University of Gondar

Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

River Basin Development

By Alemu Tezera

1
University of Gondar
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

Ch-2: River Basin systems

 Geomorphological spatial scales and temporal scales

 Morphodynamic processes
 Hydrological modelling

River Basin Development By Alemu Tezera 2

University of Gondar
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

 Geomorphological spatial scales and temporal scales

Definition of spatial scales

 Basin scale (large parts of the river basin or entire system, drainage system)
Reach scale (planform of the river reach)
Corridor scale (flood cross-section:meanders)
Cross-sectional scale (main channel crosssection: pools and point bars)
Depth scale (water depth: dunes, antidunes)
Process scale (sediment grains: ripples)

River Basin Development By Alemu Tezera 3

University of Gondar
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

Other definitions of spatial scales that can be found in literature

Mega scale:
Reach scale
Basin scale
Macro scale:
Corridor scale (flood scale)
Cross-sectional scale
Meso scale: Depth scale (local scale)
Micro scale: Process scale

River Basin Development By Alemu Tezera 4

University of Gondar
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

From Summerfield, 1991

River Basin Development By Alemu Tezera 5
University of Gondar
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

Reach scale: a selected river reach with uniform characteristics: sinuosity, slope,
width…

River Basin Development By Alemu Tezera 6

University of Gondar
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

River corridor scale: single meanders

River Basin Development By Alemu Tezera 7

University of Gondar
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

River corridor scale: floodplain width

MISSOURI RIVER

River Basin Development By Alemu Tezera 8

University of Gondar
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

Cross-sectional scale: bars and pools

Meandering river
 Low flow strength
 Low sediment supply
 Fine sediment
 Low bank erodibility
 Dense riparian vegetation
 Low frequency of intense floods

River Basin Development By Alemu Tezera 9

University of Gondar
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

Cross-sectional scale: multiple bars

Braiding river
 High flow strength
 High sediment supply
 Coarse sediment
 High bank erodibility
 Scarce riparian vegetaion
 High frequency of intense floods

River Basin Development By Alemu Tezera 10

University of Gondar
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

Depth scale: dunes

Depth scale: Local scour

River Basin Development By Alemu Tezera 11

University of Gondar
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

Process scale: sediment grains & plants

River Basin Development By Alemu Tezera 12

University of Gondar
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

Temporal scales
Short-term variations: waves
Daily variation: tide, water input from rainfall
Seasonal variations: high and low flow stages
Periodical variations: el niño
Long-term: climatic change, sea level rise

River Basin Development By Alemu Tezera 13

University of Gondar
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

Depend on the amounts of sediment to be moved to produce the changes and on the flow
strength
Example assuming the same discharge:
Ripple forming: fast (minutes)
Dune forming: rather fast (days)
Point bar forming: medium (months to years)
Pool forming: medium (months to years)
Planimetric changes: slow (tens of years)
Valley formation: very slow (hundred of years)

River Basin Development By Alemu Tezera 14

University of Gondar
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

From Brierley & Fryiers, 2005

River Basin Development By Alemu Tezera 15

University of Gondar
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

When you are interested in a morphological phenomenon at a given spatial

scale:
A phenomena occurring at a much smaller scales appear as noise, but they
might have some net residual effects that contribute to the study area.
However, a phenomena occurring at much larger scales appear as boundary
conditions.

River Basin Development By Alemu Tezera 16

University of Gondar
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

A process is series of actions, changes, or functions bringing about a result.

A process is an action, not the cause of the phenomena.

In morphodynamics, we call processes the underlying mechanisms: sediment

entrainment, deposition, bank failure and etc.

Morphological phenomena are the results of the processes at different spatial

and temporal scales.

River Basin Development By Alemu Tezera 17

University of Gondar
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

Some of morphodynamic phenomena at spatial scales:

Basin scale (sediment yield, discharge generation)
Reach scale (riverbed aggradation and degradation, planform formation and
river slope changes)
River corridor scale (floodplain rise, regular flooding, bend growth and
channel migration)
Cross-sectional scale (bar forming, pool forming, river widening or
narrowing)
Depth scale (bank erosion, scour forming, dune and anti-dune forming)
Process-scale (ripple forming)

River Basin Development By Alemu Tezera 18

University of Gondar
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

River Basin Development By Alemu Tezera 19

University of Gondar
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

Sediment Sampling & Analysis

For river engineering:

 To estimate actual river behavior
 To select the appropriate river works type and design properly river works
 To predict future river behavior
River Basin Development By Alemu Tezera 20
University of Gondar
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

For Irrigation:
 To design stable channels
 To design sediment traps
For River Restoration:
 To understand present and past river conditions
 To model future effects of restoration
 To select proper restoration design
For RB Management:
 To understand where the sediment come from
 To put in place the best soil conservation practice

