Department of Civil Engineering

Regulation 2021
IV Year – VII Semester
AI3404 Hydrology and Water Resources Engineering
1. INTRODUCTION
The world‘s totalwater resources are estimatedto be around 1.36X 1014 ha-m. 92.7% ofthis
water is salty and is stored in oceans and seas. Only 2.8% of total available water is fresh
water. Out of this 2.8% fresh water, 2.2% is available as surface water and 0.6% as ground
water.Out Ofthe2.2%surfacewater, 2.15%isstoredinglaciersand icecaps, 0.01%inlakes and
streams and the rest is in circulation among the different components of the Earth‘s
atmosphere.

Out of the 0.6% ground water only about 0.25% can be economically extracted. It can be
summarized that less than 0.26% of fresh water is available for use by humans and hence
water has become a very important resource. Water is never stagnant (except in deep
aquifers), it moves from one component to other component of the earth through various
process of precipitation, run off, infiltration, evaporation etc. For a civil engineer, it is
important to knowthe occurrence, flow, distribution etc. it important to design and construct
many structures in contact with water.

HYDROLOGY
Hydrology may be defined as applied science concerned with water of the Earth in all its
states, their occurrences, distribution and circulation through the unendinghydrologic cycle
ofprecipitation, consequent runoff, streamflow, infiltrationandstorage, eventualevaporation
and re-precipitation. Hydrology is a highly inter-disciplinary science. It draws many
principles from other branches of science like:-
 Meteorologyand Climatology
 Physical Geography
 AgronomyandForestry
 Geologyand Soilscience
 Oceanography
 Hydraulics
 ProbabilityandStatistics
 Ecology
Hydrologyconcernsitselfwiththreeformsofwater:-
 Abovelandasatmosphericwateror precipitation.
 Onland orsurfaceasstoredwaterorrunoff
 Belowtheland surfaceasgroundwateror percolation
 SCOPEOFHYDROLOGY
Thestudyofhydrologyhelps ustoknow:
1. The maximum probable flood that may occur at given sit and its frequency; this is
required for the safe design of drains, bridges & culverts, dams & reservoirs,channelsand
other flood control system.
2. Thewater yield froma basin –itsoccurrence, quantityand frequencyetc;this is necessary for
the design ofdams, municipalwater supply, water power, river navigation etc.
3. The ground water development for which a knowledge of Hydro geology of the area i.e.
formation of the soils, recharge facilities like streams and reservoirs, rainfall pattern,
climate; cropping pattern etc are required.
4. The maximum intensityof storm & its frequency for the design ofdrainage project in the
area.

IMPORTANCEOFHYDROLOGY
 Design of Hydraulic Structures: Structures such as bridges, causeways, dams, spillways
etc. are in contact with water. Accurate hydrological predictions are necessary for their
proper functioning. Due to a storm, the flow below a bridge has to be properlypredicted.
Improper prediction may cause failure ofthe structure. Similarly the spillway in case ofa
damwhichis meant for disposingexcesswater inadamshouldalso bedesignedproperly
otherwise flooding water may overtop the dam.

 Municipal and Industrial Water supply: Growth of towns and cities and also industries
around them is often dependent on fresh water availability in their vicinity. Water should
be drawn from rivers, streams, ground water. Proper estimation of water resources in a
place will help planning and implementation of facilities for municipal (domestic) and
industrial water supply.

 Irrigation: Dams are constructed to store water for multiple uses. Forestimating maximum
storage capacity seepage, evaporation and other losses should be properly estimated.
These can be done with proper understanding of hydrology of a given river basin and thus
making the irrigation project a successful one. Artificial recharge will also increase
ground water storage. It has been estimated that ground water potential of gangetic basin
is 40 times more than its surface flow.
 Hydroelectric Power Generation: A hydroelectric power plant need continuous water
supply without much variations in the stream flow. Variations will affect the functioning
of turbines in the electric plant. Hence proper estimation of river flow and also flood
occurrences will help to construct efficient balancing reservoirs and these will supply
water to turbines at a constant rate.
 Flood control in rivers: Controlling floods in a river is a complicated task. The flow
occurring due to a storm can be predicted if the catchment characteristics are properly
known. In many cases damages due to floods are high. Joint work of hydrologist and
meteorologists in threatening areas may reduce damage due to floods. Flood plain zones
maybe demarked to avoid losses.
 Navigation: Big canals in an irrigation scheme can be used for inland navigation. The
depth of water should be maintained at a constant level. This can be achieved by lock
gates provided and proper draft to be maintained. If the river water contains sediments,
they will settle in the channel and cause problems for navigation. Hence the catchment
characteristics should be considered and sediment entry into the canals should be done.

 Erosion & sediment control: Excessive erosion in the catchment feeds the sediment into
the runoff. The reservoir may lose their capacity at a faster rate reducing their economic
span drastically. Tones of fertile top soil will be lost every year resulting in crop yields.
Hydrology of the catchment along with the knowledge of the existing water shed
management practices will help in finding out the effective erosion. These measures
includes the fixing crop pattern & cropping procedures, formation of contour bunds,
aforestation etc. effective erosion control measures not only decreases the sedimentload in
the stream but also reduces peak flood discharges because of increased infiltration
opportunities in the catchment.
 Pollution control: It is an easy way to dispose sewage generated in a city or town into
streams and rivers. If large stream flow is available compared to the sewage discharge,
pollution problems do not arise as sewage gets diluted and flowing water also has self-
purifying capacity. The problemarises wheneachofthe flows are not properlyestimated.
Incase sewage flow is high it should be treated beforedisposalinto ariver or stream.
 HYDROLOGICALCYCLE
Water exists on the earth in gaseous form (water vapor), liquid and solid (ice) forms and is
circulated among the different components of the Earth mainly by solar energyand planetary
forces. Sunlight evaporates sea water and this evaporated form is kept in circulation by
gravitational forces of Earth and wind action. The different paths through which water in
nature circulates and is transformed is called hydrological cycle. Hydrological cycleis defined
as the circulation of waterfrom the sea to the land through the atmosphere back tothe sea
often with delays through process like precipitation, interception, runoff, infiltration,
percolation, ground water storage, evaporation and transpiration also water that returns to the
atmosphere without reaching the sea.

FIG1: Descriptiverepresentation ofhydrologicalcycle

Thehydrologicalcyclehas3importantphases:
1. Evaporation&Evapotranspiratrion
2. Precipitation
3. Runoff
Evaporationtakesplacefromthesurfaceofponds,lakes,reservoirsandoceansurfaces.
Transpirationtakesplacefromsurfacevegetationi.e.fromplantleavesofcroppedlandforest

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etc. These vapours rise to sky and are condensed at higher altitude and form the clouds. The
clouds melt and sometime burst resulting in precipitation of different forms like rain, snow,
hail, mist and frosts. A part of this precipitation flows over the land as runoff and a part
infiltrate into the soil which build up ground water table. The surface run-off joins the stream
and thus water stored in the reservoir. Aportion ofthe surface runoffand ground water flows
back to ocean. Again evaporation starts from surfaces of lakes, reservoirs and ocean & thus
the cycle repeats.
The hydrological cycle can also be represented in many differentways in diagrammatic forms
as
1. Horton‘sQualitativerepresentation
2. Horton‘sEngineeringrepresentation

FIG1.2:QualitativerepresentationofHorton‘shydrologicalCycle
 FIG1.3:Engineeringrepresentation ofHorton‘shydrologicalCycle

WATERBUDGETEQUATIONFOR ACATCHMENT
Theareaoflanddrainingintoastream atagivenlocationisknownascatchmentareaor drainage area or
drainage basin or water shed.
For a givencatchmentarea in any interval oftime, the continuity equation for water balance is
given as: (Change in mass storage) =(mass in flow) - (mass outflow)
Δs= Vi-Vo
The waterbudgetequationfora catchmentconsideringall processfora timeinterval Δtis written
as: Δs = P- R-G-E-T
Where,Δsrepresentchangeinstorage
P-Precipitation,G-Netgroundwaterflowingoutsidethecatchment, R-Surfacerunoff E-
Evaporation, T- Transpiration
Storageofwaterinacatchmentoccursin3differentformsanditcanbewrittenas:
S= Ss+Sm+Sg
Where,S-storage,Ss-Surfacewaterstorage,Sm-soilmoisturestorage, Sg -
ground water storage
Hencechangeinstoragemaybeexpressedas:
ΔS=ΔSs+ΔSm+ΔSg
Therainfallrunoffrelationshipcanbewrittenas:R=P -L R-
Surface runoff, P- Precipitation, L- Losses
i.e.waternotavailabletorunoff duetoinfiltration,evaporation,transpiration andsurface storage.

PRECIPITATION
It is defined as the return of atmospheric moisture to the ground in the form of solids or
liquids. Precipitation is the fall of water in various forms on the earth from the cloud. The
usual form of precipitation is rain and snow. In India snowfall occurs only in Himalayan
region during water. Most ofthe precipitation occur in India is the formofrain.
The following arethemaincharacteristicsofrainfall:
a. Amount or quantity: The amount ofrainfallis usuallygivenas a depthover a specified
area,assumingthat alltherainfallaccumulatesoverthesurfaceandtheunit formeasuring
amount ofrainfall is cm. The volume ofrainfall = Area xDepth ofRainfall(m3)
Theamountofrainfalloccurringismeasuredwiththehelpofraingauges.
b. Intensity: This is usuallyaverage ofrainfallrate of rainfall during the special periods ofa
stormand is usually expressed as cm/ hour.
c. Duration ofStorm: Inthe case ofa complex storm, we candivide it into a series ofstorms
ofdifferent durations, during which the intensity is more or less uniform.
d. Aerial distribution: During a storm, the rainfall intensity or depth etc. will not be uniform
over the entire area. Hence we must consider the variation over the area i.e. the aerial
distribution of rainfall over which rainfall is uniform.

DEFINITIONS

Infiltration: Infiltration is the passage of water across the soil surface. Thevertical downward
movement of water within the soil is known as percolation. The infiltration capacity is the
maximum rate of infiltration for the given condition of the soil. Obviously the infiltration
capacity decreases with time during/ after a storm.

Overland Flow: This is the part of precipitation which isflowing over the ground surface and
is yet to reach a well-defined stream.

Surface runoff: When the overland flow enters a well-defined stream it is known as surface
runoff(SRO).

Interflow for Sub surface flow: A part of the precipitation which has in-filtered the ground
surface may flow within the soil but close to the surface. This is known asinterflow. When
the interflow enters a well-defined stream, thenand only itis called run off.

Ground water flow: This is the flow of water in the soil occurring below the ground water
table. The ground water table is at the top levelofthe saturated zone within the soiland itis at
atmospheric pressure. Hence it isalso called phreatic surface. Aportionofwatermayenter a
well-defined stream. Onlythen it is knownas runofforbase flow. Hence we saythat runoff is
the portion of precipitation which enters a well-defined stream and has three components;
namely- surface runoff, interflow runoff and ground water runoffor base flow.

Evaporation: This is the process by which state of substance (water) is changed from liquid
state to vapor form. Evaporation occurs constantly from water bodies, soil surface and even
from vegetation. In short evaporation occurs when water is exposed to atmosphere (during
sunlight). The rateof evaporation depends on the temperature and humidity.

Transpiration: This is the process by which the water extracted by the roots of the plants is
lost to the atmosphere throughthe surface of leaves and branches by evaporation. Hence it is
also known as evapotranspiration.

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 FORMSOFPRECIPITATION
1. Drizzle–Thisisaformofprecipitationconsistingofwaterdropletsofdiameterlessthan
0.05 cm with intensity less than 0.01cm/ hour. In this drops are so small that they appear
to flow in the air.
2. Rainfall– This is a formofprecipitationofwater drops larger than0.05cmdiameter upto
0.6cmdiameter. Water dropsofsize greater than0.6 cmdiameter tend to break up asthey
fallthrough the atmosphere. Intensity varies from0.25 cm/ hour to 0.75cm/ hour.
Light Rain – Traced to 0.25cm/hr
Moderaterain–0.25cm/hrto0.75cm/hr
Heavy rain – greater than 0.75cm/hr
3. Snow –This is precipitation inthe formofice crystals. These crystals usuallycarrya thin
coating of liquid water and form large flakes when theycollide with each other.
4. Hail – The precipitation in the formofballs are irregular of ice ofdiameter 5mm or more is
called Hail.
5. Glaze (Freezing Rain) – This isthe ice coating formed whena drizzle orrainfallcomes in
contact with veryold objects onthe ground. It occurs when there is cold layer of air with
temperature below 00C
6. Sleet – Sleet is the precipitation in the formof melting snow. It is a mixture ofsnow and
rain. It is inthe formofpellet ofdiameter 1mm-4mm. Sleet is also knownassmall hail.
7. Frost – Frost is a form of precipitation which occurs in the form of scales, needles,
feathers or fans.
8. Dew – Dew is a form of precipitation which doesn’t occur because of condensation in
higher layer of atmosphere but it is formed by condensation directly on the ground. Dew
occurs in the night when the ground surface is cooled byoutgoing radiation.

