Chapter 4

Stream flow
 STREAM FLOW
Water stage
Manual gages
Recording gage
Crest-stage gages
Miscellaneous stage gages
Selection of station site
Discharge
current meter
current meter measurement
stage discharge relations
extension of rating curve
effect of Ice on streamflow
 Other method of obtaining streamflow Data
Planning a streamflow network
Interpretation of streamflow Data
water years
hydrographs
mean daily flows
adjustment of streamflow Data
mean annual runoff
streamflow variations
problem
 water stage

• Manual gauge

River stage is the elevation above some arbitrary zero datum of water surface at a
station. The datum is some times taken as mean see level but more often
is slightly below the point of zero floe in the stream.
the simplest way to measure river stage is by mean of a staff gauge. a scale set so that a portion
of
it is immersed in the water at all times.
 Water stage

• Recording gauge
Recording gauge records continuous stage of a river over time. Two
common types of automatic gauges are float gauge and bubble gauge.
In float gauge a float is connected to one end of a wire which passes
through a recorder, and the other end of a
rope is balanced by a suitable
counterweight. Displacement of float due to rising or lowering of water
level causes an angular displacement of
pulley and hence of the input shaft of the
recorder. Mechanical linkages convert this angular displacement
to the linear displacement of a pen to record over a drum
driven by clockwork. The float gauge is protected by
installing a stilling well.
 Water stage

Bubble gauge consists of small tube placed at the lowest water level
through which compressed air (usually CO2 or N2 gas) is continuously bubbled
out. The pressure required to continuously push the gas stream out beneath the
water surface is a measure of depth of water over the nozzle of the bubble
stream. This pressure is measured by a manometer in the recorder house.
• CREST-STAGE GAUGE
• Typical gages consist of a 2-inch galvanized pipe containing a wood staff
held in a fixed position with relation to a datum reference. The bottom cap has
six intake holes positioned to minimize no hydrostatic drawdown or super
elevation inside the pipe. Tests have concluded this arrangement of intake
holes to be effective with velocities up to 10 ft./sec and at angels no greater
than 30 degrees. The bottom cap contains granulated cork. As the water rises
inside the pipe, the cork floats on the water surface When the water begins to
recede, the cork adheres to the staff inside the pipe, thereby retaining the
crest stage of the flood
water stage

(a) crest stage gauge (b)

 Water stage

• Miscellaneous stage gauges

water or mercury filled manometer can be used to indicate reservoir
water level or to actuate recording device. Remote recorders in which a
system of selsyn motor is used to transmit water level information from
streamside to a recorder at a distance are available, as are numerous remote
transmitting telephonic or radio gauges.
• Selection of station site
the general location of the gaging station will be on a reach of a
stream channel between the dam and the first confluence of a stream of
significant size.
 Water stage

