Components of Stream Flow

• When a storm occurs, a portion of rainfall infiltrates into the

ground and some portion may evaporate.
• The rest flows as a thin sheet of water over the land surface
which is termed as overland flow.
• If there is a relatively impermeable stratum in the subsoil, the
infiltrating water moves laterally in the surface soil and joins
the stream flow, which is termed as underflow or subsurface
flow or interflow.
• If there is no impeding layer in the subsoil the infiltrating
water percolates into the ground as deep seepage and builds up
the ground water table (GWT) or phreatic surface.
• The ground water may also contribute to the stream flow, if the
GWT is higher than the water surface level of the stream,
creating a hydraulic gradient towards the stream.
• Low soil permeability favours overland flow.
• While all the three types of flow contribute to the stream flow,
it is the overland flow, which reaches first the stream channel,
the interflow being slower reaches after a few hours and the
ground water flow being the slowest reaches the stream
channel after some days.
• The term direct runoff is used to include the overland flow and
the interflow.
• If the snow melt contributes to the stream flow it can be
included with the direct runoff (from rainfall).
• The direct runoff results from the occurrence of an
immediately preceding storm while the ground water
contribution, which takes days or months to reach the stream
and it is termed as base flow in hydrograph analysis.
• When the overland flow starts (due to a storm) some flowing
water is held in puddles, pits and small ponds; this water
stored is called depression storage.
• The volume of water in transit in the overland flow which has
not yet reached the stream channel is called surface detention
or detention storage.
• The portion of runoff in a rising flood in a stream, which is
absorbed by the permeable boundaries of the stream above the
normal phreatic surface is called bank storage, Fig. 4.2.
 Catchment Characteristics
• The entire area of a river basin whose surface runoff due to a
storm drains into the river in the basin is considered as a
hydrologic unit and is called drainage basin, watershed or
catchment area of the river flowing.
• The boundary line, along a topographic ridge, separating two
adjacent drainage basins is called drainage divide.
• The single point or location at which all surface drainage from
a basin comes together or concentrates as outflow from the
basin in the stream channel is called concentration point or
measuring point, since the stream outflow is usually measured
at this point.
• The time required for the rain falling at the most distant point
in a drainage area (i.e., on the fringe of the catchment) to reach
the concentration point is called the concentration time.
• This is a very significant variable since only such storms of
duration greater than the time of concentration will be able to
produce runoff from the entire catchment area and cause high
intensity floods.
• The characteristics of the drainage net may be physically
described by:
1. The number of streams
2. The length of streams
3. Stream density
4. Drainage density
1. The stream density of a drainage basin is expressed as the
number of streams per square kilometer.

2. Drainage density is expressed as the total length of all stream

channels (perennial and intermittent) per unit area of the
basin and serves as an index of the areal channel
development of the basin
• Drainage density varies inversely as the length of overland
flow and indicates the drainage efficiency of the basin.
• A high value indicates a well-developed network and torrential
runoff causing intense floods while a low value indicates
moderate runoff and high permeability of the terrain.

• Horton has suggested a method of determining the slope of

large drainage areas, i.e., the area is subdivided into a number
of square grids of equal size.
• The number of contours crossed by each subdividing line is
counted and the lengths of the grid lines are scaled.
• Then the slope of the basin is given by

