Characteristics of Watersheds

A watershed is a basic unit of hydrological behavior. On the

land surface, it is a geographical unit in which the
hydrological cycle and its components can be analyzed.
Usually a watershed is defined as the area that appears, on the
basis of topography, to contribute all the water that passes
through a given point of a stream. A watershed embraces all
its natural and artificial (man-made) features, including its
surface and subsurface features, climate and weather patterns,
geologic and topographic settings, soils and vegetation
characteristics, and land use (shown in figure 5.1). A
watershed carries water “shed” from the land after rain falls
and snow melts. Drop by drop, water is channeled into soils,
groundwater, creeks, and streams, making its way to larger
rivers and eventually the sea.

Fig. 5.1. A Watershed Illustration. (Source: Rees, 1986)

5.2 Classification of Watershed
Watersheds can be classified using any measurable
characteristics in the area like- size, shape, location, ground
water exploitation, and land use. However, the main
classification of watershed is discussed broadly on the basis of
size and land use. Two watersheds of the same size may
behave very differently if they do not have similar land and
channel phases. The descriptions of different watershed
classifications are as below.
5.2.1 Size – The main implication of watershed size appears
in terms of spatial heterogeneity of hydrological processes.
The spatial variability of watershed characteristics increases
with size, therefore, large watersheds are most heterogeneous.
As the watershed size increases, storage increases. Based on
size, the watersheds are divided into three classes.

