HOLY CROSS COLLEGE

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTER AND LIBRARY STUDIES

CIVIL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

MODULE 2: HYDROLOGIC CYCLE AND THE WATER BUDGET

OBJECTIVES

At the end of the lesson, the students are able to:

Explain hydrologic cycle and its various components.

Discuss the basic water-budget equation.

HYDROLOGIC CYCLE

Hydrologic cycle is the constant cyclic movement of water from the ground to the
atmosphere and back to the ground.

The hydrologic cycle is by no means a simple link but a group of numerous paths
through which the water
in nature circulates and
transformed.

The hydrologic cycle has

important influences in a
variety of fields including
agriculture, forestry,
geography, economics,
sociology and politics.

Engineering applications
of the knowledge of the
hydrologic cycle, and
hence the subjects of
hydrology, are found in
the design operation of
projects dealing with
water supply, irrigation
and drainage, water
power, flood control,
navigation, coastal
works, salinity control,
management of
droughts and
recreational uses of
water.

COMPONENTS

The main components of the hydrologic cycle can be broadly classified as

transportation (flow) components and storage components.

TRANSPORTATION COMPONENTS STORAGE COMPONENTS

 Precipitation  Storage on the land surface
 Evaporation (depression storage, ponds, lakes,
 Transpiration reservoirs, etc.)
 Infiltration  Soil moisture storage
 Runoff  Groundwater storage

MODULE 2: HYDROLOGIC CYCLE AND THE WATER BUDGET

A.Y 2022-2023 1
CE-C13 HYDROLOGY

\
HOLY CROSS COLLEGE
SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTER AND LIBRARY STUDIES
CIVIL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

1. Evaporation – the process by which liquid water is converted into water vapor as
water is heated by the sun and it’s surface molecules become sufficiently
energized to break free of the attractive force binding them together.
2. Transpiration – the process by which water vapor is emitted into the atmosphere
from plant surfaces.
3. Evapotranspiration – is the combination of water release to the atmosphere by
evaporation and transpiration.
4. Condensation – the process by which water vapor condenses back into liquid
after it rises and cools in the atmosphere. When condensation occurs at the
ground level, the resulting water droplets are called dew.
5. Precipitation – the discharge of water out of the atmosphere, generally onto land
or water surface. It is also commonly used to designate the quantity of water that
is precipitated and is the primary input quantity to the hydrologic cycle.
6. Interception – the process by which precipitation is caught and held by foliage,
twigs, and branches of trees, shrubs, and other vegetation, and lost by
evaporation, never reaching the surface of the ground.
7. Infiltration – the movement of water through the soil surface into the soil which is
controlled by soil texture, soil structure, vegetation and soil moisture status.
8. Surface Runoff – the portion of water which does not infiltrate the soil but flows
over the surface of the ground to a stream channel. It is also known as overland
flow.
9. Percolation – precipitation that moves downward, percolates or infiltrates through
cracks, joints and pores in soil and rocks until it reaches the water table where it
becomes groundwater.
10. Interflow – lateral movement of percolated water. Some water that is precipitated
seeps through soil and continues to follow the slope. This water is eventually
discharged into rivers, streams, and lakes.
11. Groundwater flow – a body of water found in a deep aquifer zone that flows
laterally and eventually merges with rivers, streams, lakes, and oceans.

PROBLEMS IN HYDROLOGY

 Extreme weather and rainfall variation

 Streamflow and major flood devastation
 River routing and hydraulic conditions
 Over-all water supply – local and global scales
 Flow and hydraulics in pipes, streams, and
channels
 Flood control and drought measures
 Watershed management for urban
development

Flooding: Excess Water that Inundates

Causes:

 Highly developed (urbanized) area

 Intensity and duration of rainfall
 Flat topography with little storage
 Poor building practices in flood prone areas
 No replacement of lost storage as area grows

Where do we get data?

