WR U1RN W0 PW

REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS

ON

SURFACE WATER RESOURCES

INVESTIGATIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES

BY

FRED MVEATCH

US GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

ON

TEMPORARY DETAIL TO ICA

MANILA PHILIPPINES

FEBRUARY 21 TO JUNE 5 1957

MANILA PHILIPPMIN

JUNE S 1957

CONTENTS Page

Introduction 1

Purpose of detail 1

Preparation 1

Acknowledgments 1

The Stream Gaging Program In The Philippines 5

3

Status of post-war computations and publication 7

Organization and cooperation a

History

Number of gaging stations operated in Philippines 12

Financing 13

Design of the stream gaging program 17

Equipment and technical methods 19

27Recommendations

Decentralize office work 27

Organization 28

35Gagekeepers

Vehicles 36

39Technical procedures

Design of the stream gaging network 42

The Technical Training Program 44-

Early plans 44

Later developments 44

Acknowledgments 47

RETURN TO - MIDiPW UNITED STATES OF AMERICA OPERATIONS MISSION

TO THE PHILIPPINES (International Cooperation Administration)

Manila Philippines

June 51957

Mr R R Lord Chief Public Works Division International Cooperation Administration Manila Philippines

Dear Mr Lord

Transmitted herewith are three copies of report prepared as result of my detail here from the U S Geological Survey during the period February 21 to June 5 1957

The report has been reproduced in number of copies sufficient for distribution to members of the Water Resources Development Committee and to heads and staff members of Philippine government departments engaged in hydrographic activities and related water development work as may be arranged between you and the heads of those agencies

It is believed that considerable good was accomplished during my assignment here particularly in working out with the Hydrographic Section the various recommendations given in the report With Messrs Hargreaves and Snell available to assist and guide further in the implementation of the recommendations and to add further suggestions that may occur to them I feel confident that the Philippine governshyment will progress rapidly in attaining a more satisfactory surface water investigation program

Respectfully yours

Fred M Veatch Hydraulic Engineer

cc Mr Thomas E Eakin

RETUR- I O- [IIDPW

CONTENTS Page

Publications 48

The Seminar agenda 53

Current Meter Hating 3tation 66

The Central Luzon Region Program 66

Outline of estimates 68

Rainfall Stations 69

Existing network 69

Additional gages 69

Evaporation stations 72

Publication of rainfall data 72

73Sediment Measurement Stations

Statement Before Water Resources Committee 74

Addendum 77

ILLUSTRATIONS

(Unless otherwise indicated photographs were taken

by F M Veatch 1957)

