2.

GEOMORPHOLOGY OF WATERSHEDS
2.1. Watershed Hydrology and the Hydrological Cycle
 The geomorphology of a watershed refers to the study of the
landforms, characteristics, and evolution of the land
within a watershed boundary, and how these features
influence the flow and behaviour of water.
This includes aspects like:
Topography
 Elevation, slope, and overall shape of the land surface in the
watershed.
 Steeper slopes will generally lead to faster water flow and
potentially higher erosion rates.
Drainage Network
 The pattern of streams, rivers, and other channels that carry
water throughout the watershed.
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Cont.…
Channel Morphology
 The size,
 shape, and
 bed material of streams and rivers within the watershed.
These characteristics influence
 how water flows through the channel and
 how much sediment it can transport
Geology
 The types of rocks and underlying geological formations that make up
the watershed.
 Geology impacts factors like infiltration, runoff, and susceptibility to
erosion.
Soils
 The types of soil present in the watershed play a crucial role in water
storage, infiltration, and plant growth, which all influence water flow.
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Cont.…
Water Flow and Drainage Patterns
 Geomorphology helps predict how water will move through the
watershed, including stream flow rates, flood risks, and potential
for erosion.
Water Quality
 The characteristics of the land surface influence how water is
filtered and purified as it moves through the watershed.
Understanding geomorphology helps assess the potential for
pollutants to enter waterways.
Habitat Health
 The geomorphic features of a watershed shape the types of habitats
available for plants and animals.
Watershed Management
 By understanding the geomorphic makeup of a watershed, we can develop more
effective strategies for managing water resources, controlling erosion, and
protecting ecosystems. 06/24/2024 3
Watershed hydrology…

The hydrological cycle of a defined area of landscape

is a balance between
 Inputs of water with precipitation and upstream
drainage,
 Outputs as evaporation and drainage downstream
or deep into the ground, and
 Any internal storage that may occur because of
imbalances of the inputs and outputs.
 Watershed Hydrology: focuses on the
movement, storage, and distribution of water
within a specific drainage basin.
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Watershed hydrology…

 The hydrologic cycle is the continuous process of water movement

above and below the earth’s surface which feeds flow in our
streams, rivers and lakes.
 The hydrologic cycle interacting with the topography, land use and
vegetation in a watershed has significant effects on the quality of our
lakes and streams.
 Components of the Hydrologic Cycle
1. Condensation/Precipitation
Precipitation occurs when three conditions are met:
• Rainfall
• Sleet
• Snow
• Hail
• Dew, frost
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Watershed hydrology…

2. Evapotranspiration
 Apart from precipitation, the most significant component of the
hydrologic budget is evapotranspiration (ET)
 Once precipitation occurs, a large percentage of the water falling
within a watershed will return to the atmosphere as a result of
evapotranspiration.
 it is the sum of water losses through evaporation from soils, plant
surfaces and waterbodies as well as transpiration through plant leaves
 ET varies regionally and seasonally and is a significant determinant of
how much water will become streamflow.
 ET is influenced by land management practices that either remove or
alter vegetation.
 As vegetation is removed or altered, ET decreases.
 As ET declines, surface runoff and streamflow typically increase, as
does the recharge of groundwater aquifers
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Watershed hydrology…

3. Interception
 Once precipitation has occurred, vegetation and other surfaces can intercept and store
water, influencing the amount and pattern of its distribution within a watershed
 Water can be intercepted by the vegetative canopy within a watershed on branches and
stems, or fall to the ground to be stored in leaf litter.
 Interception can be an important component of storage within a watershed, especially if
forests and other vegetative cover dominate the landscape.
 Water that is not intercepted is available to either replenish groundwater or become
surface, subsurface or groundwater flow
 When vegetative cover within a watershed is reduced or if soils are compacted,
infiltration is diminished and runoff increases.
 Eg. in intensively grazed areas, vegetation is typically removed by livestock. This, in turn,
exposes soils to the powerful impact of rainfall and compaction from livestock
 Infiltration in these areas is reduced, surface runoff increases and the movement of
pollutants to waterbodies increases.