 Topographic Data (NAMRIA)

 Rainfall and Evaporation Data (PAGASA)

MODULE 2: HYDROLOGIC CYCLE AND THE WATER BUDGET

A.Y 2022-2023 2
CE-C13 HYDROLOGY

\
HOLY CROSS COLLEGE
SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTER AND LIBRARY STUDIES
CIVIL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

 Environmental Data (EMB)

 Soils (BSWM)
 Stream flow Data (BRS)

UNIT OF MEASUREMENT

 Rainfall volume is normally measure in inches or cm

 Rainfall rate or intensity in in/hr or cm/hr
 Infiltration is measured in in/hr or cm/hr
 Evaporation is measured in in/hr or cm/hr
 Streamflow is measured in cfs or 𝑚3 /𝑠
 One acre-ft of volume is 43,560 𝑓𝑡 3 of water
 1 ac-in/hr is approximately equal to 1.008 cfs
 1 mile is 5,280 ft
 1 𝑓𝑡 3 is 7.48052 gallons
 Ground water flows are measures as 𝑓𝑡 3 /𝑑𝑎𝑦 or 𝑚3 /𝑑𝑎𝑦

GLOBAL FRESH WATER RESOURCES

1. Glaciers and Permanent Ice Caps – they are located in about 10% of the world’s
land mass. It is estimated that Greenland and Antarctica account for most of this
category of water.
2. Groundwater – groundwater represents the second-most abundantly available
freshwater resource and constitute about 30% of freshwater resources of the
globe.
3. Freshwater lakes – natural freshwater lakes account about 0.26% of the freshwater
resources. More than 50% of these lakes are found in Canada.
4. Reservoirs – are artificial lakes created by humans through construction of dams
across rivers. Most of the water in these reservoirs, estimated to be of the order if
4300 𝑘𝑚3 are used for beneficial purposes such as irrigation, drinking water,
hydropower generation and industrial use.
5. Wetlands – a part of the freshwater resource amounting to about 0.04% is
distributed in the globe as wetlands, marshes, lagoons, swamps, bogs, and mires.
These water-bearing bodies play a very important role in maintaining the
freshwater ecology as well as in the recharge of groundwater.
6. Rivers – flowing water in rivers forms one of the most important part of freshwater
resources sustaining human activity and ecology in the world. It accounts 0.006%
of freshwater resource.

MODULE 2: HYDROLOGIC CYCLE AND THE WATER BUDGET

A.Y 2022-2023 3
CE-C13 HYDROLOGY

\
HOLY CROSS COLLEGE
SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTER AND LIBRARY STUDIES
CIVIL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

THE WATERSHED OR BASIN

Catchment Area

The area of land draining into a stream or a water course at a given location is known
as the catchment area. It is also known as drainage area or drainage basin. In the USA,
it is known as watershed.

The catchment area affords a logical and convenient unit to study various aspects
relating to the hydrology and water resources of a region. It is probably the single most
important drainage characteristic used in hydrologic analysis and design.

Watershed Characteristics

 Size
 Slope
 Shape
 Soil type
 Storage capacity

Watershed Shapes

 Important hydrologic
characteristic
 Elongated or
concentrated shape
 Affects timing and
peak flow
 Created by
morphology of stream

MODULE 2: HYDROLOGIC CYCLE AND THE WATER BUDGET

A.Y 2022-2023 4
CE-C13 HYDROLOGY

\
HOLY CROSS COLLEGE
SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTER AND LIBRARY STUDIES
CIVIL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

THE WATER BUDGET

GLOBAL ANNUAL WATER BALANCE

ITEM OCEAN LAND

1. Area (M 𝑘𝑚2 ) 361.30 148.8
3
2. Precipitation (𝑘𝑚 ⁄𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟) 458,000 119,000
(𝑚𝑚⁄𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟) 1270 800
3
3. Evaporation (𝑘𝑚 ⁄𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟) 505,000 72,000
(𝑚𝑚⁄𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟) 1400 484

4. Runoff to ocean
3
(i) Rivers (𝑘𝑚 ⁄𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟) 44,700
3
(ii) Groundwater (𝑘𝑚 ⁄𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟) 2,200

3
Total runoff (𝑘𝑚 ⁄𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟) 47,000
(𝑚𝑚⁄𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟) 316
Table from World Water Balance and Water Resources of the Earth, UNESCO, 1975

WATER BALANCE OF CONTINENTS IN mm/year

RUNOFF AS %
AREA TOTAL EVAPO-
CONTINENT PRECIPITATION OF
(M 𝒌𝒎𝟐 ) RUNOFF TRANSPIRATION
PRECIPITATION
Africa 30.3 686 139 20 547
Asia 45.0 726 293 40 433
Australia 8.7 736 226 30 510
Europe 9.8 734 319 43 415
N.America 20.7 670 287 43 383
S. America 17.8 1648 583 35 1065

