CHAPTER FOUR

Assessment of
Groundwater and Surface
Water Resources

1.1 Hydrologic Cycle

The hydrological cycle is the most fundamental principle of groundwater hydrology.

The driving force of the circulation is derived from the radiant energy received from the sun.

Water evaporates and travels into the air and becomes part of a cloud. It falls down to earth as
precipitation. Then it evaporates again. This happens repeatedly in a never-ending cycle. This
hydrologic cycle never stops. Water keeps moving and changing from a solid to a liquid to a gas,
repeatedly.
Precipitation creates runoff that travels over the ground surface and helps to fill lakes and rivers. It
also percolates or moves downward through openings in the soil and rock to replenish aquifers
under the ground. Some places receive more precipitation than others do with an overview balance.
These areas are usually close to oceans or large bodies of water that allow more water to evaporate
and form clouds. Other areas receive less. Often these areas are far from seawater or near mountains.
As clouds move up and over mountains, the water vapor condenses to form precipitation and freezes.
Snow falls on the peaks. Figure 1.1 shows a schematic representation of the hydrological cycle.

Figure 1.1 Schematic Representation of the Hydrological Cycle

In recent years there has been considerable attention paid to the concept of the world water
balance, and the most recent estimates of these data emphasize the ubiquitous nature of
groundwater in hydrosphere. With reference to Table 1.1, if we remove from consideration the 94%
of the earths water that rests in the oceans and seas at high levels of salinity, then groundwater
accounts for about two-thirds of the freshwater resources of the world.
Table 1.1 Estimate of the Water Balance of the World
Parameter

Surface area
(Km2)*106

Volume
(Km2)*106

Oceans and seas

Lakes and reservoirs
Swamps
River channels
Soil moisture
Groundwater
Icecaps and glaciers
Atmospheric water
Biospheric water

361
1.55
< 0.1
< 0.1
130
130
17.8
504
< 0.1

1370
0.13
< 0.01
< 0.01
0.07
60
30
0.01
< 0.01

Volume
(%)

Equivalent
depth (m)*

94
0.01
0.01
0.01
0.01
4
2
< 0.01
< 0.01

2500
0.25
0.007
0.003
0.13
120
60
0.025
0.001

Resident time

~ 4,000 years
~ 10 years
1-10 years
~ 2 weeks
2 weeks 1 year
~ 2 weeks 10,000
years
10-1000 years
~ 10 days
~ 1 week
* Computed as though storage were uniformly distributed over the entire surface of the earth.
<
<
<
<

Hence, the water resources include all forms of occurrence of water including salt water and fossil
groundwater. An interesting distinction which can be made is between blue and green water. Blue
water, the water in rivers, lakes and shallow aquifers, has received all the attention from water

resources planners and engineers. Green water, the water in the unsaturated soil responsible for the
production of biomass has been largely neglected but it is green water that is responsible for 60% of
the world food production and all of the biomass produced in forests and pasture. It is this resource
which is most sensitive to land degradation. Fossil water, the deep aquifers that contain nonrenewable water, should be considered a mineral resource which can be used once at the cost of
foregoing future use.

1.2 Groundwater Resources

Groundwater can be split up into fossil groundwater and renewable (meteoric) groundwater.
Fossil groundwater should be considered a finite mineral resource, which can be used only once, after
which it is finished. Renewable groundwater is groundwater that takes an active part in the
hydrological cycle. The latter means that the residence time of the water in the sub-surface has an
order of magnitude relevant for human planning, say less than a hundred years. This criterion is
clearly open to debate. Geologists, that are used to working with time scales of millions of years
would only consider groundwater as fossil if it has a residence time over a millions of years. A
hydrologist might use time-scale close to that. However, a water resources planner should use a timescale much closer to the human dimension.
In our definition, the renewable groundwater takes active part in the hydrological cycle and hence is
"blue water" as mentioned before. In this sense, groundwater is (becomes) surface water and surface
water is (was) groundwater.
Two zones can be distinguished in which water occurs in the ground:

The saturated zone,

The unsaturated zone.

For the hydrologist both zones are important links and storage devices in the hydrological cycle: the
unsaturated zone stores the "green water", whereas the saturated zone stores the "blue" groundwater.
For the engineer the importance of each zone depends on the field of interest. An agricultural
engineer is principally interested in the unsaturated zone, where the necessary combination of soil, air
and water occurs for a plant to live. The water resources engineer is mainly interested in the
groundwater which occurs and flows in the saturated zone (see Figure 1.2).