 A goal common in many waterbody restoration plans is to improve infiltration within a

watershed.
 Improved infiltration decreases runoff, reduces stormflow, limits erosion and decreases
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the delivery of pollutants to the impaired waterbody. 7
Watershed hydrology…

4. Surface Runoff
 Surface runoff occurs when the soil infiltration capacity has been
exceeded, excess water collects on the soil surface and it travels down
slope
 Climate, geology, topography, soil characteristics, and vegetative cover
can affect how quickly and how much runoff becomes streamflow.
 Surface runoff is the primary mechanisms for transporting nonpoint
source pollutants from land to surface waters
 Runoff transports pollutants in both dissolved forms and in forms that
are attached to sediment
 The detachment and transport of pollutants depends on the depth and
velocity of runoff
 In general ,the aim of watershed managers is to limit or
eliminate runoff since it is the primary mechanism for delivering
pollutants to surface waters 06/24/2024 8
Watershed hydrology…

5. Storage/ infiltration
 Precipitation can be stored in depressional areas (stream channels,
lakes, wetlands, ponds, puddles), in soil, plants, and aquifers.
 The amount of streamflow in a waterbody can be influenced by the
movement of water between these various forms of storage.
 Water stored in wetlands or lakes, for example, can feed rivers and
streams year-around.
 Similarly, subsurface flow can sustain streamflow in rivers and streams
during dry periods.
 Precipitation can be held in storage for short periods or for decades to
hundreds of years.
 For example, storage in the soil as subsurface flow can be short-term.
Subsurface flow is precipitation that infiltrates the soil, but arrives
relatively quickly to streams to become streamflow.
 In contrast, precipitation that infiltrates the soil and percolates to deep
aquifers may not be discharged to06/24/2024
surface water for decades or longer. 9
Cont..

Hydrological Cycle in a Watershed 06/24/2024 10

 2.2. Watershed Characterization (Physical, Biological, and Social)

 Each individual watershed has several characteristics that affect the

functioning of the watershed, its management, and manipulation.
 Physiographic characteristics of any watershed are the description
of watershed in terms of
 Area, slope, shape,
 Drainage density, aspect, relief, land use and soil characteristics
etc.
 Physical properties of watersheds significantly affect the
characteristics of runoff and as such are of great interest in
hydrologic analyses.
 These watershed characteristics are described below in details
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Cont.…
1. Area of the Watershed
 The area of watershed is also known as the drainage area
and it is the most important watershed characteristic for
hydrologic analysis.
 The runoff from watershed is generated after the interaction
of precipitation with the watershed area.
 Watershed area is important parameters in hydrological
model to estimate the volume of runoff.
 The size of the watershed has a direct relationship with the
quantity of precipitation received i.e larger the area more
the precipitation is retained and disposed off.

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Cont.…
Small Watersheds:

 Small watersheds are those, where the overland flow and land phase are

dominant. Channel phase is relatively less conspicuous. The watershed is

highly sensitive to high-intensity and short-duration rainfalls.

Medium Watersheds

 Being medium in size, the workability in these watersheds are easy due to

accessible approach. Rather than size, shape of the watershed plays a dominant

role. Overland flow and land phase are prominent.

Large Watersheds

 These watersheds are less sensitive to high-intensity-rainfalls of short

duration. The channel networks and channel phase are well-developed, and,

thus, channel storage is dominant. 06/24/2024 13

Cont.…
2. Length of Watershed
 Length of watershed is defined as the longest distance between
outlet and any point on the perimeter.

 usually measured to compute the time dependent parameters of

watershed such as time of concentration (time taken to reach the
runoff generated from remotest point of watershed to outlet).

 Time dependent parameters of watershed are useful in determining

time for peak flow required to establish the hydrograph of the
watershed. 06/24/2024 14
Cont.…
 The watershed length is therefore measured along the
principal flow path from the watershed perimeter to the
outlet.
 Since the channel does not start from the watershed
boundary,
 it is determined
Example by extending
2.1. : Main the main
channel passes channel
through toA,the
points
boundary andJ.then
B, D, E and Themeasuring the length
length of AB of the
is 1.8 km, BDchannel.
is 1.3 km,
DE is 1.7 km and EJ is 1.8 km. The remotest point of the
watershed is K which is 0.8 km far from the start of main
channel, i.e., point J. What will be the watershed length
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Cont.…

Solution
Length of main channel=
= AB+BD +DE+EJ
=1.8+1.3+1.7+1.8 =6.6
The distance between the start of main channel and
remotest point JK= 0.8
Hence total length of watershed
=6.6+0.8= 7.4 06/24/2024 16
Cont.…
3. Slope of Watershed

It reflects the rate of change of elevation with respect to distance along the
principal flow path.

It is usually calculated as the elevation difference between the highest and

lowest elevation of the point of the watershed divided by watershed length.

 Watershed slope affects time of concentration, as well as time to peak.

 watershed/basin slope affects the momentum of runoff.