WATER BALANCE OF OCEANS IN mm/year

INFLOW WATER
AREA FROM EXCHANGE
OCEAN PRECIPITATION EVAPORATION
(M 𝒌𝒎𝟐 ) ADJACENT WITH OTHER
CONTINENTS OCEANS
Atlantica 107 780 200 1040 -60
Arctic 12 240 230 120 350
Indian 75 1010 70 1380 -300
Pacific 167 1210 60 1140 130

WATER-BUDGET EQUATION

Water Budget is the accounting or allocation of water to each of the component of

the hydrologic cycle.
dS
The hydrologic continuity equation for any system is: I−Q=
dt
Where: I = inflow in vol/time

Q = outflow in vol/time

dS/dt = change in storage in vol/time

MODULE 2: HYDROLOGIC CYCLE AND THE WATER BUDGET

A.Y 2022-2023 5
CE-C13 HYDROLOGY

\
HOLY CROSS COLLEGE
SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTER AND LIBRARY STUDIES
CIVIL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

Applying the continuity equation to a basin or watershed for a given period of time,
the overall water budget, in units of depth (mm or cm) over the watershed will be:

𝑃 − 𝑅 − 𝐺 − 𝐸 − 𝑇 = ∆𝑆
where:

P – precipitation

R – runoff or outflow

G – groundwater flow

E – evaporation

T – transpiration

∆𝑆 – change in storage

In terms of rainfall-runoff relationship, the equation can be represented as

𝑅 =𝑃−𝐿
Where L = losses = water not available to runoff due to infiltration (causing additional
soil moisture and groundwater storage), evaporation, transpiration, and surface
storage.

A runoff coefficient can be defined as the ratio of R/P for any watershed. Note that
infiltration I is a loss from the surface and a gain to groundwater and thus cancels out
of the overall budget above.

The storage S consists of three components as

𝑺 = 𝑺𝒔 + 𝑺𝒔𝒎 + 𝑺𝒈
Where:
𝑆𝑠 = 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒
𝑆𝑠𝑚 = 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑜𝑖𝑙 𝑚𝑜𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒
𝑆𝑔 = 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑎𝑠 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟

Example 1:

A lake had a water surface elevation of 103.200 m above datum at the beginning of a
𝑚3
certain month. In that month, the lake receive an average inflow of 6.0 𝑠
from surface
runoff sources. In the same period, the outflow from the lake had an average value of
𝑚3
6.5 𝑠
. Further, in that month, the lake received a rainfall f 145mm and the evaporation
from the lake surface was estimated as 6.10cm. Write the water-budget equation for
the lake and calculate the water surface elevation of the lake at the end of the month.
The average lake-surface area can be taken as 5,000 ha. Assume that there is no
contribution to or from the groundwater storage.

Solution:

Given:
𝑊𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 = 103.200 𝑚

MODULE 2: HYDROLOGIC CYCLE AND THE WATER BUDGET

A.Y 2022-2023 6
CE-C13 HYDROLOGY

\
HOLY CROSS COLLEGE
SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTER AND LIBRARY STUDIES
CIVIL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

𝑚3
𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑘𝑒 (𝐼) = 6.0
𝑠
𝑚3
𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑘𝑒 (𝑄) = 6.5
𝑠

𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑑𝑡 = 1 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑡ℎ = 30 𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑠 = 2.592𝑥106 𝑠

𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 − 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎 = 5,000 ℎ𝑎 = 50.00𝑥106 𝑚2

Working equation:
𝐼𝑛 𝑎 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑎𝑙 𝑑𝑡, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑢𝑑𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑒 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑠:
𝐼𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 − 𝑂𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 = 𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑘𝑒

[𝑰 (𝒅𝒕) + 𝑷𝑨] − [𝑸(𝒅𝒕) + 𝑬𝑨] = ∆𝑺

Input volume = I (dt) = 6.0 x 2.592x106 = 15.552x106 m3

𝑂𝑢𝑡𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 = 𝑄(𝑑𝑡) = 6.5 𝑥 2.592x106 = 16.848x106 m3

1𝑚
𝐼𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑑𝑢𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 = 𝑃𝐴 = (145𝑚𝑚 𝑥 ) 𝑥 50.00𝑥106 𝑚2 = 7.25𝑥106 𝑚3
1000𝑚𝑚
1𝑚
𝑂𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑑𝑢𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑣𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 = 𝐸𝐴 = (6.10𝑐𝑚 𝑥 ) 𝑥 50.00𝑥106 𝑚2 = 3.05𝑥106 𝑚3
100𝑐𝑚
∆𝑆 = (15.552𝑥106 + 7.25𝑥106 ) − (16.848𝑥106 + 3.05𝑥106 ) = 2.904𝑥106 𝑚3
∆𝑆 2.904𝑥106 𝑚3
𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, ∆𝑧 = = = 0.058𝑚
𝐴 50.00𝑥106 𝑚2
𝑁𝑒𝑤 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑡ℎ = 103.2003 + 0.058𝑚

