1
ECIV-5691 -- Assignment-2 Winter 2025
(Due Date: March 15, 2025)
Question-1: For a rainfall duration of 3 hours, the flood data at a stream gauging station of a
drainage basin (40 km2) are given below. Obtain the 3-hour unit hydrograph for the basin, and (i)
state the peak flow, time to peak and time base of the unit hydrograph that you have obtained.
Time, hrs 2 5 8 11 14 17 20 23 2 5 8 11 14 17 20 23
Flow, m3/s 50 47 75 120 225 290 270 145 110 90 80 70 60 55 51 50
SOLUTION:
Solution:
Surface runoff starts at t=5 hr, assuming linear baseflow: Baseflow=0.0714t + 46.643
Time, hrs 2 5 8 11 14 17 20 23
Flow, m3/s 50 47 75 120 225 290 270 145
Baseflow, m3/s - 47 47.21 47.428 47.6 47.9 48.07 48.29
Runoff Rate (m3/s)
- 0 27.79 72.572 177 242 221.9 96.71
(Flow - Baseflow)
Time, hrs 26 29 32 35 38 41 44 47
Flow, m3/s 110 90 80 70 60 55 51 50
Baseflow, m3/s 48.5 48.71 48.93 49.142 49.4 49.6 49.78 50
Runoff Rate (m3/s)
61.5 41.29 31.07 20.858 10.6 5.43 1.215 0.001≅0
(Flow – Baseflow)
(one may assume base flow = 47 m3/s it is also correct but 50 m3/s is wrong for baseflow since the
sharp increase starts at t = 5 hr)
Time (hrs) 2 5 8 11 14 17 20 23
Runoff (m3/s) - 0 27.79 72.57 177 242 221.9 96.71
Time (hrs) 26 29 32 35 38 41 44 47
Runoff (m3/s) 61.5 41.29 31.07 20.86 10.6 5.43 1.22 0.001
The area under the Direct Runoff Hydrograph (DRH) is:
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ECIV-5691 -- Assignment-2 Winter 2025
Time, hrs 2 5 8 11 14 17 20 23
3-hr UH 0 1.019 2.6602 6.5 8.88 8.135 3.545
Time, hrs 26 29 32 35 38 41 44 47
3-hr UH 2.25 1.513 1.139 0.7646 0.39 0.2 0.045 0
300
250
200
Q (m3/s)
150
Runoff
100 3-hr UH
50
0
0 10 20 30 40 50
Time (hr)
Question -2: A 6-hr UH of an area of watershed equal to 393 square km.
Time (hr.) 0 6 12 18 24 30 36 42
6.0 hr-UH(m3/s) 0 1.8 30.9 85.6 41.8 14.6 5.5 1.8
For a rainstorm over the watershed having excess rainfall of 5 cm for the first six hours and 15 cm
for the second six hours, compute the streamflow hydrograph based on the assumption that there
is a constant baseflow of 100 m3/s.
SOLUTION:
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ECIV-5691 -- Assignment-2 Winter 2025
Time (hrs) 0 6 12 18 24 30 36 42 48 54
6.0 hr-UH(m3/s) 0 1.8 30.9 85.6 41.8 14.6 5.5 1.8 0
Shifted 6-hr UH 0 1.8 30.9 85.6 41.8 14.6 5.5 1.8 0
Q1=P1*6hr-UH 0 9 154.5 428 209 73 27.5 9
Q2 = P2*6hr-UH 0 27 463.5 1284 627 219 82.5 27 0
Q = Q1+ Q2 0 9 181.5 891.5 1493 700 246.5 91.5 27 0
Baseflow + Q 100 109 281.5 991.5 1593 800 346.5 191.5 127 100
1600
Q1
1400
Q2
1200 Q=Q1+Q2
Runoff (m3/s)
1000
800
600
400
200
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Time (hr)
Another more compact solution:
Question-3: The stream flows due to three successive storms of 2.9, 4.9 and 3.9 cm of 6 hours
each on a basin are given below. The area of the basin is 118.8 km2. Assuming a constant base
flow of 20 m3/s, obtain a 6-hour unit hydrograph for the basin. Assume an average storm loss of
0.15 cm/hr.
Time (hr) 0 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 30 33
Flow Rate (m3/s) 20 50 92 140 199 202 204 144 84.5 45.5 29 20
SOLUTION:
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ECIV-5691 -- Assignment-2 Winter 2025
Let the 6-hour unit hydrograph ordinates be u0, u1, u2, u3, u4, ...., u7 at 0, 3, 6, 12, ....,21 hours,
respectively. The direct runoff ordinates due to the three successive storms (of 6 hours duration
each) are obtained by deducting the base flow of 20 m3/s from the streamflows at the corresponding
time intervals as shown in the table. The net storm rains are obtained by deducting the average
storm loss as
0-6 hr: ➔ x = 2.9 – 0.15 × 6 = 2 cm
6-12 hr: ➔ y = 4.9 – 0.15 × 6 = 4 cm
12-18 hr: ➔ z = 3.9 – 0.15 × 6 = 3 cm
Question-4: If the rainfall excess consists of two bursts of 3.3 in./hr and 1.8 in./hr, each for 20
minutes, and the 20-minute UH (1”) has ordinates of 15, 40, 25, and 10 ft 3/s with a time interval
of 20 minutes, (i) compute the distribution of direct runoff, (ii) Construct 40-minute UH (1”) (using
lagging method), and a 10-minute UH (1”) (using S-curve method).