Figure 1.2
A schematic cross-section showing the typical distribution of subsurface waters in a
simple unconfined aquifer setting, highlighting the three common subdivisions of the unsaturated
zone and the saturated zone below the water table.
The process of water entering into the ground is called infiltration. Downward transport of water in
the unsaturated zone is called percolation, whereas the upward transport in the unsaturated zone is
called capillary rise. The outflow from the groundwater to surface water is called seepage.
The types of openings (voids or pores) in which groundwater occurs is an important property of the
subsurface formation. Three types are generally distinguished:
1. Pores, openings between individual particles as in sand and gravel. Pores are generally
interconnected and allow capillary flow for which Darcy's law can be applied.
2. Fractures, crevices or joints in hard rock which have developed from breaking of the rock.
The pores may vary from super capillary size to capillary size. Only for the latter situation
application of Darcy's law is possible. Water in these fractures is known as fissure or fault
water.
3. Solution channels and caverns in limestone (karst water), and openings resulting from gas
bubbles in lava. These large openings result in a turbulent flow of groundwater which cannot
be described with Darcy's law.
The porosity n of the subsurface formation is that part of its volume which consists of openings:

n=

volume of voids
total volume

(1.1)

Approximate properties such as field capacity and wilting point are used in the hydrological and
agricultural literature. Field capacity is the volumetric moisture content left in the medium after it
has drained under gravity from saturation for a period of two days (definitions vary), and the wilting
point is the volumetric moisture content which is just low enough so that any plants growing in the
medium will fail to transpire, so will wilt and die.
When water is drained by gravity from saturated material, only a part of the total volume is released.
This portion is known as specific yield. The water not drained is called specific retention and the
sum of specific yield and specific retention is equal to the porosity (see Figure 1.3)

Figure 1.3 Specific Yield and Specific Retention

In fine material the forces that retain water against the force of gravity are high due to the small pore
size. Hence, the specific retention od fine-grained material (silt or clay) is larger than of coarse
material (sand or gravel).
Groundwater is the water which occurs in the saturated
movement of groundwater is called groundwater is called
The hydraulic properties of a water-bearing formation are
also by the interconnection of the pores and the pore size.
are classified as follows:

zone. The study of the occurrence and

groundwater hydrology or geohydrology.
not only determined by the porosity but
In this respect the subsurface formations

1. Aquifer, which is a ground-water reservoir, composed of geologic units that are saturated
with water and sufficiently permeable to yield water in a usable quantity to wells and springs.
Sand and gravel deposits, sandstone, limestone, and fractured, crystalline rocks are examples
of geological units that form aquifers. Aquifers provide two important functions: (1) they
transmit ground water from areas of recharge to areas of discharge, and (2) they provide a
storage medium for useable quantities of ground water. The amount of water a material can
hold depends upon its porosity. The size and degree of interconnection of those openings
(permeability) determine the materials ability to transmit fluid.
2. Aquiclude is composed of rock or sediment that acts as a barrier to groundwater flow.
Aquicludes are made up of low porosity and low permeability rock/sediment such as shale or
clay. Aquicludes have normally good storage capacity but low transmitting capacity.

3. Aquitard is a less permeable layer, not capable of transmitting water in horizontal direction,
but allowing considerable vertical flow (e.g. shale or clay).
4. Aquifuge is impermeable rock neither containing nor transmitting water (e.g. granite layers).

1.2.1 Types of Aquifers

For a description or mathematical treatment of groundwater flow the geological formation can be
schematized into an aquifer system, consisting of various layers with distinct different hydraulic
properties. The aquifers are simplified into one of the following types:
1. Unconfined Aquifer is one in which a water table varies in undulating form and in slope,
depending on areas of recharge and discharge, pumpage from wells, and permeability. Rises
and falls in the water table correspond to changes in the volume of water in storage within an
aquifer see Figure 1.4. Contour maps and profiles of the water table can be prepared from
elevations of water in wells that tap the aquifer to determine the quantities of water available
and their distribution and movement. A special case of an unconfined aquifer involves
perched water bodies, as illustrated by Figure 1.4. This occurs wherever a groundwater
body is separated from the main groundwater by a relatively impermeable stratum of small
areal extent and by the zone of aeration above the main body of groundwater. Clay lenses in
sedimentary deposits often have shallow perched water bodies overlying them. Wells tapping
these sources yield only temporary or small quantities of water.
2. Confined Aquifers also known as artesian or pressure aquifers, occur where
groundwater is confined under pressure greater than atmospheric by overlying relatively
impermeable strata. In a well penetrating such an aquifer, the water level will rise above the
bottom of the confining bed, as shown by the artesian and flowing wells of Figure 1.4. Water
enters a confined aquifer in an area where the confining bed rises to the surface; where the
confining bed ends underground, the aquifer becomes unconfined. A region supplying water
to a confined area is known as a recharge area; water may also enter by leakage through a
confining bed. Rises and falls of water in wells penetrating confined aquifers result primarily
from changes in pressure rather than changes in storage volumes. Hence, confined aquifers
display only small changes in storage and serve primarily as conduits for conveying water
from recharge areas to locations of natural or artificial discharge.