= 103.258 𝑚 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑚

Example 2:

A small catchment of 150 ha area received a rainfall of 10.5cm in 90 minutes due to a

storm. At the outlet of the catchment, the stream draining the catchment was dry
before the storm and experienced a runoff lasting for 10 hours with an average
𝑚3
discharge of 1.5 . The stream was then again dry after the runoff event.
𝑠

(a) What is the amount of water which was not available to runoff due to the
combined effect of infiltration, evaporation and transpiration?
(b) What is the ration of runoff to precipitation?

Solution:

Given:
𝑑𝑡 = ∆𝑡 = 𝑑𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑢𝑛𝑜𝑓𝑓 = 10 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠
𝑁𝑜𝑡𝑒: 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑐𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 90𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡 8.5 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑧𝑒𝑟𝑜.
𝑚3
𝑄 = 1.5
𝑠
Working equations:

The water-budget equation for the catchment in time ∆𝑡 is

𝑅 =𝑃−𝐿

(a) 𝑃 = 𝑖𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑑𝑢𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑛 10 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠 (𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒)

MODULE 2: HYDROLOGIC CYCLE AND THE WATER BUDGET

A.Y 2022-2023 7
CE-C13 HYDROLOGY

\
HOLY CROSS COLLEGE
SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTER AND LIBRARY STUDIES
CIVIL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

10,000𝑚2 1𝑚
𝑃 = 𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑥 𝑅𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑑𝑒𝑝𝑡ℎ = (15ℎ𝑎 𝑥 ) (10.5𝑐𝑚𝑥 ) = 157,500𝑚3
1ℎ𝑎 100𝑐𝑚
𝑅 = 𝑟𝑢𝑛𝑜𝑓𝑓 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 = 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑙𝑒𝑡 𝑖𝑛 10 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠
𝑚3 3600𝑠𝑒𝑐
𝑅 = 𝐷𝑖𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒 𝑥 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 = (1.5 ) (10ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑥 ) = 54,000𝑚3
𝑠 1ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟
𝐿 = 𝑃 − 𝑅 = 157,500𝑚3 − 54,000𝑚3 = 103,500𝑚3

(b) 𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑢𝑛𝑜𝑓𝑓 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

𝑅 54,000
= = 0.343 (𝑟𝑢𝑛𝑜𝑓𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡)
𝑃 157,500

ACTIVITY

Answer the following questions. Show your complete solutions. Round off to 3 decimal
places.

1. A catchment area of 140𝑘𝑚2 received 120cm of rainfall inn a year. At the outlet
of the catchment, the flow in the stream draining the catchment was found to
𝑚3 𝑚3
have an average rate of (i) 1.5 𝑠
for the first 3 months, (ii) 2.0 𝑠
for the next 6
𝑚3
months and (iii) 3.5 𝑠
for the remaining 3 months.
(a) What is the runoff coefficient of the catchment?
(b) If the afforestation of the catchment reduces the runoff coefficient of 0.35,
what is the increase in the abstraction from precipitation due to infiltration,
evaporation, and transpiration for the same annual rainfall of 120cm?

2. A watershed with an area of 2500 𝑘𝑚2 received 130cm of precipitation in a

given year. The average rate of flow measured in a river draining the watershed
𝑚3
was 30 . Estimate the amount of lost (in cm) due to the combined effects of
𝑠
evaporation, transpiration, and infiltration to ground?

3. A lake with surface area 525 ac was monitored over a one-month period. Inflow
was 30 cfs on average, outflow was 27 cfs. Seepage was measured as 1.5
inches. Total rainfall was 4.25 inches and evaporation loss was 6.0 inches.
Estimate the total storage change for this lake.

REFERENCES:

Subramanya, K., Engineering Hydrology, McGraw Hill, Allapakkam, Porur, Chennal, India, 2021.

Srivasstava, R., et.al, Engineering Hydrology, McGraw Hill, Allapakkam, Porur, Chennal, India, 2017.

Chin, D., Water-Resource Engineering, Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River New Jersey, 2013.

MODULE 2: HYDROLOGIC CYCLE AND THE WATER BUDGET

A.Y 2022-2023 8
CE-C13 HYDROLOGY