1. Small < 250 km2

Watersheds
2. Medium between 250 to 2500
Watersheds km2

3. Large > 2500 km2

Watersheds
5.2.1.1 Small Watersheds: Small watersheds are those,
where the overland flow and land phase are dominant.
Channel phase is relatively less conspicuous. The watershed is
highly sensitive to high-intensity and short-duration rainfalls.
5.2.1.2 Medium Watersheds: Being medium in size, the
workability in these watersheds are easy due to accessible
approach. Rather than size, shape of the watershed plays a
dominant role. Overland flow and land phase are prominent.
5.2.1.3 Large Watersheds: These watersheds are less
sensitive to high-intensity-rainfalls of short duration. The
channel networks and channel phase are well-developed, and,
thus, channel storage is dominant. 
5.2.2 Land Use – Land use defines the exploitation (natural
and human interactions) characteristics of watersheds which
affect the various hydrological processes within the
watershed. The watershed classification based on the land use
can be given as below. 
1. Agricultural
2. Urban
3. Mountainous
4. Forest
5. Desert
6. Coastal or marsh, or
7. Mixed - a combination of two or more of the
previous classifications
5.2.2.1 Agricultural Watershed: Agricultural watershed is
the watershed in which agricultural activities (crop
cultivation) is dominant. It experiences perhaps the most
dynamically significant land-use change. This usually leads to
increased infiltration, increased erosion, and/or decreased
runoff. Depression storage is also increased by agricultural
operations. When the fields are barren, falling raindrops tend
to compact the soil and infiltration is reduced. There is lesser
development of streams in agricultural watersheds. The small
channels formed by erosion and runoff in the area are
obliterated by tillage operations. The soil structure is altered
by regular application of organic and/or inorganic manure. 
This, in turn, leads to changed infiltration characteristics.
5.2.2.2 Urban Watershed: These are the watershed areas
having maximum manipulation for the convenience of human
being. These are dominated by buildings, roads, streets,
pavements, and parking lots. These features reduce the
infiltrating land area and increase imperviousness. As
drainage systems are artificially built, the natural pattern of
water flow is substantially altered. For a given rainfall event,
interception and depression storage can be significant but
infiltration is considerably reduced. As a result, there is
pronounced increase in runoff and pronounced decrease in
soil erosion. Thus, an urban watershed is more vulnerable to
flooding if the drainage system is inadequate. Once a
watershed is urbanized, its land use is almost fixed and its
hydrologic behavior changes due to changes in precipitation.
5.2.2.3 Mountainous Watershed: Because of higher
altitudes, such watersheds receive considerable snowfall. Due
to steep gradient and relatively less porous soil, infiltration is
less and surface runoff is dominantly high for a given rainfall
event. The areas downstream of the mountains are vulnerable
to flooding. Due to snow melt, water yield is significant even
during spring and summer.
5.2.2.4 Forest Watershed: These are the watersheds where
natural forest cover dominates other land uses. In these
watersheds, interception is significant, and evapotranspiration
is a dominant component of the hydrologic cycle. The ground
is usually littered with leaves, stems, branches, wood, etc.
Consequently, when it rains, the water is held by the trees and
the ground cover provided greater opportunity to infiltrate.
The subsurface flow becomes dominant and there are times
when there is little to no surface runoff. Because forests resist
flow of overland water, the peak discharge is reduced.
Complete deforestation could increase annual water yield by
20 to 40 %.
5.2.2.5 Desert Watershed: There is little to virtually no
vegetation in desert watersheds. The soil is mostly sandy and
little annual rainfall occurs. Stream development is minimal.
Whenever there is rainfall, most of it is absorbed by the
porous soil, some of it evaporates, and the remaining runs off
only to be soaked in during its journey. There is limited
groundwater recharge due to occurrence of less rainfall in
these watersheds.
5.2.2.6 Coastal Watershed: The watersheds in coastal areas
may partly be urban and are in dynamic contact with the sea.
Their hydrology is considerably influenced by backwater
from wave and tidal action of the sea. Usually, these
watersheds receive high rainfall, mostly of cyclonic type, do
not have channel control in flow, and are vulnerable to severe
local flooding. In these watersheds, the water table is high,
and saltwater intrusion threatens the health of coastal aquifers,
which usually are a source of the fresh water supply.  
5.2.2.7 Marsh or Wetland Watershed: Such lands are
almost flat and are comprised of swamps, marshes, water
courses, etc. They have rich wildlife and plenty of vegetation.
As water is no limiting factor to satisfy evaporative demand,
evaporation is dominant. Rainfall is normally high and
infiltration is minimal. Most of the rainfall becomes runoff.
The flood hydrograph peaks gradually and lasts for a long
time.
5.2.2.8 Mixed Watershed: These are the watersheds, where
multiple land use/land cover exists either because of natural
settings or due to a combination of natural and human
interaction activities. In these watersheds, a combination of
two or more of the previous classifications occurs and none of
the single characteristics dominate the area. In India, most of
the watersheds are of mixed nature of characteristics, where
agriculture, forest, settlements (urban and rural) etc. land use
occurs.
5.3 Watershed Characteristics: Physical and
Geomorphologic Characteristics associated with
Watersheds
Watershed geomorphology refers to the study of the
characteristics, configuration and evolution of land forms and
properties; developing physical characteristics of the
watershed. It comprises of the characteristics of land surface
as well as the characteristics of the channels within the
watershed/basin boundary. These properties of watersheds
significantly affect the characteristics of runoff and other
hydrological processes. The principal watershed
characteristics are:
1. Basin Area
2. Basin Slope
3. Basin Shape
4. Basin Length
Basin shape is reflected by a number of watershed parameters
as are given below.
1. Form Factor
2. Shape Factor
3. Circularity Ratio
4. Elongation Ratio
 5. Compactness Coefficient
Along with the surface characteristics of a watershed, the
channel characteristics are important in transiting the runoff
water from the overland region to channels (streams) and also
from the channel of one order (primary) to the other higher
order (e.g. river stream). The most common and important
channel characteristics of the watersheds are:
1. Channel Order
2. Channel Length
3. Channel Slope
4. Channel Profile
5. Drainage Density
The quantification of these physical and geomorphologic
properties of watershed/basin are important for estimating the
watershed hydrologic processes.
5.4 Quantitative Characteristics of Watersheds
5.4.1 Physical Characteristics
Watershed geomorphology refers to the physical
characteristics of the watershed. Basin area, basin length,
basin slope, and basin shape are the physical characteristics of
watersheds, significantly affecting the characteristics of runoff
and other hydrologic processes. The quantification of these
watershed/basin characteristics can be done as discussed
below.
5.4.1.1 Basin Area: The area of watershed is also known as
the drainage area and it is the most important watershed
characteristic for hydrologic analysis. It reflects the volume of
water that can be generated from a rainfall. Once the
watershed has been delineated, its area can be determined by
approximate map methods,   planimeter or GIS.
Basin area is defined as the area contained within the vertical
projection of the drainage divide on a horizontal plane.
Watershed area is comprised of two sub-components; Stream
areas and Inter-basin areas. The inter-basin areas are the
surface elements contributing flow directly to streams of order
higher than 1. Stream areas are those areas that would
constitute the area draining to a predetermined point in the
stream or outlet. For example, the stream area for first-order
streams would be delineated by measuring the drainage area
for each first-order channel. Horton (1945) inferred that mean
drainage areas of progressively higher orders might form a
geometric sequence. This characteristic was formulated as a
law of drainage areas.