Figure 1.4 Schematic Cross-Section of Aquifer Types

3. Leaky Aquifers are completely confined or unconfined occur less frequently than do leaky,
or semi-confined, aquifers. These are a common feature in alluvial valleys, plains, or former
lake basins where a permeable stratum is overlain or underlain by a semi-pervious aquitard or
semi-confining layer. Pumping from a well in a leaky aquifer removes water in two ways: by
horizontal flow within the aquifer and by vertical flow through the aquitard into the aquifer
(see Figure 1.5).

Figure 1.5
Different types of aquifers; A. Confined aquifer, B. Unconfined Aquifer, C. and D.
Leaky aquifers, E. Multi-layered leaky aquifer system.

1.2.2 Groundwater Flow

The theory on groundwater movement originates from a study by the Frenchman Darcy, first
published in 1856. Darcys result is of fundamental importance and remains at the heart of almost all
groundwater flow calculations.
Darcy discovered that the discharge Q of water through a column of sand is proportional to the cross
sectional area A of the sand column, and to the difference in piezometric head between the ends of
the column, h1 h2, and inversely proportional to the length of the column L. That is:

Q = KA

h1 h2
L

(1.2)

Darcys experiment is shown schematically in Figure 1.6. The constant of proportionality K is known
as the hydraulic conductivity [LT1]. The implication here is that the specific discharge is proportional
to the applied force. Darcys experiments were one-dimensional. In this section, we generalize the
results of the experiments to give Darcys Law in three dimensions.

Figure 1.6 A schematic diagram of Darcys experiment

Rather than referring to the total discharge Q, it is often more convenient to standardize the
discharge by considering the volume flux of water through the column, i.e. the discharge across a unit
area of the porous medium. In the context of groundwater, the volume flux is called the specific
discharge q [LT1] and is given simply by Q/A. Darcys result can then be written in terms of the
specific discharge and the difference in head between the ends of the column.

q=
The fraction

h h1
Q
= K 2
A
L

(1.3)

h2 h1
is called the average hydraulic gradient over the length of the column. As L
L

tends to zero, the average hydraulic gradient becomes an increasingly close approximation to the
point value of the derivative of head with respect to distance x.
Darcys experimental result then becomes:

q = K

dh
dx

(1.4)

which describes Darcys Law at any point in the porous medium. The spatial derivative of head dh/dx
is called the hydraulic gradient at that point. There are two important points to note:

If the hydraulic gradient is positive, the specific discharge is negative. This reflects the fact
that the groundwater moves from high to low head. So, for example, since the water table
in Figure 1.7 slopes upwards away from the origin (i.e. dh/dx > 0), the water moves back
towards it (i.e. q < 0).

Figure 1.7

Although we have referred to Darcys Law at a point, specific discharge, hydraulic

conductivity and hydraulic gradient can be defined only as averages taken over a volume of
rock. The assumption implicit in everything that follows is that this volume is small in
comparison with the scale of any problem under consideration. The volume will vary in size
depending upon the scale of the problem. For example, at the scale of a study in the
laboratory the value of hydraulic conductivity at a point will be taken as an average over a
few cubic centimeters, whereas at the regional scale the point hydraulic conductivity may be
an average taken over hundreds of cubic meters which may include a variety of different
rock formations.

However, the actual velocity v act of a fluid particle is much higher because only the effective pore
space ne is available for transport, thus

q
(1.5)
ne
The effective porosity ne is smaller than the porosity n , as the pores that do not contribute to the
v act =

transport are excluded (dead-end pores). The actual velocity is important in water quality problems, to
determine the transport of contaminants.