River Basin Development By Alemu Tezera 21

University of Gondar
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

River Basin Development By Alemu Tezera 22

University of Gondar
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

Hydrological modelling
A model is a simplified, schematic representations of the real world, a representations that
retains enough aspects of the original system to make it useful to the modeller.
(Chapra&Canale,2006)
“It is a system which will convert a given input (geometry, boundary conditions, force, etc.)
into an output (flow rates, levels, pressures, etc.) to be used in civil engineering design and
operation" (Novak);
“Model is a simplified representation of a natural system“ (Resfgaard);
In general, models are mathematical representations of physical phenomena in forms of
equations.
It is not reasonable to expect that a "simplified representation" converts input into exact
output.
Errors are inevitable.

River Basin Development By Alemu Tezera 23

University of Gondar
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

All models are an approximation to reality, i.e. the models try to reflect as much as possible
behaviors of the real-world, but an imperfect representation is always expected. A model is
a simplified representation of the natural complex system.

Surface water mathematical models have been increasingly applied to water management.
Several numerical model types are available in order to simulate different systems and
emission sources [Chapra, 1997]. Those models vary from empirical models, simplified
models and detailed physically-based models.

River Basin Development By Alemu Tezera 24

University of Gondar
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

Why do we need a model?

conceptualization of the real physical systems and processes;
 Physical system
Real but non-ideal
 Exact mathematical model
Ideal but partly unknown
 Practical mathematical model
Approximate but must be adequate
understanding of the underlying physical processes;
simulation and forecasting;
prediction of natural disasters;
analysis of the human impacts on the natural and artificial systems;
River Basin Development By Alemu Tezera 25
University of Gondar
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

When you should not use a model?

If you do not understand the problem or system well enough to express it in a concise,
quantitative terms;
If the model has not been tested and verified for situations and conditions similar to your
specific problem.

It is important to understand the model and its:

 Structure
 Assumptions
 Limitations

River Basin Development By Alemu Tezera 26

University of Gondar
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

Models - How ?
Important first steps
– Define the question or problem to be addressed with the model.
– Determine appropriate spatial and temporal scales.
– Identify important system/ecosystem components and processes that must be considered
to answer the questions.
Some specific questions to ask
– On a temporal scale
Are the steady-state conditions adequate or we need to predict changes over time?
If time is important, do we need to look at
 Short-term changes (e.g., daily, seasonal) or
 Long-term changes (e.g., trends over years)?
River Basin Development By Alemu Tezera 27
University of Gondar
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

On a spatial scale
Is our question best addressed
 On a regional scale (e.g., comparing streams in a region) or
 By modeling specific processes.

Models are commonly classified into three types based on their reflections of reality.

River Basin Development By Alemu Tezera 28

University of Gondar
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

Detailed physically-based models: Ideally, the model is constructed based on the physical
processes. This type of models is called a white-box model since the linking between model
input and output is transparently described by a large number of mathematical equations
representing the physical processes. It is expected that most model parameters of the white-
box model can be measured. An example for this type is detailed hydrodynamic models.

Conceptual models: When a macroscopic description of the processes is used, the model
becomes a grey-box model because the physical processes are less transparently described.
In such models, the physical processes are represented as they are observed and an
abstraction is made over several microscopic processes of observations so that they are
lumped together in a few processes. Because of this, model parameters in the conceptual
models require calibration. Model parameters of this type cannot often be directly measured
but require estimation. Thus, a physical interpretation is extremely important to calibrate the
model parameters in a physically-based way.

River Basin Development By Alemu Tezera 29

University of Gondar
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

Empirical models: this type of model does not have an internal description. It is also called
a black-box model. A black-box model does not reflect any specific physical structure of a
system. It is built and calibrated according to measurements for model input and output.
The empirical model may be conditional on the period used for calibration. A serious
drawback of black-box models is that it is difficult to provide a physical interpretation of
estimated parameters. Representative for this type are regression models (generalized linear
models) and transfer function models.

River Basin Development By Alemu Tezera 30

University of Gondar
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

River Basin Development By Alemu Tezera 31

University of Gondar
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

Modelling procedure (step-by-step)

Define the hydrodynamic model
Collect data
 Set up the model
Calibrate and verify the model
Run the simulations
Present and analyze the results

River Basin Development By Alemu Tezera 32

University of Gondar
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

TopoDrive
This two-dimensional model is designed to simulate two ground-water process. To simulate
topography-driven flow, the user may specify the shape of the water table, which bounds
the top of the vertical flow section.

A topography-driven flow system is one in which ground water flows from higher-elevation
recharge areas, where hydraulic head is higher, to lower-elevation discharge areas, where
hydraulic head is lower. This type of flow system is commonly encountered in ground-
water basins.

