RUNOFF

Introduction:
When a storm occurs, a portion of rainfall infiltrates into the ground and some portion
may evaporate. The rest flows as a thin sheet of water over the land surface which is termed as
overland flow. If there is a relatively impermeable stratum in the subsoil, the infiltrating
water moves laterally in the surface soil and joins the stream flow, which is termed as underflow
(subsurface flow) or interflow, see the figure below.
If there is no impeding layer in the subsoil the infiltrating water percolates into the ground as
deep seepage and builds up the ground water table (GWT or phreatic surface). The ground water
may also contribute to the stream flow, if the GWT is higher than the water surface level of the
stream, creating a hydraulic gradient towards the stream.
Low soil permeability favours overland flow. While all the three types of flow contribute to the
stream flow, it is the overland flow, which reaches first the stream channel, the interflow being
slower reaches after a few hours and the ground water flow being the slowest reaches the stream
channel after some days.
The term direct runoff is used to include the overland flow and the interflow. If the snow melt
contributes to the stream flow it can be included with the direct runoff (from rainfall).

Disposal of rainfall water

Runoff Classification It is classified as

1. Direct runoff, and
2. Indirect runoff (Base flow)
Direct Runoff - It is the surface runoff, takes place on the ground surface through the streams /
channels etc. Since, it takes place very soon after start of rainfall event; therefore, it is called as
the direct runoff. Direct runoff is also known as surface runoff. The interflow, in which the
infiltrated rainwater joins to the stream flow in terms of influent flow, soon after start of rainfall,
is also the part of surface or direct turnoff. The reason behind this is that the time gap between
rainfall occurrence and interflow is very less, say as few minutes. The interflow always takes
place above the main ground water- table.
Indirect Runoff (Base flow)- This type of runoff takes place below the ground surface. In the
course of occurrence of rainfall a part of rain water which is infiltrated into the soil media moves
downward and joins to the water –table. The joined rainwater starts moving or flow along with
ground water to the other places in forward direction, called indirect runoff. Since, this runoff
takes place below the ground surface; therefore, it is also called sub-surface runoff. Sometimes,
it is also known as the delayed runoff because of the reason that there is very large gap between
occurrence of rainfall and formation of runoff say for example 1- year or more.
Stream Classification
Manly, streams are classified as under,
1. Perennial stream,(‫)المجاري المائية المستمرة‬
2. Intermittent stream, (‫ ) المجاري المائية المتقطعة‬and
3. Ephemeral stream ( ‫) السيول‬
Perennial stream carries runoff flow throughout the year. In off-season, i.e. summer season the
flow of water is contributed by ground water. Resulted hydrograph is extended for the entire year
duration.
Intermittent streams do not have continuous flowing water year-round and are not relatively
permanent. Water flowing , water period is limited during wet season (winter-spring) but are
normally dry during hot summer months.
The water flow in Ephemeral streams is confined with the occurrence of rainfall. Comparatively,
these streams have less flow than the intermittent stream. Typically these are shallow and have
very less flowing periods.
Runoff Computation
There are host of method and empirical formulae for computing the runoff from a
watershed, few important amongst them are listed as under,
1. Rational method,
2. SCS method (Soil Conservation Service or SCS)
3. Cooks method
4. Infiltration Indices method
5. Hydrograph method
6. Empirical formulae

Rational Method
This method computes the peak runoff of small watershed. Peak runoff is required for design of
hydraulic structures such as culverts, bridges, drop structures, and others. The rational method is
appropriate for estimating peak discharge for small drainage areas of up to about 80 hectares
with no significant flood storage. The method provides the designer with a peak discharge value,
but does not provide a time series of flow nor flow volume. This method follows the hypothesis
that,
1. Runoff is directly proportional to the area of watershed
2. Directly proportional to the rainfall intensity
3. Rainfall intensity must be for the duration equal to time of concentration of watershed.
Accordingly, if the area of watershed is A (-) and rainfall intensity for the time equal to time of
concentration of watershed is I then, the equation of peak runoff (𝑄𝑝) is given as under,

𝑄𝑝 = 𝐶𝐼𝐴

Time of Concentration (Tc) -

The time of concentration (Tc) of watershed is defined as the time required for movement of
rainwater from remotest point to the outlet of watershed.
The following formula given by Kirpitch (1940) can be used for determining the TOC of
watershed.
𝑇𝑐 = 0.02𝐿 0.77. 𝑆 −0.385
In which 𝑇𝑐 is the time of concentration (minute); L is the longest length of water course (m)
and s is the average slope of water course (m/m).
The above formula is revised by Haan etal (1982) by including the component of overland flow.
In this condition after incorporating the effect of overland flow the revised formula for TOC is
mentioned as under,
2L0
𝑇𝑐 = 0.02𝐿 0.77. 𝑆 −0.385 + ( n 0.5) 0.467
S0

In which, Lo is the length of overland flow (m) and n is the Manning’s roughness coefficient and so is the
slope of overland flow path (m/m). The value of Manning’s roughness coefficients are given in following
table,
Rainfall Intensity- It is the ratio of rainfall depth and duration of rainfall event.
The formula for rainfall intensity – return period is given by the following expression.

In which, i is the rainfall intensity (cm/h) for given return period (T, year) and t is the TOC (h)
and K ,a ,b and d are the regional constants. Solve problem
Runoff Coefficient (C ) - It is the fraction of total rainfall converted into runoff. In other terms it
is the ratio of Runoff depth and total rainfall depth. Its value is dimensionless varies from 0 to
maximum 1 in which 0 is for soils having very high rate of infiltration, i.e. there is no excess
rainwater available for generating runoff from the surface. The value of runoff coefficient for
sandy soil may be approaching 0 at the beginning of rainfall occurrence when total rain water is
likely to get infiltrated into the soil. And the value of runoff coefficient as 1.0 which is maximum
may be for concrete or any hard formation in which the infiltration of rainwater is about to zero.

Normally, there is a large variation in soil types, slope gradient, vegetations in the watershed.
Because of this reason the selection of single runoff coefficient value is not accurate. In this
condition the consideration of weighted runoff coefficient is most appropriate, which should be
in terms of soil types, types of vegetation and slope gradient, if so. The formula for determining
the weighted runoff coefficient is mentioned as under,
In which, 𝐶𝑤 is the weighted runoff coefficient, A is the total land area and C1 … Cn are runoff
coefficient for the area A1 ….An.
Problem- For a watershed of varying land use systems, soils and topography, determine the
weighted runoff coefficient, TOC peak runoff rate. The requisite details are outlined as under: