Chapter 1 part2 Flashcards
Define watershed
basin-like landform defined by highpoints and ridgelines that descend into lower elevations and stream valleys.
What happens in the watershed
carries water “shed” from the land after rain falls and snow melts.
water is channeled into soils, groundwaters, creeks, and streams,
making its way to larger rivers and eventually the sea.
water is affected by
all that it comes in contact with:
- the land it traverses,
- and the soils through which it travels.
what we do on the land affects
water quality for all communities living downstream.
Hydrologic processes encompass a suite of
space and time scales
thunderstorm space and time scale
space scale: few kilometers or less
time scale: minutes to hours
development of major river basins space and time scale
Space scale: 1,000 - 10,000 km
time scale: millions to tens of millions of years
Within watershed, water exists as
- precipitation
- surface water (or runoff)
- groundwater
- evaporation
principle of conservation of mass is applied assuming
watershed is a closed system
the principle of conservation of mass is used to
track how much water is in storage
What is conservation of mass?
for any closed system, mass is conserved over time
equation of conservation of mass
the following equation is
conservation of mass
What are the inputs of water into our watershed?
Precipitation and any groundwater flowing in.
What are the outputs of water into our watershed?
Runoff, evaporation and any groundwater flowing out.
The regional water balance equation
The following equation is for
Regional water balance equation
what does P, GWin, GWout , E, Q and S resemble?
- P: precipitation
- GW in: ground water (in)
- GWout: ground water (out)
- E: Evaporation
- Q: Runoff
- S: Storage
What is the equation?
simplification of the regional water balance equation
What happens to water after it rains?
- water can infiltrate into the ground and replenish our groundwater supply,
- evaporate, returning to the atmosphere.
- flows into rivers and streams and discharges into oceans or reservoirs. (runoff)
What happens to runoff? (starts, flow, …..)
- starts in streams
- flows into rivers
- empties into the ocean
Why is runoff important to a community?
For people to use as a drinking water source, irrigation source, etc.