Emmanuel A.

Azuela
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Hydraulics and Hydrology

Hydraulics dealing with the mechanical properties of liquids. Fluid mechanics provides the
theoretical foundation for hydraulics, which focuses on the engineering uses of fluid
properties. In fluid power, hydraulics is used for the generation, control, and transmission of
power by the use of pressurized liquids. Hydraulic topics range through most science and
engineering disciplines, and cover concepts such as pipe flow, dam design, fluidics and fluid
control circuitry, pumps, turbines, hydropower, computational fluid dynamics, flow
measurement, river channel behavior and erosion. But;
Hydrology study of the movement, distribution, and quality of water throughout the Earth,
including the hydrologic cycle, water resources and environmental watershed sustainability.
A practitioner of hydrology is a hydrologist, working within the fields of either earth or
environmental science, physical geography, geology or civil and environmental engineering.
Domains of hydrology include hydrometeorology, surface hydrology, hydrogeology, drainage
basin management and water chemistry, where water plays the central role. Oceanography
and meteorology are not included because water is only one of many important aspects.

The Hydrology and the Hydrologic Cycle

The water cycle or hydrologic cycle is a continuous cycle where water evaporates, travels
into the air and becomes part of a cloud, falls down to earth as precipitation, and then
evaporates again. This repeats again and again in a never-ending cycle. Water keeps moving
and changing from a solid to a liquid to a gas, over and over again.

Impacts of Hydrologic Cycle on Humans

Because of Hydrologic cycle there is groundwater as a source of water. These groundwater
reserve is called an Aquifer. We extract groundwater using wells. The amount and intensity
of rainfall can affect the accumulation of groundwater. In a heavy pounding rain, the surface
of the groundwater becomes saturated quickly that much water flows overland instead of
percolating downward. A gentle, long-lasting rain, by contrast can saturate the ground
deeply and greatly replenish groundwater levels. However not all well water is safe to drink.
Groundwater is also used for irrigation. Irrigating agricultural lands. A special form of
irrigation using surface water is spate irrigation, also called floodwater harvesting. In case of
a flood (spate) water is diverted to normally dry river beds using a network of dams, gates
and channels and spread over large areas. The moisture stored in the soil will be used
thereafter to grow crops. Spate irrigation areas are in particular located in semi-arid or arid,
mountainous regions. While floodwater harvesting belongs to the accepted irrigation
methods, rainwater harvesting is usually not considered as a form of irrigation. Rainwater
harvesting is the collection of runoff water from roofs or unused land and the concentration.
Because of hydrologic cycle we were able to harvest/harness energy from the water.
Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the
production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing
water. Without flowing water it is impossible to harvest energy from water. It is the most
widely used form of renewable energy, accounting for 16 percent of global electricity
generation. Philippines is heavily dependent on hydropower. If there will be a natural
phenomenon like el Nio, theres a possibility that there will be a power shortages.
Hydrologic cycle also affects the wind pattern, sea surface and sea currents. Example if
western Pacific is affected by a natural phenomenon, El Nio, As warm water spreads from
the west Pacific and the Indian Ocean to the east Pacific, it takes the rain with it, causing
extensive drought in the western Pacific and rainfall in the normally dry eastern Pacific. As
drought may affect the production of crops and poultry products. Opposite of El Nio is La
Nia, where the precipitation is above-average in the area affected by this phenomenon, La
Nia. During a period of La Nia, the sea surface temperature across the equatorial Eastern

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Central Pacific Ocean will be lower than normal by 35 C. These phenomenon affects the
global wind pattern, the sea surface, and the ocean currents.
In the Philippines, where monsoon rainfall contributes to a large amount of the hydrological
cycle, if the monsoon systems are perturbed by factors other than El Nio, diminishing
rainfall could cause drought.
Hydrologic cycle also affects the weather pattern. In the Philippines Amihan refers to the
season dominated by the trade winds, which are experienced in the Philippines as a cool
northeast wind. It is characterized by moderate temperatures, little or no rainfall, and a
prevailing wind from the east. The Habagat season is characterized by hot and humid
weather, frequent heavy rainfall, and a prevailing wind from the west. Habagat is also known
as monsoon or southwest monsoon in the Philippines. Amihan is the planting season of palay
seeds where as Habagat is the harvesting season.

Human Impact to the Hydrologic Cycle

Before water gets to our home, it often travels hundreds or sometimes thousands of miles
through canals and pipes from faraway mountains and rivers and when were done using it
the water enters the ocean, polluted as a result of our wasteful water systems.
All life depends on water, civilization grew on the banks of rivers. People developed
agriculture and learn to irrigate the land, even in areas limited to rainfall. Overtime more
water was needed to provide for an increasing population as many more cities and towns
developed. These days most of our rivers are dammed and diverted for human needs, often
reducing downstream flows. Under natural conditions rainfall soaks into the ground filling in
spaces of soil and rock. These groundwater reserve is called an Aquifer. Overtime people
figure it out where these aquifer are, and build wells to pump the water out. Wells can also
reduce flows in nearby rivers and stream.
-Water imports
In many places around the world the human population has outgrown local water supplies
from lakes, rivers, dams and wells. Many resorts importing water from remote areas and
distant communities. Importing water to our neighborhoods from faraway places can be very
energy extensive especially when water is pumped over mountains and to thousands of
miles of pipeline and canal to its final destination. It's only a matter of time before those
faraway rivers lakes and aquifers dry up.
-Increased population
An increasing population combined changing rainfall patterns, then our wasteful use of
water thus creating a global water crisis. Many people no longer have access to clean fresh
water. In fact today one in four rivers no longer flows to the ocean. Our costal saltwater
environments are suffering from this mismanagement of dwindling freshwater resources. We
are reaching PEAK WATER the limits of our water supply.
-Agriculture
Agriculture now accounts for over 70% of water use around the world and many agricultural
practices have a tragic consequences. When farmers over irrigate their fields some the
water soaks into the soil while rest runs off into nearby rivers streams along with fertilizer
and deadly herbicides and pesticides. These chemicals helped increase the amount of the
food we can grow, but in the long run they're harmful to the soil native fish and wildlife and
can also soak into the ground to contaminate the groundwater below making them harmful
to us to.
-Wetland Destruction

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Once considered worthless swamps wetlands are the filters ecosystem removing pollution,
reducing flood damage in helping the water soak into the ground for our use later, however
we've paved over many of our wetlands. Resulting to runoffs.

