CHAPTER 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING

Introduction

Water is present in almost all parts of the Earth. It is a catalyst as to why life

exists and continues to exist. But some events, either purely natural or triggered by the

acts of man, which we cannot really predict or anticipate, or if we can, we cannot really

alter, happen, that suppress the amount and supply of water. These scenarios, if not

addressed over time, will pose great threat to life.

1991 - It was the eruptions of Mt. Pinatubo that made the once ordinary daylight

not visible from the induced ashes falling on the ground. Major part of Central Luzon was

devastated by this sudden calamity. Destructions as reported by the Department of Public

Works and Highways (DPWH) Regional Office III were largely on irrigation and flood

control systems. It buried the two national irrigation systems of Tarlac. These are the

Tarlac River Irrigation System (TARRIS) and the San Miguel-O’Donnell River Irrigation

System (SMORIS) to which the source of surface water are the Tarlac and O’Donnell

rivers respectively. Heavy rains that came after the eruptions caused ash deposits from

the mountain slopes to wash down to low-lying areas in the form of lahars. These lahars

made the irrigation channels silted. The absence of water turned the once irrigated

farmlands uncultivable and dependent upon rainfall.

At present, after an almost twenty three years since the volcanic activity of Mt.

Pinatubo, the effects of the eruptions are still felt today. These effects are aggravated by

the travel, deposition and accumulation of lahar on the river channels of Tarlac. With no

means of dredging all the alluvial deposits away towards the Manila and Lingayen Bays,

1
the over-all condition still persists. Concurrently, this problem still suppresses the

agricultural production in the province.

In this research, addressing the need to rehabilitate one of the irrigation systems of

Tarlac, i.e SMORIS, the proponents attempt to provide the needed hydrologic

characteristics of O’Donnell River that can be used as a basis for planning, designing and

operating water resources structures in the area. It can also be used as a guide for

farmers’ cropping patterns.

2
Objectives

This study aims to determine the hydrologic characteristics of O’Donnell River

that can serve as a basis for designing water resources structure.

Specifically, it aims to achieve the following:

1) To provide a delineated map of O’Donnell River catchment area.

2) To determine the daily, monthly and annual maximum rainfall intensities of

O’Donnell catchment area.

3) To know which theoretical distribution obeys the observed rainfall intensities of

O’Donnell River catchment area.

4) To generate a rainfall-frequency curve for O’Donnell catchment area.

5) To determine the 50-year rainfall intensity on O’Donnell River catchment area

and its corresponding runoff magnitude.

3
Significance and Importance of the Study

In all procedures for the formulation of plan, designing, and operating

hydraulic structures and systems, collection of hydrological data and information is a

requirement. These data must be determined to ensure that structures to be built on

certain site conditions are applicable. Such structures could help exploit the flowing

water e.g. integration of surface water with groundwater resources to improve irrigation

capabilities and control flood.

Precipitation or rainfall is an important climatic parameter and the studies on

rainfall are commonly hampered due to lack of continuous data. The consistency and

continuity of rainfall data is significantly relevant in statistical analyses because the

completeness of rainfall data leads to more accurate results from hydrological models and

will eventually give a good basis for future design of engineering structures. To address

the problem of missing data, studies were conducted and different methods in estimating

missing rainfall data were introduced. One of the methods introduced by different

personalities in hydrology is Inverse Distance Method; the researchers in the present

study will use the said method to fill the gaps in the data which will be gathered.

Theoretical distributions will be used in this study to fit a probability model to the

sample of annual flood peaks. Reliable flood frequency estimates are vital for floodplain

management; to protect the public, minimize flood related costs to government and

private enterprises, for designing and locating hydraulic structures and assessing hazards

related to the development of flood plains. Estimating extreme events must be determined

using appropriate fitting distributions in order to accurately design and manage flood

4
control structures. Water resources structures can make use of the data generated by this

study as a basis for the design. Risk of flash floods and potential to provoke a vast

amount of monetary damage and life threats will be minimized.

Distribution fitting is the procedure of choosing or selecting a statistical

distribution that best fits to a set of data achieved and developed by some random

process. It is indispensable for every study to select and apply the best and appropriate

fitting distribution for the data analysis. However, the use of inappropriate distribution,

which doesn’t fit the data well, the subsequent calculations will be incorrect and will

certainly result in wrong judgment.

5
Definition of Terms

Alluvial – Pertaining to or composed of alluvium

Alluvium – Deposits, as of mud or sand, transported and laid down by flowing water in
river beds, flood-plains, lakes and estuaries.

Annual – Returning, performed, or occurring every year.

Axis – An imaginary line through the center of a drawing or sculpture for purposes of
measurement or reference.

