SURFACE

WATER
(STREAM)
REPORTED BY :
REY C. AUDITOR
BSCE 5-2

REPORT OUTLINE :
Definition of stream
Parts of a stream
Sources of stream
Types of stream
Characteristics of stream
Importance of stream
Common problems of stream
Measurement of streamflow
Interaction of stream to groundwater

STREAM
is a body of running water
moving under the influence of
gravity to lower levels in a narrow
clearly defined natural channel.

PARTS OF A STREAM
BAR

Ashoal that develops in a stream as

sediment is deposited as the current slows
or is impeded by wave action at the
confluence.
BIFURCATION
A fork into two or more streams.
CHANNEL
A depression created by constanterosion
that carries the stream's flow.

CONFLUENCE
The point at which the two streams merge. If
the two tributaries are of approximately equal
size, the confluence may be called a fork.
FLOODPLAIN
Lands adjacent to the stream that are subject
toflooding when a stream overflows its
banks.
GAUGING STATION
A point of demarcation along the route of a
stream or river, used for reference marking or
water monitoring.

HEADWATERS

The part of a stream or river proximate to its

source. The word is most commonly used in the
plural where there is no singlepoint source.
NICK POINT
The point on a stream's profile where a sudden
change instream gradientoccurs.
MOUTH
The point at which the stream discharges,
possibly via anestuary ordelta, into a static
body of water such as alakeor ocean.

 POOL
A segment where the water is deeper
and slower moving.
RIFFLE
A segment where the flow is
shallower and moreturbulent.
RIVER
A large natural stream, which may be
a waterway.

 RUN
A somewhat smoothly flowing
segment of the stream.
SOURCE
The spring from which the stream
originates, or other point of origin of a
stream.
SPRING
The point at which a stream emerges
from an underground course through
unconsolidatedsediments or through
caves.

 STREAM BED
The bottom of a stream.
STREAM CORRIDOR
Steam, its floodplains, and the
transitional upland fringe.
WATERFALL
The fall of water where the stream goes
over a sudden drop called a nickpoint.
WETTED PERIMETER
The line on which the stream's surface
meets the channel walls.

SOURCES OF STREAM
Streams typically derive most of
their water fromprecipitationin the
form ofrain andsnow.
Some precipitated water proceeds
to sink into the earth by infiltration
and becomesgroundwater, much of
which eventually enters streams.
Some creeks may start from ponds
or lakes.

TYPES OF STREAM
HEADWATER STREAMS
are the beginnings of rivers, the uppermost
streams in the river network furthest from the
river's endpoint or confluence with another stream.
YEAR-ROUND STREAMS (PERENNIAL)
typically have water flowing in them year-round.
Most of the water comes from smaller upstream
waters or groundwater while runoff from rainfall or
other precipitation is supplemental.

 SEASONAL STREAMS (INTERMITTENT)

flow during certain times of the year when
smaller upstream waters are flowing and
when groundwater provides enough water
for stream flow.
RAIN-DEPENDENT STREAMS
(EPHEMERAL)
flow only after precipitation. Runoff from
rainfall is the primary source of water for
these streams. Like seasonal streams, they
can be found anywhere but are most
prevalent in arid areas.

CHARACTERISTICS OF
STREAM
RANKING
A stream of thefirst orderis a stream
which does not have any other recurring or
perennial stream feeding into it.
When two first-order streams come
together, they form a second-order
stream.
When two second-order streams come
together, they form a third-order stream.

 GRADIENT
Thegradientof a stream is a critical
factor in determining its character and is
entirely determined by itsbase level of
erosion.

MEANDER
Meanders are looping changes of direction of
a stream caused by the erosion and deposition
of bank materials. Typically, over time the
meanders gradually migrate downstream.

 PROFILE
Streams are said to have a
particularprofile, beginning with
steep gradients, no flood plain, and
little shifting of channels.
STREAMLOAD
Streams can carry sediment, or
alluvium.

IMPORTANCE OF STREAM

Clean drinking water

Flood and erosion protection
Groundwater recharge
Pollution reduction
Wildlife habitat
Economic importance
-fishing -hunting
-agriculture - manufacturing

COMMON STREAM
PROBLEMS
BANK INSTABILITY
is characterized by sparse riparian
vegetation and excessively eroding cut
banks, which may slough into the active
stream channel.
SEDIMENTATION

Bank instability and erosion frequently

results in excessive sediment inputs into
stream
channels.

 CHANNEL ALTERATION
Channel alteration from bulldozing,
dredging, and construction causes
severe disturbance to the channel
and to riparian vegetation.

 REDUCTION OR LOSS OF RIPARIAN AREA

Reduction of
riparian areas that
leads to a loss of
bank stabilizing
plants, formation
of an over-widened
channel and
increased
sedimentation.

 IRRIGATION CANALS AND

DIVERSIONS
In addition to
decreasing in
stream flow,
water diversions
can block
migration of fish.

 IMPACTS FROM MINING

Mining operations
can severely disturb
the landscape and/or
stream channel water
quality.
Other impacts from
mining are
acidification of streams
from acid mine
drainage or metal
contamination of the
stream

MEASUREMENT OF SURFACE WATER

FLOW (STREAMFLOW)

Surface water flow is simply the

continuous movement of water in
runoff or open channels.
Measurement of surface water flow is
an important component of most water
quality monitoring projects.
Flooding, stream geomorphology, and
aquatic life support are all directly
influenced by streamflow, and runoff
and streamflow drive the generation,
transport, and delivery of many

 Discharge, defined as the rate of flow

or the volume of water that passes
through a channel cross section in a
specific period of time.
The depth of flow (m or Ft.) is most
commonly measured as stage, the
elevation of the water surface relative to
an arbitrary fixed point.
Stage is important because peak stage
may exceed the capacity of stream
channels, culverts, or other structures,
while both very low and very high stage
may stress aquatic life.