FORMATIONOFPRECIPITATION
Precipitationoccurswhenthefollowingfourconditionsaresatisfied:
 Coolingofairmasses
 Formationofcloudsintoicecrystalsdueto condensation
 Growthofwaterdroplets
 Accumulationofmoisture

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Coolingofairmasses
Cooling occurs when air ascents from earth surface to upper level in the atmosphere. The
decrease in temperature of undisturbed atmospheric air with an increase in altitude is called
lapse rate(6.50C/km). The precipitation depends onthe lapse rate and amount ofcooling.

Formationofcloudsduetocondensation
Condensation occurs when the water vapour in the atmosphere is converted intoliquid droplet
or into ice crystals when temperature is quiet low. Clouds are formed due to condensation.
The water vapour converted into water droplets due to the presence of small solid particles
called condensation nuclei or Hydroscopic nuclei of sizes 0.001 micron to 10 micron. The
rateofcondensation increases as the number of nuclei increases.

Growth ofwaterdroplets

The size of water droplets in a cloud is usually very small of about 0.02mm. However this
cannot reach the ground unless there is growth in water droplet. This can be achieved by
means of coalescence. Coalescence of droplets occurs to form larger drops and is due to
difference of velocity of larger droplets and smaller droplets and due to co-existence of ice
crystals and water droplets in clouds.

Accumulationofmoisture
Theair must containsufficient amount ofmoistureso that appreciableprecipitationcanoccur
after meeting the evaporation loses between the clouds and ground. Accumulationofmoisture
in atmosphere occurs dueto evaporation of lands, vegetation and water surfaces.

TYPESOFPRECIPITATION
One of the essential requirements for precipitation to occur is the cooling of large masses of
moist air. Lifting of air masses to higher altitudes is the only large scale process of cooling.
Hence the types of precipitation based on the mechanism which causes lifting of air masses
are as follows:
1. Convective precipitation: This is due to the lifting of warm air which is lighter than the
surroundings.Generally this type of precipitation occurs in the tropics where on a hotday,
the ground surface gets heated unequally causing the warmer air to lift up and
precipitation occurs in the form of high intensity and short duration.This usually occurs
intheformofalocalwhirlingthunderstormandforveryshortduration,itiscalled
 ‘tornado’, when accompanied by very high velocity destructive winds. Convective
precipitation covers small area and rainfall intensity may be very high (10cm/hr).

2. OrographicPrecipitation:Itisthemost importantprecipitationandisresponsiblefor most of

heavy rains in India. Orographic precipitation is caused by air masses which strike some
naturaltopographic barriers like mountainsand cannot move forward and hence the rising
amount ofprecipitation. The greatest amountofprecipitation falls onthe windward side and
leeward side has very little precipitation.
Ex: Cherrapunji, Agumbe in Western Ghats of southern India gets heavy Orographic
precipitation.

3. Cyclonic Precipitation: This is the precipitation associated with cyclones or moving

massesofair and involvesthe presenceoflowpressures. Acyclone isa largezoneoflow
pressure which is surrounded by a circular wind motion. This type of precipitation occur
dye to pressure differences created bythe unequal heating ofearth’s surface. Air tends to
move into low pressure zone from surrounding areas and displaces low pressure air
upwards. The wind blows spirally inward counter clockwise in the northern hemisphere
and clockwise in the southern hemisphere.
This isfurthersubdividedinto2categories
a. Non Frontal cyclonic precipitation: In this, a low pressure area develops. (Low-pressure
area is a region where the atmospheric pressure is lower than that of surrounding
locations). The air from surroundings converges laterally towards the low pressure area.
This results in lifting ofair and hence cooling. It mayresult inprecipitation.
b. Frontalcyclonic precipitation: FRONT is a barrier region between two air masses having
different temperature, densities, moisture, content etc. If a warm and moist airmass moves
upwards over a mass ofcold and heavier air mass, the warmair gets lifted, cooled and
mayresultinprecipitation. Suchaprecipitation isknownaswarmfront precipitation.

FIG:Cyclonicprecipitation

4. TurbulentPrecipitation: This precipitation is usually due to a combination of the several of

the above cooling mechanisms. The change in frictional resistance as warm and moist air
moves fromthe oceanonto the land surface maycause lifting ofair masses and hence
precipitation due to cooling. This precipitation results in heavy rainfall. Thewinter rainfall
in Tamilnadu is mainlydue to this type ofturbulent ascent.

MEASUREMENTOFRAINFALL
Rainfall is measuredonthebasisoftheverticaldepthofwater accumulated ona levelsurface
duringanintervaloftime, ifalltherainfallremainedwhere it fell. Itis measured inmm‘. The
instrument used for measurement ofrainfall is called “Rain gauge”. These are classified as:
 NonrecordingtypeRaingauge
 RecordingtypeRaingauge

Nonrecording typeRaingauges
Theseraingaugeswhichdo notrecordthedepthofrainfall, butonlycollect rainfall. Symon‘s
raingaugeistheusualnonrecordingtypeofraingauge.Itgivesthetotalrainfallthathas

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occurred at a particular period. It essentially consists of a circular collecting area 127 mm in
diameter connectedto a funnel. The funneldischargestherainfallinto areceiving vessel. The
funnel and the receiving vessel are housedin a metallic container. The components of this rain
gauge are a shown in fig below.

FIG1.4:Symons Raingauge
The water collected in the receiving bottle is measured bya graduated measuring jar with an
accuracy of 0.1 ml. the rainfall is measured every day at 8:30 am IST and hence this
Raingauge gives only depth of rainfall for previous 24 hours. During heavy rains,
measurement is done 3 to 4 times a day.
Thus Symons Raingauge gives only the total depth of rainfall for previous 24 hours and
doesn’t provide intensity and rainfall duration of the rainfall during different time interval of
the day.

RecordingtypeRaingauges
These are rain gauges which can give a permanent, automatic rainfall record (without any
bottle recording) in the form of a pen mounted on a clock driven chart. From the chart
intensity or rate of rainfall in cm per hour or 6 hrs, 12 hrs…... besides the total amount of
rainfall can be obtained.
Advantagesofrecording raingauges:
1. Necessityofanattendantdoesnotarise
2. Intensityofrainfall at anytime as wellas totalrainfall is obtained, where as nonrecording
gauge gives only total rainfall.
3. Datafrominaccessible places(hillyregions)canbecontinuouslyobtained.
4. Humanerrorsareeliminated.
5. Capacityofgaugesislarge.
6. Time intervals are also recorded.
Disadvantagesofrecordingraingauges:
1. Highinitialinvestment cost.
2. Recording is not reliablewhenfaults ingaugearise(mechanicalorelectrical) tillfaultsare
corrected.

TYPESOFRECORDINGRAINGAUGE

1. Tippingbucketraingauge:
This is the most common type of automatic rain gauge adopted by U S Meteorological
Department.

FIG 1.5:TippingBucketRaingauge
This consists of receiver draining into a funnel of 30 cm diameter. The catch (rainfall) from
funnel falls into one of the pair of small buckets (tipping buckets). These buckets are so
balanced that when 0.25 mm of rainfall collects in one bucket, it tips and brings the other
bucket into position.
Tipping of bucket completes an electric circuitcausing the movement of pen to mark on clock
driven receiving drum which carries a recorded sheet. These electric pulses generated are
recorded at the control room far away from the rain gauge station. This instrument is further
suited for digitalizing the output signal.

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The tippingbucketRaingaugeis quietdurable, simple to operate and convenientbutithas following
disadvantage:
 It doesn’t give accurate result incase ofintense rainfall, because some ofrainwhichfalls
during the tipping of bucket is not measured.
 Because ofdiscontinuous natureofthe record,the instrument is not satisfactoryfor using
light drizzle or very light rain.
 Thetimeofbeginning andendingofrainfallcannotbedetermined accurately.
 Thisgauge isnotsuitableformeasuringsnowwithoutheatingthecollector.

2. Weighingbucketrain gauge:
ThisisthemostcommontypeofrecordingorautomaticraingaugeadoptedbyIndian
MeteorologicalDepartment. The construction ofthis rain gauge is shown in figure below.

FIG1.6:WeighingBucketRaingauge

It consists of a receiving bucket supported by a spring or lever. The receiving bucketis pushed
down due to the increase in weight(due to accumulating rain fall). The pen attached to the
arm continuously records the weight on a clock driven chart. The chart obtained from this rain
gauge is a mass curve of rain fall.
From the mass curve the average intensity of rainfall (cm/hr) can be obtained by calculating
the slope of the curve at any instant of time. The patterns as well as total depth of rain fall at
different instants can also be obtained.
The advantages of this raingauge are that it can record snow, hail and mixture of rain and
snow.
Thedisadvantagesare:
 Theeffectoftemperature and frictiononweighingmechanismmayintroduce error.
 Failureofreversemechanismresultsinlossofrecord.
 Becauseofwindactiononbucket,erotictracesmaybe recordedonthe chart.

3. Siphonorfloattyperaingauge
This is also called integrating rain gauge as it depicts an integrated graph of rain fall with
respect to time. The construction ofthis rain gauge is shown in figure below.

FIG1.7:SIPHONRAINGAUGE
A receiver and funnel arrangement drain the rainfall into a container, in which a float
mechanism at the bottom is provided. As water accumulates, the float rises. A pen arm
attached to the float mechanism continuously records the rainfall on a clock driven chart and
also produces a mass curve of rain fall. When the water level rises above the crest of the
siphon, the accumulated water in the containerwill be drained off by siphonic action. The rain
gauge is readyto receive the new rainfall.

4. Radarmeasurementof rainfall
The principle involves RADAR as shown in figure below. Electromagnetic waves known as
pulses are produced by a transmitter and are radiated by a narrow beam antenna. The
reflections of these waves from the targets (echoes) are again intercepted by thesame antenna.
A receiver detects these echoes, amplifies and transforms them intovideoform on an indicator
called PlanPosition indicator. The screenofindicator is illuminated dimlywhere there is no
target (rainfall) and a bright spot occurs where there is a target and a bright patch where there
is an extended object such as rain shower.
FACTORSGOVERNINGSELECTIONOFSITEFORRAINGAUGESTATIONS:
 The sitefor rain gaugestation shouldbe an open space without the presence of trees or any
covering.
 Theraingaugeshouldbeproperlysecuredbyfencing.
 Thesiteforraingaugestationshouldbeatruerepresentationoftheareawhichis supposed to give
rainfall data.
 The distance ofanyobject or fence fromthe rain gauge should not be less thantwice the
height ofthe object or fence and in no case less than30 m.
 Therain gaugeshouldnotbesetupon thepeak orsides of ahill,buton anearby fairly level
ground.
 Theraingaugeshouldbeprotectedfromhighwinds.
 Theraingaugeshouldbeeasilyaccessibletotheobserversatalltimes.

DETERMINATIONOFAVERAGEPRECIPITATIONOVERANAREA
The rainfall measured by a rain gauge is called point precipitation because it represents the
rainfall pattern over a small area surrounding the rain gauge station. However in nature rain
fall pattern varies widely. The average precipitation over an area can be obtained only if
several rain gauges are evenly distributed over the area. But there is always limitation to
establish several rain gauges. However this draw back can be overcome by adopting certain
methods as mentioned below, which give fair results.

Arithmetic mean method:In thismethod to determine the average precipitation over an area
the rainfall data ofall available stations are added and divided by the number of stations to
give an arithmetic mean for the area. That is if P1,P2 and P3 are the precipitations recorded at
three stations A, B and C respectively, then average precipitation over the area covered by the
rain gauges is given by
Pav=P1+P2+P3/3
This method can be used if the area is reasonably flat and individual gauge readings do not
deviate from the mean (average). This method does not consider aerial variation of rainfall,
non-even distribution of gauges, Orographic influences (presence of hills), etc. This method
can also be used to determine the missing rain fall reading fromany station also in the given
area.
Thiessen Polygon method:This is also known as weighted mean method. This method is
very accurate for catchments having areas from 500 to 5000 km2. In this method rainfall
recorded at each station is given a weight age on the basis ofthe area enclosing the area. The
procedure adopted is as follows.
Theraingaugestationpositionsaremarkedonthecatchmentplan.

 Eachofthesestationpositionsarejoinedbystraightlines.

 Perpendicular bisectors to the previous lines are drawn and extended up to the boundary
of the catchment to form a polygon around each station.

 Usingaplanimeter,theareaenclosed byeachpolygonismeasured.

 Theaverageprecipitationoveranareaisgivenas

(Pav=P1A1+P2A2+P3A3+…………. +PnAn/A1+A2+A3+………+An)
WhereP1,P2,P3………….Pn arerainfallamountsobtainedfrom1ton raingaugestations respectively
are areas of polygons surrounding each station.
A1, A2, A3………Anareareasofpolygonssurroundingeachstation.

IsohyetalMethod:Isohyetsareimaginarylinejoiningpointsofequalprecipitationina given area

similar to contours in a given area.