SOLUTION:
Rainfall Depth= intensity × ∆𝑡
20 20
P1=3.3× (60) =1.1 in. and P2=1.8× 60 =0.6 in.
Time 20 min-UH Q1=P1* Q2=P2*UH shifted ti the
Q=Q1+Q2
(min) ordinates (cfs) UH starting point of P2
0 0 0 0
20 15 16.5 0 16.5
40 40 44 9 53
60 25 27.5 24 51.5
80 10 11 15 26
100 0 0 6 6
0 0
60
Q1
Q2
40
Q (cfs)
Q=Q1+Q2
20
0
0 20 40 60 (min)
Time 80 100 120 140
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ECIV-5691 -- Assignment-2 Winter 2025
(ii)
Time 20 min-UH 1st lagged 20 min- 40 min-UH
Sum
(min) ordinates (cfs) UH ordinates (cfs) ordinates (cfs)
0 0 - 0 0
20 15 0 15 7.5
40 40 15 55 27.5
60 25 40 65 32.5
80 10 25 35 17.5
100 0 10 10 5
120 0 0 0
1
12 90×20 𝑚𝑖𝑛
𝑄𝑒 = 𝐼𝑒 × 𝐴 = × 1 = 90 𝑐𝑓𝑠
20 𝑚𝑖𝑛
12
1st lagged 2nd lagged
3rd lagged Shifted 10 min-UH
Time 20 min-UH 20 min-UH 20 min-UH S-
20 min-UH S- Difference ordinates
(min) ordinates (cfs) ordinates ordinates curve
ordinates (cfs) curve (cfs)
(cfs) (cfs)
0 0 0 0 0
10 7.5 7.5 0 7.5 15
20 15 0 15 7.5 7.5 15
30 27.5 7.5 35 15 20 40
40 40 15 0 55 35 20 40
50 32.5 27.5 7.5 67.5 55 12.5 25
60 25 40 15 0 80 67.5 12.5 25
70 17.5 32.5 27.5 7.5 85 80 5 10
80 10 25 40 15 90 85 0 0
90 5 17.5 32.5 27.5 82.5 90
100 0 10 25 40 75 90
110 5 17.5 32.5 55
120 0 10 25 35
5 17.5 22.5
0 10 10
5 5
0 0
10 min-UH (1 in)
50
40
Q (cfs)
30
20
10
0
0 20 40 60 80 100
Time (min)
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ECIV-5691 -- Assignment-2 Winter 2025
Question-5: The one-hour UH (1”) of a watershed is given below. Obtain the runoff hydrograph
from this watershed for the storm pattern given below in the Table. The abstractions have a
constant rate of 0.3”/hr. What is the area of this watershed?
Time (hrs) 1 2 3 4 5 6
Precipitation (in) 0.5 1.0 1.5 0.5
UH(ft3/s) 10 100 200 150 100 50
SOLUTION:
Time (hrs) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Precipitation (in) 0.5 1 1.5 0.5
Excess Rain (in) 0.2 0.7 1.2 0.2
UH(ft3/s) 10 100 200 150 100 50
Q1=P1*UH 2 20 40 30 20 10 - - -
Q2=P2*UH - 7 70 140 105 70 35 - -
Q3=P3*UH - - 12 120 240 180 120 60 -
Q4=P4*UH - - - 2 20 40 30 20 10
Q=Q1+Q2+Q3+Q4
2 27 122 292 385 300 185 80 10
(ft3/s)
= 604.96 acres = 0.95 square mile
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ECIV-5691 -- Assignment-2 Winter 2025
Question-6: Using the same UH as in problem # 5, obtain the direct runoff hydrograph for a 2-
hour rainfall storm with 1.0-inch excess rainfall during the first hour and 2.0 inches during the
second hour. What is the watershed area?
SOLUTION: Excess rain depth for the first hour and second hours respectively are 1” and 2”.
Thus, the resulting runoff hydrograph is obtained as follows.
NOTE:
In this case
Time (hrs) 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
watershed area
1hr-UH (ft3/s) 0 10 100 200 150 100 50 0
will remain same
Q1=P1*1hr-UH 0 10 100 200 150 100 50 0
Q2=P2*1hr-UH - 0 20 200 400 300 200 100 0
i.e., 604.96 acres
Q=Q1+Q2 0 10 120 400 450 400 250 100 0
or 0.95 square
mile.
Question-7: A watershed has a drainage area of 450 square km and a three-hour UH (1.0 cm) peak
discharge of 150 cubic meters. For English units, what is the peak discharge of the three-hour UH
(1.0 inch) in cubic ft3/s?
SOLUTION:
The only change is the amount of net rain causing the 3-hr UH(1cm) to 3-hr UH (1”), therefore
peak flow will increase by the linear unit difference i.e., 1= 2.54 cm and Hence peak flow will be
150 x2.54=381 m3/s (381*35.31=13454.89 ft3/s)
NOTE: You are encouraged to practice similar problems to enhance your
learning experience.