The main factors that control ground-water flow are basin geometry, shape of the water
table, and the distribution of hydraulic properties.

River Basin Development By Alemu Tezera 33

University of Gondar
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

TopoDrive is not intended to be comprehensive modeling tools, but is designed for

modeling at the exploratory or conceptual level, for visual demonstration, and for
educational purposes.
Assumption
The flow is under steady state.

For a two-dimensional vertical section, the boundaries of the flow domain (fig. 1) are as
follows :
 The top boundary (AB) is the water table, which is assumed to lie close to land surface.
 The two vertical boundaries (BC and AD) and the bottom boundary (DC) are no flow
boundaries.

River Basin Development By Alemu Tezera 34

University of Gondar
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

The no-flow boundaries might represent ground-water flow divides or low-permeability

bedrock that bounds the basin. Note that by specifying the position of the water table, it is
assumed that the pattern of recharge and discharge is such that the water table is maintained
at steady state.

Figure 1. Flow domain of a topography-driven flow system

River Basin Development By Alemu Tezera 35

University of Gondar
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

Steady-state flow of ground water in the vertical section (fig. 1) is governed by the
equation.

where h is hydraulic head, and Kxx and Kzz are the principal values of the hydraulic
conductivity tensor.

River Basin Development By Alemu Tezera 36

University of Gondar
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

Instruction for Use

Step 1: Start
This step specifies the length of the flow domain.

The two vertical lines represent the lateral

boundaries (left and right sides), and the
horizontal line represents the base of the flow
domain.

River Basin Development By Alemu Tezera 37

University of Gondar
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

Step 2: Water Table

This step specifies the shape of the water table.

River Basin Development By Alemu Tezera 38

University of Gondar
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

Step 3: Mesh
This step specifies the finite element mesh.

 Enter the number of columns and rows

to discretize the flow domain.
 Start with a relatively coarse mesh
(say, 40 columns and 20 rows) to avoid
long computational time.

River Basin Development By Alemu Tezera 39

University of Gondar
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

Step 4: Properties
This step assigns hydraulic properties (hydraulic conductivity and porosity) to model
elements.

River Basin Development By Alemu Tezera 40

University of Gondar
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

Step 5: Head
This step computes hydraulic head in the model domain.

Select the number of contour intervals to be

drawn. (Contours are equally spaced between
the highest and the lowest head.)

Click "Compute" to start model computation.

When computation is finished, head contours
are displayed.

River Basin Development By Alemu Tezera 41

University of Gondar
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

Step 6a: Flow (Compute Flow Paths)

This step computes ground-water flow paths.

Step 6a: Animation (Flow Path Evolution)

River Basin Development By Alemu Tezera 42

University of Gondar
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

Step 7a: Flow (Particle Transport)

This step sets up the initial position of a cluster of fluid particles.

Enter the initial particle spacing (in meters).

As a general guide, start with a spacing that
is about 1/100 of the model domain length.
(For example, if the model domain length is
1000 meters, then enter a particle spacing of
10 meters.)

Step 7b: Animation (Particle Movement)

River Basin Development By Alemu Tezera 43

University of Gondar
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

Assignment-2
Make an aquifer with a length of 5000 m and a height of 140 m (vertical exaggeration 18).
Draw a water table which varies from 80 m (left side) to 140 m (right side ). The number of
columns and rows should be 40 and 20 respectively.
1. Put the K of the aquifer equal to 10-4 m/s (sand). Draw 20 equipotential lines. How is
the distribution of equipotential lines? Where is the recharge area and discharge area?
2. Change value of K to 10-1 m/s (gravel). How does this influence the equipotential lines
and flow paths?

140m
80m

5000m
River Basin Development By Alemu Tezera 44
University of Gondar
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

3. Draw a zone B as indicated in the figure below. Make K of layer B equal to 10-7m/s
(clay) and K of layer A and C equal to 10-4 m/s (sand). Explain the shape of the
equipotential lines and flow paths.

A
140m
80m B
C

5000m

River Basin Development By Alemu Tezera 45

University of Gondar
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

4. Consider there are contaminated fluid particles on the right side of the aquifer as shown
in the figure. A well is located on the left of the aquifer to supply drinking water. Your task
is (i) to determine whether the contaminant migrates towards the drinking water well or not
for case of sandy aquifer, clay aquifer and gravel aquifer and (ii) if yes, how long it will
take the first particle to reach to the well. (iii) if no, why not?

140m
80m

5000m
River Basin Development By Alemu Tezera 46
University of Gondar
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

Assignment-3
You will be given one assignment on HEC-HMS. You will develop one surface water
hydrological model.

River Basin Development By Alemu Tezera 47

University of Gondar
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

Thank you!

River Basin Development By Alemu Tezera 48