local landscape and impact the quality of
water readily available for human consumption.
.

Note:
Use A4 size bond paper for your answer sheets. Submit your
Student Activity/Assessment (hardcopy and handwritten) to
Engr. Leo M. Sauro @ 274 Hillside Drive UEP Zone III/College
of Engineering Faculty Room or thru the UEP municipal link or
any mode that will be deemed safe for you and me, on or
before May 10, 2021.

REFERENCES

Varela, Benjamin D., Teaching Manual in Hydrology

https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/water-science-
school/science/what-hydrology?qt-
science_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects

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