 Basin slope has a profound effect on the velocity of overland flow,
watershed erosion potential, and local wind systems.
 Basin slope S is defined as S = h/L
 where h = fall in meters, and L = horizontal distance (length) over which the fall
occurs.
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Cont.…
 Example 2.2: In continuation of example 1: K, A and J is having elevations
of578m, 316 m, 532 m respectively. Calculate the watershed slope, channel
slope and overland slope?
 Watershed slope = elevation difference between point K and A divided by watershed length

=(578-316)/7.4 = 262/7.4 = 35.4 m per km = 3.54%

 Channel slope = elevation difference between point J and A divided by channel
length i.e.
=(532-316)/6.6 = 216/6.6 = 32.73 m per km = 3.27%

 Overland slope = elevation difference between point K and J divided by length of overland
flow

=(578-532)/0.8 = 57.5 m per km = 5.75%

 In this case overland slope is higher than channel slope, hence on field soil
conservation activities such as trenching and bunding etc. should be
prioritize over drop structures etc. 06/24/2024 18
Cont.…
4. Shape of Watershed
 Watersheds have an infinite variety of shapes, and the shape
supposedly reflects the way that runoff will accumulated at
the outlet.
 A circular watershed would result in runoff from various
parts of the watershed reaching the outlet at the same
time.
 An elliptical watershed having the outlet at one end of the
major axis and having the same area as the circular
watershed would cause the runoff to be spread out over
time, 06/24/2024 19
Cont.…

 A number of watershed parameters have been

developed to reflect basin shape.
 Form factor,
 shape factor,
 circularity ratio,
 elongation ratio, and
 compactness coefficient are the typical
parameters; important in defining the shape
of a watershed/basin;

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Cont.…
5. Stream Order
 The order of stream is hierarchical arrangement of different
streams in the watershed.
 The first order streams are the originating streams and mostly in
the forms of G1 or G2 type gullies.
 On confluence of two first order streams, downstream is called
second order stream.
 If second order stream is confluences with first order stream, the
stream still is second order.
 However, if two second order streams confluences, then 3 order
stream comes in existence.
 The general rule is that when two same order stream confluences,
next order stream comes into existence.
 Most of the watersheds are having 3rd order streams. However,
the big catchment, the stream order may
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be of 5 th
and higher. 21
Cont.…

Fig Strahler stream ordering

method

Fig: 2.2. Stream order of

watershed
The Stream Order tool has two methods you can use to assign orders. These are
the methods proposed by Strahler (1957) and Shreve (1966).
In the Strahler method,
 All links without any tributaries are assigned an order of 1 and are
referred to as first order.
 The stream order increases when streams of the same order intersect.
 Therefore, the intersection of two first-order links will create a second-
order link, the intersection of two second-order links will create a third-
order link, and e.t.c.
 The intersection of two links of different orders, however, will not
result in an increase in order.
 For example, the intersection of a first-order
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and second-order link will 22
Cont.…

 However, because this method only increases in order at intersections of the same order, it does
not account for all links and can be sensitive to the addition or removal of links
Shreve method
 The Shreve method accounts for all links in the network.
 As with the Strahler method, all exterior links are assigned an order of 1.
 For all interior links in the Shreve method, however, the orders are additive.
 For example, the intersection of two first-order links creates a second-order
link,
 the intersection of a first-order and second-order link creates a third-order
link, and
 the intersection of a second-order and third-order link creates a fifth-order
link.
 Because the orders are additive, the numbers from the Shreve method are
Shreve stream ordering
sometimes referred to as magnitudes
method
instead of orders.
 The magnitude of a link in the Shreve method is the number of upstream
links.

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Biological and social ….
 Healthy watersheds provide a wide range of ecosystem services,
such as
 Water efficiency,
 Pollutant filtration,
 Increased biodiversity,
 Soil erosion control,
 Sediment retention,
 Climate regulation, and
 Recreational opportunities
 However, human activities within a watershed can alter the
watershed characteristics, including its
 Land cover
 Geomorphology and
 Soil properties, which can cause changes to the hydrological cycle in
watersheds and stream quality degradation
 In addition, recent extreme weather events (e.g., flooding, droughts,
and heat waves), as a result of global
06/24/2024warming, have led to 24
Cont.…
 Reducing adverse anthropogenic effects in watersheds
and stream ecosystems at various spatiotemporal scales
has become increasingly important for sustaining the
integrity of stream ecosystems and enhancing their
resilience

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