In Isohyetal Method for determining the average precipitation over an area, Isohyets of
different valuesaresketched ina mannersimilarto contoursinsurveying inagivenarea.The mean
(average)of twoadjacentIsohyetal valuesisassumedtobe theprecipitation overthe
area lying betweenthetwoisohyets.To gettheaverageprecipitationoveranareathe procedure to be
followed is
 Eachareabetweenthe isohyetsismultipliedwiththecorresponding meanIsohyetalvalue
(precipitation).
 Allsuchproducts aresummedup.
 Thesumobtainedfromaboveisdividedbythetotalareaofthecatchment(gauging area).
 Thequotientobtainedfromaboverepresentsaverageprecipitationover gauging area.

ESTIMATIONOFMISSINGPRECIPITATIONRECORD
Asufficiently long precipitationrecordis required for frequencyanalysis ofrainfalldata. But a
particular rain gauge may not be operative for sometime due to many reasons it becomes
necessaryto estimate missing record & fill the gap rather thanto leave it empty. This is done
by the following method.

1. InterpolationfromIsohyetalmap
InanIsohyetalmap ofthe areathe passionofthe station(raingauge) where recordis missing is
marked by interpolation techniques the missing record is worked out the factors like storm
factor, topography nearness to sea are considered for proper estimation.

2. StationYearmethod
In this method the records of 2 or more stations are combined into one long record provided
station records are independent and areas in which stations located are climatologically the
same. The missingrecordat anystationinaparticular year maybe foundbyratio ofaverages or by
graphical comparison.

3. Arithmeticaveragemethod
Here number of other rain gauge station record surrounding station in question (missing
record) is required. The missing rainfall record at the station is taken as average o fall
available data surrounding station in question. P1, P2, P3--------etc Pn are rainfall record from
―n‖ station surrounding a non operative station ‘x’ the rainfall data for station ‘x’ is given as
Px=(P1+P2+P3-------------- +Pn)/3
This method isapplicable whennormalannualrainfallat station―x‖doesnot differ bymore than
10% with the surrounding station.
4. Normalratio method
This method is applicable when normal annual rainfall at required station differ more than
10% of annual rainfall at surrounding station.
LetP1,P2,P3 ------------------ Pnberainfallrecordat‘n’stationduringaparticularstormsurrounding
station ‘x’ (with missing record). Let N1, N2 -------- Nn be annual normal rainfall for ‘n’
station. Nx be annual rainfall for station ‘x’. Then the rainfall at station ‘x’ during a given
storm is calculated as
Px=1/n(Nx/N1P1+ Nx/N2P2 --------------+Nx/ NxPn)

RAINGAUGEDENSITY
The catchment area ofa rain gauge is verysmall compared to the arealextent ofa storm. It
becomesobviousthatto get arepresentativepictureofastormover acatchment,thenumber
ofraingauges should be as manyas possible. Onthe other hand topographic conditions and
accessibility restrict the number of rain gauges to be set up. Hence one aims at optimum
number of rain gauges from which accurate information can be obtained. From practical
considerations IMD as per IS 4987 has recommended the following rain gauge densities
depending upon the type of area.
 Plainareas– 1 stationper520 km2
 Areaswith1000maverage elevation -1stationper260to350km2
 Predominantlyhillyareas withheavyrainfall-1stationper130km2

OPTIMUMNUMBER OFRAINGAUGESTATIONS
If there are already some raingauge stations in a catchment, the optimal number of stations
that should exist to have an assigned percentage of error in the estimation of mean rainfall is
obtained by statistical analysis as
N=(Cv/E)2
Where,N=optimalnumberofstations
E =allowable degree oferrorintheestimate ofmeanrainfall
If therearen stationsin thecatchmenteach recordingrainfallvaluesP 1,P2……....Pnina known time,
the coefficient of variation
Cv= 100σ/P
𝑛
σ=√ ∗[𝑃12−𝑃2]
𝑛−1

P=(P1+P2+ P3 ------------ +Pn)/3

 2-----
P1=(P
1
2
+P2
2 +P 3 +P2)/3
n

TESTSFORCONSISTENCYOFRAINFALL
If the conditions relevant to the recording of a raingauge station have undergone significant
change during the period of record, inconsistency could arise in the rainfall data of that
record. Some of the common causes for inconsistency of record are:
1. Shiftingtheraingaugestationtonewlocation.
2. Theneighborhoodohthestationundergoing amarked change.
3. Changeintheecosystemduetocalamitiessuchasforestfires,landslideetc.
4. Occurrence ofobservationalerror fromcertaindata.
Checking for inconsistency of a record is done by “double mass curve technique”. This
technique is based on the principle that“when each recorded data comes from the same parent
population they are consistent.
A group of 5 to 10 base stations in the neighborhood of the problematic station ‘X’ is
selected. The data of annual (monthly) mean rainfall of the station X and also the average
rainfall of the group of the base stations covering a long period is arranged in reverse
chronological order. The accumulated precipitation of station X and the accumulated
precipitation values of the average of the group of basestation are calculated startingfrom the
latest record. Values of ∑Px are plotted against ∑Pavg for variousconsecutivetime periods. A
decided break in the slope of the resulting plot indicate a change in precipitation regime of
station ’X’ beyond the period of change of regimeiscorrected by using the relation:
𝑀𝐶
𝑃𝐶𝑋=𝑃𝑋∗
𝑀𝑎
Where, 𝑃𝐶𝑋 = Corrected precipitation at any time period T1 at station X
Px=OriginalrecordedprecipitationattimeperiodT 1at stationX Mc =
Corrected slope ofthe double mass curve
Ma=Originalslopeofthedoublemasscurve
 FIG:Doublemasscurve

PRESENTATIONOFRAINFALLDATA

1. TheMassCurveofRainfall
The mass curve of rainfall is a plot of the accumulated precipitation against time, plotted in
chronological order. Records of float type and weighing bucket type gauges are of this form.
A typical mass curve of rainfall at a station during a storm is shown in figure below. Mass
curve of rainfall are very useful in extracting the information on the duration and magnitude
of a storm. Also, intensities at various time intervals in a stormcan be obtained bythe slope
ofthe curve. For non recording rain gauges, mass curves are prepared fromknowledge ofthe
approximate beginning and end ofa stormand by using the mass curve ofadjacent recording
gauge stations as a guide.
 FIG:MassCurve ofRainfall
2. Hyetograph
A hyetograph is a plot of the intensity of rainfall against the time interval. The hyetograph is
derived from the mass curve and is usually represented as a bar chart. It is very convenient
way of representing the characteristics of a storm and is particularly important in the
development of design storms to predict extreme floods. The area under a hyetograph
representsthe totalprecipitationreceived in the period. The time intervalused dependsonthe
purpose, in urban drainage problems small durations are used while flood flow computations
in larger catchments the intervals are about 6h.

FIG:Hyetographofastorm
3. Pointrainfall
Itis the total liquidform of precipitation orcondensationfrom theatmosphereas received and
measured in a raingauge. It is expressed as so many‘mm’ ofdepthofwater.
4. Ordinategraph
The ordinate graph represents the rainfall in any year as an ordinate line drawn to some scale
at the corresponding year.

5. MovingAverageCurve
The graphical representation of rainfall in any of the above methods may not show any trend
or cyclic pattern present in the data. The moving average curve smoothens out the extreme
variations and indicate the trend or cyclic pattern if any more clearly. It is also known as the
moving mean curve.
Theproceduretoconstructthemovingaveragecurveisasfollows:
The moving average curve is constructed with a moving period (m) year, where mis generally
taken to be 3 to 5 years. Let X1, X2, X3…………… Xn be the sequence of given annual
rainfall in the chronological order. Let Yi denote the ordinate of the moving average curve for
the ith year. Then m= 3, Yi is computed from
Y2=X1+X2+X3/ 3
Y3=X2+X3+X4/ 3
Yi = X(i-1)+Xi+X(i+1) / 3
Y(n-1)=X(n-2)+X(n-1)+Xn /3
From the above equations the computed value of ‘i’ correspond in time, the middle value of
‘x’ being average and therefore it is convenient to use odd values of “m”.

IMPORTANTQUESTIONS
1. ExplainHorton’squalitativeHydrologiccycle?
2. ExplainwithaneatsketchSiphon’sraingauge?
3. Defineprecipitation.Explainvarious formsofprecipitation?

OUTCOMES
 Understandtheimportanceofhydrologyanditscomponents.
 Measureprecipitationandanalyzethedataandanalyzethelossesinprecipitation.

FURTHERREADING
 nptel.ac.in/downloads/105105110/
 MODULE2
EVAPORATION
INTRODUCTION
PROCESS
FACTORSAFFECTINGEVAPORATION
DALTONS LAWOFEVAPORATION
MEASUREMENTOFEVAPORATION
ESTIMATIONUSINGEMPERICALFORMULAE
RESERVOIREVAPORATION&CONTROL

EVAPOTRANSPIRATION
FACTORSAFFECTINGEVAPOTRANSPIRATION
MEASUREMENT
ESTIMATIONBYBLANEYCRIDDLEEQUATION

INFILTRATION
INTRODUCTION
FACTORSAFFECTINGINFILTRATIONCAPACITY
MEASUREMENTBYDOUBLERINGINFILTROMETER
HORTON’SINFILTRATIONEQUATION
INFILTRATIONINDICES
LOSSESFROM PRECIPITATION
The hydrological equation states that ‗Runoff = Rainfall – Losses‘. Hence the runoff from a
watershed resulting due to a storm is dependent on the losses. Losses may occur due to the
following reasons
1. Evaporation
2. Evapotranspiration
3. Infiltration
4. Interception
5. Watershedleakage
Thefirst threecontributetothemajor amountoflosses.

EVAPORATION

INTRODUCTION
It isthe processbywhicha liquid changesto gaseousstate at the free surface throughtransfer of
heat energy. In an exposed water body like lakes or ponds, water molecules are in continuous
motion with arrange of velocities (faster at the top and slower at the bottom). Additional heat
on water body increases the velocities. When some water molecules posses’ sufficient kinetic
energy they may cross over the water surface. Simultaneously the water molecules in
atmosphere surrounding the water body may penetrate the water body due to condensation. If
the number of molecules leaving the water body isgreater than the number of molecules
arriving or returning, difference in vapour pressure occurs, leading to evaporation.

EVAPORATIONPROCESS
When the external thermal energy supplied to surface of water body, the kinetic energy of
water molecules will be increased. When the molecules near the free surface attain enough
kinetic energy, they escape from the water body they eject themselves in to the atmosphere.
Outoftotalatmospheric pressure onthe free surface there will be some contribution fromthe
vapour molecules present in the free surface. This partial pressure exerted by the vapour is
called vapour pressure. Continued supply of heat energy causes accumulation of more and
more vapour molecules and thus gaseous medium can no longer accommodate and reject
vapour molecules in the form of condensation at the same rate as vaporization. At this stage
the air is said to be saturated. At saturation the partial pressure exerted by water vapour is
calledthesaturationvapourpressureanddenotedby (e s)whichincreasewithtemperature.

ATMECOLLEGEOFENGINEERING,MYSURU
Thus if vapour pressure of air above free surface of water is already equal to the saturation
vapour pressure (es) neither evaporation no condensation takes place and then it is called as
equilibrium state.
Fromtheabove explanationforevaporationtooccur itisnecessaryto have:
(1) A supplyofwater
(2) Asourceofheat
(3) Vapourpressuredeficit,i.edifferenceb/wsaturatedvapourpressureofwater correspond to
water temperature.

FACTORSAFFECTING EVAPORATION
1. Vapour pressure difference: The number of molecules leaving or entering a water body
depends on the vapour pressure of water body at the surface and also the vapour pressure of
air. Higher water temperature leads to high vapour pressure at surface and tends to increase
the rate of evaporation. High humidity in air tends to increase vapour pressure in air and in
turn reduces rate of evaporation.
2. Temperature of air and water: The rate of emission of molecules from a water body is a
function of its temperature. At higher temperature molecules of water have greater energy to
escape. Hence maximum evaporation from water bodies takes place in summer. It has been
estimated that for every 1o C rise in atmospheric temperature increases 5 cm of evaporation
annually.
3. Wind Velocity: When wind velocity is more the saturated air (humid air) is drifted away
anddryair comes incontact withwater surfacewhichisreadyto absorbmoisture. Hencerate
ofevaporationisdependent onwind velocity.It hasbeenestimatedthat 10%increase inwind
velocity increases 2 – 3% of evaporation.
4. Quality of water: The rate of evaporation of fresh water is greater than saline water.
(Specific gravityofsaline water is greaterthan that of fresh water. It is established that saline
water has lesser vapour pressure and itis observed that evaporation from fresh wateris 3 – 4%
more than sea water.
5. Atmospheric pressure and Altitude: Evaporation decreases with increase in atmospheric
pressure as the rateofdiffusion fromwater bodyinto the air is suppressed. At higher altitude
the atmospheric pressure is usually lesser and there byevaporation rate is higher.
6. Depth ofwater body: Evaporation shallow water bodies is greater when compared to deep
water bodies as the water at lower levels in deep water bodies is not heated muchand vapour
pressure at lower levels is also reduced.