• The boundary line along a topographic ridge, separating two

adjacent drainage basins is called the drainage divide.
• The line of the ground water table from which the water table
slopes downward away from the line on both sides, is called
the ground water divide.
• The shape of a drainage basin can generally be expressed by:
1. Form factor and 2. Compactness coefficient
• A fan-shaped catchment produces greater flood intensity since
all the tributaries are nearly of the same length and hence the
time of concentration is nearly the same and is less.
• Whereas in the fern-shaped catchments, the time of
concentration is more and the discharge is distributed over a
long period.
• An ‘elongation ratio (Er)’, defined as the ratio of the diameter
of a circle of the same area as the basin to the maximum basin
length; the values range from 0.4 to 1.0.
• A dimensionless ‘circularity ratio (Cr)’, defined as the ratio of
the basin area to the area of a circle having the same perimeter
as the basin; the values range from 0.2 to 0.8.
• The drainage basin characteristics influence the time lag of the
unit hydrograph and peak flow.
 Mean and Median Elevation
• The mean elevation is determined as the weighted average of
elevations between two adjacent contours.
• The mean elevation of a drainage basin is given by
• The median elevation is the elevation at 50% area of the
catchment and is determined from the area-elevation curve.
• The area elevation curve is obtained by plotting the contour
elevation against area or percent of area, above or below that
elevation, Fig.
• The area elevation curve is also called the hypsometric curve
for the basin.
 Classification of Streams
• Streams may be classified as:
1. Influent and Effluent streams
2. Intermittent and perennial streams
 Influent and Effluent streams
• If the GWT is below the bed of the stream, the seepage from the
stream feeds the ground-water resulting in the build up of water
mound.
• Such streams are called influent streams.
• Irrigation channels function as influent streams and many rivers
which cross desert areas do so.
• Such streams will dry up completely in rainless period and are
called ephemeral streams.
• The ephemeral streams, generally seen in arid regions, which flow
only for a few hours after the rainfall, are of no use for
conventional hydropower.
• However, they can occasionally be used in pure pumped storage
schemes, where the actual consumption of water is only marginal.
• When the GWT is above water surface elevation in the stream,
the ground water feeds the stream.
• Such streams are called effluent streams.
• The base flow of surface streams is the effluent seepage from
the drainage basin.
• Most of the perennial streams are mainly effluent streams.
 Intermittent and perennial streams.
• If the ground water table (GWT) lies above the bed of the
stream during the wet season but drops below the bed during
the dry season, the stream flows during wet season (due to
surface runoff and ground water contribution) but becomes dry
during dry seasons. Such streams are called intermittent
streams.
• While in the case of perennial streams, even in the most severe
droughts, the GWT never drops below the bed of the stream
and therefore they flow throughout the year.
• For power development a perennial stream is the best; power
can also be generated from intermittent streams by providing
adequate storage facilities.
 Factors affecting Runoff
• The various factors, which affect the runoff from a drainage
basin depend upon the following characteristics:
1. Storm characteristics
2. Meteorological characteristics
3. Basin characteristics
4. Storage characteristics
 1. Storm characteristics
1. Type or nature of storm and season
2. Intensity
3. Duration
4. Areal extent (distribution)
5. Frequency
6. Antecedent precipitation
7. Direction of storm movement
2. Meteorological characteristics
1. Temperature
2. Humidity
3. Wind velocity,
4. Pressure variation
 3. Basin characteristics
1. Size
2. Shape
3. Slope
4. Altitude (elevation)
5. Topography
6. Geology (type of soil)
7. Land use /vegetation
8. Orientation
9. Type of drainage net
10. Proximity to ocean and mountain ranges
 4. Storage characteristics
1. Depressions
2. Pools and ponds / lakes
3. Stream
4. Channels
5. Check dams (in gullies)
6. Upstream reservoir /or tanks
7. Flood plains, swamps
8. Ground water storage in pervious deposits (aquifers)
 Estimation of Runoff
• Runoff is that balance of rain water, which flows or runs over
the natural ground surface after losses by evaporation,
interception and infiltration.
• The yield of a catchment (usually means annual yield) is the
net quantity of water available for storage, after all losses, for
the purposes of water resources utilization and planning, like
irrigation, water supply, etc.
• Maximum flood discharge:- It is the discharge in times of
flooding of the catchment area, i.e., when the intensity of
rainfall is greatest and the condition of the catchment
regarding humidity is also favorable for an appreciable runoff.
• The runoff from rainfall may be estimated by the following
methods:
1. Empirical formulae, curves and tables
2. Infiltration method
3. Rational method
4. Overland flow hydrograph
5. Unit hydrograph method
6. Coaxial Graphical Correlation and API
 1. Empirical formulae, curves and tables
• Several empirical formulae, curves and tables relating to the
rainfall and runoff have been developed as follows:

• where R = runoff, P = rainfall, a, b, and n, are constants.

• where F is a monsoon duration factor varying between 0.5 to
1.5 and S is the catchment factor depending upon the slope and
varies from 0.25 for flat areas to 3.45 for hilly areas.
 2. Infiltration Method
• By deducting the infiltration loss, i.e., the area under the
infiltration curve, from the total precipitation or by the use of
infiltration indices, which are already discussed.
• These methods are largely empirical and the derived values are
applicable only when the rainfall characteristics and the initial
soil moisture conditions are identical to those for which these
are derived.
 3. Rational Method
• A rational approach is to obtain the yield of a catchment by
assuming a suitable runoff coefficient.
 4. Overland Flow Hydrograph
• Overland flow occurs as a thin sheet of water over the ground
surface (soon after a storm starts), joins a stream channel, and
then flows in the channel to the concentration point.
• Overland flow is relatively slow and is the dominant type of
flow in the case of very small areas such as air ports,
municipal block areas and flow from broad surfaces into storm
drains and gutters.
• But in the case of large drainage areas, the length of overland
flow is so short in comparison with the channel flow distance
(before reaching the concentration point) that the total
concentration time is mainly a function of channel velocity.
• Overland flow is essentially a uniform flow over the surface
as developed by C.F. Izzard (1948).
• The Reynolds number

• Experiments indicate that the overland flow can be assumed to

be laminar if Re ≤ 1000 and turbulent if Re > 1000 with a
transition region of uncertainity in the vicinity of Re = 1000.
 5. Unit Hydrograph Method
• The hydrograph of direct surface discharge measured at the
outlet of drainage area, which produces a unit depth of direct
runoff (i.e., a Pnet of 1 cm over the entire area of the
catchment) resulting from a unit storm of specified duration
(called unit period) is called a unit hydrograph of that
duration.
• The unit hydrograph method was first proposed by L.K.
Sherman in 1932.
• The area under the hydrograph represents a direct runoff of 1
cm, Fig. 4.12.
• The theory of unit hydrograph is based on the following
assumptions:
1. The net rainfall is of uniform intensity within its duration
(i.e., unit period).
2. The net rainfall uniformly occurs over the entire area of the
drainage basin.
3. For a given drainage basin, the base period of the
hydrographs of direct runoff corresponding to net rains of
different intensities but same unit duration, is constant.
4. The ordinates of direct runoff hydrographs due to net rains of
different intensities (but same unit duration) are proportional.
5. A unit hydrograph reflects all the physical characteristics of
the basin.
 Application of the Unit Hydrograph
• First a unit hydrograph of suitable unit duration is derived
from an observed flood hydrograph for the drainage basin due
to a known storm (storm loss and net rain).
• The unit hydrograph so derived can be applied for any other
storm (of the same duration but producing different net rain)
occurring on the basin and the resulting flood hydrographs can
be obtained.