Page

1 Recorder and cableway Marikina R at Montalban

Rizal April 5 5

2 Cableway and recorder Pampanga R at Atate

Nueva Ecija April 14 5

3 Pre-war frame shelter and 36 corr pipe well

Taken by G Hargreaves March 1 6

4 Pipe well attached to bridge pier Pampanga R near

Arayat Pampanga March 1 6

5 New timber recorder structure Pinagcanauan de

Tuguegarao R near Tuguegarao Cagayan with

Garcia and Ciriaco May 14 9

6 Staff gage on Jalaur R at Passi Iloilo May 8 9

7 National Power Corp staff gage on Angat R above

Ipo Dam March 13 10

8 NPC staff painted on bedrock Bantay R near Bokod

Benguet Mt Province March 26 10

9 Staff gage Labangan R at Bagbag Calumpit

Bulacan March 1 15

10 Gagekeeper and staff gage Jalaur R at Calinog

Iloilo Panay May 8 15

ILLUSTRATIONS Page

11 Gagekeeper reading painted 3taff gage Bokod R at

Bokod March 26 16

12 Gagekeeper showing reference point Madlum R near

Sibul Springs Bulacan April 25 16

13 Ipo Dam on Angat River Bulacan March 13 21

14 Banca ready to go up reservoir above Ipo Dam

March 13 21

15 Cableway Angat R above Ipo Dam March 13 22

16 B Ramos making wading measurement Angat R above

Ipo Dam March 13 22

17 Tagging line Bantay R M Bokod Mt Province

March 26 25

18 Measuring flow bantay R M Bokod Mt Province

March 26 25

19 Measuring flow Bokod R at Bokod Mt Province

March 26 26

20 15-pound weight used near Ambuklao March 26 26

21 Ambuklao Dam on Agno R Benguet Mt Prov March 25 29

22 Maria Cristina Dam on Agos R Lanao Mindanao May 1 29

23 Binga dam site on Agno R Mt Province March 25 30

24 Marikina dam site on Marikina River Rizal April 5 30

25 Cableway and recorder on Cagayan R near Cagayan

de Oro Misamis Oriental Mindanao April 30 33

26 Control on Binahaan R at Tiigib near Pastrana

Leyte May 6 33

ILLUSTRATIONS page

27 Footbridge below Binga dam site Agno R March 25 34

28 Tree anchorage for cable Angat R above Ipo Dam

March 13 34

29 Construction shelters at gaging station on Angat R

above Ipo Dam March 13 37

30 Proposed new base gaging station site on Baoas R near

Mangatarem Pangasinan Photo by J S Romasanta

April 15 37

31 Airport at Legaspi Albay May 17 38

32 Jeep and reconnaissance party April 15 38

33 F M Veatch and Seminar group April 9

Photo by E H Capistrano 5

34 F M Veatch and Seminar group April 9

Photo by E H Capistrano

35 C R Murrb and Seminar group April 9 Photo

by E H Capistrano 9

36 Seminar group r-Marikina R gaging station taken

by E H Capistrano from cable car April 12 0

37 Typical discharge hydrograph showing base flow

Manila rainfall 1365 to date 63

38 Demonstration of measuring equipment Seminar

April 12 64

39 Seminar group observing Binga dam model April 12 64

ILLUSTRATIONS Page

40 Looking north at meter rating flume U of P May 22 65

41 Looking south at meter rating flume U of P May 22 65

42 Weather station near Tuguegarao Cagayan May 13 70

43 Weather station at Pototan Iloilo Panay May 5 70

44 Luncheon group at Tacloban Leyte May 7 71

45 ICA Public Works Division personnel March 1957 71

REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON SURFACE WATER RESOURCES INVESTIGATIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES

