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The Hydrologic Equation

The document provides instructions and problems related to hydrology. It defines key hydrologic concepts like the hydrologic cycle, hydrologic equation, drainage basins, inputs and outputs. It then provides 7 multi-part problems calculating volumes, flows, budgets, and residence times for water tanks, pools, basins, lakes, using various hydrologic data like precipitation, evaporation, runoff, elevation, area, etc.
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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
589 views5 pages

The Hydrologic Equation

The document provides instructions and problems related to hydrology. It defines key hydrologic concepts like the hydrologic cycle, hydrologic equation, drainage basins, inputs and outputs. It then provides 7 multi-part problems calculating volumes, flows, budgets, and residence times for water tanks, pools, basins, lakes, using various hydrologic data like precipitation, evaporation, runoff, elevation, area, etc.
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Instructions: Read the following text and underline the unknown words.

Add the words in


a glossary of terms in Spanish and include their definition.

The Hydrologic Equation


From Fetter (2014)

The hydrologic cycle is a useful concept but is quantitatively rather vague. The hydrologic
equation provides a quantitative means of evaluating the hydrologic cycle. This
fundamental equation is a simple statement of the law of mass conservation. It may be
expressed as:

If we consider any hydrologic system—for instance, a lake—it has a certain volume of water
at a given time. Several inflows add to this water volume: precipitation that falls on the lake
surface, streams that flow into the lake, ground water that seeps into the lake, and over-
land flow from nearby land surfaces. Water also leaves the lake through evaporation,
transpiration by emergent aquatic vegetation, outlet streams, and ground-water seepage
from the lake bottom. If, over a given time period, the total inflows are greater than the total
out- flows, the lake level will rise as more water accumulates. If the outflows exceed the
inflows over a time period, the volume of water in the lake will decrease. Any differences
between rates of inflow and outflow in a hydrologic system will result in a change in the
volume of water stored in the system. The hydrologic equation can be applied to systems of
any size. It is as useful for a small reservoir as it is for an entire continent. The equation is
time dependent. The elements of inflow must be measured over the same time periods as
the outflows.

The basic unit of surface-water hydrology is the drainage basin, or catchment, which
consists of all the land area sloping toward a particular discharge point. It is outlined by
surface-water boundaries, or topographic divides. In ground-water hydrology, we utilize
the concept of a ground-water basin, which is the subsurface volume through which ground
water flows toward a specific discharge zone. Ground-water divides surround it. The
boundaries of a surface-water basin and the underlying ground-water basin do not
necessarily coincide, although the water budget of the area must account for both ground
and surface water. Many times hydrologic budgets are made for areas surrounded by
political boundaries and not hydrologic boundaries; however, one still must know the
location of the hydrologic boundaries, both surface and subsurface, to perform a water-
budget analysis. Water will flow from the hydrologic boundary toward the point of
discharge and hence may flow into the study area if the boundary of the study area does
not coincide with the hydrologic boundary. The hydrologic inputs to an area may include
(1) precipitation; (2) surface-water inflow into the area, including runoff and overland flow;
(3) groundwater inflow from outside the area; and (4) artificial import of water into the area
through pipes and canals. The hydrologic outputs from an area may include (1)
evapotranspiration from land areas; (2) evaporation of surface water; (3) surface water
runoff; (4) groundwater outflow; and (5) artificial export of water through pipes and canals.
The changes in storage necessary to balance the hydrologic equation include changes in the
volume of (1) surface water in streams, rivers, lakes, and ponds; (2) soil moisture in the
vadose zone; (3) ice and snow at the surface; (4) temporary depression storage; (5)
intercepted water on plant surfaces; and (6) ground water below the water table. The
application of the hydrologic equation to a watershed is illustrated in the following case
study.
Instructions: Solve the next problems.

1. A vertical water tank is 15 ft in diameter and 60 ft high. What is the volume of the tank
in cubic meters?
2. If a well pumps at a rate of 8.4 gal per minute, how long would it take to fill the tank
described above?
3. The only swimming pool at the El Cheapo Motel is outdoors. It is 5.0 m wide and 12.0
m long. If the weekly evaporation is 2.35 in., how many gallons of water must be added
to the pool if it does not rain?
4. If during the next week the pool still loses 2.35 in. of water to evaporation, even with 29
mm of rainfall, how many liters of water must be added?
5. A ground-water basin has a surface area of 125 km2. The following long-term annual
averages have been measured:

Precipitation 60.6 cm
Evapotranspiration 46.3 cm
Overland flow 3.4 cm
Baseflow 10.6 cm

There is no streamflow into the basin and no groundwater flow either into or out of the
basin.
A. Prepare an annual water budget for the basin as a whole, listing inputs in one
column and outputs in another. Make sure that the two columns balance as these are
long-term values and we assume no change in the volume of water stored in the
basin.
B. Prepare an annual water budget for the streams.
C. Prepare an annual water budget for the groundwater basin.
D. What is the annual runoff from the basin expressed in centimeters?
E. What is the annual runoff from the basin expressed as an average rate in cubic meters
per second?

6. The parking lot of the Spendmore Megamall has an area of 128 ac. It is partially
landscaped to provide some areas of grass. Assume that an average 63% of the water
that falls on the parking lot will flow into a nearby drainage ditch, and the rest either
evaporates or soaks into unpaved areas. If a summer thunderstorm drops 3.23 cm of
rain, how many cubic feet of water will flow into the drainage ditch?

7. At a water elevation of 6391 ft, Mono Lake has a volume of 2,939,000 ac-ft, and a
surface area of 48,100 ac. Annual inputs to the lake include 8 in. of direct precipitation,
runoff from gauged streams of 150,000 ac-ft per year, and ungauged runoff and
ground- water inflow of 37,000 ac-ft per year. Evaporation is 45 in. per year.

A. Make a water budget showing inputs, in ac-ft per year and outputs in ac-f t per
year. Does the input balance the output? (Convert the result to CGS or SI)
B. Will the average lake level rise or fall from the 6391-ft elevation over the long term?
C. What would be the lake surface area when the inputs balance the outputs?
(Assume that the volume of gauged and ungauged runoff and ground-water
inflows remain constant with a change in lake surface area.) (Write the result in
CGS or SI)
D. What is the residence time* for water in Mono Lake when the water surface is at
6391 ft?

*The residence time of a body of water is the average time that it would take for the volume of water to be
exchanged once.

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