PURPOSES OF FLOW
MEASUREMENT

Problem assessment
Watershed project planning
Assessment of treatment needs
Targeting source areas
Design of management measures
Project evaluation.

FUNDAMENTAL
MEASUREMENTS

1. BASIC PRINCIPLES OF DISCHARGE

MEASUREMENT

Discharge is typically calculated as the

product of velocity and cross-sectional area.
Surface water velocity is the direction
and speed with which the water is moving,
measured in feet per second (ft/s) or
meters per second (m/s).
The cross-sectional area of an open
channel is the area of a slice in the water
column made perpendicular to the flow
direction.

Friction caused by the rough channel

surfaces slows the water near the
bottom and sides of a channel

To deal with the variability in stream

velocity, studies support several general
rules of thumb:
Maximum velocity occurs at 525% of the
depth, this percentage increases with increasing
stream depth.
Mean velocity in a vertical profile is
approximated by the velocity at 0.6 depth.
Mean velocity in a vertical profile is more
accurately represented by the mean of the
velocities at 0.2 and 0.8 depth.
The mean velocity in a vertical profile is 80
95% of the surface velocity, the average of
several hundred observations being 85%.

Determining the cross-sectional area of

a flowing stream usually involves
measuring water depths at a series of
points across the stream and multiplying
by the width of the stream within each
segment represented by the depth
measurement. The areas are summed to
determine the entire cross-sectional area.

2. STAGE MEASUREMENT
Stream stage is an important
parameter of streamflow measurement.
Stage is often measured relative to a
fixed point using a staff gage, a rigid
metal plate graduated in meters or feet
attached to a secure backing and
located in a part of the stream where
water is present even at low flows.
Stage measurements are taken by
simply noting the elevation of the water
surface on the graduations of the staff

3. STAGE-DISCHARGE
CURVES

Simple manual stage

measurements can give a rough
qualitative indication of the
magnitude of discharge .
A stage-discharge relationship is an
equation determined for a specific
site that relates discharge to stage,
based on a linear regression of a
series of concurrent measurements
of stage and discharge.

FLOW
MEASUREMENT
METHODS

1. PEAK STAGE
MEASUREMENT
Peak stage is essential to know in flood
planning, especially for flood frequency
statistics, floodplain management, and
design/protection of structures.
Peak stage can be observed by several informal
means:
-Direct observations made during high flow
events can record the maximum height of water
on buildings or other structures.
-Using specialized crest gages, 2-inch
diameter galvanized pipe containing a wood staff
held in a fixed position in relation to a reference.

2. ESTIMATION OF ANNUAL
DISCHARGE
Planning for a watershed project
may require an estimate of total
annual discharge from an ungagged
watershed.
Such an estimate can be made
simply using data from a nearby
stream gage with a good historical
record.

3. INSTANTANEOUS FLOW MEASUREMENT

3.1 MANNINGS EQUATION

Discharge may be computed based on
a slope-area method.
FOR ENGLISH SYSTEM

FOR METRIC SYSTEM

Hydraulic radius is defined as the crosssectional area divided by the wetted

perimeter (the distance around the stream
bed cross section that is under water).

 Application of the Manning

equation requires a straight
stream reach between 200 and
1000 ft. (61305 m) in length.
Slope of the water surface is
determined from accurate
measurements of stage at the
upstream and downstream ends
of the reach referenced to a
common fixed point.

3.2. DIRECT MEASUREMENT

a. Volumetric measurement
-simply measure the time
required
to fill a container of
known volume.
b. Dilution methods
-consist of adding a concentrated
tracer solution (salt or dye) of
known
strength to the stream and
by
chemical analysis
determining its
dilution

c. Weirs and flumes

-a structure that water flows through or over
that has a known relationship between stage
and flow.
- Weirs are essentially dams built across an
open channel over which water flows through a
specially shaped opening or edge.
- Flumes are specially shaped open channel
flow sections that restrict the channel area,
resulting in increased velocity and a change in
water level as water flows through a flume.

d. Area-velocity technique

-The most common method of

measuring discharge in open
channels is by measuring the crosssectional area and the mean water
velocity.

INTERACTION OF
GROUNDWATER AND STREAM
The interaction takes place in three
basic ways:
- streams gain water from inflow of
ground water through the streambed.
- streams lose water to ground
water by outflow through the
streambed.
- both, gaining in some reaches and
losing in other reaches.

GAINING STREAM
the altitude of the water table in
the vicinity of the stream must be
higher than the altitude of the
stream-water surface.
can be determined from watertable contour maps because the
contour lines point in the upstream
direction where they cross the
stream.

LOSING STREAM
the altitude of the water table in
the vicinity of the stream must be
lower than the altitude of the
stream-water surface.
can be determined from watertable contour maps because the
contour lines point in the
downstream direction where they
cross the stream.

GAINING
STREAM

LOSING STREAM

MIKIS STREAM IN CAPOOCAN, LEYTE

CAPOOCAN, LEYTE

LIGNON HILL PARK STREAM, BICOL

END OF SLIDES..