CE461WATERRESOURCESENGINEERING

Spring2014
TuesdaysandThursdays11:15am12:30pmin109WalkerBuilding

INSTRUCTOR: Dr.AlfonsoMeja
OFFICE:
215BSackettBuilding
TELEPHONE: 8650639
EMAIL:
amejia@engr.psu.edu
OFFICEHOURS:Dr.Mejias:TUESDAYS2:00pm3:00pm,THURSDAYS4:00pm5:00pm,orbyappointment

TA:
RyanJones
OFFICE:
406SackettBuilding(4thFloorofSackettBuilding)
EMAIL:
rmj5093@psu.edu
OFFICEHOURS:WEDNESDAYS1pm2pmandFRIDAYS11am12pm

REQUIREDTEXT:LarryW.Mays,WaterResourcesEngineering,2ndEdition,JohnWiley&Sons,Inc.,New

York,NY,2011

GuidednotesforthisclasswillbemadeavailablethroughANGEL.

GRADING:
Participation
10%(InClassExercises)

Homework

30%

BiWeeklyQuizzes
45%

ClassProject
15%

Finalgradeswillbebasedontheweightedaveragespecifiedaboveandassignedasfollows:
A=94100%
A=9093%
B+=8789%
B=8486%
B=8083%
C+=7679%
C=7075%
D=6069%
F<60%

Ireservetherighttoadjustyourgrades.Yourgradewillonlyimproveifadjustmentsarenecessary.Feelfreeto
contactmeduringofficehoursorbyappointmentifyouhavegraderelatedquestionsorconcerns.Iwillprovide
regulargradepostingstohelpyoukeeptrackofyourprogressinthecourse.

COURSELEARNINGOBJECTIVES:
WaterResourcesEngineeringisaboutsolvingproblemstoachievewatersecurityforpeople,basedonasound
scientificunderstandingofhydrologicandhydraulicprocesses.Watersecurityforpeopleincludesprotectionfrom
excesswaterandfromwatershortage,aswellasprovidingsufficientwaterforasustainableenvironment.

Attheendofthisclassyouwill:
beawareofthemainwaterresourcesissuesatlocal,national,andglobalscale,
beabletoqualitativelyandquantitativelydescribethemainprocessesinthehydrologiccycle,and
beabletoprovidesolutionsfortypicalwaterresourcesproblemsfoundinpractice.

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COURSEDESCRIPTION:
This course offers a quantitative introduction to water resources engineering based on a sound background in
fluid mechanics applied to understanding hydrologic and hydraulic processes. Hydrologic processes include
rainfall,evapotranspiration,infiltration,groundwaterflow,surfacerunoff,androuting.Thisknowledgeisapplied
to the analysis of the natural watercycle, humanmade water systems including flood and stormwater control,
reservoirs,andhydrologicextremes(floodsanddroughts).

INCLASSPARTICIPATION:
Pleasebringyourtext,notes,acalculator,afewgoodpiecesofpaper,andscrappapertoeachclass.Youwillbe
participatinginthesolutionanddiscussionofinclassexerciseproblems.Youwillworkaloneorinsmallgroups
while solving these problems. Each group will hand in their attempt to solve the problem with each members
signatureonthepaper.Simplyattemptingthesolutionwillresultinfullparticipationcreditfortheday.Thesein
class exercises will require that you complete the assigned readings prior to the beginning of each class. Note
that participation counts for 10% of your grade. You are encouraged to keep your notes/materials organized.

ONLINECLASSPARTICIPATION:
AllcourseemailsandwebpostingswillbemadeusingtheANGELcoursemanagementsoftware.Youwillneedto
regularly login (https://cms.psu.edu/default.asp) to check course announcements, download inclass example
solutions,andaccesspostedhomeworksolutions.

Important:Whenyou1stloginintothesystemyoumustconfigureMySettingstoforwardcourseemailstoyour
primaryemailaccountasfollows:

Step1:Loginintosystem

Step2:ClickPreferences

Step3:ClickSystemSettings
Step4:TypeyourPSUEmailunderForwardingAddressandsetForwardingModeasshownbelow:

Step5:ClickSave.Younowshouldreceiveallcourseannouncementsinyourprimaryemailaccountas
wellasyourANGELaccount.

HOMEWORK:
Homework will be assigned biweekly and is due at the beginning of class on the Thursday of the subsequent
week.Latehomeworkwillnotbeaccepted.Feelfreetoworkontheassignmentsingroupsof2or3.Ifyouare
workingasagroup,eachgroupmemberneedstosubmitahomework.

Eachassignmentrequires:
Yourname(s)oneachpageofstapledsolutions.
Alegiblestepbysteppresentation(inpencil)ofthesolutions(includeproblemdiagrams).
Boxedanswerspresentedinproperunits.

Solutionswillbemadeavailableafteryourassignmentshavebeencollected.

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CLASSPROJECT:
Youwillworkingroupsofthreefortheclassproject.Theprojectwillinvolveworkingwithcomputertools(e.g.,
GIS,HECGeoHMS,andHECHMS)toperformanalysisandmodelingtasks.Thecentralgoalwiththeclassproject
isforyoutogainfamiliaritywithtoolscommonlyusedinwaterresourcesengineering.Wewillmeetafewtimes
in the semester in the CAD lab; the TA will lead these meetings. More details on the project content and
requirements will be provided during the semester. You will need to complete and submit two assignments as
partoftheclassproject.

