WATERSHED

Watershed defined
A watershed is a geographical

unit in which the hydrological

cycle and its components can be
analysed.
Usually a watershed is defined
as the area that appears, on the
basis
of
topography,
to
contribute all the water that

Watershed-any

sloping
land
surface that sheds water; more
functionally-all land enclosed by
a continuous hydraulic drainage
divide and lying upslope from a
specific point on a stream.
USGS-HUCs (define)

The surface trace of the boundary that delimits

a watershed is called a divide.
The horizontal projection of the area of a
watershed is called the drainage area of a
stream at that cross section.
The location of the stream cross section that
defines the watershed is determined by the
analysis

Delineation
If a permeable soil covers an impermeable

substrate, the topographical division of

watershed will not always correspond to the
line that is effectively delimiting the
groundwater.

Figure 2.2. Artificial changes that occur in a

watershed [Musy, 2001]

WATERSHED
CHARACTERISTICS

Physical characteristics
Geomorphology
Watershed Surface
Watershed Shape
Watershed orientation

Topography
Watershed hypsographical curve
Watershed average slope

Hydrography

Hydrographic network topology

Agro-pedo-geological factors
Soil types and vegetal covering
Watershed geology

Hydrological
characteristics
Concentration time
Isochrones

Watershed Surface

WATERSHED LEAKAGE
The rain water after infiltering into the ground may

percolate through the subsoil and build up the

ground water table (GWT). This ground water
through the water bearing strata may flow into the
adjacent basin or directly into the sea if the water
bearing strata outcrops into the sea. This is called
watershed leakage. There may be even accretion of
ground water into the basin from another nearby or
remote basin if there is hydraulic interconnection
through a water bearing strata. It is this subsurface,
inflow or outflow that poses problem in the water
balance studies of the basin.

When the topographic divide

and phreatic divide do not

coincide watershed leakage
occurs and is equal to the
ground water flow from the
area between them.

WATER BALANCE
The input items into a basin are essentially

precipitation (P) and subsurface inflow (Gi)

while the water losses are evaporation (E),
evapotranspiration (Et) and subsurface
outflow (Go). The balance goes to recharge
ground water (Gr), increase the soil moisture
(SMA) and as surface runoff (streamflow, R).
The water balance equation can be written as
P + Gi = E + Et + G0 + SMA + Gr + R