-Urban Development
Urban development not only pollutes our rivers and oceans it can also reduce water supply
because paved areas flush most to the rainfall of the land very little able to soak into the
ground to recharge aquifers, at the demand for water increases the water in the
underground aquifers decreases. In coastal areas there's a fine balance between freshwater
and salt water below the surface, as fresh water from the aquifers overdrawn with limited
opportunity for recharge sea water moves into the void and takes its place, this saltwater
intrusion can devastate an aquifer rendering it useless as a source of fresh water, and the
problem is only getting worse as on climate changes and sea levels rise.
-Urban Development Creates Runof
As urban areas grow we have more roofs, streets and pavements. Instead of the rain water
soaking into the soil the water now runs over the surfaces picking up pollutants in its path as
it races into storm drains that empty into rivers and oceans and as more area is paved over
the ever-increasing volume, water floods neighborhoods and those living downstream, with
increased flooding creeks and rivers paved over to stop erosion creating a concrete channel
that moves the water even faster off the land.
-Urban Development Creates Sewage
As population grows Urban Development increases, which in turn increases the amount of
water that goes down the drain. Traditional sewer systems collect all the waste water from
our homes and offices and send it to a centralized treatment plant, after residents
businesses and industry have used the water often all at once, it's treated and released into
the ocean or other nearby lakes and streams. These centralized wastewater treatment
plants use lots of energy to partially clean up the huge volumes of water we send down to
our drains only to waste it by dumping it into the ocean.

Watershed
A drainage basin or watershed (North American English usages) is an extent or an area of
land where surface water from rain, melting snow, or ice converges to a single point at a
lower elevation, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such
as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean. For example, a tributary stream of
a brook that joins a small river is tributary of a larger river, which is thus part of a series of
successively smaller area but higher elevation drainage basins (watersheds).

Drainage Divide
A drainage

divide, water

divide, divide, ridgeline, watershed, water

parting,

or

height of land, is the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins. In hilly country, the
divide lies along topographical ridges, and may be in the form of a single range of hills
or mountains, known as a dividing range. In flat countryespecially where the ground
is marshythe divide may be harder to discern.
A valley floor divide is a low drainage divide that runs across a valley, sometimes created by
deposition or stream capture.

Types

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Drainage divides can be grouped in three types:

Continental divide
A divide in which waters on each side flow to different oceans.

Major drainage divide

Waters on each side of the divide never meet, but do flow into the same ocean.

Minor drainage divide

Waters part, but eventually rejoin at a river confluence

Properties of Watershed
Watersheds have seven different properties. This are it Size [area], Shape,
Topography, Geology, rock and soil Climate, Vegetation and land user.
Under size, Size of watershed determines the quantity of rainfall received retained and
disposed. Larger the watershed, larger is the channel and storage of water in basin. Large
watershed characteristics are topography, geology, soil, climate and use and vegetation.
Watersheds also have differences in shape some are regular shapes, but mostly it is irregular
in shape. Topography, the degree of the slope and its uniformity affects the disposal and the
loss of soil. Geology, rock and soil affect the erosion of the soil and the production of
sediments. Climates affect a lot to a watershed, it is responsible in providing abundant water
or might cause for the reduction of the available water. Another is vegetation, depending
upon the type of vegetation and its extent, this factor regulates the functioning of watershed
ex. Infiltration, water retention, runoff production, erosion, sedimentation. Lastly the land
use, it is important to know the place where the watershed are going to be constructed, it
should be to the place wherein many plants and trees are in planted.

Delineation of drainage Area, Sub basing / Physical Properties

Delineation is part of the process known as watershed segmentation, i.e., dividing the
watersheds into discrete land and channel segments to analyze watershed behavior. Under
delineation we have two methods, the DEM Based (Automatic Delineation) and Manual
Delineation. DEM, comes from the water that flows downhill and the boundaries are created
automatically by computer. Another is Manual Delineation, drawing watershed by clicking on
the map and it also requires underlying data for accuracy.
Here is the other information about delineation of drainage area.
BASINS DELINEATION TOOLS

Automatic (DEM based) delineation

- DEM and NED grids

Manual delineation
- From existing watershed boundaries and stream layers
- User delineates watersheds using mouse
- Allows user to define the entire area contributing to flow at an outlet based on
knowledge of topography
- Underlying data required
Shapefile or grid DEM
-Optional data for accuracy
USGS Topographic Map

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Other GIS Layers

Operates on vector GIS data (shapefiles)

Manual delineations are subsets of existing delineations (i.e., Cataloging Unit

Boundary)

Watersheds can be associated with RF1 or NHD reach files

Can start with usersupplied subbasins

MANUAL DELINEATION FUNCTIONS

Associate PCS point sources with subbasin outlet points
Edit watershed boundaries
Calculate subbasin slopes from DEMs
Define stream network
Create map layers required for setting up an HSPF model through BASINS