ATMECOLLEGEOFENGINEERING,MYSURU
7. Humidity: If the humidity of the atmosphere is more the evaporation will be less because
during the process of evaporation, water vapour, moving from the point of higher moisture
contentto lower moisture content and rateofthis movement is grounded bythis difference of
their moisture content or moisture gradient existing in air.
8. Radiation: Since the evaporation requires continuous supply of energy which is derived
mainly from solar radiation. The radiation will be a factor of considerable importance.
Evaporation increase and the radiation increases and vice versa.

DALTONS LAWOFEVAPORATION
The rate of evaporation is function of the difference in vapour pressure at the water surface
and the atmosphere. Dalton‘s law of evaporation states that ―Evaporation is proportional to
the difference in vapour pressures of water and air .
i.e.Eα(ew–ea)orE=k(ew–ea)
Where,E=dailyevaporation
ew= saturatedvapourpressureofwaterat a giventemperature ea=
vapour pressure of air
k=proportionalityconstant
Consideringthe effect ofwindDalton‘sLaw isexpressedasE =kl(ew–ea) (a+b*V) Where,
V = wind velocity in km/hour kl, a &bare constants for a given area.

MEASUREMENTOFEVAPORATION
In order to ensure proper planning and operation of reservoirs and irrigation systems
estimation of evaporation is necessary. However exact measurement of evaporation is not
possible. But the following methods are adopted astheygive reliable results.
 Panmeasurementmethods
 Useofempiricalformulae
 Storageequationmethod
 Energybudgetmethod

PANMEASUREMENTMETHOD
Any galvanized iron cylindrical vessel of 1.2 m to 1.8 m diameter, 300 mm depth with
opening at the top can be used as an evapometer or evaporation pan. During any interval of
time evaporation is measured as the drop inwater level inthe pan. Rainfalldata, atmospheric
pressuredata,temperature,etcshouldalsoberecorded.Ithasbeencorrelatedthat

ATMECOLLEGEOFENGINEERING,MYSURU
evaporation froma pan is not exactlythe same as that taking place froma water body. Hence
whileusingapanmeasurement dataformeasuring evaporationfroma lakeorawaterbody,a
correction factor has to be applied or multiplied by a pan co-efficient.
Panco-efficient =(actualevaporationfromreservoir/measuredevaporationfrompan) The
evaporation pans adopted in practice have a pan coefficient of0.7 to 0.8.
Thepopularlyusedevaporationpansare:
1. ISIstandardpanorClassApan
2. USClassApan
3. Coloradosunkenpan
4. USGeologicalSurveyfloatingpan

Fig:ISIstandardpanorClassApan

This evaporation pan should confirm to IS – 5973:1976 and is also called Class A pan. It
consists of a circular copper vessel of 1220 mm effective diameter, 255 mm effective depth
and a wall thickness of 0.9 mm. A thermometer is assembled to record the variation in
temperature. A wire mesh cover with hexagonal openings is provided at the top to prevent
entry of foreign matter. A fixed gauge housedin a stilling well as shown in figureis provided.
During evaporation measurement a constant water level is maintained at the top level of fixed
gauge. For this purpose water has to be added or removed periodically. The water level
measurements are done using micrometer hook gauge. The entire assembly is mounted on a
level wooden platform.

ATMECOLLEGEOFENGINEERING,MYSURU
PANCO-EFFICCIENT
Evaporation pans are not exact models of large reservoirs or lakes, because of the exposure
conditions which are not identical in both the cases.Specially the heat storing capacity and the
heat transformed from the side & bottom of pan are quite differentfrom those of large lake are
reservoir, also the height of the rim above the water surface in the pan effects the wind action
over the surface and creates a shadow of variable magnitude over water surface which effects
radiation incident to the water surface. In view of the above evaporation measured from the
pans has to be corrected to get the evaporation from the lake under a similar climatic
exposure condition. Thus a co-efficient called pan co-efficient is introduced and is given by:
PanCo-efficient(Cp)=(Actualevaporationfromthelakesorreservoirs/ Measured
evaporation from the pan)
Thepanco-efficientfordifferent typesofpansaretabulated below:-
TypeofPan RangeofCp Average Cp
ISI Pan 0.65-1.0 0.80
ClassAloadpan 0.60-0.80 0.70
ColoradoSunkenpan 0.75-0.86 0.78
FloatingPan 0.70-0.80 0.80

USEOFEMPIRICALFORMULAE
Based on Dalton‘s law of evaporation, various formulae have been suggested to estimate
evaporation.
1. Meyer‘sformula:
E= C*(es–ea)*(1+0.06215V)
Where, E=evaporationfromwaterbody(mm/month)
es=saturationvapourpressureat watersurface(mmofmercury) correspondingto mean
monthly temperature of water
ea=actualvapourpressureofair basedonmeanmonthlytemperature&relative humidity
v= monthlymeanwindvelocityinKm/hr, 10mabovetheground c =
50 (small shallow ponds)
=11(forlargeordeepwaterbodies)

ATMECOLLEGEOFENGINEERING,MYSURU
2. Rohwer‘sformula:

E=0.771(1.465–0.000732Pa)*(0.44+0.7334v)*(es– ea)
Where,E =evaporationin mm/day
Pa=MeanBarometricReadinginmmmercury
es=saturationvapourpressureat watersurface(mmofmercury) correspondingto mean
monthly temperature of water
ea=actualvapourpressureofair basedonmeanmonthlytemperature&relative humidity
v=monthlymeanwindvelocityin Km/hr,10mabovetheground

METHODSTOCONTROLEVAPORATIONFROMLAKES
Followingaresomerecommendedmeasurestoreduceevaporationfromwatersurfaces.
1) Storage reservoirs should have more depth and less surface area. The site for construction
of a dam should be so chosen that a deep reservoir with minimum surface area exposed to
atmosphere is formed.
2) Talltrees onthe wind ward side ofthe reservoir should be planted so that theyact as wind
breakers.
3) By spraying a chemical such as Acetyl Alcohol on water surface, a film of 0.15 microns
thickness is produced on the surface. This film allows precipitation in but does not allow
evaporation. This is suitable when wind velocities are less and for small and medium sized
reservoirs.
4) In case of ponds and lakes entire water body can be covered by thin polythene sheets as
mechanicalcovering.
5) In reservoirs outletarrangements should be so done to let out warmer water at top than cold
water from bottom.
6) De-weedingthereservoirsshouldbedonesuchthatwaterconsumed byweeds isreduced.
7) The streams and channels to be straightened so that length and in turn exposed area to
atmosphere are reduced.

ATMECOLLEGEOFENGINEERING,MYSURU
 EVAPOTRANSPIRATION
 Evapotranspiration: Inagricultural fieldsapart fromtranspiration, water isalso lost due to
evaporation from adjacent soil. The sum of these two losses is often termed as
evapotranspiration (Et) or consumptive use (Cu).
 Potential evapotranspiration:Whensufficient moisture isfreelyavailableto completely
meet theneedsofthe vegetation fullycovering an area, theresulting evapotranspiration is
called potential evapotranspiration.
 Actual evapotranspiration: The real evapotranspiration occurring in a specific situation
in the field is called actual evapotranspiration. The knowledge of evapotranspiration,
potential evapotranspiration and actual evapotranspiration are very much useful in
designing irrigation systems (in deciding the amount of water to be supplied for raising
crops).

FACTORSAFFECTINGEVAPOTRANSPIRATION
Potential evapotranspiration is controlled by meteorological facts but actual
evapotranspiration is affected by plant and soil factors. In total the factors affecting
evapotranspiration are:
1. Temperature
2. Humidity
3. Percentagesunshinehours
4. Windspeed
5. Typeofcrop
6. Season
7. Moistureholdingcapacityofsoil
8. IrrigationMethods
9. Croppingpatterns

DETERMINATIONOFEVAPOTRANSPIRATION(ET)ORCONSUMPTIVE USE OF
WATER
The time interval for supplying water to agricultural crops, is a factor dependent on water
requirement of crops, soil properties and as well as consumptive use. Hence accurate
determination of consumptive use or evapotranspiration is very much essential. The methods
of determining consumptive use are:-

ATMECOLLEGEOFENGINEERING,MYSURU
i) Directmeasurement method
ii) Byuseofempiricalformulae

 Directmeasurementmethods
Thedifferentmethodsofdirectmeasurementare
a. Soilmoisture studiesonplots
b. Tankandlysimeter method
c. Fieldexperimentalplots
d. Integrationmethod
e. Inflowandoutflowstudiesforlargeareas

a) Soilmoisturestudiesonplots
Soilmoisture measurements are done before and after supplying water. The quantityofwater
extracted per day from the soil is computed for each required period. A curve is drawn by
plotting the rate of water consumed against time. This curve is useful for determining the
average consumption daily or on monthly basis.

b) Tankandlysimetermethod
Tanks are watertight cylindrical containers which are open at one end. They have a diameter
of 1-3 m and depth of 2-3 m. They are set in ground with the rim in flush with the ground
surface. The quantity of water to keep a constant moisture content (for optimum growth) is
determined, which itself represents consumptive use. A lysimeter is a container similarto tank
but has pervious bottom free drainage through the bottom is collected in a pan which is kept
below. The consumptive use of water in this case therefore the difference between the water
applied and drainage collected in the pan.

c) Fieldexperimentalplots
Inthis methodwater isappliedtoselected fieldplotsinsuchawaythat thereis neither runoff nor
deeppercolation. Yield obtained fromdifferent plots is plottedagainst totalwaterused. It can be
observed that increase in yield occurs with increase in water applied up to a certain
point.Further increase inwatercontent reducesyield. Thisbreak point inwaterapplication is
taken as consumptive use.

ATMECOLLEGEOFENGINEERING,MYSURU
d) Integrationmethod
In thismethod the consumptive use of water for large areas is determined as the sum of the
following products.
I) Consumptiveuseofeachcropanditsarea
II) Consumptiveuseofnaturalvegetationanditsarea
III) Evaporationfromwatersurfacesandtheirarea
IV) Evaporationfromopenlandsandtheir area

e) Inflowandoutflowstudiesforlargeareas
Inthismethodconsumptiveuseofwaterforlargeareasisgivenbytheequation:
Cu=I+P+(Gs -Ge)-O
Where,I=Totalinflowintotheareaduringayear P =
Totalprecipitation in the area during a year
Gs=Groundwaterstorageatthebeginningoftheyear Ge =
Ground water storage at the end ofthe year
O=Outflowfromtheareaduring theyear

 ByUseofEmpiricalformulae
Followingaresomeof theempirical methodsor relationssuggestedforcalculating consumptive use
a) BlaneyCriddlemethod
b) Penman method
c) Lowryand Johnsonmethod
d) Hargreavespan method

BLANEYCRIDDLE EQUATION
Blaney and Criddle developed a simple equation for estimating evapotranspiration. It is
assumedthat theevapotranspirationiscloselycorrelatedwiththe meanmonthlytemperatures and
daylight hours. The monthly consumptive use factor ‘f’ is defined as:
f= (p*Tm/100)
Where Tm is the monthly mean temperature in 0F, p is the monthlydaylight hours expressed
as percent ofthe daylight hoursofthe year and f is in inches.
Inotherwordspisobtainedfromthe expression
 p=(possiblesunshine hoursfortheparticular month/possiblesunshinehoursforthewhole year) *
100
p=(possiblesunshine hoursfortheparticular month/365*12)*100 The
value ofp depends onthe latitude ofthe place and the monthofthe year.
Themonthlyconsumptiveuseisthenobtainedas:
u= k*f
Where k is an empirical crop co-efficient. The monthly consumptive use u are added for all
the months of the crop toyieldthe seasonal consumptive use or the total evapotranspiration in
inches. The value ofk depends onthe month and the place.
The Blaney – Criddle equation gives reasonably accurate estimates of evapotranspiration
provideda locallydevelopedcropco-efficient isused. However it takesonlytemperature and
daylight hours into account and the other important factors like humidity and wind are
ignored.

