Watershed Glossary

This is a Glossary or Dictionary of terms and abbreviations used in the discipline of watershed. The glossary is being regularly updated, gathering information from various sources

Abiotic
Something that is not living (for example, rock).
Aquatic Community
Any living thing (flora or fauna) living within or completely dependant on water for all or part of its life cycle..
Aquifer
A water-bearing stratum of permeable rock or soil able to hold or transmit much water.
A body of rock that can collect groundwater, and can yield water to wells and springs. A groundwater reservoir.
Assessment
(water resources)
An examination of the aspects of the supply and demand for water and of the factors affecting the management of water resources.
Biotic
Something that is living, or pertaining to living things.
Bluebelt
A term of art describing the land area directly adjacent to streams where water quality improvements are the primary objective in management efforts.
BRGF
Backward Regions Grant Fund
Brownbelt
A term of art describing recreational trails that can be closely associated with blue- and greenbelts.
Cableway
Cable stretched above and across a stream, from which a current meter or other measuring or sampling device is suspended, and moved from one bank to the other, at predetermined depths below the water surface. The instrument may be operated from the bank or from a cable carrying personnel.
Calibration syn rating 
Experimental determination of the relationship between the quantity to be measured and the indication of the instrument, device or process which measures it.
Canopy Cover
The overhanging vegetation over a given area.
CAPART
Council for Advancement of People’s Action & Rural Technology
Catchment or watershed 
That area determined by topographic features within which rainfall will contribute to runoff at a particular point under consideration.
CAZRI
Central Arid Zone Research Institute
CBA
cost-benefit analysis
CEA
cost-effectiveness analysis
CEO
Chief Executive Officer
Channel Confinement
Ratio of bankfull channel width to width of modern floodplain. Modern floodplain is the flood-prone area and may correspond the 100-year floodplain. Typically, channel confinement is a description of how much a channel can move within its valley before it is stopped by a hill slope or terrace.
Channel Pattern
Description of how a stream channel looks as it flows down its valley (for example, braided channel or meandering channel).
Channelization
The process of structuralizing a natural stream channel, often with concrete, for flood protection purposes.
Cohesive
When describing soil, tendency of soil particles to stick together. Examples of soils with poor cohesion include soils from volcanic ash, and those high in sand or silt.
Coliform
A bacterial component used as an indicator of fecal contamination, which may lead to human health risks if exposed to contaminated waters.
Comprehensive water resources management
Water resources planning, development and control that incorporates physical, social, economic and environmental interdependencies.
Confluence
The location at which two streams intersect and begin to flow as one larger stream.
Connectivity
The physical connection between tributaries and the river, between surface water and groundwater, and between wetlands and these water sources.
Cost recovery
Fee structures that cover the cost of providing the service or investment.
CPRs
Common Property Resources
CRIDA
Central Research Institute for Dry Land Agriculture
CSWCRTI
Central Soil & Water Conservation Research & Training Institute
Data logger 
Electronic instrument designed to read and store information, such as rainfall and water level. The memory of the instrument allows a one-month autonomy with a recording rate of 5 minute-step. The instrument is directly interrogable by a portable computer.
DDP
Desert Development Programme
Debris Flow
A type of landslide that is a mixture of soil, water, logs, and boulders that travel quickly down a steep channel.
De-centralization
The distribution of responsibilities for decision making and operations to lower levels of government, community organizations, the private sector, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
Demand management
The use of price, quantitative restrictions, and other devices to limit the demand for water.
De-synchronization
To interrupt the regular timing of a process. To hold stormwater temporarily within a surface water body or within wetland vegetation resulting in lower peak storm flows.
Discharge
Outflow; the flow of a stream, canal, or aquifer.
Disturbance
Events that can affect watersheds or stream channels, such as floods, fires, or landslides. They may vary in severity from small-scale to catastrophic, and can affect entire watersheds or only local areas.
Diurnal
Showing a periodic alteration of condition with day and night, such as the fluctuation of air temperature.
DoLR
Department of Land Resources
Downcutting
When a stream channel deepens over time.
DP
District Panchayat
DPAP
Drought Prone Areas Programme
DPC
District Planning Committee
DPR
Detailed Project Report
Drainage Basin
A geographic and hydrologic subunit of a watershed.
Drainage network 
Arrangement of natural or manmade drainage channels within a catchment.