by

Fred M Veatch

Introduction

Purpose of the detail (1) To assist the ICA and the Philippine

government in determining principles to be followed in laying out a

suitable long-range stream gaging program for the nation (2) To

recommend a specific surface water investigation program for the

Luzon area (3) To hold technical training conferences wiLh Philipshy

pine government personnel in the site selection construction and

field operation of gaging stations (4) To make general recommendations

concerning the precipitation gage network (5) To comment on the posshy

sible need for quality of water investigations in the Philippines and

(6) To comment on the new current meter rating flume being constructed

in Manila

Preparation Orientation or briefing conferences were held with

me in Washington D C January 22-25 1957 by officials of the Geoloshy

gical Survey and the ICA particularly Thomas E Eakin Chief of Overseas

Programs for the Survey and J V B Wells Chief of Surface Water

Division and Malcolm H Jones C L Orrben and E T Hagberg of ICA

Additional briefing was received in Manila

Acknowledgments The carrying out of my assignment in a satisfactory

manner was greatly facilitated in the Philippines by the cooperation and

2

assistance of Mr Russell R Lord Chief of Public Works Division of

ICA and by menmbers of his staff especially Mr George H Hargreaves

Chief Advisor Water Resources Program and by the Philippine Governshy

ment officials with whom I worked most closely including Mr Tomas

Saddam Chief of Hydrographic Section of the Bureau of Public Works

and Mr Jose C Regalado of his staff Mr Alex Delefia of the River

Control Section Messrs I Santos and E P Abesamis of the National

Power Corporation and E B Manalo of the Weather Bureau

Acknowledgment is also made to Messrs R E 01tman and J J

Ligner of the Training Section Surface Water Branch Washington

D C for their cooperation in sending numerous publications needed

at the Seminar and elsewhere in the Philippines and for their sugshy

gestions in regard to training

3

The Stream Gaging Program In The Philippines

History

The Hydrographic Section of the Irrigation Division Department

of Public Works and Communications (formerly the Department of Commerce

and Communications) has been the major stream gaging agency in the

Philippines since the work was started in 1908 265 gaging stations

in 40 of the 49 provinces were operated for short periods of time between

1908 and 1922 mostly in 1910-12 and 1919-22 All daily gage-height and

discharge records collected by that agency between January 1 1923 and

June 1944 became destroyed by Lire during World War II However the

results of numerous discharge measurements made from 1939 to 1942 were

saved for several gaging stations in the Bicol region of southern Luzon

Stream gaging by the Hydrographic Section was resumed on August 19 1945

on the Aringay River near Tubao La Union followed gradually by other

stations as the Liberation progressed

Records for 1908 to 1922 were published in 1923 in four volumes-as

Water Supply Bulletin No 1 Surface Water Supply of the Philippine

Islands which included the results of all discharge measurements as

well as computed daily discharges in second-liters The calendar year

is used rather than a water year The Extremes paragraphs do not

include any stage records the only gage heights published being those

contained in the lists of discharge measurements

k

Forty-six of the gaging stations operated during the 1908-22

period were re-established after World War II at sites where the records

are considered comparable -- that is where the drainage area does not

differ by more than five per cent The longest continuous records of

discharge not affected by diversion or regulation that I have been able

to find in the Philippines for the postwar period are for the Maasim

River near San Rafael Bulacan Luzon October 5 1945 to date and for

the Aringay River near Tubao La Union from August 19 1945 to date

Available maps are not very satisfactory for locating sites of former

gaging stations because the names of many of the barrios and towns are

different on present maps than they were when the stations were first

operated and described

Considerable stream gaging has also been done by the National

Power Corporation and some river stage records have been obtained by

the River Control and Drainage Section Irrigation Division These are

summarized in the tabulation on Page 6 In addition miscelshynumerous

laneous discharge measurements have been obtained by several agencies

Daily discharge records are available in the files of the National

Power Corporation for eight pre-war gaging stations that were operated

for varying periods between 1923 and 1943 by the Bureau of Public Works

One of these on Barit River at Santiago Iriga Camarines Sur was

operated from 1923 to 1940 The original forms for all eight stations

became destroyed during the war but a set of prints was later discovered

by the National Power Corporation in some hydroelectrical project files

that were saved The NPC re-established the Barit River station at

the same site in 1950

5

Marikina R at Montalban Rizal Province with Stevens FM 30-day recorder April 5 1957

TYPICAL NEW GAGING STATION STRUCTURES CONSTRUCTED AS A RESULT CF THE ICA PROGRAM

III I I

I I I

~iz

7~il

2~-

Pampanga River at Atate Nueva Ecija Stevens FM recorder J C Regalado driver helper and L Borbolla in foreground April 14 1957

47~I

-4

4

iuJi rf if poundflLLi

77

Pre-war frame shelter and 36 corr pipe Frame shelter over new 36 corrwell with Gurley weekly recorder Pampanga

J C Regalado B Ramos and E M Veatch pipe well Pampanga River near standing Taken by G H Hargreaves Arayat Pampanga March 1 1957 March 1 1957

Status of post-war computations and publication

Daily discharge computations of the Hydrographic Section tbr 1944

to 1954 are practically coplete those for 1955 are about 40 per deb4t

complete and for 1956 about 15 per cent Office work has been delayed

considerably because of the heavy constructionfprogran which started

in 1956 using supplies and instruments furnished by the ICA All office

computations are made in the Manila office No discharge records have

been published since those of 1908-22 but steps are being taken as

explained later in this report to bring publication up to date It is

planned that the records which have been compuhed for the years 1944 to

1956 will be reviewed before their final preparation for publication

to make sure their standards of accuracy are reasonably consistent

with the slightly higher standards proposed to be instituted as a

result of recommendations made in this report About 1500 stationshy

years of stream-flow recordsless than 10 per cent of which are from

agencies other than the Hydrographic Section are proposed to be comshy

piled and printed in a single-volume publication of monthly and annual

data Tables of monthly minimum discharge are to be included

Organization and cooperation

The Hydrographic Section customarily assigns a district hydrographer

and his assistants as resident at each irrigation district office that

is situated a long distance from Manila Their headquarters are as

follows

District Province Town

Northern Luzon Isabela San Mateo

Bicol Region Luzon Camarines Sur Naga

Eastern Visayas Leyte Tacloban

Western Visayas Iloilo Iloilo

Mindanao Davao Davao

This district is presently being operated by hydrographers from

Manila the same as for the central part of Luzon

The above field hydrographers are each assigned a Jeep and a drivershy

helper Hydrographers pay scales range between about Y2400 and P4200

per annum and in addition they are granted a subsistence allowance of

Y2OO per unit or Y800 a day Driver-helpers receive an average pay

of P5 per day plus a subsistence allowance of P200 per day (which has

been reduced administratively from P450 a day because of lack of funds)

