In flat, pervious areas, rainfalls of a certain intensity are frequently essential to the production of any resulting stream flow. In a certain Colorado drainage area, the drainage channel is normally dry except after a rainfall of one-half inch or more. A less rainfall, except under the condition of a previously saturated area, evaporates and sinks through the soil and into the deep lying pervious sand rock under the surface which transmits it beyond the drainage area. Such results are frequently greatly obscured by the interference of other factors, such as temperature, vegetation, etc.
The natural storage of any drainage area and the possibilities of artificial storage depend principally upon its topography and geology. Storage equalizes flow, although the withdrawal of precipitation by snow or ice storage in northern areas often reduces winter flow to the minimum for the year. Both surface and sub-surface storage sometimes hold the water from the streams at times when it might be advantageously used. Storage, while essential to regulation, is not always an advantage to immediate flow conditions.
UNDERGROUND AND SURFACE WATERS IN RELATION TO EXCAVATION AND CONSTRUCTION
Scarcely more than a mention of this subject is necessary. In mining, the pumping charge is one of the great factors of cost. A forecast of the amount and flow of water to be encountered in mining is based on the geologic conditions. The same is true in excavating tunnels, canals, and deep foundations. Detailed study of the amount and nature of water in the rock and soil of the Panama Canal has been vital to a knowledge of the cause and possibilities of prevention of slides. Rock slides in general are closely related to the amount and distribution of the water content.
The importance of ground-water as a detriment in military operations was shown during the recent war in trenching and other field works. At the outset, with the possible exception of the German army, a lack of scientific study of ground-water conditions led to much unnecessary difficulty. It soon became necessary to study and map the water conditions in great detail in advance of operations. Much of this work was done by geologists (see Chapter XIX).
Geological considerations are involved in a great variety of engineering undertakings related to river and harbor improvements, dam sites, etc., mentioned in Chapter XX.