QUIZZES:
Thisclasshasnomidtermorfinalexams.Quizzeswillbegiveninclassonthedateslistedbelow(every2weeks).
Makeupquizzeswillnotbegiven.Inextremecases,aquizgradewillbereplacedbytheaverageofyourgrades
ontheremainingquizzes(proofofillnessoremergencywillberequired).Forquizzes,youmustworkinpencil.
Youareallowedtobringinacalculator(inmostcasesthesimplestofcalculatorswillsuffice),butnoothercell
phones,blackberriesoranyotherelectronicswillbeallowed.Thequizwillincludequestionsbasedonthereading
material(Mays),theinclasslecturediscussionsaswellasthepostedlecturenotes.Youwillnotbeabletoget
themaximumnumberofpointswithouthavingreadtherelevantchaptersinMays!

EXTRACREDIT:
(1) Thiscourseintroducesyoutotheimportanceofwaterresourcesengineering.Iwillincreaseyourscoreon
each homework assignment by 10% of the total points possible, if you find examples in newspapers,
magazines,ortheinternetofrealworldproblemswherethetopicscoveredinthiscourseplayavitalrole.
Submita1paragraph(<300words),wellwrittensynopsisthatprovides:
Asummaryoftheproblem(inyourownwords).
A brief discussion of how the problem relates to this class (what principles covered in class are
importantinsolvingtheproblem?).
Areferenceforwhereyoufoundthestory.

(2) Thisextracreditactivitywillbespecifiedlaterinthesemester.Itwillberelatedtotheclassproject(part
II). If you decide to pursue this extra credit activity, assuming that you do it correctly, you will get an
additional3pointsonyourfinalgradefortheclass.Aminimumof1pointwillbegiveniftheanalysisis
seriouslyattemptedbutthefinalanswerisincorrect.

ACADEMICINTEGRITY
The
College
of
Engineering
statement
on
academic
integrity
is
available
at
http://www.engr.psu.edu/FacultyStaff/AcademicIntegrity.aspx. Please review this information as it provides
details on what constitutes a violation of academic integrity, how violations are dealt with, and penalties for
violations.

OFFICEFORDISABILITYSERVICES
Penn State welcomes students with disabilities into the University's educational programs. If you have a
disabilityrelated need for reasonable academic adjustments in this course, contact the Office for Disability
Services (ODS) at 8148631807 (V/TTY). For further information regarding ODS, please visit the Office for
DisabilityServicesWebsiteathttp://equity.psu.edu/ods/.

Inordertoreceiveconsiderationforcourseaccommodations,youmustcontactODSandprovidedocumentation
(see the documentation guidelines at http://equity.psu.edu/ods/guidelines/documentationguidelines). If the
documentation supports the need for academic adjustments, ODS will provide a letter identifying appropriate
academic adjustments. Please share this letter and discuss the adjustments with your instructor as early in the
course as possible. You must contact ODS and request academic adjustment letters at the beginning of each
semester.

Thecoursescheduleisonthenextpage
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COURSESCHEDULE(subjecttochange,iftopicsrequiremorelecturetime)
Lec.#
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14

Week/Date
1TJan.14
1ThJan.16
2TJan.21
2ThJan.23
3TJan.28
3ThJan.30
4TFeb.4
4ThFeb.6
5TFeb.11
5ThFeb.13
6TFeb.18
6ThFeb.20
7TFeb.25
7ThFeb.27

Topic
CourseIntroduction
Principlesofflow;controlvolume andcontinuity
Controlvolumeandcontinuity continued
Energy;momentum
Pressureandpressureforces
Hydrologiccycle; precipitation
Designstorms;limitingstorms
Evaporation;energybalance
Evaporation;othermethods
Infiltration;unsaturatedflow
GIS(CADLab)
Infiltration;unsaturatedflow
GISandHECGeoHMS(CADLab)
Groundwaterflow;steady1Dgroundwaterflow

15
16

17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24

8TMar.4
8ThMar.6
Mar.915
9TMar.18
9ThMar.20
10TMar.25
10ThMar.27
11TApr.1
11ThApr.3
12TApr.8
12ThApr.10

25
26
27
28
29
30

13TApr.15
13ThApr.17
14TApr.22
14ThApr.24
15TApr.29
15ThMay1

Surfacerunoffbasin/losses
Surfacerunoffcontinued
NOCLASSESSpringBreak
Unithydrograph
Unithydrograph,overlandflow
Reservoirrouting
Streamflowrouting
Probabilityconcepts
Commondistributions
HECHMS
Waterexcessmanagement
**LateDropDeadline**
HECHMS
Hydrologicfrequencyanalysis
Floodfrequencyanalysis
Floodcontrol;flooddamage
Guestspeakeroradvancedtopics
Guestspeakeroradvancedtopics

Reading
1
3.13.2
3.3
3.43.5
3.6
7.17.2.2
7.2.37.2.5
7.37.3.1
7.3.27.3.3
7.47.4.1
TBA
7.4.2
TBA
6.16.2.1,
6.3
8.18.2
8.68.7
8.3
8.48.5
9.19.2
9.3
10.1
10.2
TBA
10.3
TBA
10.4
10.5
14.114.4

Assignments

Quiz#1

Homework#1due

Quiz#2

Homework#2due

Quiz#3

Class Project Part I

due

Quiz#4

Homework#3 due

Quiz#5

Homework#4 due

Quiz#6

Homework#5 due

Quiz#7

Class Project Part II

due

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