Unit 2. Urban Hydrology

Manoj K. Jha, North Carolina A&T State University (mkjha@ncat.edu)

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Initial Publication Date: July 15, 2016 | Fix Links: August 20, 2024 (see revision history: 6 events)

Reviewed: October 7, 2014 -- Reviewed by the InTeGrate Materials Review Process
First Publication: July 15, 2016
Reviewed: July 17, 2017 -- Reviewed by the On the Cutting Edge Activity Review Process
File/Data Set Update: August 20, 2024 -- Updated file: 'Unit 2 Student Handout for USGS data download' Added a note for instructors by the end.
File/Data Set Update: August 20, 2024 -- Under the Assessment section a note for instructors was added. The USGS Water Data for the Nation webpage https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/ will be replaced by the USGS National Water Dashboard https://dashboard.waterdata.usgs.gov/app/nwd/en/. In Part A Steps 1-9 tab-separated data was collected for Texas. Also the drainage area for these locations was obtained Part B Steps 1-5.
Fix Links: August 20, 2024 -- Under the Assessment section a note for instructors was added. The USGS Water Data for the Nation webpage https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/ will be replaced by the USGS National Water Dashboard https://dashboard.waterdata.usgs.gov/app/nwd/en/. In Part A Steps 1-9 tab-separated data was collected for Texas. Also the drainage area for these locations was obtained Part B Steps 1-5.

Summary

Unit 2 engages students in topics related to the water cycle, both from natural and urban system perspectives. Students are assigned approximately 30 minutes of reading (short article) and are required to watch a 15-minute video before class to gain a basic understanding of the natural and urban water cycles, their components, and the impact of urbanization on runoff. Through short lectures, discussion questions, solution to example problems, and a group activity, students gain comprehension of the water cycle components, their spatial and temporal variability, water budget calculation, and the impacts of urbanization on surface water.

Environmental Geology, Water supply/water resource evaluation, ...(more) | College Upper (15-16)

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Topics

Environmental Geology, Water supply/water resource evaluation, Hydrology, Sustainability, Engineering

Grade Level

College Upper (15-16)

View Standards Details »

These materials have been reviewed for their alignment with the Next Generation Science Standards as detailed below.

Overview

In this unit, students compare the natural hydrologic cycle with the urban hydrologic cycle, and use their concept maps to predict how urbanization causes changes to the cycle.

Science and Engineering Practices

Developing and Using Models: Develop and/or use a model to generate data to test ideas about phenomena in natural or designed systems, including those representing inputs and outputs, and those at unobservable scales. MS-P2.7:

Cross Cutting Concepts

Cause and effect: Cause and effect relationships may be used to predict phenomena in natural or designed systems. MS-C2.2:

Cause and effect: Cause and effect relationships can be suggested and predicted for complex natural and human designed systems by examining what is known about smaller scale mechanisms within the system. HS-C2.2:

Energy and Matter: Changes of energy and matter in a system can be described in terms of energy and matter flows into, out of, and within that system. HS-C5.2:

Disciplinary Core Ideas

The Roles of Water in Earth's Surface Processes: Water continually cycles among land, ocean, and atmosphere via transpiration, evaporation, condensation and crystallization, and precipitation, as well as downhill flows on land. MS-ESS2.C1:

Human Impacts on Earth Systems: Typically as human populations and per-capita consumption of natural resources increase, so do the negative impacts on Earth unless the activities and technologies involved are engineered otherwise. MS-ESS3.C2:

Follow the links above to find activities from Teach the Earth on a specific topic.

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Learning Goals

After completing Unit 2, students will be able to:

Compare and contrast natural versus urban water cycle
Define the components of the urban water cycle
Explain the spatial and temporal variability of the water cycle
Calculate water budget components
Recognize and quantify the impact of urbanization on surface water

Context for Use

Unit 2 is designed for use in mid-to upper-level undergraduate courses of engineering and geoscience disciplines. It can be adopted in hydrology, engineering hydrology, water resources, or environmental science related courses. There is no discipline-specific prerequisite since the science content is basic and fundamental in nature. Pre-class reading materials (an article from Springer) and videos (YouTube) are available as web links. The unit could also be adapted for use in an online setting.

The activity is structured around a 1-hour 15-minute class period with several hours of supporting work outside of class including pre-class readings and a post-class assignment.

Description and Teaching Materials

Pre-Class Reading and Video

Read Chapter 2 "The Urban Water Budget" by Claire Welty in the following book: "The Urban Water Budget" edited by L. A. Baker (see references section for a PDF.)

Read subtitles 1 and 2 from chapter 1 "Urban Water Systems: An Overview" by Balaji Etikala, Sughosh Madhav, and Srinivasa Gowd Somagouni in the following book: "Current Directions in Water Scarcity Research" edited by Arun Lal Srivastav, Sughosh Madhav, Abhishek Kumar Bhardwaj, and Eugenia Valsami-Jones (see references section).