INFILTRATION
INTRODUCTION
The water entering the soilat the ground surface after overcoming resistance to flow is called
infiltration. The process is also termed as infiltration. Infiltration fills the voids in the soil.
Excess water moves down by gravity and it is known as percolation. Percolation takes place
till water reaches ground water table. For continuous infiltration to occur it is essential that
percolation should also be continuous, which is also dependent of ground water movement.
Infiltration process: Infiltration plays an important role in the runoff process and it can be
easilyunderstood bya simple analogy as shown below. The soil medium where infiltration is
to be observed may be considered as a small container covered with a wire gauge mesh. If
water is pouredover the gauge, partof it entersthe soiland some part over flows. Further the
runoff and infiltration depend on the condition of soil. When soil reaches saturated condition
infiltrationstops and allinput becomes runoff. Usuallyat the beginning ofa storminfiltration is
more and runoff is less and when storm continues infiltration becomes lesser and runoff
become constant. The volume ofrainfallthat willresultinrunoff is called ‗Rainfallexcess‘.
 Infiltration rate (f): It is actually the prevailing rate at which the water is entering the
given soil at any given instant of time. It is expressed in cm/hr (i.e.depth of water entering
soil per unit time).
 Infiltration Capacity (fp): It is the maximum rate at which a soil in anygiven condition
is capable of absorbing water.
 FACTORSAFFECTINGINFILTRATIONCAPACITY
The variations in the infiltration capacity are large. The infiltration capacity is influenced by
many factors. Some factors contribute to long term variation, but some cause temporary
variations.
a. Depthofsurface retentionand thickness ofsaturatedlayerofsoil:
Infiltration takes place due to combined influence of gravity and capillary force. Due to
this a layer of soil near the surface becomes saturated. Ifthe thickness of saturated soil at
any given time and at any given section is ‘L’ the water will flow through a series of tiny
tubes of length ‘L’. Therefore infiltration capacity should decrease with time in a
continuous rain and become a constant ultimately.
b. SoilMoisture:
Thesoilmoistureaffectstheinfiltrationcapacityin2ways:
(i) Ifthe soil is quiet dryat the beginning ofthe rain, there is a strong capillaryattraction
for moisture in subsurface layers that acts in the same direction as gravity and given
high initial value of infiltration. As water percolates down the surface layer becomes
semi saturated & capillary forces diminish hence f also reduces.
(ii) When the soil is subjected to wetting very fine soilparticles called colloids will swell
slightly and reduce the size ofthe voids. This leads to reduceof‘f’ with time.
c. Compactnessofsoil:
(i) Due to rain – The claysurfaced soils are compacted evenbythe impact ofraindrops
which reduce ‘f’. This compaction not only reduces the porosity but also pore sizes.
This effect is negligible in sandy soil. Protection by vegetative cover or practically
eliminate this effect even in fine textured soils.
(ii) Due to man & animals – where heavy pedestrian or vehicular traffic moves on the
soil, the surface is rendered relatively impervious and this reduces ‘f’.
d. Inwashoffines:
When the soil becomes very dry, the surface often contains many fine particles.When rain
falls and infiltration begins, these fines are carried into the soils and are deposited in the
voids, thus reduce the infiltration capacity.
e. Vegetativecovers:
The naturalsurface cover has also an important influence on infiltration. The presence of
dense cover on vegetation on the surface increase ‘f’. The vegetative covers retard the
movement of overland flow and causes high depth of detention. Vegetative cover also
reduces the raindropcompaction andprovides alayerof decayingorganicmatter which

ATMECOLLEGEOFENGINEERING,MYSURU
 promotes the activityofborrowing insects and animals which in turn produces permeable
soil structures. Transpiration by vegetation tends to keep the soil moisture at low levels.
Also these factors tend to increase the infiltration capacity ‘f’.Surfaces covered with snow
paved urban area willobviously have very low or zero infiltration capacity.
f. Temperature:
The effect oftemperatureon infiltrationcapacityis explained throughviscosity. The flow
throughsoilpores isalmost laminar for whichthe resistance isdirectlyproportionaltothe
viscosity. At high temperature viscosity of water is low high filtration capacity is
expected. During winter season the temperature is less and thus infiltration capacity
becomes less. This is one ofthe factorsresponsible for seasonable variation in ‘f’.

MEASUREMENTOFINFILTRATION
Infiltration rates are required in many hydrological problems such as runoff estimation, soil
moisture studies inagriculture, etc. The different methods ofdetermination of infiltration are
1. UseofInfiltro-meters
2. Hydrographanalysis method
The infiltrometer always gives the infiltration capacity ata particular site andinfiltration from
this at various locations in the basin may give fairly satisfactory estimate average infiltration
capacity for the entire basin. In the hydrograph analysis method the actual infiltration rate
curve is obtained, provided the accurate measurement of rainfall and runoff from the basin
made.
Infiltro-metersareoftwotypes.
a) FloodingtypeInfiltro-meters
b) Rainfallsimulators
In flooding type Infiltro-meters water is applied in form of a sheet, with constant depth of
flooding. The depletion of water depth is observed with respect to time. In case of rainfall
simulators water is applied by sprinkling at a constant rate in excess of infiltration capacity
and the runoffoccurring is also recorded. Infiltro-meters adopted in practice are,
1. Simple(TubeType) Infiltro-meters
2. Doublering Infiltro-meters

 Simple (Tube Type) Infiltro-meters It is essentiallya metalcylinder with openings at

bothends. Ithasadiameterof30cmand lengthof60cm. This isdrivenintothe ground
asshownand water is pouredfromthe toptillthe pointer levelas shown. As infiltration

ATMECOLLEGEOFENGINEERING,MYSURU
 continues the depleted volume of water is made up by adding water from a burette or
measuring jar to maintain constant water level. Knowing the volume of water added
duringdifferenttime intervalsthe infiltrationcapacitycurve isplotted.Theexperiment is
continued till a uniformrate of infiltration is obtained, which maytake 2 to 3 hours.

 DoubleringInfiltro-meters
A tube infiltrometer has a drawback that infiltration in it does not represent or simulate the
actual field conditions because the water tends to disperse laterally after coming out at the
bottom. To overcome this draw back a Double ring Infiltro-meter is widely used. Itconsists of
two consecutive rings driven into the ground as shown in the figure below. The inner ring has
a diameter of 30 cm and outer ring has a diameter of 60 cm. They are concentrically driven
into the ground as shown in figure. A constant water depth of 5 cm is maintained in both the
rings. The outer ring provides a water jacket to the water infiltrating from the inner ring and
thus simulates the natural conditions. The water depths in both the rings are maintained
constant during the observation period. The measurement of water volume added into the
inner ring is only noted. The experiment is carried out tillconstant infiltration arte is obtained.
To prevent any disturbance or accidental fall of foreign matter the top of the infiltrometer is
covered with a perforated disc.

ATMECOLLEGEOFENGINEERING,MYSURU
Infiltration capacity curve: It is the graphical representation of variation of infiltration
capacity with time, during and a little after rain many factors affect infiltration capacity of a
given soil. Typical infiltration capacitycurves for a soil are as follows.

ATMECOLLEGEOFENGINEERING,MYSURU
 INFILTRATIONEQUATIONS
The data from Infiltro-meters can be used to plot an infiltration capacity curve. Infiltration
capacity curve is a decaying curve which shows high infiltration capacity rate at beginning
and decreases exponentially and attains minimum or constant value over time. Many
mathematical equations have been proposed to describe the shape of the curve. The most
commonly used equation is ―Horton‘s Equation‖.
The infiltrationrate(f)atanytime‘t‘isgivenbyHorton‘sequation
Fp=Fc+(Fo -Fc)e-Kt
Fo=initialrateofinfiltrationcapacity
Fc=finalconstantrateofinfiltrationatsaturation
K=aconstant dependingprimarilyuponsoiland vegetation e=
base of Napier an logarithm
t=timefrombeginningofstorm
Fc=shadedareaobtainedasshownfromthegraphalso knownas fieldcapacityistheamount of
rainfall which can be absorbed by soil.
Thisequationwhenconjunctivelyused withrainfalldata(hyetograph) canbeusedto calculate
surface runoff volumes occurring during a storm.

INFILTRATIONINDICES
The infiltration capacity curves which are developed either from infiltrometer tests or the
hydrograph analyses methods can be used to estimate the runoff from a given storm. The
infiltration rate curve appropriate to the soil, vegetation and antecedent moisture conditions
existing at the time of occurrence of storm is superimposed on the rainfall hyetograph with
base lines coincident as shown in figure below.

The area of the rainfall hyetograph above the infiltration curve would then represents the
runoff volume whose time distribution may be obtained through the application of unit
hydrographprinciple.Therainfallvolumebelowtheinfiltrationcurverepresentsthetotal

ATMECOLLEGEOFENGINEERING,MYSURU
depth of infiltration during the storm. Though this approach appears to be simple there are
some difficulties. If the rainfall intensity is always more than the infiltration capacity the
results are satisfactory. If the rainfall intensity fluctuates above & below the infiltration
capacity rate curve the problem is complicated. The above difficulties led to the use of
infiltration indices. These indices in general express the infiltration as an average rate
throughout the storm. Since the infiltration capacityactually decrease with prolonged rainfall
the useofanaverage value assumes too little infiltrationduring the first partofthe stormand too
much near the end of it.
1. Φ-Index
The Φ - Index is an average rainfall intensity above which the rainfall volume equals the
runoff volume. The rainfall hyetograph is plotted on a time based and a horizontal line is
drawn such that the shaded area above the line exactly equals the measured runoff. Since the
unshaded area below the line is also measured rainfall but did not appear, as runoff it
represents all the losses including depression storage, evaporation, interception as well as
infiltration. However, infiltration is the largest loss compared to the other losses. The Φ -
Index can be determined for each flood event for which the runoff measurements are
available.
2. W–Index
The W – Index is refined version of Φ - Index. It excludes the depression storage and
interpolation from the total losses. It is the average infiltration rate during the t ime rainfall
intensity exceeds the capacity rate.
Thatis,W=F/t=(P-Q-S)/t
Where F is the total infiltration, t is the time during which rainfall intensity exceeds
infiltration capacity, P is the total precipitation corresponding to t, Q is the total storm runoff
and S is the volume of depression, storage and interception. Thus W- index is essentially
equalto Φ - Index minus the depression and interception storage.

3. Wmin–Index
This is the lowest value of W – Index which is observed under very wet initial conditions.
Under theseconditionssincetheretentionrateis verylow W - IndexandΦ - Indextendto be equal.
This index is principallyused in studies ofmaximum flood potential.

ATMECOLLEGEOFENGINEERING,MYSURU
 IMPORTANTQUESTIONS
 Explainthefactorsaffecting evaporation?
 Defineevaporation.With aneatsketch explainmeasurementof evaporation using“IS class A
pan”?
 ExplainestimationofevaporationbyMeyer’sandRohwer’sempiricalformulae?
 Whatarethemeasurestakento reduceevaporation?
 Enlist thefactorsaffectingevapotranspiration?
 ExplainBlaneyCriddleequationforestimating evapotranspiration?
 What are the different methods of estimating evapotranspiration? Explain any two
methods.
 Explainthefactorsaffectinginfiltrationcapacity.
 Describethemethodofdetermininginfiltrationcapacityusingdoubleringinfiltrometer.
 Differentiatebetween:
 W-index&ɸindex(b)AET&PET(c)Infiltrometer&Lysimeter.
 WithaneatsketchexplainDoublemasstechnique.

OUTCOMES
 Understanddifferenttypesoflosesinprecipitationand factorsaffectingit.

FURTHERREADING
 https://nptel.ac.in/courses/105101002/3

ATMECOLLEGEOFENGINEERING,MYSURU
 MODULE3
RUNOFF
DEFINITION
CONCEPTOFCATCHMENT
FACTORSAFFECTINGRUNOFF
RAINFALL–RUNOFF:RELATIONSHIPUSINGREGRESSIONANALYSIS.

HYDROGRAPHS
DEFINITION
COMPONENTSOFHYDROGRAPH
BASEFLOWSEPARATION
UNITHYDROGRAPH:ASSUMPTION,APPLICATIONANDLIMITATIONS,
DERIVATIONFROMSIMPLESTORMHYDROGRAPHS
SCURVE ANDITSCOMPUTATIONS

ATMECOLLEGEOFENGINEERING,MYSURU
 RUNOFF
INTRODUCTION
Whenprecipitationoccursonland, apartofit is interceptedbyvegetationand some partofit is
stored as depression storage. A part of precipitation infiltrates into the ground. The rate of
infiltration depends on the nature of the soil, moisture content in soil, topography, etc. If the
rate of precipitation is greater than the rate of infiltration, then the rainfall in excess of
infiltration will start flowing over the ground surface and is also known as over land flow.
Whenoverland flow isoccurring infiltrationandevaporationmayalso occur.Whenover land
flow reaches a well-defined stream it is known as surface run off. A portion of infiltrating
water will satisfy soil-moisture deficiency. A portion may move in soil but very close to the
surface. If this also reaches a well-defined stream itis known as inter flow or subsurface flow.
Another portion of infiltration maypercolate deeper into the soilto reach ground water table.
Under favorable conditions some of the ground water may reach the streams and this portion
is known as Base flow or ground water flow. A part of precipitation may occur directlyon
stream surface and this is known as channel Precipitation.
Hence, Totalrunoff=Surfacerunoff+Inter flow +Base flow+Channelprecipitation. It is
also evident that evaporation always occurs along with transpiration.
Hence, Precipitation=Runoff+Evaporation
OR
Precipitation=(Surfacerunoff+Interflow+Baseflow+Channelprecipitation) +
Evaporation
DEFINITIONS
1. Total Runoff:Thisisthepartof precipitationwhichappearsinstreams.Itconsistsof Surface run
off, Inter flow, Base flow, and Channelprecipitation.
2. Surfacerunoff(SRO):Thisisthepartofoverlandflow whichreachesthestreams.
3. Direct run off(DRO): It consistsofSurface run off, Inter flow, and Channelprecipitation,
but doesnot include Base flow. Since channelprecipitationissmalland inter flow is
uncertain,itisusualtoincludethesetworunoffsinsurfacerunoff.Hencethereisno difference
betweendirect runoffand surface runoff. Hence Totalrunoff= Surface runoff+ Base flow
Since the base flow occurs in the stream after a longer time compared tosurfacerunoff, it is
necessaryto separatethebase flowandsurfacerunoffinpreparing hydrographs.
4. Hydrograph: A hydrograph is a plot of the run off or discharge in a stream versus time.
Hydrographs may be developed for isolated or complex storms using stream gauging data.
Theareaunderthehydrograph givesthetotal volumeof runoff andeach ordinategivesthe

ATMECOLLEGEOFENGINEERING,MYSURU
discharge at the instant considered. It also indicates the peak discharge and the time base of
the flood in the stream.
5. Rainfallexcess:Thisisthe portionofrainfallappearinginthestreamassurface runoff.
6. Effective rainfall: This is the portion of rainfall which appears in the stream as the sum of
Surface run off, Inter flow, andChannel precipitation. Since channel precipitation is small and
inter flow is uncertain, it is usual to include these two run offs in surface run off. Thus rainfall
excess and effective rainfall may be considered to be the same.
Note:Surfacerunoff=Precipitation–(interception+depressionstorage+evaporation+
infiltration)
7. Channel storage: As runoff occurs in the stream, the water level will rise along the length
of the stream. Thus a large volume of water is temporarily stored in the channel. This is
knownas channelstorage. Itreduces or moderates flood peaks. The channelstoragetherefore
causes delay in the appearance of discharge at any section ofthe stream.

