Chapter 1: Introduction to WRE and

Descriptive Hydrology
Prepared by:

Mohd Shalahuddin Adnan, Mohd Adib Mohammad Razi and Siti

Nazahiyah Rahmat

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Lesson goals
At the end of this topic, student should be able to:-
Explain the water cycle concept

Solve problems related with water

resources

Demonstrate management skills in

managing of water resources

Calculate the water availability

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 What is water resources?
Water resources are all the wealth and availability of
natural water in, on and above the earth, which consist
of various of sources i.e. spring water, river water, lake
water, groundwater, soil moisture, sea water, ice, glacier
and atmosphere water.

The characteristic, behavior and its relation of each

source are controlled by hydrology cycle.

Source is a system of water producer which can be used

for fulfilling the water demand
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4
How much water is available?
Estimated of Total water in the world = 1.36  1018 m3
Distribution of water:
Oceans and lakes (saltwater) 97.2%
Ice and glaciers (fresh water) 2.15%
Groundwater (fresh water) 0.64%
Lakes and rivers (fresh water) 0.0085%
Atmosphere and biosphere (moisture) 0.00015%

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Water in Malaysia
Total water = 990  109 m3

Distribution of water:

Groundwater 64  109 m3

Lakes and rivers 566  109 m3

Atmosphere and 360  109 m3

biosphere (moisture)

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Rainfall Cloud
 Peninsular Malaysia = Total Rainfall Evapo-transpiration
2,400 mm 990 bill. m3 360 bill. m3 (36%)

 Sabah = 2,360 mm
Surface Runoff
 Sarawak = 3,830 mm 566 bill. m3 (57%)

Groundwater
64 bill. m3 (7%)
Total Storage:
5,000 bill. m3

River Basin
Source : National Water Resources Study conducted by JICA, 1982
 This is the source of life to our 189 main river systems, (Peninsular Malaysia –
74 and Sabah - 75 and Sarawak – 40).
 These river systems consist of 2,986 rivers with a total length of 38,000km.

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 River Basin
a smaller stream or river that joins a larger or
main river.
The beginning of a river. Often located
in mountains, the source may be fed by
an underground spring, or by runoff
from rain, snowmelt, or glacial melt.

a loop in a river channel

the place where a river flows into a larger body

of water, such as another river, a lake, or an
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ocean
 RIVER BASIN
• Collects all water from an area, then moves it
through the water system, where it eventually
empties in to an ocean or sea.
• Composed of many areas called watersheds. A
watershed is similar to a river basin, although the
area of land and the amount of water collected is
smaller.
• Can contain several watersheds that collect water
from streams, lakes and rivers of varying sizes.

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 RIVERS PROVIDE
97 %
OF ALL THE WATER
USED IN MALAYSIA !!
 Why are water resources important?
• Human cannot survive without water where
water is potentially available as water
resources.

• Human needs to keep and develop the

availability of water either for using and
controlling.

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ISSUES AND PROBLEMS
Issues are based on national needs assessment findings
RANKING Water Related Issues/ Themes

1 River Water Quality

2 Catchment/ Land use Management

3 Flooding

4 Potable Water Supply

5 Institutional Arrangement

6 River Corridor Management

7 Wetlands Management

8 Water Borne Diseases

9 Biodiversity

10 Drought

11 Environmental Flow

Source : Study on Effective Implementation of IWRM in Malaysia (2008) 12

 Activity
Explain one (1) main issue/problem
related to water resources.
As a water engineer, please provide
some solutions to the problems
mentioned.

Kod & Nama Kursus

Nama & EmailPenulis
Some of Malaysia’s Water Related Issues

Too much water Too little Water

River pollution 14
Some of Malaysia’s Water Related Issues

Erosion and Sedimentation Rate of River Abstraction

River sand pollution River Basin Master Plan

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 Managing floods/droughts, drainage & urban stormwater
problems Tahan river rapids

Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel

(SMART), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Siberian meandering river

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Managing water supply, floods/droughts, drainage & urban
stormwater problems

Terusan Wan Muhammad Saman, Kedah

Storm drain receiving urban runoff

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Flood prone areas in Peninsula Malaysia
Flood-prone areas

Types of floods in Malaysia:

a. monsoonal flood
b. flash flood
c. tidal flood

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Flood prone areas in Berneo
Flood-prone areas

SABAH

SARAWAK

Causes of flood in Malaysia:

a. natural - tidal wave, long intense
rainfall
b. human-induced - land
development, waste disposal
 Flash floods in Malaysia

KL, September 2016

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Johor Bahru, Nov 2016
Flash floods in Malaysia

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 Decreasing Water Availability
• Climate change;
• Over-exploitation;
• Pollution

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 World
Year Population
(billions)

2010 6.8

2020 7.6

2030 8.2

2040 8.7

By the year 2025 nearly 2 billion people will live in regions or

countries with absolute water scarcity, even allowing for high
levels of irrigation efficiency.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_resources
 Typical Domestic Water Use

• 100-600L/person/day (high-income countries)

• 50-100L/person/day (low-income)
• 10-40L/person/day (water scarce)

• Differences in
domestic freshwater
use:
– Piped distribution or
carried number/type
of appliances and
sanitation
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 A Malaysian uses an
average of 226 litres of
water a day, compared
with 155 litres in
Singapore and 90 litres
in Thailand.