1.2.3 Groundwater as a Storage Medium

For the water resources engineer, groundwater is a very important water resource for the following
reasons:

It is reliable resource, especially in climates with a pronounced dry season.

It is a bacteriological safe resource, provided pollution is controlled.
It is often available in situ (wide-spread occurrence).
It may supply water at a time that surface water resources are limited.
It is not affected by evaporation loss, if deep enough.
There is a large storage capacity.
It can be easily managed.

It is also has a number of disadvantages:

It is a strongly limited resource; extractable quantities are often low as compared to surface
water resources.
Groundwater recovery is generally expensive as a result of pumping costs.
Groundwater, if phreatic, is very sensitive to pollution.
Groundwater recovery may have serious impact on land subsidence or salinization.

Especially, in dry climate the existence of underground storage of water is of extreme importance. The
water stored in the subsoil becomes available in two ways. One way is by artificial withdrawal
(pumping) the other is by natural seepage to the surface water.
The latter is an important link in the hydrological cycle. Whereas in the wet season the runoff is
dominant by surface runoff, in the dry season the runoff is almost entirely fed by seepage from
groundwater (base flow). Thus the groundwater component acts as a reservoir which retards the
runoff from the wet season rainfall and smoothes out the shape of the hydrograph.
A recession curve, which is a useful method for the evaluation of surface water resources in the dry
season, shows the variation of base flow with time during periods of little or no rainfall over a
drainage basin (see Figure 1.8). In essence it is a measure of the drainage rate of groundwater
storage from the basin. If large, highly permeable aquifers are contained within drainage area, the
base flow will be sustained even through prolonged droughts; if the aquifers are small and of low
permeability, the base flow will decrease relatively rapidly and may even cease.
The baseflow recession equation is:

Q = Qo e at
where

Q
Qo
a
t

Figure 1.8

is the flow at some time t after the recession started (L3/T;m3/s)

is the flow at the start of the recession (L3/T; m3/s)
is the recession constant for the basin (1/T; d-1)
is the time since the recession began (T; d)

Typical annual hydrograph for a river with a long dry summer season

10

(1.6)

1.3 Surface Water Resources

Surface water resources are water resources that are visible to the eye. They are mainly the result of
overland runoff of rain water, but surface water resources can also origin from groundwater. Surface
water is linked to groundwater resources through the processes of infiltration (from surface water to
groundwater) and seepage (from groundwater to surface water). Surface water occurs in two kinds of
water bodies:

Water bodies, such as rivers, canals, estuaries and streams.

Stagnant water bodies, such as lakes, reservoirs, pools, tanks, etc.

The first group of water bodies consists of conveyance links, whereas the second group consists of
storage media. Together they add up to a surface water system.
The amount of water available in storage media is rather straightforward as long as a relation
between pond level and storage is known. The surface water available in channels is more difficult to
determine since the water flows. The water resources of a channel are defined as the total amount of
water that passes through the channel over a given period of time (e.g. a year, a season, a month).
In a given cross-section of a channel the total available amount of surface water runoff R over a time
step t is defined as the average over time of the discharge Q.

1
R=
t

t + t

Q dt

(1.7)

The discharge Q is generally determined on the basis of water level recordings in combination with a
stage discharge relation curve, called a rating curve. A unique relationship between water level and
river discharge is usually obtained in a stretch of the river where the river bed is stable and the flow is
slow and uniform, i.e. the velocity pattern does not change in the direction of flow. Another suitable
place is at a calm pool, just upstream of a rapid. Such a situation may also be created artificially in a
stretch of the river (e.g. with non-uniform flow) by building a control structure (threshold) across
the river bed. The rating curve established at the gauging station has to be updated regularly,
because scour and sedimentations of the river bed and river banks may change the stage discharge
relation, particularly after a flood.
The rating curve can often be represented adequately by an equation of the form:

Q = a (H H o )b

(1.8)

Where Q is the discharge in (m3/s), H is the water level in the river (m), Ho is the water level at zero
flow, and a and b are constants. The value of Ho is determined by trial and error. The values of and b
are found by a least square fit using the measured data, or by a plot on a logarithmic paper and the
fit of a straight line.
Equation 1.8 is compatible with the Manning formula where the cross-sectional area A, and the
hydraulic radius R are functions of (H-Ho).
2

Q=

A 3
R
n

(1.9)

Consequently, it can be shown that the coefficient b in equation 1.8 should have a value of 1.59 in a
rectangular channel, a value of 1.69 in a trapezoidal channel with 1:1 side-slopes, a value of 2.16 in a
parabolic channel, and a value of 2.67 in a triangular channel.