The field personnel send or deliver all basic records to Manila

where they are processed computed and filed Most of the office work

is done by office personnel with the field men doing but little of the

office work

9

New timber recorder structure including plank intake with Stevens A-35 recorder Pinagcanauan de Tuguegarao River near Tuguegarao Cagayan Jose G Garcia assistant hydrographer and Norberto Ciriaco District Hydrographer on walkway May 14 1957

Staff gage on Jalaur River at Passi Iloilo From left to right 2 boys A Lacuesta Distr HydrogrLher J CorderoIrrig Distr Engr G Hargreaves J Regalado gagekeeper (kneeling) and onlooker May 8 1957

I

--- S

F National Power Corporation staff gage on Angat River above Ipo Dam now beingreplaced by a Bureau of Public Works recorder installation March 13 1957

O~

~A F~ ~~ shy- ~

~

- --

I ------ ~

A -~ 1

~ -- gt I~-

5 shy

- ~- ~ U

amp~~ -

2r~ ~k- ~ ~

National Power Cororation painted staff gage Bantay River near Bokod BenguetMountain Province Hydrographers helperstanding March 26 1957 Note lower markings faded

11

Whether any other changes are made or not it is the expressed

plan of the Hydrographic Section to have the District-Hydrographer

who is in charge of the Northern Mindanao District headquartered at

Cagayan de Oro

A considerable portion of the pay of district hydrographers and

their staffs comes directly from the Irrigation Section district

office at which they are headquartered rather than through the

Hydrographic Section This has had the effect of limiting their

efforts somewhat to project work rather than to general or all-purpose

investigations

Some of the other agencies particularly the National Power

Corporation obtain the cooperation of the Hydrographic Section in

helping operate certain gaging stations where a duplication of travel

can thus be avoided However the discharge measurements so made by

the Hydrographic Section are turned over to the NPC who make their

own computations of daily discharge The latter also sometimes pays

directly the salaries of certain gagekeepers Usually this cooperashy

tion does not involve an exchange of funds but some change in that

situation is recommended as explained later in this report

All agencies make their daily discharge records available to the

Hydrographic Section upon request and the plan is to have the later

agency include all such records in their publications No reproduction

machine is available in any of the offices and all copies of records

must be made individually in typing or longhand A machine is under

order by the Hydrographic Section

-fiUMBER OI~ GAGIiG~STATIONS-eP-ERATED IN-PIILIPPINES -

CALENDAR YEAR

YEA HYOROGRAPHIC

STAGE NATIONAL

SECTION PO R0 P

RIVEl CONTROL SECTON

TOT AL

DISCHARGE NATIONAL

HYDROGRAPHIC SECTION ORHYTGRPI SECTION POR

TOTAL TOA

RECORDING NON-REC TOTAL NON-REC NON-REC RECORDING NON-REC TOTAL

1908-1922 265 265 265

1923-1944 3 3 9 12

1945 6 6 6 15 15 2 17

1946 2 12 14 14 28 28 4 32

1947 3 11 14 14 29 29 4 33

1948 3 18 21 5 26 45 45 5 50

1949 3 13 16 6 5 27 74 74 15 89

1950 3 9 12 10 4 26 91 91 20 111

1951 3 15 18 10 4 34 103 103 17 120

1952 3 13 16 10 4 30 111 111 17 128 1953 3 17 20 11 17 48 1 96 97 23 120

1954 4 18 22 11 26 49 1 145 146 22 168

1955 4 18 22 13 19 54 1 207 208 27 235

1956 6 12 15 1 25 52 40 189 26 5

13

Various agencies have submitted lists of proposed gaging stations

which they would like to have installed to provide data for their

projects It is apparent that this work will be well coordinated in

the future and that the other agencies will come to rely more and

more on the Hydrographic Section for most of their basic stream-flow

records But they probably will continue to have their own personnel

make certain types of hydrographic investigations for the detailed

study of specific projects such as river profiles tailwater rating

curves etc

Financing

The main difficulty in regard to financing has been lack of

stability and continuity to the program and insufficient generalshy

fund money to permit the establishment of an all-purpose gaging proshy

gram In 1956 and 1957 the Hydrographic Section rec3ived P120000

(less than half of their total funds) for such general use with all

other monies either from counterpart funds (explained below) in theor

form of contributions from other agencies to cover certain gaging

expenses Another difficulty has been the lack of enough funds to

properly carry out the sudden large construction program generated by

the new ICA-furnished materials and instruments Most of the regular