METHODSOFESTIMATING RUNOFFFROMBASINS
The basinarea contributing tothe flow ina streamgoesonincreasing as we go downalong a
stream. Hence the section at which the flow is measured should be specified. The various
methods for estimating run off from basins are
a. Empiricalformulaeandcharts
b. Byestimatinglosses(evaporation,transpiration, etc.)
c. Byinfiltration
d. UnitHydrographmethod
e. SyntheticUnitHydrographmethod(Synder‘s method)
It is difficult to obtain even a fairly approximate estimate of run off because the various
processes such as overland flow, base flow, infiltration, evaporation, etc are highly irregular
and complex. Thus none of the above methods can be considered as accurate. However the
Unit Hydrograph method is easier and is considered as the best among the methods
mentioned.

ATMECOLLEGEOFENGINEERING,MYSURU
 HYDROGRAPH
AHydrographisagraphshowingthe variationofdischargeversustime.

At the beginning there is only base flow (i.e., the ground water contribution to the stream)
gradually deflecting in a conical form. After the storm commences, the initial losses like
interception and infiltration are met and then the surface flow begins. They hydrograph
gradually rises and reaches its peak value after a time tp(log time or basin log) measured from
the centroid of the hydrograph of the net rain. Thereafter it declines and there isa change of
slope at the inflection point i.e., there has been inflow of the rain up to this point and after this
there is gradualwithdrawalof catchment storage. There after the GDT declines and the
hydrograph again goes on depleting in the exponential form called the ground water depletion
curve or the recession curve.

HYDROGRAPHWITHMULTIPLEPEAKS
Basicdefinitions(Hydrographfeatures):
a) Rising limb:It isthecurveorline joiningthe startingpoint ‘A’oftheraisingcurveandthe point
ofreflection. The shape ofthe raising line is influenced bythe rainfall characteristics.
b) Peak or Crest: It represents the highest point/position of the hydrograph. Its duration also
depends on the intensity and duration of the rainfall.
c) Falling limb or depletion curve: It is the descending portion or the hydrograph. The shape
of the falling limb it mainly a function of the physical features of the channel alone and is
independent of storm characteristics (it depends on basin characters).
d) Timetopeak(tp):It isthetimetopeakfromthestarting point ofhydrograph
e) Lag time: The time interval from the centre of mass of rainfall to the centre of
masshydrograph is the lag-time.

ATMECOLLEGEOFENGINEERING,MYSURU
f) Itisthetotaldurationortime elapsedbetweenthestarting and ending ofthehydrograph.

FACTORSAFFECTING THESHAPEOFTHEFLOODHYDROGRAPH
a) Climaticfactors
b) Physicalfactors

 Climaticfactorsinclude
1) Stormcharacteristics,intensity,duration,magnitudeandmovementofstorm
2) Initiallossduetointerceptionetc.
3) Evapotranspiration

 Physicalfactorsinclude
1) Basiccharacteristics,shape,size, slope,natureofthe valley,elevation, drainagedensity
2) Infiltrationcharacteristics,landuseandcover,soiltype, geologicalconditionsetc.
3) Channelcharacteristics,crosssection, roughnessand storagecapacity
(For a given duration, the peak and volume of surface runoff are essentially proportional to
the rainfall intensity. Duration of rainfall of given intensity directly effects the volume of
runoff. If the storm moves in the downstream direction flow will be quicker at the basin.
Smaller catchments yield a more rapid and intense flood per unit area. Vegetationand forests
increase infiltration and also the storage capacity of the soils; vegetal cover reduces the peak
flow.

UNITHYDROGRAPH
A unit hydrograph is defined as the hydrograph of direct runoff resulting from one cm depth
excess rainfall occurring uniformly over the basin and at a uniform rate for a specified
duration.
Assumptions:
1. Theeffectiverainfallisuniformlydistributedwithinthespecifiedperiodoftimeorwithin its
duration
2. Thetime or base durationofthe hydrographofdirect runoffdue to aneffective rainfallof unit
duration shall be constant.
3. Theeffectiverainfallisuniformlydistributedthroughouttheareaofdrainagebasin.
4. Thedirectrunoffofcommon baselineareproportionaltothetotalamountofdirectrunoff.
5. Thehydrographofrunoffdueto agivenperiodofrainfallfor adrainageareashowsallthe
combined physical characteristics.

ATMECOLLEGEOFENGINEERING,MYSURU
LimitationsofUnithydrographtheory:
1. Unit hydrograph is based on the assumption that effective rainfall is uniform over the
entire basin. However it is seldom true particularly in the case of large base. As such unit
hydrographtheoryis limitedtothebasinsofsize nor exceeding6000km2. Thus large basins
should be subdivided &unit hydrographshould be separatelydeveloped for each basin.
2. This theory is not applicable when approachable quantity of precipitation occurs in the
form of snow.

Derivation:
1. Fewunit periodsofintenserainfalldurationcorrespondingtoanisolatedstormuniformly
distributed over the area are collected from the past rainfall records.
2. Fromthecollected past recordsofthedrainage fortheformspreparethestormhydrograph for
some days after and before the rainfallofthat unit duration.
3. Drawthe linereportingthegroundwaterflowand direct runoffbyanyofthestandardbase flow
separation procedures.
4. From theordinateof thetotal runoffhydrographdeductthecorrespondingordinatesof base
flow to obtain the ordinates of direct runoff.
5. Dividethevolumeofdirect runoffbytheareaofthedrainagebasintoobtainthenet
precipitation depth(x) over the basin.
6. Divide each of the ordinates of direct runoff by net precipitation depth to obtain the
ordinatesofthe unit hydrograph. i.e.,ordinateofunit hydrograph(UHG)= Ordinateofdirect
runoff
(FHG)/Depthofnet precipitation(x)i.e, UHG=FHG/x
7. Plottheordinatesoftheunit hydrographagainsttimesincethebeginningofdirect runoff, which
is the unit hydrograph for the basin for the duration ofthe storm.

HYDROGRAPHSEPARATION/BASEFLOWSEPARATION:
In figure: By simply drawing a line ‘AC’ tangential to both the limbs at their lower portion.
This method is very simple but is approximate and can be used only forpreliminary estimates.
2. Extending the recession curve existing prior to the occurrence of the storm upto the point
‘D’ directly under the peak ofthe hydrograph and then drawing a straightline DE. Where Eis a
point hydrograph ‘N’ days after the peak & N 9in days)is given byN= 0.8f
3WhereAisthe areaofdrainagebasin (km)&thesizeofthe areasofthedrainage basinasa

ATMECOLLEGEOFENGINEERING,MYSURU
guide to the values of ‘N’ are given below: Area of drainage basin, km Time after peak N
(days) Simply by drawing a straight line AE, from the point of rise to the point E on the
hydrograph, ‘N’ days after the peak. By producing a point on the recession curve backwards
upto a point ‘F’ directly below the inflectionpoint and the joining a straight line AF.

IMPORTANTQUESTIONS
 ExplainfactorsaffectingRunoff?
 Explainrelationbetweenrainfall&runoffusing regressionanalysis.
 Withaneatsketchexplainthefanandfernleafcatchment.
 Listoutvariousmethods forestimationofdesignflood.Explainrationalmethod offlood
estimation.
 Explaintypicalsinglepeakedhydrographcomponentswithaneatsketch.
 Defineunithydrograph.Listtheassumptionsmade inderivingunit hydrographand its
limitations.
 Explaintheprocedurefordrawingmasterdepletioncurve.
 Explaintheprocedureforderivingaunithydrograph fromanisolated storm.
 WithaneatsketchexplainS Hydrographorsummationhydrograph.

OUTCOMES
 Understandtheconceptofhydrographand runoff

FURTHERREADING
https://nptel.ac.in/courses/105101002/9
https://nptel.ac.in/courses/105101002/7

ATMECOLLEGEOFENGINEERING,MYSURU
 MODULE4
IRRIGATION:
DEFINITION.
BENEFITSANDILLEFFECTS OFIRRIGATION.
SYSTEMOFIRRIGATION:
SURFACEANDGROUNDWATER,
FLOWIRRIGATION,
LIFTIRRIGATION,
BANDHARAIRRIGATION.

WATERREQUIREMENTSOFCROPS:
DUTY,DELTAANDBASE PERIOD,
RELATIONSHIPBETWEENTHEM,
FACTORSAFFECTINGDUTYOFWATERCROPSANDCROPSEASONSIN INDIA,
IRRIGATIONEFFICIENCY,
FREQUENCYOFIRRIGATION.

ATMECOLLEGEOFENGINEERING,MYSURU
 INTRODUCTION
Irrigation may be defined as the process of artificially supplying water to the soil for raising
crops. It is a science ofplanning and designing an efficient low cost irrigationsystemto suite
the natural conditions. It is the engineering of controlling and harnessing the various natural
sources of water by the construction of dams and reservoirs, canals and head works finally
distributing the water to the agricultural fields. Irrigation engineering includes the study and
design ofworks connected with river control, drainage ofwater logged areas and generations
of hydroelectric power.

 NecessityorImportance ofIrrigation
India is basically an agricultural country and its resources on depend on the agricultural
output. Prosperity of our country depends mainly upon proper development of agriculture.
Even after 60 years of Independence, we have not succeeded in solving our food problems.
The main reason for this miserable state of affair is that we still continue to remain at the
mercy of rain and practice age old methods of cultivation. Plants usually derive water from
nature through rainfall. However, the total rainfall in a particular area may be either
insufficient or ill timed. In order to get the maximum yield, it is necessary to havea systematic
irrigation system for supplying optimumquantityofwater at correct timing.

 Importanceofirrigationcan besummarizedunderthefollowing fouraspects:

1. Area of less rainfall: Artificial supply of water is necessary when the total rainfall is less
than the water requirement of crops in such cases, irrigation works may be constructed at a
place where more water is available and conveyed to water deficit areas.
Eg: The Rajasthan canal supplies water from the river Yamuna to the arid regions of
Rajasthan where annualrainfall is less than 100 to 200 mm.
2. Non-Uniform rainfall: The rainfall in a particular area may not be uniform over the entire
crop period. Rainfall may bethereduring theearly periodofcropsand may become scantyor
unavailable at the end resulting in lesser yield or total loss of the crop. Collection of water
during periods of excess rainfall and supplying the stored water during periods of scarcity
mayprove beneficialtothe farmers. Most irrigationprojects inIndia are based onthis aspect.
3. Commercialcrops withadditionalwater: The rainfall in a particular area may be sufficient to
raise the usual crops but insufficient for raising commercial and cash crops such as sugarcane
and cotton. In such situations, utilizing stored water by irrigation facilities is advantageous.

ATMECOLLEGEOFENGINEERING,MYSURU
4. Controlled Water Supply: Dams are normally meant for storing water during excess flow
periods. But insituationsofheavyrainfall, flooding canbe controlled byarrestingthe flow in the
river and excess water can be released during low flow conditions.

BenefitsofIrrigation:
There are manydirect and indirect benefits or advantages of irrigation which can be listed as
follows.
1. Increase in food production: Crops need optimum quantity of water at required intervals
assured and timely supplyofwater helps in achieving good yield and also superior cropscan be
grown and thus, the value of the crops increases.
2. Protection from famine: Irrigation works can be constructed during famine (drought). This
helps in employment generation and people also get protection from famine.After completion
ofsuch works, continuous water supply may be available for crops and people.
3. Cultivation of Cash crops: With the availability of continuous water supply, cash crops
such as sugarcane,indigo, tobacco, cotton etc. can be grown.
4. Increase in prosperity of people: Due to assured water supply people can get good yield
and returned for their crops. Land value increases and this raises the standard ofliving ofthe
people and hence prosperity takes place.
5. Generation of hydroelectric power: Major river valley projects are designed to provide
power generation facilities also apart from irrigation needs.
6. Domestic and Industrialwater supply: Water stored in reservoirs can also be used to serve
other purposes like domestic water supply to towns and cities and also for industrial use.
Canals can also be effectively used to serve these purposes.
7. Inland Navigation: In some cases, the canals are very large enough to be used as channels
for inland navigation as water ways are the cheapest means oftransportation.
8. Improvement in communication: Main canals in large irrigation projects are provided with
inspection roads all along the sides. These roads can be asphalted and used as a means of
communication.
9. Canal plantation: Due to continuous flow of water adjoining areas of a canal are always
saturated with water. In such places, trees can be planted whichincreases the timberwealth of
the country.
10. Improvement in ground water storage: Due to constant percolation and seepage of
irrigation water, ground water table rises. The ground water may percolate and may be
beneficial to other areas.