• The stream course is straight for about 300

feet upstream and downstream of the gage
site.
• At all stages, the total flow is confined to a
single channel. There is also no subsurface or
groundwater flow that bypasses the site.
• The banks of the stream channel are
permanent. The are free of brush and high
enough to contain floods.
• More accurate determination of velocity can be obtained by using
a current meter. The two main types are illustrated in Figure 21.
The conical cup type revolves about a vertical axis, and the
propeller type about a horizontal axis. In each case the speed of
revolution is proportional to the velocity, and the number of
revolutions in a given time is counted, either on a digital counter
or as clicks heard in earphones worn by an operator. In shallow
streams small current meters will be mounted on rods and held by
wading operators (Plate 23). When measurements of floodflows
are to be measured on big rivers, the readings are taken either
from a bridge, or an overhead cableway is installed well above
maximum flood level, and the current meter is lowered on cables
into the river with weights to hold it against the riverflow.
 Current Meter
• A current meter measures the velocity at a single point, and
several measurements are required to calculate the total flow. The
procedure is to measure and plot on graph paper the cross-section
of the stream and to imagine that it is divided into strips of equal
width as shown in Figure 22. The average velocity for each strip is
estimated from the mean of the velocity measured at 0.2 and 0.8
of the depth in that strip. This velocity, times the area of the strip,
gives the flow for the strip and the total flow is the sum of the
strips. Table 2 shows how the calculations will be done for data
shown in Figure 22. In practice, more strips would be used than
the number shown in Figure 22 and Table 2. For shallow water a
single reading is taken at 0.6 of the depth instead of averaging the
readings at 0.2 and 0.8 of the depth.
 RATING A GAUGING STATION
• If a measurement of the flow is made by the current-meter method on
different occasions when the river is flowing at different depths, these
measurements can be used to draw a graph of amount of flow against
depth of flow as shown in Figure 23. The depth of flow of a stream or river
is called stage, and when a curve has been obtained for discharge against
stage, the gauging station is described as being rated. Subsequent
estimates of flow can be obtained by measuring the stage at a permanent
gauging post, and reading off the flow from the rating curve. If the cross-
section of the stream changes through erosion or deposition, a new rating
curve has to be drawn up. To plot the rating curve, it is necessary to take
measurements at many different stages of flow, including infrequently
occurring flood flows. Clearly this can take a long time, particularly if
access to the site is difficult, so it is preferable to use some type of weir or
flume which does not need to be individually calibrated, and these are
discussed in later sections
• EMPIRICAL FORMULAS FOR ESTIMATING VELOCITY
• The velocity of water flowing in a stream or open channel is affected by a
number of factors.
• · Gradient or slope. All other factors being equal, velocity of flow increases
when the gradient is steeper.
• · Roughness. The contact between the water and the streambank causes a
frictional resistance which depends on the smoothness or roughness of the
channel. In natural streams the amount of vegetation affects the roughness, and
also any unevenness which causes turbulence.
• · Shape. Channels can have the same cross-sectional area, gradient and
roughness, but still have different velocities of flow according to their shape.
The reason is that water close to the sides and bottom of a stream channel is
slowed by the friction effect, so a channel shape which provides least area of
contact with the water will have least frictional resistance and so a greater
velocity. The parameter used to measure this effect of shape is called
the hydraulic radius of the channel. It is defined as the cross-sectional area
divided by the wetted perimeter, which is the length of the bed and sides of the
channel which are in contact with the water. Hydraulic radius thus has units of
length, and it may be represented by either M or R. It is also sometimes called
hydraulic mean radius or hydraulic mean depth. Figure 24 shows how channels
can have the same cross-sectional area but a different hydraulic radius. If all
other factors are constant, then the lower the value of R, the lower will be the
• All these variables which affect velocity of flow have been brought
together in a very useful empirical equation called the Manning
formula, which is:

• where:
• V is the average velocity of flow in metres per second
• R is the hydraulic radius in metres (the letter M is also used to
denote hydraulic radius, standing for Mean Hydraulic Depth)
• S is the average gradient of the channel in metres per metre (the
letter i is also used to denote gradient)
• n is a coefficient, known as Manning's n, or Manning's roughness
coefficient. Some values for channel flow are listed in Table
• V-notch weirs are portable and simple to install in either
temporary or permanent positions. The V shape means that
they are more sensitive at low flows, but the width increases to
accommodate larger flows. The angle of the notch is most
commonly 90°, but calibration charts are available for other
angles, 60°, 30° and 15°, if more sensitivity is required.
Discharge values through small 90° V-notch weirs are given in
Table 4.
• For larger flows the rectangular weir is more suitable because
the width can be chosen so that it can pass the expected flow at
a suitable depth. Table 5 gives the discharge per metre of crest
length and so can be applied to rectangular weirs of any size.
 Stream Flow
• Water Stage
– Manual Guages
– Recording Guages
– Crest Stage Guages
– Miscellaneous Stage Guages
– Selection of Station site
• Discharge
– Current meter
– Stage discharge relationship
– Rating curves
– Other methods of obtaining Stream flow data
• Interpretation of Stream flow
– Water years
– Hydrographs
– Mean daily flows
– Mean annual runoff
– Stream flow variations
– problems
 INTRODUCTION

• Rainfall has an effect on stream flow and

hydraulics tends to measure the
relationship between rainfall and stream
flow.

• The aim of measuring stream flow is

mainly in establishing a stage discharge
relationship.
 Water Stage
• River stage is an important concept when
analyzing how much water is moving in a
stream at any given [Link] is
the water level above some arbitrary point,
usually with the zero height being near the
river bed, in the river and is commonly
measured in feet
 Sounding
• the action of measuring the depth of a body of
water
 Stage
• In hydrology, stage refers to the water level in a river
or stream with respect to a chosen reference height.
Stage is important because direct measurements of
river discharge are very difficult while water surface
elevation measurements are comparatively easy. In
order to convert stage into discharge, scientists can
use a combination of tracer studies, observations of
high water marks, numerical modeling, and/or
satellite or aerial photography. The relationship
between stage and discharge is called a rating curve
 Stage measuring devices
• Recording
– Float connected to pin and a chart (motion of the
float moves the pin over the chart. Motion of
chart controlled by a clock
• Non recording guages
– Vertical staff guage
– Inclined staff guages
– Sectional staff guages
– Wire weight guages
 STAGE-DISCHARGE RELATIONSHIP
• 5.2 STAGE MEASUREMENTS
• Stage measurements are mainly made with
gauges.
• 5.2.1 Manual Gauges
• a) Sectioned Staff Gauges: A series of posts
each overlapping.
• The height above a certain datum is measured.
• The stage is usually related to height above
mean sea level(msl)
 Stage Measurements Contd.

