Effective management of water resources, locally, regionally, and globally, is crucial for human welfare, economic
prosperity, and environmental vitality. The professional field of water resources engineering is concerned with
solving problems and meeting needs associated with municipal, industrial, and agricultural water supply and use,
water quality in streams and aquifers, erosion and sedimentation, protection of ecosystems and other natural resources,
recreation, navigation, hydroelectric power generation, stormwater drainage, and flood damage mitigation.
This textbook is designed for a basic course in water resources engineering focusing on fundamental topics of
hydraulics, hydrology, and water management. It is also appropriate for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses
and as a reference for practicing engineers. Water resources engineering concepts and methods are addressed from
the perspective of practical applications in water management and associated environmental and infrastructure management.
The focus is on mathematical modeling and analysis using state-of-the-art computational techniques and computer
software.
The book is based largely on the authors' combined total of more than 40 years experience in teaching the required
undergraduate civil engineering course at Texas A&M University entitled Water Resources Engineering and other
undergraduate and graduate courses that build on this course. The book reflects ideas formulated by the authors
and their colleagues and students for updating and improving these courses. It is designed to provide broad coverage
of pertinent topics with flexibility for adaptation to the spectrum of ways that individual courses and sequences
of undergraduate and graduate courses are organized at various universities.
The first three chapters are introductory overviews of the professional practice of water resources engineering
(Chapter 1), the science of hydrology (Chapter 2), and fundamentals of fluid mechanics (Chapter 3). Chapters through
9 each focus on specific aspects of water resources engineering design and analysis, including pressure conduit
hydraulics, open channel hydraulics, hydraulic and hydrologic routing, frequency analysis, watershed modeling,
and groundwater engineering. In Chapter 10, selected methods from previous chapters are applied to urban stormwater
management. Chapter 11 is an introduction to the application of systems simulation, optimization, and economic
evaluation techniques in water management decision-making. Chapter 12 introduces practices and issues of comprehensive
river basin management.
Chapters 1, 2, and 12 provide a broad qualitative overview of hydrology and water resources management. Chapter
3 reviews basic principles of fluid mechanics. The hydrologic and hydraulic analysis concepts and computational
methods presented in Chapters 4 through 10 are applied in professional practice as components of computer models
that simulate natural and constructed water systems. Chapter 11 integrates economic and systems analysis methods,
along with hydrologic and hydraulic engineering methods, in a broader systems view of water resources planning
and management.
The chapters can be covered in essentially any order, subject to the following considerations. Students using
the text will likely have already completed a course in fluid mechanics and may not need Chapter 3. However, because
hydraulics is built on fluid mechanics, a brief review of basic fluid mechanics concepts is presented in Chapter
3 prior to addressing hydraulics in depth in Chapters 4-6 and 9-10. The basic overview of hydrology presented in
Chapter 2 is prerequisite for Chapter 7, "Hydrologic Frequency Analysis," and Chapter 8, "Modeling
Watershed Hydrology," and also provides an introduction for Chapter 9, "Groundwater Engineering."
Chapter 10, "Urban Stormwater Management," applies methods from all of the hydrology and hydraulics chapters.
Chapter 1 is the only prerequisite chapter for Chapters 11 and 12. Although Chapters 11 and 12 complement each
other, either may be covered without the other.
Sufficient material is provided for multiple courses, particularly if supplemented by the computer models discussed
in the book. The text may be used for courses in hydrology, hydraulics, urban stormwater management, and water
systems planning and management, as well as for a fundamental first course in water resources engineering. A set
of computer programs developed in conjunction with the text enhances understanding and application of computational
methods. Modeling capabilities provided by generalized simulation models developed by federal water agencies and
other entities greatly contribute to water resources engineering practice and play an important role in education.