DRDA
District Rural Development Agency
Dublin Statement
The Dublin Statement on Water and Sustainable Development, adopted at the International Conference on Water and the Environment (ICWE).
EC-HELCOM
European Commission-Helsinki Commission, which in 1992 agreed the Revised Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area, setting, i.a., standards for effluent water quality.
Ecoregion
Land areas with fairly similar geology, flora, fauna, and landscape characteristics that reflect a certain ecosystem type.
Ecosystem
A complex system formed by the interaction of a community of organisms with its environment.
EIA
environmental impact assessment
Elevation
The vertical reference of a site location above mean sea level, measured in feet or meters.
Endemic
Native species found only in a particluar geographic area with comparatively restricted habitat and distribution
Ephemeral stream 
Stream becoming dry during the dry season or in particularly dry years.
Erodibility
The ease by which a soil may be eroded by natural forces or human disturbances.
 Susceptibility to erosion, erosion proneness. Sands are generally more erodible than silts, and silts more than clays; no fully satisfactory soil erodibility assessment method has yet been found. Soil erodibility might change according to the soils' physical conditions (Soil wetness, frost, recent tillage or compaction). Angular soil particles are more interlocking than rounded particles; soil colloids cement particles together; compaction increases total surface contact among particles. (Hewlett, 1982)
Erodibility Map
from the current elaborated Mediterranean common mapping methodology, expresses the same practical concept by crossing the soil's qualitative erodibility with the slope factor to assess the overall land erosion susceptibility.
Erosion
 The wearing away of the land by running water, rainfall, wind, ice or other external agents, including such processes as detachment, entrainment, suspension, transportation and mass earth movement.(SCS-New South Wales, 1986)
Erosion Risk 
Probability rate for an erosion process to start and develop as a result of changes of one or several erosion inducing or controlling factors. While climate, soil and topography are fairly stable, vegetation cover, land use and management are more liable to modifications. The concept of risk is equivalent to that of POTENTIAL erosion. (Giordano, 1991)
Erosion Status 
Actual and/or Potential Erosion assessment as related to the local environmental features such as topography, geology and soils, vegetation cover and land use. Rainfall and other climatic features are not taken into account.
Erosion Trend 
The predictable tendency of an erosion process to develop or to stabilize in terms of nature, intensity and/or area expansion.
Erosivity 
Potential ability of physical dynamic agents such as water, wind or ice to cause erosion. Falling rain is more erosive than water moving over the surface of the ground. Drop size, falling velocity and intensity are rain features related among themselves which determine rainfall erosivity. (Hewlett, 1982).
Estuarine
Pertaining to, or in, an estuary.
Eutrophication
The process of increasing nutrient and decreasing oxygen supply within a water body. This process is detrimental, if not fatal, to aquatic wildlife.
Evapotranspiration (ET)
The amount of water leaving to the atmosphere through both evaporation and transpiration.
Exotic Species
Plant or animal species brought into an area from another geographic region; see also Non-Native Species.
FAO
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Feral
Non-domesticated animals living in a natural state or environment.
Flood Attenuation
When flood levels are lowered by water storage in wetlands.
Flood Peak
The highest amount of flow that occurs during a given flood event.
Floodplain
The flat area adjoining a river channel constructed by the river in the presence of climate, and overflowed at times of high river flow.
Flume
 Manmade channel with clearly specified shape and dimensions which may be used for the measurement of discharge.
Gaging Station
A selected section of a stream channel equipped with a gage, recorder, or other facilities for measuring stream discharge.
Gaining Reach
Reach where groundwater is flowing into the stream channel to become surface water.
GDP
gross domestic product
GIS
Geographic information system. The combination of hardware and software used to store and analyze features located on the earth's surface.
GNP
gross national product
GP
Gram Panchayat
GPS
Global Positioning System
Greenbelt
Usually referred to as an area around, or within, a city reserved by official authority for park land and open space. Stream corridors are often a key element linking various areas together.
Groundwater
Water that is beneath the surface of the ground, consisting mainly of surface water that has percolated down.
GS
Gram Sabha
Gully or Channel Erosion 
The removal of soil by the formation of relatively large channels or gullies cut into the soil by concentrated surface runoff. In contrast to rills, gullies are too deep to be obliterated by ordinary tillage practices. (U.S. Soil Conservation Service, 1951)
Headwaters
The small streams and upland areas that are the source of larger streams and rivers.