11

To illustrate the trial and error procedure in determining the value of Ho, a plot of data with Ho=0 has
been added. It can be seen that the value of Ho particularly affects the determination of low flow.
For the methods of measuring water levels and flows one should refer to the lectures on Hydrometry.
However, making use of the rating curve, a time series of water levels can be transformed into runoff
series.
Finally, the total water resources of a catchment are formed by the sum of surface water and
groundwater. Both resources may not be considered separately from the water quality. Abundant
water resources of poor quality are still useless for consumption. A consumer of water, who pollutes
the water resources system through its return flows, consumes in fact much more water than its
actual consumption, as he makes the remaining water useless.

1.4 Water Balance

Water resources engineers are primarily concerned with catchment yields and usually study
hydrometric records on a monthly basis. For that purpose short duration rainfall should be aggregated.
In most countries monthly rainfall values are readily available. To determine catchment runoff
characteristics, a comparison should be made between rainfall and runoff. For purpose, the monthly
mean discharges are converted to volumes per month and then to an equivalent depth per month Q
over the catchment area. Rainfall P and runoff Q being in the same units (e.g. mm/month) may then
be compared.
On a monthly basis one can write:

Q=P E

S
t

(1.10)

The presence of the Evaporation and the Storage terms makes it difficult to establish a
straightforward relation between R and P. The problem is further complicated in those regions of the
world that the distinctive rainy and dry seasons. In those regions the different situation of storage and
evaporation in the wet and dry season make it difficult to establish a direct relation.
While studying the relationship between rainfall and runoff in a catchment, one should recognize that:

There will be a clear threshold rainfall which no runoff takes place. The threshold would
incorporate such effects as interception, replenishment of soil moisture deficit;
evapotranspiration, surface detention, and open water evaporate.

The same amount of rainfall gives considerably more runoff at the end of the rainy season
than at the start of the rainy season. At the start of the rainy season the contribution of
seepage to runoff is minimal, the groundwater storage is virtually and the amount to be
replenished is considerable, the value of S/t in Eq. (1.10) is thus positive, reducing the
runoff. At the end of the rainy season the reverse occurs.

The threshold rainfall is quite in agreement with Eq. (1.10) and has more physical meaning than the
commonly used proportional losses. Proportional losses are rather a result of averaging. They can be
derived from the fact that a high amount of monthly rainfall is liable to have occurred during a large
number of rainy days, so that threshold losses like interception and open water evaporation have
occurred a corresponding number of times.
By taking into account the threshold loss (D) and the groundwater storage (S), a relation can be
obtained between Q and P. The following model, which can easily be made in spreadsheet, has been
developed for that purpose.

12

Moving Average Model for Monthly Runoff using Threshold Losses

As the amount of storage available during a particular month depends on the amount of rainfall in the
previous months, a relation is sough that relates the runoff in a particular month to the rainfall in the
month itself and the previous months. A simple linear backward relation is used:

Qt = a + bo (Pt D ) + b1 (Pt 1 D ) + b2 (Pt 2 D ) + ...

(1.11)

Under the condition that if (Pt i D ) < 0 , then (Pt i D ) = 0 .

D is the threshold loss on a monthly basis, bi is the coefficient that determines the contribution
of the effective rainfall in month t-i to the runoff in month t (proportional loss); and a is a
coefficient which should be zero if the full set of rainfall contributions and losses were taken
into account.
In matrix notation Eq. (1.11) reads:
Qt = B ( P D) + a

(1.12)

Where Qt is a scalar, the runoff in month t, B is an (n X 1) matrix containing the coefficients bi and (PD) is a state vector of (1 X n) containing the effective monthly precipitation values of the present and
previous months. The value n-1 determines the memory of the system. Obviously n should never be
more than 12, to avoid spurious correlation, but in practice n is seldom more than 6 to 7.
The effective runoff coefficient C, on a water year basis, is defined as:

C=

Q
PD

(1.13)

Where P and Q are the annual rainfall and runoff on a water year basis. It can be seen from
comparison of Eq.'s (1.12) and (1.13) that (if the coefficient a equals zero) the sum of the
coefficients in B should equal the effective runoff coefficient C.

b C
i

(1.14)

Meaning that the total amount of runoff that a certain net rainfall generates is the sum of all
components over n months. Obviously C should not be larger than unity.
The coefficients of B are determined through a multiple linear regression. Moreover, it should be
understood that the correlation substantially improves by taking into account threshold rainfall.