Many developed
countries had dual water
supply, that is, for
potable and non-potable
use

The Domestic Water Consumption Study, a collaboration

between the Federation of Malaysian Consumers
Associations (Fomca) and the Energy, Green Technology
and Water Ministry,2007
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 Challenges in Managing Water
Resources
Increase coverage rates
Social
Improve health conditions
Challenges
natural hazard risk mitigation
Economic valuation of water resources
Economic
Water allocation among competing uses
Challenges
integrated approaches to water management
Raise funds for operation and maintenance
Financial
Financing infrastructure
Challenges
Financing institutional development
Reduce and control pollution
Environmental
Integrated approaches to water management
Challenges
Ecosystem approach to water management
Water law reforms
Institutional Institutional innovation including regulation
Challenges Stakeholder participation

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 Integrated Water Resources
Management (IWRM) Strategy
Defined as:
“co-ordinated management of resources in
natural environment (water, land, flora, fauna)
based on river basin as a geographical unit, with
objective of balancing man’s needs with
necessity of conserving resources to ensure
their sustainability”

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Six key water management:-
1) Water Supply Management
2) Irrigation Management
3) Stormwater Management
4) Flood Management
5) Water Pollution Management
6) Sanitation Management

http://aseaniwrm.water.gov.my/iwrm-in-malaysia/
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Water Balance
Inflow I Change of storage with time

dS Unit
 It  Ot
dt volume/time

System boundary

Inflow I  precipitation such as rainfall P

Watershed
surface
Outflow O  streamflow Q, evaporation E

Outflow O

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General water balance equation
dS
 It  Ot represents conservation of mass
dt

Considering a reservoir as a hydrologic system, the water balance equation over a

period of time is

S  I  O

S  P  R  G  E T

where, P = precipitation,
R = surface runoff,
G = groundwater flow,
E = evaporation,
T = transpiration,
S = change in storage in a specified time period

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 Example 1
For a given month, a 121 ha lake has 0.43 m3/s of inflow, 0.37 m3/s of outflow, and total
storage increase of 1.97 ha-m.
A USGS gage next to the lake recorded a total of 3.3 cm precipitation for the month.
Assuming that infiltration loss is insignificant for the lake, determine the evaporation loss,
in cm, over the lake for the month. Assume 1 month = 30 days.

Solution:

Area A = 121 ha = 121  104 m2 where, 1 ha = 1  104 m2

1
0.43  30  24  60  60   0.9211 m
Inflow I = 0.43 m3/s = 121104
1
 0.37  30  24  60  60   0.7926 m
Outflow O = 0.37 m3/s 121104
1.97
  0.0163 m
Storage increase S = 1.97 ha-m 121

Precipitation P = 3.3 cm = 0.033 m

Infiltration F = 0
 I  0.9211 m E ?
O  0.7926 m
S  0.0163 m
P  0.033 m
dS
Water balance equation  It  Ot
dt

S  I  P  O  E

E  I  P  O  S

E  0.9211 0.033  0.7926  0.0163

E  0.1452 m  14.52 cm

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 Example 2
A swimming pool (6 m  6 m  1.5 m) has a small leak at the bottom. For the purpose
of repair work, daily measurements of rainfall, evaporation, and water level were
carried out for 10 days as shown in the Table. Estimate the average daily leakage out
of the swimming pool in cm3/day.

Day Evaporation Rainfall Measured Level

E (mm) P (mm) S (mm)
1 12.7 - 1,524
2 0 25.4
3 12.7 -
4 0 50.8
5 12.7 -
6 12.7 -
7 0 101.6
8 12.7 -
9 12.7 -
10 12.7 - 1,321

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 Solution:

Total evaporation over 10 days E = 88.9 mm

Total rainfall over 10 days P = 177.8 mm

Change in storage over 10 days S =  203 mm

Water balance equation S  P  E  O

O  P  E  S
O  177.8  88.9   203

Outflow (leak) over 10 days O  291.9 mm

291.9
 600  600
O  10
10
3
cm
O  1.05 106
day 35