Hydraulic Gradient (hydraulic head)
Water level from a given point upstream to a given point downstream; or the height of the water surface above a subsurface point. Used in analysis of both ground- and surface-water flow, and is an expression of the relative energy between two points.
Hydro-geomorphic
Pertaining to the influence of water on the formation of the earth's surface, and the influence of soil and geology on the flow of water.
Hydrograph
A graph of runoff rate, inflow rate, or discharge rate, past a specific point over time.
Hydrologic Cycle
The circulation of water around the earth, from ocean to atmosphere and back to ocean again.
Hydrology
The science of the behavior of water from the atmosphere into the soil.
Hydrophobic Soils
Soils that do not easily soak up water, and thus increase the rate of surface runoff.
IAP-WASAD
International Action Programme on Water and Sustainable Agricultural Development
ICAR
Indian Council of Agricultural Research
ICRISAT
International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics
ICWE
International Conference on Water and the Environment, attended by over 500 participants from over 100 countries and over 80 international governmental organizations and NGOs, and held in Dublin, Ireland, 26-31 January 1992.
IEC
Information, Education and Communication
IIFM
Indian Institute of Forest Management
Impervious Surface
Surface (such as pavement) that does not allow, or greatly decreases, the amount of infiltration of precipitation into the ground.
Infiltration Rate
The rate at which water penetrates the earth's surface.
Institutions
Organizational arrangements and the legal and regulatory framework - the 'enabling environment' - in which organizations operate.
Invasive Exotic
Plant or animal species from another geographic region that once introduced out compete native plants or animals and take over an habitat area.
IRMA
Institute of Rural Management, Anand
ISRO
Indian Space Research Organization
IT
Information Technology
IWDP
Integrated Wastelands Development Programme
JFMC
Joint Forest Management Committee
Land Use
Typically a group of similar on-the-ground human uses described as a single category. (see Appendix B for a listing of Land Uses within the study area).
Landslide
 A slope Mass Earth movement where a soil or substrata mass slides over a contact surface called sliding surface.
Large Woody Debris (LWD)
Logs, stumps, or root wads in the stream channel, or nearby. These function to create pools and cover for fish, and to trop and sort stream gravels.
LFA
Logical Framework Analysis
Lithofacies
 A term used to describe the physical mechanic and organic features of local soil and subsoil conditions.
Load 
The weight of dry solids being transported in any mode by the action of gravity, wind or water.
Load (bed) 
Coarse grained sediments transported don the bed of a stream.
Load (dissolved) 
Sediments transported in solution.
Load (saltation) 
Sediments whose mode of transport fluctuates between suspended and bed.
Load (suspended) 
The total sediments moving in water-combination of wash load and bed load.
Load (wash)
Fine grained sediments moving in water entirely in suspension.
Low Flows
The minimum rate of flow for a given period of time.
MANAGE
National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management
Managed Area 
Area of land where one or several human interventions take place which are directly related to the land, making use of its resources, or having an impact upon it.
Market failure
A divergence between the market outcome, without intervention, and the economically efficient solution.
Mass Earth Movements 
Erosion where main causative agents are waterlogging and gravity. Heavy and/or prolonged rains are usually the triggering factors. Landslides, mudflows, rock falls and soil creep, are mass movements.
Mass Wasting
(also soil mass movement) Downslope transport of soil and rocks due to gravitational stress.
Meandering
When a stream channel moves laterally across its valley.
Metabolize
The physical and chemical processes in an organism by which nutrients and other compounds are absorbed.
MGNREGA
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act
MGNREGS
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme
MoRD
Ministry of Rural Development
Morphology (of a basin) 
Characteristics of a drainage basin, e.g. basin area, longitudinal stream profile, topography etc.
MOU
Memorandum of Understanding
Mudflow
 Muddy flow composed of water and a very high concentration of sediments and solid weathering debris and which has been generally originated by mass earth movements such as landslides in the upstream sections of the catchment.
NABARD
National Bank for Agriculture & Rural Development
NAEP
National Afforestation & Eco-development Project
NDC
National Data Centre
NGO
Non-Governmental Organization
NIRD
National Institute of Rural Development
Non-Native Species
Plant or animal species brought into an area from another geographic region; see also Exotic Species.