where Aw = mean area of basins of order w, A1 = mean area of

first-order basins, Ra = Stream Area Ratio and normally
varies from 3 to 6
Ra = Aw/Aw-1
5.4.1.2 Basin Length: Length can be defined in more than
one way (Fig. 5.2) -
1. The greatest straight-line distance between any
two points on the perimeter
2. The greatest distance between the outlet and
any point on the perimeter
3. The length of the main stream from its source
(projected to the perimeter) to the outlet

Fig. 5.2. Diagram Defining Basin Length.

(Source: Zavoianu, 2011)
Conceptually the basin length is the distance traveled by the
surface drainage and sometimes more appropriately labeled as
hydrologic length. This length is generally used in computing
a time parameter, which is a measure of the travel time of
water through a watershed. The watershed length is therefore
measured along the principal flow path from the watershed
outlet to the basin boundary. Since the channel does not
extend up to the basin boundary, it is necessary to extend a
line from the end of the channel to the basin boundary. The
measurement follows a path where the greatest volume of
water would generally travel.
Basin length, Lb, is the longest dimension of a basin parallel to
its principal drainage channel and Basin width can be
measured in a direction approximately perpendicular to the
length measurement. The relation between mainstream length
and drainage-basin area for small watershed is given below;
where Lb is in km and A in km2.
Lb = 1.312 A0.568
5.4.1.3 Basin Slope: Watershed/basin slope affects the
momentum of runoff. It reflects the rate of change of
elevation with respect to distance along the principal flow
path. It is usually calculated as the elevation difference
between the endpoints of the main flow path divided by the
length. The elevation difference may not necessarily be the
maximum elevation difference within the watershed since the
point of highest elevation may occur along a side boundary of
the watershed rather than at the end of the principal flow path.
If there is significant variation in the slope along the main
flow path, it may be preferable to consider several sub-
watersheds and estimate the slope of each.
Basin slope has a profound effect on the velocity of overland
flow, watershed erosion potential, and local wind systems.
Basin slope S is defined as
S = h/L                                      
where h = fall in meters, and L = horizontal distance (length)
over which the fall occurs.
5.4.1.4 Basin Shape: Basin shape is not usually used directly
in hydrologic design methods; however, parameters that
reflect basin shape are used occasionally and have a
conceptual basis. Watersheds have an infinite variety of
shapes, and the shape supposedly reflects the way that runoff
will “bunch up” at the outlet. A circular watershed would
result in runoff from various parts of the watershed reaching
the outlet at the same time. An elliptical watershed having the
outlet at one end of the major axis and having the same area
as the circular watershed would cause the runoff to be spread
out over time, thus producing a smaller flood peak than that of
the circular watershed. A number of watershed parameters
have been developed to reflect basin shape. Form factor,
shape factor, circularity ratio, elongation ratio, and
compactness coefficient are the typical parameters; important
in defining the shape of a watershed/basin; and are discussed
as below.
5.4.1.5 Form Factor: The area of the basin divided by the
square of axial length of the basin; where value < 1
A/L2
5.4.1.6 Shape Factor: The drainage area divided by the
square of the main channel length; where value > 1
L2/A
5.4.1.7 Circularity Ratio: The ratio of basin area to the area
of a circle having the same perimeter as the basin; where
value £ 1
12.57 A/Pr2
5.4.1.8 Elongation Ratio: The ratio of the diameter of a circle
of the same area as the basin to maximum basin length; where
value £ 1
1.128A0.5/L
Compaction Coefficient: The perimeter of the basin divided
by circumference of equivalent circular area; where value ³ 1
 0.2821Pr/A0.5
5.4.2 Channel Characteristics
The basin geomorphology plays an important role in the
transition of water from the overland region to channels
(streams) and also from the channel of one order to the other.
It is easily determined by contour map and drainage map of
the basin. Channel order, channel length, channel slope,
channel profile, and drainage density are the most common
channel characteristics, important in estimating the watershed
hydrological processes and are discussed as below.
5.4.2.1 Channel Order: The first-order streams are defined
as those channels that have no tributaries. The junction of two
first-order channels form a second-order channel. A third-
order channel is formed by the junction of two second-order
channels. Thus, a stream of any order has two or more
tributaries of the previous lower order. This scheme of stream
ordering is referred to as the Horton-Strahler ordering scheme
(Fig.5.3)