Basin – A depression in the earth’s surface, as a valley, or the region drained by water.

Boundary – A limiting or dividing line or mark.

Catalyst - A substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction without itself
undergoing any permanent chemical change.

Catchment Area – The area drained by a river or river system.

Channels – The bed of a stream.

Contour Line - A line joining points of equal elevation on a surface.

Cumecs – cubic meter per second, unit for runoff or discharge

Cumulative Frequency - Sum of all the frequencies up to and including that value.

Degrees of Freedom – Any of the statistically independent values of a sample that are
used to determine a property of the sample.

Delineate – To draw in outline.

Diversion – An instance of turning something aside from its course.

Dredge – Clean out the bed of (a harbor, river, or other area of water) by scooping out
mud, weeds, and rubbish with a dredge.

Elevation – Height above sea level.

Empirical – Relating to or based on experience or observation.

Estimate - Roughly calculate or judge the value, number, quantity, or extent of.

6
Frequency – A ratio expressing the number of times a given case, value or score occurs
in a total of relevant classified data.

Gauging Station - location used by hydrologists or environmental scientists to monitor

and test terrestrial bodies of water.

Histogram – A graph of frequency distribution in the form of a series of rectangles

whose width and area correspond to the range of the class interval and the quantities
represented.

Hydrology – The branch of physical geography that treats waters of the earth, their
distribution, characteristics, and effects.

Hypothesis – A set of assumptions provisionally accepted as basis of reasoning,

experiment, or investigation.

Increment – The act of increasing.

Intensity - The measurable amount of a property, such as force, brightness, or a magnetic

field.

Irrigation – The artificial watering of a land.

Lahar - A destructive mudflow on the slopes of a volcano.

Magnitude – That which is conceived of as measurable.

Mapping - The act or operation of making a map or maps

Mean – A quantity having an intermediate value between two extremes.

Mitigate – To make or become milder, less harsh, or less severe.

Outlet – A passage or vent for escape or discharge.

Parameter – Any given constant or element whose values characterize one or more of
the variables entering into a system of functions.

Peak – The highest point in a pattern of change or development.

Perpendicular Bisectors - A line which cuts a line segment into two equal parts at 90°

Phenomena - A fact or situation that is observed to exist or happen, esp. one whose
cause or explanation is in question.

Planimeter – An instrument for mechanically measuring the area of a plane figure.

7
Polygon – A closed, ussualy plane, figure bounded by straight lines or ars, especially
more than four.

Precipitation - Rain, snow, sleet, or hail that falls to the ground.

Probability – Ratio of the chances favoring an event to the total number of the chances
favoring an against it.

Rain – The condensed vapor of the atmosphere falling in drops.

Rainfall – The amount of water precipitated in a given region over a stated time, as rain,
hail, snow or the like.

Recurrence – Happening of appearing again.

Rehabilitate – To restore to a former state, capacity, privilege, rank, etc.

Return Period - A recurrence interval is an estimate of the likelihood of an event, such

as an earthquake, flood or a river discharge flow to occur.

Ridge -A long narrow range of hills

Runoff – That part of the rainfall in a particular area which is not absorbed directly by
soil but is drained off in rills or streams.

Skew – Having some elements on opposite sides of a median line reserved or

unbalanced.

Sparsity - The property of being scanty or scattered; lacking denseness

Standard Deviation - A quantity calculated to indicate the extent of deviation for a

group as a whole.

Statistical Significance - The probability that an effect is not due to just chance alone.

Stream Flow - The water that flows in a specific stream site, especially its volume and
rate of flow.

Stochastic – Denoting the process of selecting, from among a group a theoretically

possible alternatives, those elements or factors whose combination will most closely
approximate a desired result.

Subsurface – The stratum or strata below the earth's surface.

Synoptic - Relating to or displaying conditions (as of the atmosphere or weather) as they

exist simultaneously over a broad area

8
Theoretical – Relating to knowledge or pure science without reference to its application.

Topographic - Graphic representation of the surface features of a place or region on a

map, indicating their relative positions and elevations.

Variable – A quantity susceptible of fluctuating in value or magnitude under different

conditions.

Variate – The magnitude or value of a variable.

Watercourse - Any flowing body of water.

9
Scope and Delimitations

The scope of this study is delimited to the determination of the hydrologic

characteristics of O’ Donnell River catchment area. These characteristics can be used for

design of irrigation and flood mitigating structures within its vicinity. It does not consider

other catchment area or any river adjacent to O’ Donnell. The computed values and

conclusions are generated from methods used in this study. Other available methods

applicable to any procedures presented in this study were used as guides but are not

employed in this study.

10