Introduction

Hydrology is the study of water

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

Water and People

Estimates of water use in the United States indicate that about 355 billion gallons per day
(one thousand million gallons per day, abbreviated Bgal/d) were withdrawn for all uses
during 2010. This total has declined about 17 percent since 1980. Fresh groundwater
withdrawals (76.0 Bgal/d) during 2010 were 8 percent less than during 1980. Fresh surfacewater withdrawals for 2010 were 230 Bgal/d, 18 percent less than in 1980.
Much of our water use is hidden. Think about what you had for lunch. A hamburger, for
example, requires water to raise wheat for the bun, to grow hay and corn to feed the cattle and
to process the bread and beef. Together with french fries and a soft drink, this all-American
meal uses about 1,500 gallons of water--enough to fill a small swimming pool. How about
your clothes? To grow cotton for a pair of jeans takes about 400 gallons. A shirt requires
about 400 gallons. How do you get to school or to the store? To produce the amount of
finished steel in a car has in the past required about 32,000 gallons of water. Similarly, the
steel in a 30-pound bicycle required 480 gallons. This shows that industry must continue to
strive to reduce water use through manufacturing processes that use less water, and through
recycling of water.

What is Hydrology?

Hydrology is the science that encompasses the

occurrence, distribution, movement and properties of the waters of the earth and their
relationship with the environment within each phase of the hydrologic cycle. The water cycle,
or hydrologic cycle, is a continuous process by which water is purified by evaporation and
transported from the earth's surface (including the oceans) to the atmosphere and back to the
land and oceans. All of the physical, chemical and biological processes involving water as it
travels its various paths in the atmosphere, over and beneath the earth's surface and through
growing plants, are of interest to those who study the hydrologic cycle. There are many
pathways the water may take in its continuous cycle of falling as rainfall or snowfall and
returning to the atmosphere. It may be captured for millions of years in polar ice caps. It may
flow to rivers and finally to the sea. It may soak into the soil to be evaporated directly from
the soil surface as it dries or be transpired by growing plants. It may percolate through the
soil to ground water reservoirs (aquifers) to be stored or it may flow to wells or springs or
back to streams by seepage. The cycle for water may be short, or it may take millions of
years. People tap the water cycle for their own uses. Water is diverted temporarily from one
part of the cycle by pumping it from the ground or drawing it from a river or lake. It is used
for a variety of activities such as households, businesses and industries; for irrigation of farms
and parklands; and for production of electric power. After use, water is returned to another
part of the cycle: perhaps discharged downstream or allowed to soak into the ground. Used
water normally is lower in quality, even after treatment, which often poses a problem for
downstream users. The hydrologist studies the fundamental transport processes to be able to
describe the quantity and quality of water as it moves through the cycle (evaporation,
precipitation, streamflow, infiltration, ground water flow, and other components). The
engineering hydrologist, or water resources engineer, is involved in the planning, analysis,
design, construction and operation of projects for the control, utilization, and management of
water resources. Water resources problems are also the concern of meteorologists,
oceanographers, geologists, chemists, physicists, biologists, economists, political scientists,
specialists in applied mathematics and computer science, and engineers in several fields.

What Hydrologists Do?

Hydrologists apply scientific knowledge and mathematical principles to solve water-related

problems in society: problems of quantity, quality and availability. They may be concerned
with finding water supplies for cities or irrigated farms, or controlling river flooding or soil
erosion. Or, they may work in environmental protection: preventing or cleaning up pollution
or locating sites for safe disposal of hazardous wastes. Persons trained in hydrology may have
a wide variety of job titles. Scientists and engineers in hydrology may be involved in both
field investigations and office work. In the field, they may collect basic data, oversee testing
of water quality, direct field crews and work with equipment. Many jobs require travel, some
abroad. A hydrologist may spend considerable time doing field work in remote and rugged
terrain. In the office, hydrologists do many things such as interpreting hydrologic data and
performing analyses for determining possible water supplies. Much of their work relies on
computers for organizing, summarizing and analyzing masses of data, and for modeling
studies such as the prediction of flooding and the consequences of reservoir releases or the
effect of leaking underground oil storage tanks. The work of hydrologists is as varied as the
uses of water and may range from planning multimillion dollar interstate water projects to
advising homeowners about backyard drainage problems.

Surface Water
Most cities meet their needs for water by withdrawing it from the nearest river, lake or
reservoir. Hydrologists help cities by collecting and analyzing the data needed to predict how
much water is available from local supplies and whether it will be sufficient to meet the city's
projected future needs. To do this, hydrologists study records of rainfall, snowpack depths
and river flows that are collected and compiled by hydrologists in various government
agencies. They inventory the extent river flow already is being used by others.
Managing reservoirs can be quite complex, because they generally serve many purposes.
Reservoirs increase the reliability of local water supplies. Hydrologists use topographic maps
and aerial photographs to determine where the reservoir shorelines will be and to calculate
reservoir depths and storage capacity. This work ensures that, even at maximum capacity, no
highways, railroads or homes would be flooded.