13

The addition of the word integrated to the term water resources refers to three aspects:

Location of the resource: e.g. upstream, downstream, basin, sub-basin.

Type of the resource: groundwater, surface water, rainfall harvesting.
Quality: water of bad quality is no resource unless it is treated.

It is not correct to consider the different aspects of water resources in isolation. The integration of
location, type and quality is a necessary condition for water resources management.
In hydrological cycle, the direct link between groundwater and surface water is apparent. If we add
the aspect of water quality, the picture of integrated water resources is complete.
For Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), however, further integration is needed with
regard to institutional, economical, financial, legal, environmental and social aspects (as
will be discussed later). But with regard to the physical aspects of water we can limit ourselves to
location, type and quality.

In the field of hydrology the budget idea is widely used. Water balances are based on the principle of
continuity. This can be expressed with the equation:

I (t ) O(t ) =

S
t

(1.15)

Where I is the inflow in [L3/T], O is the outflow in [L3/T], and S/t is the rate of change in the
storage over a finite time step in [L3/T] of the considered control volume in the system. The equation
holds for a specific period of time and may be applied to any given system provided that the
boundaries are well defined. Other names for the water balance equation are Storage Equation,
Continuity Equation and Law of Conservation of Mass.
Water Balance of a Drainage Area
The water balance is often applied to a river basin. A river basin (also called watershed, catchment, or
drainage basin) is the area contributing to the discharge at a particular river cross-section. The size of
the catchment increases if the point selected as outlet moves downstream. If no water moves across
the catchment boundary indicated by the broken line, the input equals the precipitation P while the
output comprises the evapotranspiration E and the river discharge Q at the outlet of the catchment.
Hence, the water balance may be written as:

(P E ) A Q = S
t

(1.16)

Where S is the change of storage over the time step t, and A is the surface area of the catchment
upstream of the station where Q has been measured.
S, the storage in the amount of water stored in the catchment, is difficult to measure. However, if
the account period for which the water balance is established is taken sufficiently long, the effect of
the storage term becomes less important, as precipitation and evapotranspiration accumulate while
storage varies within a certain range. When computing the storage equation for annual periods, the
beginning of the balance period is preferably chosen at a time that the amount of water is store is
expected not to vary much for each successive year. These annual periods, which do not necessarily
coincide with the calendar years, are known as hydrologic-or water years. The storage equation is
especially useful to study the effect of a change in the hydrologic cycle.

14

To give an impression of the difference in the water balance of drainage basins, the water balances
for the basins of some great rivers are given in Table 1.2.
Table 1.2
River
Nile
Mississippi
Parana
Orinoco
Mekong
Amur
Lena
Yenisei
Ob
Rhine

Indicative Average Annual Water Balance for the Drainage Basins of Some of the
Great Rivers
Catchment
Rainfall
Evapotranspiration
Runoff
Runoff
size
Coefficient
Gm2
mm/yr Gm3/yr mm/yr
Gm3/yr mm/yr Gm3/yr
%
2803
220
620
190
534
30
86
14
3924
800
3100
654
2540
142
558
18
975
1000
980
625
610
382
372
38
850
1330
1150
420
355
935
795
70
646
1500
970
1000
645
382
325
34
1730
450
780
265
455
188
325
42
2430
350
850
140
335
212
514
60
2440
450
1100
220
540
230
561
51
2950
450
1350
325
965
131
385
29
200
850
170
500
100
350
70
41