ATMECOLLEGEOFENGINEERING,MYSURU
11. Aid in civilization: Due to introduction of river valley projects, tribal people can adopt
agriculture as their profession which helps in improving the standards of living.
12. General development of a country: By assured water supply, farmers can expect good
yield. By exporting surplus goods, Government can get revenue. The government can then
come forward to improve communicationsfacilities such as roads and railways and also social
development byproviding schools, hospitals etc.,

ILL-EFFECTSOFIRRIGATION
Ifwater is used ina controlled and carefulmanner, there would be no illeffects of irrigation.
Excess and unscientific use of irrigation ofwater, givers raise to the following ill effects.
1. Water logging: Excess water applied to the fields allows water to percolate below and
ground water table rise. The ground water table may rise saturating the root zone of the crop
and cutting of air supply to the roots of the crops. Such a phenomenon is calledwater logging.
Under such conditions fertilityof land reduced and also reduction ofcrop yield.
2. Breeding placed for mosquitoes: Excess application of water for irrigation leads to water
loggingand formationofstagnant waterfools,whichbecomebreedingplacesformosquitoes, thus
helping spreading of malaria.
3. Unhealthy Climate: Due to intense irrigation the climate becomes damp during summer
due to humidity, the climate is sultry and in winter it becomes excessively cold. The
resistance of the body to diseases is reduced. In addition to the above, careless use of water
leads to wastageofusefulirrigationwater for whichanygovernment will have incurred huge
amounts.

TYPESOR SYSTEMSOFIRRIGATION
Lift Irrigation: It is that systemof irrigation inwhich irrigationwater is available at a
levellowerthan thatof theland to beirrigatedandhence water isliftedby pumps or other
mechanism (Hydraulicram andsiphonaction)andthenconveyedtoagriculturefieldsby
gravity flow.Irrigation through wellsis an example of liftirrigation.Waterfrom canalsor
anyother source canalso be lifted whenthe levelofwater is lower thanthat ofthe areato be
irrigated.
Inundation Irrigation: It is that system of irrigation in which large quantity of water
flowing inariver isallowedtofloodorinundatethe fieldsto becultivated.The landbecomes
thoroughly saturated. Excess water is drained off and the land is prepared for cultivation.
Moisture stored in the soil is sufficient tobring the cropto maturity. Inundation irrigation
is
ATMECOLLEGEOFENGINEERING,MYSURU
commonly practiced in delta region of rivers. Canals may be also employed to inundate the
fields when water is available in plenty.
PerennialIrrigation: It is that systemofirrigation inwhich irrigationwateris supplied as per
the crop requirements at regular intervals throughout the crop period. The source of
irrigation water may be a perennial river, stored water in reservoirs or ground water
drawn fromopen wells or bore wells. This is the most commonlyadopted irrigation
system.
Direct Irrigation: It is a type offlow irrigation in whichwater fromriversand streams are
conveyed directly to agricultural fields through a network of canals, without making any
attempt to store water this is practiced in areas where the rivers and streams are perennial.
Small diversion dams or barrages may be constructed areas the rivers to raise the water
level and then divert the water into canals.
Storage Irrigation: Dams are constructed across rivers which are non- perennial. The
discharge in such rivers may be very high during rainy season and may become less
during dry stream. By constructing dams across such rivers water can be stored as
reservoir during excess flow and can be utilized or diverted to agriculture fields through
canals as and when required. Such a system is known as storage irrigation.

BANDHARAIRRIGATION
It is a special irrigation scheme adopted across small perennial rivers. This system lies
somewhere between inundation type and permanent type of irrigation. A Bandhara is a low
masonry weir (obstruction) of height 1.2m to 4.5m constructed across the stream to divert
water into asmallcanal. The canalusuallytakes off fromone side and the flow intothe canal is
controlled by a head regulator.
The lengthofthe maincanalisusuallyrestrictedto about 8km. AseriesofBandharas maybe
constructed one below the other on the same stream so that water spilling over from one
Bandhara is checkedby another Bandhara. The irrigation capacity of each Bandhara is may be
about 400 hectares. Bandharas are adopted across small streams having isolated catchments
which are considered to be non feasible or uneconomical to be included under a large
irrigation scheme.
This method of irrigation is followedin Central Maharashtra and is commonly known there as
the ‘Phad’ system.
AdvantagesofBandharas:
1. Smallquantityofflow instreamscanbe fullyutilizedorotherwise might havegoneasa waste.

ATMECOLLEGEOFENGINEERING,MYSURU
2. Asthelengthofthecanalisshort,seepageand evaporationlossesareless.
3. Intensive irrigationwithhighdutymaybeachievedandtheareato be irrigatediscloseto the
source
4. Theinitialinvestmentandmaintenancecostofthesystemislow.

DisadvantagesofBandharas:
1. Thesupplyofwaterisunreliablewhentheflow in streamsbecomeslesser.
2. Excesswater availablecannot beutilizedasarea forcultivationbeloweachBandhara is
fixed.
3. In dry seasons,peoplelivingon thedownstream sideof Bandharasmaybedeprivedof water for
domestic made also.

WATERREQUIREMENTOFACROP

It is the total quantity of water required by the crop from the time it is sown to the time it is
harvested. Different crops require different quantities of water. Since the growing crops use
water continuously, it is essentialto maintain the quantityofreadilyavailable moisture inthe
soil by irrigation. Assuchthetotalquantityofwater required byacrop isso distributed that a
partofit is applied eachtime at a moreorless fixed intervalthroughout the periodofgrowth. The
quantity of water applied at each irrigation should be such that water sufficient to meet the
needs of the crop for a period between two successive irrigations is stored in the soil.
Therefore in addition to the total quantity of water required by a crop, it is also essential to
determine the frequency of irrigation as well as the quantitv ofwater required to be applied
during each application.

DEFINITIONS
Dutyof Water:
Dutyrepresentstheirrigatingcapacityofaunitofwater.
Itis usually defined as the area of landinhectares which can beirrigated togrow a crop of the
cumec ofwater is continuously supplied for the entire period ofthe crop.

Delta:
It isthetotaldepthofwater required bya cropduring the entire cropperiod and is denotedas ‘Δ’
 IMPORTANTQUESTIONS
 Defineirrigation?Whatisthenecessityofirrigation?
 Discussinbriefthebenefitandilleffectsofirrigation.
 WithaneatsketchexplainBhandharairrigationscheme.
 Explainirrigationefficiencies.
 Defineduty?Whatarethefactorsaffectingdutyofwater?Explain.
 Explainconsumptiveuseofwater.Listthefactorsaffectingconsumptive useofwater.
 Explainirrigationrequirementsofcrops.
 Explainthefollowing:
(a)Baseperiod(b)cropperiod(c)Timefactor
(d)Grosscommandarea(e) Culturablecommandarea
 The base period, Intensity of Irrigation and duty of water for various crops under a canal
system are given the table below. Determine the reservoir capacity if the culturable
commanded area is 40,000 hectares, canal loses are 20% and reservoir loses are 10%.
Base
Dutyofwateratthefield IntensityofIrrigation
Crop period
(hectares/cumec) (%)
(Indays)
Wheat 120 1800 20
Sugarcane 360 1700 20
Cotton 180 1400 10
Rice 120 800 15
Vegetables 120 700 15

 A water course has a culturable command area of 1200 hectares. The intensityof irrigation
for crop A is 40 % and for B is 35%,both the crops being rabi crops. Crop A has a kor
period of 20 days and crop B has kor period is 15 days. Calculate the discharge ofthe
water course ifthe kor depth for crop Ais 10cmand for it is 16cm.
 The gross commanded area for a distributory is 20000 hectares, 75% of which can be
irrigated. The intensityof irrigation for Rabiseason is 40% that for Kharif season is 10%.
Ifkor period is 4 weeks for rabiand 2.5 weeks for Kharif, determine the outlet discharge.
Outlet factors for rabi and Kharif may be assumed as 1800 hectares/ cumec and 775
hectares/ cumec. Also calculate delta for each crop.
 OUTCOMES
 Understandtheconceptofhydrographand runoff

*FURTHERREADING
https://nptel.ac.in/courses/105101002/9
https://nptel.ac.in/courses/105101002/7

ATMECOLLEGEOFENGINEERING,MYSURU
 MODULE5
CANALS
TYPESOFCANALS
ALIGNMENT OFCANALS
DRAWBACKSKENNEDY'SMETHOD
DRAWBACKSIN LACEY'S

RESERVOIRS
INVESTIGATIONFORRESERVOIRSITE
SELECTIONOFSITEFORRESERVOIR
STORAGEZONES
DETERMINATIONOFSTORAGECAPACITYUSINGMASS CURVES

ATMECOLLEGEOFENGINEERING,MYSURU
 CANALS
A canal is an artificial channel, generally trapezoidal in shape, constructed on the ground to
carrywater to the fields either froma river or tank or reservoir.
If the full supply level (FSL) of a canal is below the natural ground surface, an open cut or
excavation is necessary to construct a canal. If the FSL of the canal is above the existing
ground level, the canal is constructed by providing earthen banks on both sides. In the first
case the channel is called a canal in cutting and in the second case itis called a canal in filling.
Sometimes a canal can be ofthe intermediatetype and the channel is called a canal in partial
cutting and Partial filling.

CLASSIFICATIONOFCANALS:
The irrigationcanalscanbeclassified indifferent waysbasedonthefollowing
considerations.
1. Classificationbasedonthenatureofsourceofsupply:
a) Permanentcanals
b) Inundationcanals
 A permanent canal is one which draws water from a permanent source of supply. The
canal in such cases is made as a regular graded canal (fixed slope). It is provided with
permanent regulation and distribution works. A permanent canal may also be perennial
canal or nonperennial canal depending on whether the source supplying water is a
perennial one or a nonperennial.
 An inundation canal is one which draws water from a river when the water level in the
river is high or the river is in floods. These canals are not provided with any regulatory
works, but an open cut is made inthe banks ofthe canalto divert water.

2. Classificationbasedonthefunction ofthe canal:

a) Feedercanals
b) Carriercanals
c) Navigationcanals
d) Powercanals
 Afeedercanal isconstructed for thepurpose of supplyingwaterto twoormorecanals only but
not directly irrigating the fields.
 Acarrier canalcarries water for irrigating the fields and also feeds other canals for their
needs.

ATMECOLLEGEOFENGINEERING,MYSURU
 Acanalserving thepurposeofin-land navigation iscalledanavigationcanal.
 Apower canalsupplies water to a hydro electric power generationplant for generationof
electrical power.

3. Classification based on the discharge and its relative importance in a given network
of canals:
a) Maincanal
b) Branchcanal
c) Majordistributory
d) Minordistributory
e) WatercourseorField channel
 A main canal is the principal canal in a network of irrigation canals. It directly takes off
froma river, reservoir orafeeder canal. It has large capacityand supplieswaterto branch
canals and even to major distributaries.
 Branch canals take off from a main canal on either side at regular intervals. They carry a
discharge ofabout 5 cumec and are not usuallyused to directly irrigate the fields.
 A major distributory takes off a branch canal or a main canal. It has a discharge capacity
of 0.25 to 5 cumec. They are used for direct irrigation and also to feed minordistributaries.
 Minor distributaries are canals taking offfromthe branchcanals and major distributaries.
Theycarryadischarge lessthan0.25cumec. These canals supplywaterto field channels.
 A water course or field channel takes off from either a major or minor distributory or a
branch canal also. These are constructed and maintained by the cultivators/farmers. The
other canals are constructed and maintained by the government or the Command Area
Development Authority.

4. Classificationbased onCanalalignment:
a) Ridgecanalor watershedcanal
b) Contourcanal
c) Sideslopecanal
 A Ridge canal or watershed canal is one which runs along the ridge or watershed line. It
can irrigatethe fields onbothsides. Incaseofridge canals the necessityofcross drainage
works does not arise as the canal is not intercepted bynaturalstreams or drains.

ATMECOLLEGEOFENGINEERING,MYSURU
 Acontourcanalisone which isaligned nearlyparalleltothe contoursofthe country/area.
These canals can irrigate the lands on only one side. The ground level on one side is
higher and hence bank on the higher side may not be necessary.
 A contour canal may be intercepted by natural streams/drains and hence cross drainage
works may be essential.
 A Side slope canal is one which is aligned at right angles to the contour of the
country/area. It is a canal running between a ridge and a valley. This canal is not
intercepted by streams andhence no cross drainage works may be essential. This canal has
steep bed slope since the ground has steep slope in a direction perpendicular to the
contours of the country/area.

