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The Relationship between Watershed Physiography, Tile Flow, and Streamflow Characteristics

Published by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, St. Joseph, Michigan www.asabe.org

Citation:  9th International Drainage Symposium held jointly with CIGR and CSBE/SCGAB Proceedings, 13-16 June 2010  IDS-CSBE-100241.(doi:10.13031/2013.32173)
Authors:   Ramesh P Rudra, S I Ahmed, M Khayer, W T Dickinson, B Gharabaghi
Keywords:   Slow response, Rapid response, Streamflow, Baseflow separation

The slow (base flow) and the quick (surface runoff and tile flow) responses of the stream flow are key components to characterize a watershed for its physiographic and geological features. The overall objective of this study is to separate baseflow from streamflow and its relationship to physiographic characteristics of a watershed. A computer program was developed to quantify the amount of base flow index (BFI, base flow/stream flow) using six methods for 161 watersheds in Ontario. The lowest amount of baseflow is generated by digital filter method and the highest by base sliding method. Out of 115 watersheds in southern Ontario, 30 can be classified as slow response watersheds, 9 as rapid response watersheds, and 66 as medium response watersheds. For the 46 watersheds in northern Ontario, all the watersheds can be classified as slow response watersheds. The analysis of effect of tile drains on base flow showed that tile drainage reduces the amount of baseflow contribution to streamflow. Results also showed that base flow index and runoff coefficient are affected by hydrologic soil group, soil drainage class, and percent of tile drained area. It was also observed that when percentage of heavy textured soil increases, most of the streamflow contribution to the stream is as a rapid flow.

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