View the videos:

Hydrologic Cycle from CoCoRaHS HQ (7:14 min)
NYC's Urban water cycle by NYC H2O (2:12 min)

Complete the pre-class work and quiz (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 30kB Aug13 24). This file can ideally be placed under the Online Course Management System such as BlackBoard or course website or can also be administered in the classroom at the start of the class.

Answer key for pre-class work and quiz -- private instructor-only file

In-Class Activities

(20 min) Topic 1: Natural hydrologic cycle versus urban water cycle

Introduce the concept of the urban water cycle within the large hydrologic cycle.

Lecture 1 (water cycle) -- private instructor-only file

Initiate classroom discussion using the Think-Pair-Share approach. In this approach, each student will write answers, discuss in group (one or two other students sitting nearby, or groups can be made), and finally share to the class once instructor calls them to do so. Example discussion questions (also provided in the presentation slides) are:

What are major hydrologic processes? Name at least five of them.
What are the major hydrologic processes which are affected by urban infrastructures? What do you think is /are the most affected process(s) and why?

(30 min) Topic 2: Water budget analysis

Introduce the concept of water budget in the hydrologic cycle and complexity of dealing with various units in water budget calculation. Solve an example problem via facilitating a Faculty-coached In-class Problem Solving session where students will be divided into groups and immediately apply new information in the faculty presence.

Lecture 2 (water budget) -- private instructor-only file

(15 min) Topic 3: Impact of urbanization on surface runoff

Illustrate how built systems accelerate water conveyance mechanisms. Introduce an example problem on water balance and urbanization impact.

Lecture 3 Urbanization impact -- private instructor-only file

Discussion question for this topic: What are the approaches of water management to reduce peak runoff for sustainable urban development? How do they help?

(10 min) Mind Maps

Pull out Mind Map started in Unit 1 and have students add new concepts to their system.

Teaching Notes and Tips

Students may have difficulty understanding some of the new terms such as evapotranspiration, groundwater, average precipitation (monthly vs. annual vs. daily), etc. It is advised to explain the basic meanings of new terms as they appear.

More information could be added in the pre-class reading materials but it is advised to keep it within 30 minutes of reading time.

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Assessment

Divide the class into groups of three students and introduce and hand out the assignment. The assignment is to conduct a water balance study of a catchment.

Unit 2 Assignment (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 24kB Sep21 16)
Unit 2 Student Handout for USGS data download (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 1.6MB Aug20 24)
Note for instructors: The USGS Water Data for the Nation webpage (https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/) will be replaced by the USGS National Water Dashboard (https://dashboard.waterdata.usgs.gov/app/nwd/en/). In Part A, Steps 1-9, tab-separated data was collected for Texas. Also, the drainage area for these locations was obtained (Part B – Steps 1-5). Please see the table below:

State	Site name	Site number	Drainage area (square miles)	File (.txt)
Texas	Salado Ck at Loop 13, San Antonio, TX	08178800	189	08178800.txt (Text File 20kB Aug20 24)
Texas	Medina Rv at San Antonio, TX	08181500	1317	08181500.txt (Text File 19kB Aug20 24)
Texas	San Antonio Rv nr Elmendorf, TX	08181800	1743	08181800.txt (Text File 20kB Aug20 24)
Texas	San Antonio Rv at SH 72 nr Runge, TX	08188060	3570	08188060.txt (Text File 20kB Aug20 24)

Grading Scheme:

Pre-class Quiz (20% weightage)
Group assignment due in a week (80% weightage)
Excellent: >90%; Very Good: 80-90%; Good: 70-80%; Poor: 60-70%

References and Resources

Balaji Etikala, Sughosh Madhav, Srinivasa Gowd Somagouni. 2022. Chapter 1 - Urban water systems: An overview. In: Current Directions in Water Scarcity Research (Eds. Arun Lal Srivastav, Sughosh Madhav, Abhishek Kumar Bhardwaj, Eugenia Valsami-Jones). Elsevier.

Booth, Derek B. 1991. Urbanization and the Natural Drainage System-Impacts, Solutions, and Prognosis. The Northwest Environmental Journal 7(1): 93-118.

California Water & Land Use Partnership. "How Urbanization Affects the Water Cycle," Sacramento, CA, 2014.

Welty, Claire. 2009. Chapter 2: The Urban Water Budget. In: The Water Environment of Cities (Ed. Lawrence A. Baker). Springer.

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Unit 2. Urban Hydrology

Summary

Learning Goals

Context for Use

Description and Teaching Materials

Pre-Class Reading and Video

In-Class Activities

Teaching Notes and Tips

Assessment

References and Resources

Teaching Themes

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