NRAA
National Rainfed Area Authority
NRSC
National Remote Sensing Centre
NWDPRA
National Watershed Development Project for Rainfed Areas
O & M
operation and maintenance
Opportunity cost
The value of goods or services foregone, including environmental goods and services, when a scarce resource is used for one purpose instead of for its next best alternative use.
Peak Flow
The maximum instantaneous rate of flow during a storm or other period of time.
Percolation
The act of surface water infiltrating into and through the ground.
Perennial stream 
Stream which flows continuously all through the year.
PIAs
Project Implementing Agencies
Policy
A declared intention and course of action adopted by government, party, etc., for the achievement of a goal.
PRA
Participatory Rural Appraisal
Precipitation
The liquid equivalent (inches) of rainfall, snow, sleet, or hail collected by storage gages.
Precipitation Intensity
The rate at which water is delivered to the earth's surface.
Programme
A definite plan of intended procedure.
Project
A scheme or undertaking.
R & D
research and development
Raindrop Splash
Erosion created when a raindrop hits a bare soil surface.
Rainfall simulator 
Device to apply water in a form and at a rate comparable with natural rainfall.
Ramsar Convention
Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat, done at Ramsar on 2 February 1971 and signed by 22 European States. It came into force on 21 December 1975.
Raveling
Erosion caused by gravity, especially during rain and drying periods. Often seen on steep slopes immediately uphill of roads.
Reach 
Long straight stretch of a river in which the hydraulic elements remain rather uniform.
Recruited Large Woody Debris
A professional term assessing the amount or size of large trees in a riparian area that could potentially fall in (recruit) to the stream channel. Mechanisms for recruitment include small landslides, bank undercutting, wind throw during storms, individual trees dying of age or disease, and transport from upstream reaches.
Recurrence (interval)
The average time interval between actual occurrences of a hydrological event of a given or greater magnitude.
Recurrence Interval (return interval)
Determined from historical records. The average length of time between two events (rain, flooding) of the same size or larger. Recurrence intervals are associated with a probability. (For example, a 25-year flood would have a 4% probability of happening in any given year.)
Rill Erosion 
Removal of soil by the cutting of numerous small, but conspicuous water channels or tiny rivulets by concentrated surface runoff. The marks of rill erosion may be obliterated by ordinary tillage practices. (U.S. Soil Conservation Service, 1951)
Rilling (surface rillng)
Erosion caused by water carrying off particles of surface soil.
Riparian Area
Areas bordering streams and rivers.
Riparian Vegetation
Vegetation growing on or near the banks of a stream or other body of water in soils that are wet during some portion of the growing season. Includes areas in and near wetlands, floodplains, and valley bottoms (from Meehan 1991).
Riparian Zone
An administratively defined distance from the water's edge that can include riparian plant communities and upland plant communities. Alternatively, an area surrounding a stream, in which ecosystem processes are within the influence of the stream processes.
River basin
A geographical area determined by the watershed limits of a water system, including surface and underground water, flowing into a common terminus.
RVP&FPR
River Valley Project & Flood Prone River Project
SAUs
State Agricultural Universities
SC
Scheduled Caste
Sediment (siltation) 
Deposition by water of sediment. Technically the term siltation refers to the deposition of silt particles, but it is more commonly used to refer to the deposition of sediment.
Sediment (solid) discharge 
The quantity of sediment, measured in dry weight per unit time, transported through a channel cross-section. (It is obtained by multiplying the sediment concentration by the stream discharge).
Sediment concentration 
Quantity of sediment carried in a unit volume of water. The preferred symbol is Cs. With units of kg/m3.
Sediment delivery
Percentage between the sediment transported by a river and the total quantity of erosion material in movement, both relative to the drainage area at one particular section.
Sedimentation
The deposition or accumulation of sediment.
Sediments, fine and coarse
Fragments of rock, soil, and organic material transported are deposited into streambeds by wind, water, or gravity.
Sewage
Liquid refuse or waste matter carried off by sewers.
Sewerage
The removal and disposal of sewage and surface water by sewer systems.
SGRY
Sampoorna Grameen Rojgar Yojana
SGSY
Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana
Sheet Erosion 
The removal of a fairly uniform layer of soil from the land surface by runoff or wind. (Soil Conservation Society of America, 1970)
SHGs
Self Help Groups
Shrink-Swell
The amount of elasticity (percent clay) in a soil.
