Water Resources Engineering - Softcover

Wurbs, Ralph; James, Wesley

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0130812935 ISBN 13: 9780130812933

Publisher: Pearson, 2001

Synopsis

For a basic course in water resources engineering. Also appropriate for more advanced undergraduate and graduate courses and as a reference for practicing engineers.

Designed to provide a broad coverage of pertinent topics concerning water resource engineering, this text focuses on fundamental topics of hydraulics, hydrology, and water management. Water resources engineering concepts and methods are addressed from the perspective of practical applications in water management and associated environmental and infrastructure management. The focus is on mathematical modeling and analysis using state-of-the-art computational techniques and computer software. The text is written to easily adapt to the spectrum of ways that individual courses and sequences of undergraduate and graduate courses are organized at various universities, providing flexibility for the instructor.

About this title

About the Author

Wesley P. James has over 40 years of experience in hydraulics, hydrology, and water resources engineering, working in federal agencies, private consulting, and universities. He has continued his consulting engineering practice since retiring in 1997 after 26 years with the Civil Engineering Department, Texas A&M University. His teaching, research, and consulting have been in the areas of watershed modeling, remote sensing, groundwater engineering, stormwater management, and design and analysis of hydraulic structures and facilities. Honors include the national J. M. Robbins Excellence in Teaching Award from the Chi Epsilon Civil Engineering Honor Society in 1990. Dr. James holds degrees in Civil Engineering from Montana State University, Purdue University, and Oregon State University.

Ralph A. Wurbs is a Professor in the Environmental and Water Resources Engineering Division with the Civil Engineering Department, Texas A&M University. He worked in the water resources program of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for nine years prior to joining the TAMU faculty in 1980. Much of his research and consulting have been related to river basin management. His several teaching awards include the national J. M. Bobbins Excellence in Teaching Award from the Chi Epsilon Civil Engineering Honor Society in 2000. His many publications include two other books published by Prentice Hall: Water Management Models: A Guide to Software (1995) and Modeling and Analysis of Reservoir System Operations (1996). Dr. Wurbs holds degrees from Texas A&M University, University of Texas at Arlington, and Colorado State University.

From the Back Cover

Water Resources Engineering covers the fundamentals of hydrology, hydraulics, and water systems design and analysis from the perspective of practical applications in water management and associated environmental and infrastructure management. The book is designed primarily as a text for undergraduate courses in civil engineering and related fields but is also a useful reference for practicing engineers.

Key Objectives:

• to prepare students for professional practice in a field with unlimited challenges and opportunities for serving society
• to provide comprehensive coverage of fundamental concepts and techniques that lays a foundation for life-long learning
• to focus on state-of-the-art computer-based modeling and analysis methods
• to enhance the student's learning experience via numerous examples and homework problems

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Effective management of water resources, locally, regionally, and globally, is crucial for human welfare, economic prosperity, and environmental vitality. The professional field of water resources engineering is concerned with solving problems and meeting needs associated with municipal, industrial, and agricultural water supply and use, water quality in streams and aquifers, erosion and sedimentation, protection of ecosystems and other natural resources, recreation, navigation, hydroelectric power generation, stormwater drainage, and flood damage mitigation.

This textbook is designed for a basic course in water resources engineering focusing on fundamental topics of hydraulics, hydrology, and water management. It is also appropriate for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses and as a reference for practicing engineers. Water resources engineering concepts and methods are addressed from the perspective of practical applications in water management and associated environmental and infrastructure management. The focus is on mathematical modeling and analysis using state-of-the-art computational techniques and computer software.

The book is based largely on the authors' combined total of more than 40 years experience in teaching the required undergraduate civil engineering course at Texas A&M University entitled Water Resources Engineering and other undergraduate and graduate courses that build on this course. The book reflects ideas formulated by the authors and their colleagues and students for updating and improving these courses. It is designed to provide broad coverage of pertinent topics with flexibility for adaptation to the spectrum of ways that individual courses and sequences of undergraduate and graduate courses are organized at various universities.

The first three chapters are introductory overviews of the professional practice of water resources engineering (Chapter 1), the science of hydrology (Chapter 2), and fundamentals of fluid mechanics (Chapter 3). Chapters through 9 each focus on specific aspects of water resources engineering design and analysis, including pressure conduit hydraulics, open channel hydraulics, hydraulic and hydrologic routing, frequency analysis, watershed modeling, and groundwater engineering. In Chapter 10, selected methods from previous chapters are applied to urban stormwater management. Chapter 11 is an introduction to the application of systems simulation, optimization, and economic evaluation techniques in water management decision-making. Chapter 12 introduces practices and issues of comprehensive river basin management.

Chapters 1, 2, and 12 provide a broad qualitative overview of hydrology and water resources management. Chapter 3 reviews basic principles of fluid mechanics. The hydrologic and hydraulic analysis concepts and computational methods presented in Chapters 4 through 10 are applied in professional practice as components of computer models that simulate natural and constructed water systems. Chapter 11 integrates economic and systems analysis methods, along with hydrologic and hydraulic engineering methods, in a broader systems view of water resources planning and management.

The chapters can be covered in essentially any order, subject to the following considerations. Students using the text will likely have already completed a course in fluid mechanics and may not need Chapter 3. However, because hydraulics is built on fluid mechanics, a brief review of basic fluid mechanics concepts is presented in Chapter 3 prior to addressing hydraulics in depth in Chapters 4-6 and 9-10. The basic overview of hydrology presented in Chapter 2 is prerequisite for Chapter 7, "Hydrologic Frequency Analysis," and Chapter 8, "Modeling Watershed Hydrology," and also provides an introduction for Chapter 9, "Groundwater Engineering." Chapter 10, "Urban Stormwater Management," applies methods from all of the hydrology and hydraulics chapters. Chapter 1 is the only prerequisite chapter for Chapters 11 and 12. Although Chapters 11 and 12 complement each other, either may be covered without the other.

Sufficient material is provided for multiple courses, particularly if supplemented by the computer models discussed in the book. The text may be used for courses in hydrology, hydraulics, urban stormwater management, and water systems planning and management, as well as for a fundamental first course in water resources engineering. A set of computer programs developed in conjunction with the text enhances understanding and application of computational methods. Modeling capabilities provided by generalized simulation models developed by federal water agencies and other entities greatly contribute to water resources engineering practice and play an important role in education.

The authors gratefully acknowledge the contributions of our students and colleagues at Texas A&M University in shaping our perspectives on the subject matter of this book. We join the publisher in thanking the following reviewers for their thoughtful comments during the development of the manuscript: Paul C. Chan, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Robert D. Kersten, University of Central Florida, and Thomas C. Piechota, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Mrs. Joyce Hyden typed much of the manuscript, proficiently as always. Finally, we thank our wives, Keri and Karen, for their enduring patience and support during the project.

RALPH A. WURBS
WESLEY P. .LAMES

Edition details

• Publisher: Pearson
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0130812935
• ISBN 13: 9780130812933
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 840