1.5 Available Renewable Water Resources

1.5.1 Water Scarcity
In the eyes of the public, water scarcity is associated with lack of drinking water. That is not so
strange. Drinking water, although in terms of quantity a very small consumer of water resources, is
closest to people's environment and experience. Consequently, in the discussion on water scarcity, the
image most commonly conveyed by the media is that of thirst. We see pictures of people standing
next to a dry well, or people walking large distances to collect a bucket of water. Or, on a more
positive note, people happily crowded around a new water point that spills crystal clear water.
Thirst, however, is not a problem of water scarcity; it is a problem of water management. There is
enough water, virtually everywhere in the world, to provide people with their basic water needs:
drinking, cooking and personal hygiene. Shortage of water for primary purposes (essentially
household water) is much more a problem of lifestyles and poor management than of water
availability. As a result of the "sanitary revolution" of the Victorian age, drinking water is mainly used
to convey our waste over large distances to places where we then try to separate the water from the
waste. This way of sanitation, which probably was highly efficient at the beginning of this century
when there was neither scarcity of water nor an environmental awareness, is now highly inefficient in
terms of energy consumption, money and water alike. An extra-terrestrial visiting the Earth would be
very surprised to see that clean and meticulously treated drinking water, which is considered a
precious and scare commodity, is used for the lowest possible purpose: to transport waste.
Subsequently, the waste is removed through a costly process, after which the water is often pumped
back and re-treated to be used again. We need a new sanitary revolution, to restore this obvious
inefficiency.
If drinking water is not the problem of global water scarcity, then what is? Of the 1700 m3/cap/yr of
renewable fresh water that is considered an individual's annual requirement, close to 90% is needed
for food production. For primary water consumption 100 l/cap/day may be considered sufficient. After
the second sanitary revolution it may become even less! On an annual basis this consumption
amounts to about 40 m3/cap/yr. Industrial use may be several time this amount, but also in the
industrial sector, a sanitary revolution could seriously reduce the industrial water consumption.

15

The water scarcity problem is primarily a food problem. The production of a kilogram of grains under
proper climatic and management conditions, requires about 1-2 m3 of water, but it can reach as much
as 4 m3 of water per kg in tropical dry climates. A kilogram of meat requires a multiple of this amount.
Apparently, the per capita water requirement primarily depends on our food needs and habits.
Consequently, the main question to address is: how are we going to feed an ever growing population
on our limited land and water resources?

1.5.2 A Rainbow of Water

Of all water resources, green water is probably the most under-valued resources. Yet it is
responsible for by far the largest part of the world's food and biomass production. The concept of
green water was first introduced by Falkenmark (1995), to distinguish it from blue Water, which is
the water that occurs in rivers, lakes and aquifers. The storage medium for green water is the
unsaturated soil. The process though which green water is consumed is transpiration. Hence the total
amount of green water resources available over a given period of time equals the accumulated
amount of transpiration over that period. In this definition irrigation is not taken into account. Green
water is transpiration resulting directly from rainfall, hence we are talking about rainfed agriculture,
pasture, forestry, etc. The average residence time of green water in the unsaturated zone is the ratio
of the storage to the flux (the transpiration). At a global scale the storage in the unsaturated zone is
about 500 mm, whereas the average global transpiration is 100 mm/month. The average residence
time of green water is hence approximately 5 months. At a local scale, depending on climate, soils
and topography, these numbers can vary significantly.
Green water is a very important resource for global food production. About 60% of the waorld
staple food production relies on rainfed irrigation, and hence green water. The entire meat production
from grazing relies on green water, and so does the production of wood from forestry. In SubSaharan Africa almost the entire food production depends on green water (the relative importance of
irrigation is minor) and almost of the industrial products, such as cotton, tobacco, wood, etc.
There is no green water without blue water, as their processes of origin are closely related. Blue
water is the sum of the water that recharges the groundwater and the water that runs-off over the
surface. Blue water occurs as renewable groundwater in aquifers and as surface water in water
bodies. These two resources can not simply be added, since the recharge of the renewable
groundwater eventually ends up in the surface water system. Adding them up often implies double
counting. Depending on the climate, topography and geology, the ration of groundwater recharge to
total blue water varies. In some parts the contribution of the groundwater to the blue water can be as
high as 7080%, in some parts (on solid rock surface), it can be negligible. Generally the groundwater
contribution to the blue water is larger than one thinks intuitively. The reason that rivers run dry is
more often related to groundwater withdrawals, than to surface water consumption.
Engineers always have had preference foe blue water. For food production, engineers have
concentrated on irrigation and neglected rainfed agriculture, which does not require impressive
engineering works. Irrigation is a way of turning blue water into green water. Drainage is a way of
turning green water into blue water.
To complete the full picture of the water resources, besides green water and blue water, there is
white water. White water is the part of rainfall that feeds back directly to the atmosphere through
evaporation from interception and bare soil. Some people consider the white water as part of the
green water, but that adds to confusion since green water is a productive use of water whereas the
white water is non-productive. The white and green water together form the vertical component of
the water cycle, as opposed to the blue water, which is horizontal. In addition, the term white water
can be used to describe the rainfall which is intercepted for human use, including rainwater
harvesting.