SIRDs
State Institute of Rural Development
SLNA
State Level Nodal Agency
SLPSC
State Level Project Sanctioning Committee
Soil Creep
When gravity moves the soil mantle downhill at rates too small to observe.
Soil Crusting 
Process of compaction and cementation of fine soil surface particles removed and accumulated by splash and sheet erosion processes which can lead to a complete sealing of soils pores.
Solar Radiation
The heat transferred to the earth by the sun.
Splash/Raindrop Erosion 
The spattering of soil particles caused by the impact of raindrops on the soil. The loosened particles may or may not be subsequently removed by runoff; splash erosion is an important component of sheet erosion.
SSR
Standard Schedule of Rates
ST
Scheduled Tribe
Stable Area 
Area of land with no evidence of any active erosion processes, because of the predominant stabilizing effect of one or several landscape components thus generating a state of morphodynamic equilibrium.
Stakeholder
Organization or individual that is concerned with or has an interest in water resources and that would be affected by decisions about water resources management.
Stand-replacing Fire
A fire of enough severity, at a local level, to kill all the mature trees.
Stilling pond 
Pond connected with a stream in such a way as to permit the measurement of the sedimentation in relatively still water.
Stormwater
The surface water runoff resulting from precipitation falling within a watershed.
Strategy
A set of chosen short-, medium- and long-term actions made to implement water-related policies.
Stream Density
(drainage density)
Total length of natural stream channels in a given areas, expressed as units of stream channel per square unit of area.
Streamflow
The active flow of water within a stream, river, or creek. May also be used in terms of lowflow, baseflow, etc.
Substrate
Mineral or organic material that forms the beds of a stream.
Surface Runoff
Water that runs across the top of the land without infiltrating into the soil.
Surface water
Water that is flowing across or contained on the surface of the earth, such as in rivers, streams, creeks, lakes, and reservoirs.
SVOs
Support Voluntary Organizations
SWAN
State Wide Area Network
Terracetting 
The characteristic pattern formed by numerous gently inclined steps or ledges traversing a hill slope. It is apparently caused by the combined action of soil creep and the tread and trampling of animals
Thalweg 
A term frequently used to designate the longitudinal profile of a river, i.e. from source to mouth following the line of the lowest points of a valley.
Tidal Flushing
The act of seawater displacing fresh water within a lagoon or estuary.
Torrential
 Flow in a watercourse having a steep slope with great velocity and turbulence.
Toxin
Any of a group of poisonous, usually unstable compounds generated by microorganisms, plants, or animals.
Transpiration
Loss of water to the atmosphere from living plants.
Trap efficiency 
Ability of a reservoir to trap and retain sediment, expressed as a percent of sediment yield (incoming sediment) which is retained in the reservoir.
Tributary
A smaller river or stream that joins a larger one and contributes to its water flow.
Turbidity 
Presence of fine visible material in suspension in a liquid which is not of sufficient size to be seen as individual particles but which prevents the passage of light through the liquid.
UFW
un-accounted-for water, i. e., the volume of water lost through leakage or irregular practices between entering a distribution system and reaching the users.
UGs
User Groups
UN
United Nations
UNCED
United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1992). Also known as The Earth Summit.
Unstable Area 
Area of land where one or several active erosion processes occur.
Upland Vegetation
Vegetation typical for a given region, growing on drier upland soils. The same plant species may grow in both riparian and upland zones.
Vegetation Cover 
Portion of soil which is covered by the plant canopy.
Velocity
The speed at which water is flowing in a river or stream. Usually given in terms of cubic feet per second.
VOs
Voluntary Organisations
Water Divide Line 
Dividing ridge between two catchments.
Water Quality Constituent
Any of a number of components affecting the quality of water as identified by the State Water Resources Control Board.
Waterlogging 
Condition of land when the water table stands at or near the land surface and may be detrimental to plant growth.
Watershed
The region of land drained by a river, stream, or creek.
WC
Watershed Committee
WCDC
Watershed Cell cum Data Centre
WCs
Watershed Committees
WDF
Watershed Development Fund
WDT
Watershed Development Team
Weir
A small dam placed in a river or stream to control or gage the flow of water.
Weir
 Overflow structure which may be used for controlling upstream water level or for measuring discharge or for both.
Wetlands
Areas of marsh, fen, peatland, or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water less than six metres deep at low tide.
WTCs
Water Technology Centres
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