Importance

• It gives an estimate of water resources potential of

the river basin.
• It provides an idea about probability of flood
occurrence, their pattern and magnitude
• The dependable yields for irrigation and hydro –
electric power stations can be determined.
 IMPORTANCE OF HYDROLOGY
• Design of Hydraulic Structures:
• Municipal and Industrial Water supply:
• Irrigation:
• Hydroelectric Power Generation:
• Flood control in rivers:
• Navigation:
• Erosion & sediment control:
• Pollution control:
 Design of Hydraulic Structures:

• Structures such as bridges, causeways, dams,

spillways etc. are in contact with water. Accurate
hydrological predictions are necessary for their proper
functioning.
• Due to a storm, the flow below a bridge has to be
properly predicted. Improper prediction may cause
failure of the structure.
• Similarly the spillway in case of a dam which is meant
for disposing excess water in a dam should also be
designed properly otherwise flooding water may overtop
the dam.
 Municipal and Industrial Water supply:

• Growth of towns and cities and also industries

around them is often dependent on fresh water
availability in their vicinity. Water should be drawn
from rivers, streams, ground water. Proper
estimation of water resources in a place will help
planning and implementation of facilities for
municipal (domestic) and industrial water supply.
 Irrigation:
• Dams are constructed to store water for multiple
uses. For estimating maximum storage capacity
seepage, evaporation and other losses should be
properly estimated. These can be done with proper
understanding of hydrology of a given river basin and
thus making the irrigation project a successful one.
• Artificial recharge will also increase ground water
storage. It has been estimated that ground water
potential of gangetic basin is 40 times more than its
surface flow.
 Hydroelectric Power Generation:

• A hydroelectric power plant need continuous water

supply without much variations in the stream flow.
Variations will affect the functioning of turbines in
the electric plant.
• Hence proper estimation of river flow and also flood
occurrences will help to construct efficient balancing
reservoirs and these will supply water to turbines at
a constant rate.
 Flood control in rivers:

• Controlling floods in a river is a complicated task.

The flow occurring due to a storm can be predicted
if the catchment characteristics are properly known.
In many cases damages due to floods are high.
• Joint work of hydrologist and meteorologists in
threatening areas may reduce damage due to
floods. Flood plain zones maybe demarked to avoid
losses.
 Navigation:
• Big canals in an irrigation scheme can be used for
inland navigation. The depth of water should be
maintained at a constant level. This can be
achieved by lock gates provided and proper draft to
be maintained.
• If the river water contains sediments, they will settle
in the channel and cause problems for navigation.
Hence the catchment characteristics should be
considered and sediment entry into the canals
should be done.
 Erosion & sediment control:
• Excessive erosion in the catchment feeds the sediment into
the runoff. The reservoir may lose their capacity at a faster
rate reducing their economic span drastically. Tones of
fertile top soil will be lost every year resulting in crop yields.
• Hydrology of the catchment along with the knowledge of
the existing water shed management practices will help in
finding out the effective erosion. These measures includes
the fixing crop pattern & cropping procedures, formation of
contour bunds, afforestation etc. effective erosion control
measures not only decreases the sediment load in the
stream but also reduces peak flood discharges because of
increased infiltration opportunities in the catchment.
 Pollution control:
• It is an easy way to dispose sewage generated in a
city or town into streams and rivers. If large stream
flow is available compared to the sewage
discharge, pollution problems do not arise as
sewage gets diluted and flowing water also has
selfpurifying capacity. The problem arises when
each of the flows are not properly estimated. In
case sewage flow is high it should be treated before
disposal into a river or stream.
 Hydrological Cycle

• Water exists on the earth in gaseous form (water vapor), liquid and
solid (ice) forms and is circulated among the different components
of the Earth mainly by solar energy and planetary forces. Sunlight
evaporates sea water and this evaporated form is kept in circulation
by gravitational forces of Earth and wind action.

• The different paths through which water in nature circulates and is

transformed is called hydrological cycle. Hydrological cycle is
defined as the circulation of water from the sea to the land through
the atmosphere back to the sea often with delays through process
like precipitation, interception, runoff, infiltration, percolation,
ground water storage, evaporation and transpiration also water that
returns to the atmosphere without reaching the sea.
• The hydrological cycle has 3 important phases:
• 1. Evaporation & Evapotranspiratrion
• 2. Precipitation
• 3. Run off Evaporation

takes place from the surface of ponds, lakes,

reservoirs and ocean surfaces. Transpiration takes
place from surface vegetation i.e. from plant leaves of
cropped land forest
• etc. These vapours rise to sky and are condensed at
higher altitude and form the clouds. The clouds melt and
sometime burst resulting in precipitation of different
forms like rain, snow, hail, mist and frosts.
• A part of this precipitation flows over the land as runoff
and a part infiltrate into the soil which build up ground
water table.
• The surface run-off joins the stream and thus water
stored in the reservoir. A portion of the surface runoff
and ground water flows back to ocean. Again
evaporation starts from surfaces of lakes, reservoirs
and ocean & thus the cycle repeats.
 hydrological cycle
• The hydrological cycle can also be represented in
many different ways in diagrammatic forms as

1. Horton‘s Qualitative representation

2. Horton‘s Engineering representation