Deciding how much water to release and how much to store depends upon the time of year,
flow predictions for the next several months, and the needs of irrigators and cities as well as
downstream water-users that rely on the reservoir. If the reservoir also is used for recreation
or for generation of hydroelectric power, those requirements must be considered. Decisions
must be coordinated with other reservoir managers along the river. Hydrologists collect the
necessary information, enter it into a computer, and run computer models to predict the
results under various operating strategies. On the basis of these studies, reservoir managers
can make the best decision for those involved.
The availability of surface water for swimming, drinking, industrial or other uses sometimes
is restricted because of pollution. Pollution can be merely an unsightly and inconvenient
nuisance, or it can be an invisible, but deadly, threat to the health of people, plants and
animals.
Hydrologists assist public health officials in monitoring public water supplies to ensure that
health standards are met. When pollution is discovered, environmental engineers work with
hydrologists in devising the necessary sampling program. Water quality in estuaries, streams,
rivers and lakes must be monitored, and the health of fish, plants and wildlife along their
stretches surveyed. Related work concerns acid rain and its effects on aquatic life, and the
behavior of toxic metals and organic chemicals in aquatic environments. Hydrologic and
water quality mathematical models are developed and used by hydrologists for planning and
management and predicting water quality effects of changed conditions. Simple analyses
such as pH, turbidity, and oxygen content may be done by hydrologists in the field. Other
chemical analyses require more sophisticated laboratory equipment. In the past, municipal
and industrial sewage was a major source of pollution for streams and lakes. Such wastes
often received only minimal treatment, or raw wastes were dumped into rivers. Today, we are
more aware of the consequences of such actions, and billions of dollars must be invested in
pollution-control equipment to protect the waters of the earth. Other sources of pollution are
more difficult to identify and control. These include road deicing salts, storm runoff from
urban areas and farmland, and erosion from construction sites.

Groundwater
Groundwater, pumped from beneath the earth's surface, is often cheaper, more convenient
and less vulnerable to pollution than surface water. Therefore, it is commonly used for public
water supplies. Groundwater provides the largest source of usable water storage in the United
States. Underground reservoirs contain far more water than the capacity of all surface
reservoirs and lakes, including the Great Lakes. In some areas, ground water may be the only
option. Some municipalities survive solely on groundwater.
Hydrologists estimate the volume of water stored underground by measuring water levels in
local wells and by examining geologic records from well-drilling to determine the extent,
depth and thickness of water-bearing sediments and rocks. Before an investment is made in
full-sized wells, hydrologists may supervise the drilling of test wells. They note the depths at
which water is encountered and collect samples of soils, rock and water for laboratory
analyses. They may run a variety of geophysical tests on the completed hole, keeping and
accurate log of their observations and test results. Hydrologists determine the most efficient
pumping rate by monitoring the extent that water levels drop in the pumped well and in its
nearest neighbors. Pumping the well too fast could cause it to go dry or could interfere with
neighboring wells. Along the coast, overpumping can cause saltwater intrusion. By plotting

and analyzing these data, hydrologists can estimate the maximum and optimum yields of the
well.
Polluted ground water is less visible, but more insidious and difficult to clean up, than
pollution in rivers and lakes. Ground water pollution most often results from improper
disposal of wastes on land. Major sources include industrial and household chemicals and
garbage landfills, industrial waste lagoons, tailings and process wastewater from mines, oil
field brine pits, leaking underground oil storage tanks and pipelines, sewage sludge and septic
systems. Hydrologists provide guidance in the location of monitoring wells around waste
disposal sites and sample them at regular intervals to determine if undesirable leachate-contaminated water containing toxic or hazardous chemicals--is reaching the ground water. In
polluted areas, hydrologists may collect soil and water samples to identify the type and extent
of contamination. The chemical data then are plotted on a map to show the size and direction
of waste movement. In complex situations, computer modeling of water flow and waste
migration provides guidance for a clean-up program. In extreme cases, remedial actions may
require excavation of the polluted soil. Today, most people and industries realize that the
amount of money invested in prevention is far less than that of cleanup. Hydrologists often
are consulted for selection of proper sites for new waste disposal facilities. The danger of
pollution is minimized by locating wells in areas of deep ground water and impermeable
soils. Other practices include lining the bottom of a landfill with watertight materials,
collecting any leachate with drains, and keeping the landfill surface covered as much as
possible. Careful monitoring is always necessary.

Careers in Hydrology
Students who plan to become hydrologists need a strong emphasis in mathematics, statistics,
geology, physics, computer science, chemistry and biology. In addition, sufficient background
in other subjects--economics, public finance, environmental law, government policy--is
needed to communicate with experts in these fields and to understand the implications of
their work on hydrology. Communicating clearly in writing and speech is a basic requirement
essential for any professional person. Hydrologists should be able to work well with people,
not only as part of a team with other scientists and engineers, but also in public relations,
whether it be advising governmental leaders or informing the general public on water issues.
Hydrology offers a variety of interesting and challenging career choices for today and
tomorrow. It's a field worth considering.