5. Classification basedonthefinancialoutput:
a) Productivecanals
b) Protectivecanals
 A productive canal is one which is fully developed and earns enough revenue for its
running and maintenance and also recoversthe cost ofitsinitial investment. It isessential
the cost of its initial investment is recovered within 16 years ofconstruction.
 Protective canals are those constructed at times of famine to provide relief and
employment to the people of the area. The revenue from such a canal may not be
sufficient for its maintenance. The investment may also not be recovered within the
stipulated time.

6. Classificationbasedonthesoilthroughwhichtheyareconstructed:
a) Alluvialcanals
b) Non-alluvialcanals.
 Canals constructed in alluvial soils are known as alluvial canals. Alluvial soils are found
in the Indo-Gangetic plains of North India. The alluvial soils can be easily scoured and
deposited by water.
 Canals constructed through hard soils or disintegrated rocks are callednon-alluvialcanals.
Such soils are usually found in Centraland South India.

ATMECOLLEGEOFENGINEERING,MYSURU
7. Classificationbased onlining beingprovided ornot:
a) Unlinedcanals
b) Linedcanals
 An unlined canal is one which the bed and banks of the canal are made up of natural soil
through which it is constructed. A protective lining of impervious material isnot provided.
The velocityof flow is kept low suchthat bed and banks are not scoured.
 A lined canal is one which is provide with alining of impervious material on its banks and
beds, to prevent the seepage of water and also scouring of banks and bed. Higher velocity
for water can be permitted in lined canals and hence cross sectional area can be reduced.

CANALALIGNMENT
Inaligninganirrigationcanal,thefollowingpointsmustbeconsidered.
1. An irrigation canal shouldbe alignedin such a way thatmaximum areaisirrigatedwith least
length of canal.
2. Crossdrainageworksshouldbeavoidedasfar aspossible,suchthatthecostisreduced.
3. The offtaking point ofthe canal fromthe source should be on a ridge, suchthat the canal
must run as a ridge canal and irrigate lands on both sides.
4. Sharpcurvesincanals mustbeavoided.
5. Inhillyareas, when it is not possible to construct ridge canals, the canal must be made to
run as a contour canal.
6. Thecanalshouldbealigned suchthattheidlelengthofthecanalisminimum.
7. Thealignment should besuchthat heavycuttingorheavyfillingareavoided. Ifpossible
balanced depth of cutting and filling is achieved.
8. Itshouldnotbealignedinrockyandcracked strata.
9. Thealignmentshouldavoidvillages,roads,placesofworshipandotherobligatorypoints.

DRAWBACKSINKENNEDY‘STHEORY:
1. Kutters equation is used for determining the mean velocityofflow and hence the
limitations of kutter‘s equation are incorporated in Kennedy’s theory.
2. ThesignificanceofB/Dratioisnotconsideredinthetheory
3. Noequationforthebedslopehasbeengivenwhichmayleadtovarieddesignsof the channelwith
slight variation in the bed slope.

ATMECOLLEGEOFENGINEERING,MYSURU
4. Siltchargeandsiltgradearenotconsidered.Thecomplex phenomenon of silt
transportation is incorporated in a single factor are called critical velocityratio.
5. The value of m is decided arbitrarily since there is nomethod given fordeterminingits
value.
6. Thistheoryisaimedtodesignonlyanaverage regimechannel.
7. Thedesignofchannel bythe method basedonthistheoryinvolvestrialand errorwhich is quite
cumbersome.

DRAWBACKSINLACEY‘STHEORY:
1. Thetheorydoesnotgive acleardescriptionofphysicalaspects oftheproblem.
2. Itdoesnotdefinewhatactuallygovernsthecharacteristicsofanalluvialchannel.
3. Thederivationofvariousformulaedependsuponasinglefactorf anddependenceon single
factor f is not adequate.
4. Therearedifferentphasesofflowonbedandsidesandhencedifferentvaluesofsilt factor for bed
and side should have been used.
5. Lacey‘sequationsdonotincludeaconcentrationofsiltasvariable.
6. Laceydid not take into account the siltleftin channel bywater that is lostinabsorption
which is as much as 12 to 15%ofthe totaldischarge ofchannel.
7. The effect of silt accumulation was also ignored. The silt size does actually go on
decreasingbytheprocessattritionamongtherollingsilt particlesdraggedalongthebed.
8. Laceydidnotproperlydefinethesiltgradeandsiltcharge.
9. Laceyintroduced semiellipse asidealshapeofaregime channelwhich isnotcorrect.

ATMECOLLEGEOFENGINEERING,MYSURU
 RESERVOIR
INVESTIGATIONSFORRESERVOIR:
Followingaretheinvestigationsthatareusuallyconductedforreservoir planning.
1. EngineeringInvestigations/Surveys
2. GeologicalInvestigations
3. HydrologicInvestigations

Engineeringinvestigations/surveys:
 Generally Engineering Surveys are conducted for the dam, the reservoir and their
associated works. During this investigation topographic survey of the area is carried out
and the contour plan is prepared. The horizontal control is usually provided by
triangulation survey and vertical control by precise leveling.
 At the dam site, very accurate triangulation survey is conducted and a contour plan to a
scale of1:250 or 1:500 is generallyprepared with contour intervalsin the range of1 to 2
m. Such a survey should cover an area at hart upto 200 m upstream 400 m downstream
and for adequate width beyond the two abutments.
 For the reservoir, the contour plan is generally prepared to a scale of 1:15,000 with
contour intervals between 2 to 3 m. The area elevation and storage elevation curves are
prepared for different elevations upto an elevation of3 to 5 mhigher than the anticipated
maximum water level.

Geologicalinvestigations:
Followingarethereasons for carryingouttheGeologicalinvestigationsatareservoirsite:
 Suitabilityoffoundationforthedam.
 Watertightnessofthereservoirbasis.
 Locationofquarrysitesfor theconstruction.

Hydrologicalinvestigations:
Followingpurposesdemandthehydrologicalinvestigations:
 Tostudytherunoffpatternandtoestimateyield.
 Todeterminethemaximumdischargeatthesite.

ATMECOLLEGEOFENGINEERING,MYSURU
 SELECTIONOFSITEFORARESERVOIR
Agoodsiteforareservoir shouldhavethefollowingcharacteristics:
 Large storage capacity: The topography of the proposed site should be such that the
reservoir has a large capacity for storing the water.
 Suitable site for the dam: A suitable site for the proposed damshould be available on the
downstream side of the reservoir, with very good foundation; narrow openingin the valley
to provide minimum length of the dam and also the cost of construction should be
minimum.
 Water tightness of the reservoir:Geology at the proposed reservoir site should be such that
the entire reservoir basin is water tight. They should have Granite, Gneiss, Schists, Slates,
or Shales etc.
 Good hydrological conditions: The hydrological conditions of the river at the reservoir
should give high yield. Evaporation, transpiration, and percolation losses should be
minimum.
 Deep reservoir: The proposed site should be suchthat a deep reservoir is formed after the
damconstruction. The reasonbeing evaporation losseswould be minimum; in additionto
low cost of land acquisition and less weed growth.
 SmallSubmerged area: At the proposed site, the submerged area should be minimumand
should not affect the ecology of the area. Important places, monuments, roads, railway
lines should not sub merge.
 Minimum silt inflow: The life ofreservoir is defined bythe quantityofsilt inflow, which
meansthat,ifthesilt inflowislarge,thelifewouldbeless.Hence, it isnecessaryto select the
reservoir site at sucha place, where the silt inflow is minimum.
 No objectionable minerals: The proposed site should be free from soluble and
objectionable salts, which may pollute the reservoir.
 Minimum acquisition and construction cost: The overall cost of the project should be
minimum in terms of dam construction, land acquisition for reservoir, buildings, roads,
railways etc.

ATMECOLLEGEOFENGINEERING,MYSURU
 STORAGEZONES OFA RESERVOIR:

1. Live Storage or useful storage: Is that amount of water available or stored between the
minimum pool level (LWL) and the full reservoir level (FRL).Minimum pool level or low
water level is fixed after considering the minimum working head required for the efficient
working of turbines.
2. Surcharge Storage: Is the volume of water stored above the full reservoir level (FRL) up
to the maximumwater level(MWL) In case ofamultipurpose reservoir, usefulstorageor
live storage is divided into A. Conservation storage B. Flood controlstorage
3. Dead storage: Isthe volume ofwater held below the minimumpool level. This storage is
not usefuland hence cannot be used for anypurpose under ordinaryoperating conditions.
4. Bank storage: Water stored in the banks of a river is known as bank storage. In most ofthe
reservoirs the bank storage is small since the banks are generally impervious.
5. Valley storage: Is the volume of water held by the natural river channel in its valley upto
the top of its banks before the construction of the reservoir. The valley storage depends
uponthe cross section ofthe river, the lengthofthe river and its water level.

DETERMINATIONOFSTORAGECAPACITYUSINGMASSCURVES
Mass Curve is a graphical representation of cumulative volume of water in the reservoir Vs
cumulative time. It will be a continuously raising curve.
Fixing Capacityofa reservoir Capacityofa reservoir depends on theinflow and demand.It
isafactthatiftheavailableinflowismorethanthedemand,thereisnonecessityofany

ATMECOLLEGEOFENGINEERING,MYSURU
storage. Ontheother hand,ifthe inflow is less and demand is higha large reservoir capacity is
required. Capacity for a reservoir can be determined bythe following methods
(i) Masscurveor graphicalmethod
(ii) Analyticalmethod
(iii) Flowdurationcurvemethod

MasscurvemethodorGraphical method
Storagerequiredfor uniformdemand: Inthe case ofuniformdemand, the mass curve will be a
straight line.
Theprocedureadoptedwillbeasfollows:
1. Prepare the mass inflow curve for the flow hydrograph of the site for a number of
consecutive years including the most critical years (or the driest years) whenthedischarge
is low, Fig shows the mass inflow curve.
2. Prepare the mass demand curve corresponding to the given rate of demand. If the rate of
demand is constant, the mass demand curve is a straight line as shown in fig. 1.3. The
scaleselected for plottingofthe mass inflowand massdemandcurveshould bethesame.

3. Drawthe lines AB, FG etc. suchthattheyare paralleltothe mass demand curve, and they are
tangential to the peak points or crests atA, F etc. of themassinflow curve pointsA, F, etc.
indicate the beginning ofdryperiods marked bythe depressions.
4. Determine the vertical intercepts CD, HJ etc. between the tangential lines and the mass
inflow curve. These intercepts indicate the volumes by which the inflow volumesfall short
of demand, which can be explained as follows:

ATMECOLLEGEOFENGINEERING,MYSURU
 Assuming that the reservoir is full at point A, the inflow volume during the period AE is
equalto ordinate DEand the demand isequalto ordinate CE.Thusthe storage required is
equalto the volume intercepted bythe intercept CD.
5. Determine the largest ofthe vertical intercept determined in step (4). The largest vertical
intercept represents the storage capacity required. Following import points have to be
noted:
 The capacity obtained in the net storage capacity which must be available to meet the
demand. The gross capacityofthe reservoir will be more than the net storage capacity. It is
obtained by adding the evaporation and seepage losses to the net storage capacity.
 The tangential lines AB, FG etc. when extended forward must interest the inflow curve.
This is necessary for the reservoir to get filled again. If these lines do not intersect the
mass curve, the reservoir would not fill again. Many times very large reservoirs may not
get refilled every year.
 The vertical distance such as FL between the successive tangents representsthe volumeof
water flowing over the spillway.

IMPORTANTQUESTIONS
 Whataretheconsiderationsmadeduringalignmentofcanals?
 Writeanoteoncanalclassification?
 Writeashort noteon:
(a)Criticalvelocityratio(b)RegimeChannel
 Design and sketch a trapezoidal canal by Kennedy’s theory for a discharge of 5 cumec.
The channel is to be laid ona slope of0.2mper kilometer. Assume: N = 0.025 and m=1.
 Determine the dimensions of theirrigation canal for thefollowing data B/D ratio= 3.7,N =
0.0225, m = 1.0 and S = 1/4000 side slopes of the channel are 0.5H: 1V. Also determine
the discharge which will be flowing in the channel.
 Design a irrigation channel in alluvial soil according to Lacey’s silt theory for the
following data:
Fullsupplydischarge=10cumec
Lacey’s silt factor = 0.9
Side slopesofchannel=0.5H:1V
 The slope of the channel in alluvium is 1/4000. Lacey’s silt factor is 0.9 and side slopes
are 0.5H: 1V. Find the channel section and maximum discharge which can be allowed to
flow in it.
 Explainwithneatsketchstoragezonesofreservoir.
 Explainthedifferentinvestigationsconductedbeforeselectingareservoirsite.
 Explainthedeterminationofstorage capacityofreservoirbymass curves.

OUTCOMES
 Understandtheconcept ofdesigningacanaland reservoir

FURTHERREADING
 https://nptel.ac.in/courses/105105110
 https://nptel.ac.in/courses/105105110/29

ATMECOLLEGEOFENGINEERING,MYSURU