Fig. 5.3. The Horton-Strahler ordering scheme.

 (Source: http://www.fgmorph.com/fg_4_8.php)
Nw = RbW-w
Or
log Nw = W log Rb - w log Rb = a – b
(a= W log Rb, b=w log Rb)
where Nw = number of streams of order w; W = order of the
watershed; and Rb = Bifurcation Ratio varies between 3 and
5. This law is an expression of topological phenomenon, and
is a measure of drainage efficiency.
Bifurcation ratio is defined as the ratio between the number of
streams of a particular order to the number of streams of one
higher order.
Rb = Nw/Nw+1
5.4.2.2 Channel Length: This refers to the length of channels
of each order. The average length of channels of each higher
order increases as a geometric sequence. Thus, the first-order
channels are the shortest of all the channels and the length
increases geometrically as the order increases. This relation is
called Horton's law of channel lengths and can be formulated
as:
where Lw = total length of all channels of order w; N w =
number of channels of order w; Lw = mean channel length of
order w; L1 = mean length of the first-order streams;
RL = Stream-Length Ratio generally varies between 1.5 and
3.5
RL = Lw/Lw-1
5.4.2.3 Channel Slope: The channel slope is determined as
the elevation difference between the endpoints of the main
channel divided by the channel length.
5.4.2.4 Channel Profile: It includes the point of origin of the
stream called the head, the point of termination called the
mouth, and a decreasing gradient of the stream channel
towards the mouth.
5.4.2.5 Drainage Density: Drainage density (Dd) is the
measure of closeness of drainage spacing. It is the indication
of drainage efficiency of overland flow and the length of
overland flow as well as the index of relative proportions. It is
defined as the length of drainage per unit area. This term was
first introduced by Horton (1932) and is expressed as
Dd = L/A 
or

where L = Total length of all channels of all orders, A = Area;

W = Basin order; Nw = No. of basin of different order.
Horton (1945) recommended using one-half the reciprocal of
the drainage density to determine the average length of
overland flow (L0) for the entire drainage basin
L0 = 1/(2 Dd)
Where Dd basically describes the average distance between
streams and L0 approximates the average length of overland
flow from the divides of the stream channels.