The authors gratefully acknowledge the contributions of our students and colleagues at Texas A&M University
in shaping our perspectives on the subject matter of this book. We join the publisher in thanking the following
reviewers for their thoughtful comments during the development of the manuscript: Paul C. Chan, New Jersey Institute
of Technology, Robert D. Kersten, University of Central Florida, and Thomas C. Piechota, University of Nevada,
Las Vegas. Mrs. Joyce Hyden typed much of the manuscript, proficiently as always. Finally, we thank our wives,
Keri and Karen, for their enduring patience and support during the project.
RALPH A. WURBS
WESLEY P. .LAMES
Summary
For a basic course in water resources engineering. Also appropriate for more advanced undergraduate and graduate
courses and as a reference for practicing engineers.
Designed to provide a broad coverage of pertinent topics concerning water resource engineering, this text focuses
on fundamental topics of hydraulics, hydrology, and water management. Water resources engineering concepts and
methods are addressed from the perspective of practical applications in water management and associated environmental
and infrastructure management. The focus is on mathematical modeling and analysis using state-of-the-art computational
techniques and computer software. The text is written to easily adapt to the spectrum of ways that individual courses
and sequences of undergraduate and graduate courses are organized at various universities, providing flexibility
for the instructor.
Features
Focus on professional practice.
Prepares students for professional practice in a field with unlimited challenges and opportunities for serving
society.
Comprehensive coverage of fundamental concepts and techniques�Provides the foundation for water resources engineering.
Provides the fundamentals to prepare students for life-long learning.
Focus on modern computer-based modeling and analysis methods.
Illustrates recent advances in computer technology and computational methods that have greatly increased capabilities
for solving water resources engineering problems.
Numerous carefully prepared example and homework problems.
Provides students with ample opportunity to learn the material.
Numerous figures�Illustrate the material.
Provides students with drawings and schematics that greatly aid in comprehending the material.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
Water Resources Engineering Disciplines
Water Management Sectors
The Water Management Community
Computer Models in Water Resources Engineering
Units of Measure
2. Hydrology
Water
Hydroclimatology
Atmospheric Processes
Precipitation
Evaporation and Transpiration
Units of Measure for Depth, Area, Volume, and Volumetric Rates
Watershed Hydrology and Streamflow
Subsurface Water
Erosion and Sedimentation
Water Quality
Climatic, Hydrologic, and Water Quality Data
3. Fluid Mechanics
Units
Properties of Water
Statics
Reynolds Transport Theorem
Dimensional Analysis
Water Flow in Pipes
Open Channel Flow
Groundwater
Hydrologic Routing
Kinematic Routing
Hydraulic Stream Routing
Dam Break Analysis
Overland Flow and Channel Routing
7. Hydrologic Frequency Analysis
Hydrologic Random Variables and Data
Probability Relationships
Binomial Distribution and Risk Formula
Empirical Relative Frequency Relations
Analytical Probability Distributions
Frequency Graphs
Bulletin 17B Flood Frequency Analysis Methodologies
Other Flood Frequency Analysis Methods
Flow-Duration, Concentration-Duration, and Low-Flow Frequency Relationships
Reservoir/River System Reliability
Precipitation Frequency Analysis
8. Modeling Watershed Hydrology
Watershed Hydrology
Watershed Models
Watershed Characteristics
Rational Method for Estimating Peak Flow
Separating Precipitation into Abstractions and Runoff
Unit Hydrograph Approach for Estimating Flow Rates
Erosion and Sediment Yield
Water Quality Modeling
Generalized Watershed Simulation Models
9. Groundwater Engineering
Wells
Flow Net Analysis
Numerical Methods
Groundwater Quality
10. Urban Stormwater Management
Stormwater Collection Systems
On-Site Detention Basins
Regional Detention Facilities
Water Quality
Flood Damage Mitigation
11. Water Resources Systems Analysis
The Systems Philosophy
Economic Benefit-Cost Analysis
Simulation of Flood Damage Reduction Systems
Simulation and Optimization
Linear Programming
12. River Basin Management
Multiobjective, Multipurpose River Basin Development and Management
Major River Basin Management Systems
River Control Structures
Water Rights and Allocation
Water Quality Management
Environmental Management