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Table 1.3 presents the quantities of fluxes and stocks of these water resources, and the resulting
average residence times, at a global scale. For catchments and sub-systems similar computations can
be made. The relative size of the fluxes and stocks can vary considerably between catchments. Not
much information on these resources exists at sub-catchment scale.
Table 1.3

Global Water Resources, Fluxes, Storage and Average Residence Times

Residence
[L] or [L3]
Resource
Fluxes [L/T] or [L3/T] Storage
time
Green
T
100 mm/month
Su
500 mm
Su/T
White
I
5 mm/day*
Ss
4 mm*
Ss/I
Sw
124x1012 m3
Sw/Q
Blue
Q
46x1012 m3/yr
5x1012 m3/yr*
Sg
750x1012 m3*
Sg/Qg
Deep Blue
Qs
12
3
Sa
12x1012 m3
Sa/P
Atmosphere
P
510x10 m /yr
Oceans
A
46x1012 m3/yr
So
1.3x1018 m3
So/A
* indicates rough estimates.

[T]
5 months
0.8 days
2.7 years
150 years
0.3 months
28000 years

Finally, the last color of the rainbow is the ultra-violent water, the invisible water, or the virtual
water. Virtual water is the amount of water required to produce a certain good. In agriculture, the
concept of virtual water is used to express a product in the amount of water required for its
production. The production of grains typically requires 2-3 m3/kg, depending on the efficiency of the
production process. Trading grains implies the trade of virtual water.
For example; assume that in a certain basin, blue water applied to tobacco has productivity of
around 3.5 $/m3, whereas productivity of water for wheat is only around 0.5 $/m3. Since wheat and
tobacco can be both traded on the international market, the best use of water resources would be to
produce tobacco, export it and buy the required wheat on the international market. One cubic meter
of water applied to tobacco would allow the importation of 7 m3 of virtual water in the form of grains.
A net gain to the basin of 6 m3 of water! Supplementary irrigation during the rainy season of rainfed
crops has a relatively high productivity. In the communal areas, one cubic meter of blue water applied
to a rainfed crop as supplementary irrigation results in production gains valued at 1 $ to 1.3 $.
In water scare regions, the exchange of water in its virtual form is one of the most promising
approaches for sharing international waters.
How to Determine the Blue and Green Water?
The blue water (B) can be determined through rating. The difficulty lies with the green water (G). On
an annual basis, the sum of the white (interception) and the green water equals the overall average
evaporation from a catchment E = W+G = P-Q (E is the total annual evaporation, P is the annual
rainfall and Q is the annual runoff (Q=B), all in mm/yr). The white water (W) consists of the open
water evaporation, the bare soil evaporation and the direct evaporation from interception.
Hence, the sum of the blue and green water differs from the total rainfall P by the direct evaporation
losses (interception, bare soil and open water evaporation). The blue and green water is productive,
or can be made productive. Savenije (1997) developed a method to determine the direct evaporation
losses (W), which in fact corresponds to the actual threshold losses of Eq. (1.11), where
W=min(D,P). On the monthly basis, the transpiration equals the amount of green water (G)
consumed by the vegetation: G= E-W.
Is evaporation a Loss?
In most water balances, evaporation is considered a loss. Hydrological engineers who are asked to
determine surface runoff, consider evaporation a loss. Water resources engineers who design
reservoirs, consider evaporation from the reservoir a loss. For agricultural engineers, however, it
depends on where evaporation occurs, whether it is considered a loss or not. If it refers to the water
evaporated by drop (transpiration), then evaporation is not a loss, it is the use of the water for the

17

intended purpose. If it refers to the evaporation from canals or from spill, then evaporation is
considered a loss which reduces the irrigation efficiency.

1.5.3 The Water Balance as a Result of Human Interference

Attempts have been made to incorporate the interference of the man in the hydrological cycle through
the introduction of the water diversion cycle, which includes water withdrawal and water drainage.
The diversion cycle is exerting significant influence on the terrestrial water cycle; especially in highly
economically develop regions with a dense population.
The water diversion cycle including human interference results in the following annual average water
balance equation (neglecting storage variation):

P= E +C +Q
C = U s + U g Rs R g + H + D
where,

P
E
C
Q
Us+Ug
Rs+Rg
H
D

(1.17)

precipitation
total evaporation from the land surface (transpiration + interception + open water
evaporation).
net water consumption due to water use
runoff from land to ocean
intake from surface and groundwater
return flows to surface and groundwater
rain harvesting
desalination

In this respect it is important to note that re-use of return flows (Rs and Rg) are no additional
resources, but merely a way to make water use more efficient (minimizing drainage).

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