• A certain datum level is on the bridge and

a string having a weight electrically
connected is lowered to the water surface
to get the depth of water surface.
• Stage measurement can be inaccurate if
there is scouring.
 Rules Guiding Location of Gauges

• a) Gauges should not be located in rivers

with scouring characteristics.
• b) The locations should stir clear of river
bends because the water surface is inclined
and there is turbulence making the stage
measurement inconsistent.
• c) The upstream of a natural control eg. a
rapid should be used, not downstream.
Calm area

Rapid
 Rules Guiding Location of Gauges Contd.

d) A uniform channel helps good stage

measurement. Irregular cross sections
should be avoided.

O.K. Avoid this irregular section

 Recording Gauges

• They have advantages over the manual

ones.
• a) Float Gauge: Float movement
fluctuates with change in stage and this is
recorded by a chart. In hydrologic
measurements, both the big and low flows
are measured within the chart.
 Float Gauge

Chart

Float
 b) Digital Recorders
• They have clocks and used when for
example hourly measurements are
desired usually where stages do not
increase and decrease steeply.
• The recorder should be placed at a
height more than the expected peak
stage.
• To know the maximum stage expected,
an ordinary gauge can be used for
some time.
 c) Crest Gauges
• They only measure peak flows.
• It is a cylindrical tube sealed below with
only a few holes to allow the water to
enter the tube.
• A ground cork fixed in the tube floats up
and is held by surface tension when
stage increases.
• It stays at maximum stage until the
reading is taken and let loose.
Crest Gauge
 DISCHARGE MEASUREMENTS

Current Meter: It has a propeller

which is rotated when water hits it
and is connected to magnets which
actuates recorders when the propeller
rotates.
The velocity of water increases the
propeller rotation.
Current Meter
 Current Meter Contd.

The number of rotations are measured

and correlated to velocity using the
formula:
• V = a + bN where N is the rotation of
the propeller (revs per sec)
• a and b are coefficients determined by
calibration in an experimental flume.
 Current Meter Contd.

Surface Velocity
Velocity

b 0.6 D
1 D
Average Vel

Propeller Rotation, N
 Current Meter Measurements Contd.

• Considering the velocity profile with depth,

average value of velocity can be obtained at 0.6
of the depth. i.e. V = average velocity is at
about 0.6 D.
• An alternative of using the 0.6 D velocity is to
take 0.2 and 0.8 velocities and obtain the
averages.
• The latter method is more accurate but in a
shallow cross-section, the velocity at 0.2 D may
be difficult to measure so use a single value at
0.6 D.
Determination of Discharges

V 0.2D

V0.8D

Average Discharge = V x area of Segment

 Measurement of Discharges Contd.

• First divide the cross-section of the stream into

vertical sections such that no section carries
more than 10 % of the total flow.
• Take soundings to determine various depths.
The sections are of a known width and so the
discharge can be calculated if the velocities are
taken along the 0.2 D and 0.8 D OR 0.6 D
alone.
 Discharge Measurements Contd.

• Flow in one segment, q = Average

velocity(V) x Area of segment.
• Area of each segment can be calculated
using the trapezoidal formula.
• Total discharge, Q is equal to:
(average velocity x area of segments)
 Discharge Measurements Using Floats

• Any floatable substance eg. a tennis ball is

placed at a point and the time(t) it takes it to
move a known distance is noted.
• d/t gives the average surface velocity of the
water.
• The surface velocity(Vs) is equal to 1.2(average
Velocity, V) ie. Vs = 1.2V and V = 0.8 Vs.
• The cross-sectional area of flow is then
multiplied by the average velocity to get the flow
rate.
 STAGE-DISCHARGE RELATIONS

• Simultaneous measurements of stage and

discharge provide a calibration graph known as
stage-discharge relations or rating curve.
• Stage: Height of stream level measured from
an arbitrary datum.
• Depth: Measured from the bottom of the
channel.
• The datum can also be the mean sea level. A
plot of stage Vs discharge is made to obtain a
rating curve.
 Rating Curve Contd.

• The essence of the rating curve is that when the

curve is established for a particular stream,
subsequent determinations of discharges are
merely obtained by dipping a measuring stick to
measure the stage.
• Discharge is then read from the rating curve.
• The rating curve should be checked from time
to time for accurate measurements.
 Rating Curve Concluded

Stage
depth
Rating Curve
stage

Datum
Discharge