hydrographic force has been assigned to construction during the last

twelve months or so because separate construction foremen or substitute

hydrographers could not be hired As a result the regular field

operation of gaging stations has suffered considerable neglect This

- - -

14

wuld not have been necessary if the Hydrographic Sections funds had

been flexible and appropriated on basis of a performance budget As

it is the Section must adhere to line items which spell out exactly

how all money is to be spent

The financing of an expanded 1958 program now appears to be

progressing satisfactorily largely from the counterpart monies

This fund consists of pesos allocated by the Philippine government

in an amount equivalent to the dollar value of imports furnished by

the ICA It is administered by the National Economic Council with

allocations subject to approval of the ICA on budget recommendations

received from Philippine government agencies In the case of water

resources programs they are assisted by recommendations of the Water

Resources Development Committee an NEC administratively appointed

body composed of representatives of ten agencies interested or inshy

volved in water development A rougn breakdown of the Hydrographic

Sections budget proposed for the fiscal year starting July 1 1957

is as follows

General Fund Pesos

Annual appropriation - ------------ 120000

Counterpart Funds

For bringing up to date the publication of

annual records plus a compilation - - - - 56000

For an expanded program of surface-water

investigations----------- - 500000

TOTAL - - - - - - 676000

The total funds available in 1955 and 1956 fiscal years were 180000

and 280000 respectively

It

a 7~

IC

U

i

Staff gage out of water Labangan River at Bagbag Calumpit Bulacan March 1 1957

7lt 2

I

fr

Gagekeeper and staff Jalaur River at Calinog Iloilo He read 10 centimeters low today because markings on lower part of gage were illegible

I-J May 8 1957

16 8

hational Power Corp staff gage painted on streamward side of cliff Lower markings gone and gagekeeper determines gage heights three times a day by wading to gage and measuring down with rule as shown in this picture Bokod R at Boiod Benguet Mountain Province March 26 1957

Bureau of Public Works staff gage station Gagekeeper has made readingsby measuring down from a nail since this section of gage was washed out by a flood Madlum River near Sibul Springs Bulacan April 25 1957

17

The only difficulty with counterpart financing is that it is

temporary and could conceivably leave the program stranded in a few

years when ICA aid is discontinued The necessity is recognized for

gradually obtaining regular Congressional appropriations to take the

place of counterpart funds An effort will also be made to have a

performance type of budget accepted because line items make the

program inflexible and prevent the best management and economy

It is recommended that other agencies desiring for their projects

certain stream flow records which cannot be financed from the regular

budget of the Hydrographic Section transfer funds annually (either in

advance or on a reimbursement basis) to the Hydrographic Section to

pay the extra costs required for the fulfilment of their requests

Design of the stream gaging program

As mentioned above the fiscal arrangements prevailing up to this

time have resulted in an almost total emphasis on project-type gaging

stations in the Philippines However I believe everyone is now in

agreement with the desirability or need for a nation-wide network of

index or runoff-per-square-kilometer type of stations which will sample

various runoff provinces such as those with different exposures to storms

and having different topography altitude geology type of land cover

etc The intensity of the network of stations in different regions

would vary depending upon the apparent future economic value or worth

of the water in each area This will be discussed in more detail in

the recommendations

18

In order to look over the existing program observe something of

the technical methods in use and see a variety of runoff and economic

types of areas in the islands to gain an idea of the type of stream

gaging network needed I have visited several regions accompanied most

of the time by Mr George Hargreaves It has been very helpful to me

to have him take such an interest in the detailed objectives of ry

assignment and I am sure it will facilitate Mrs Snellas work a great

deal to have available for consultation and guidance Mr Hargreaves

wide experience in water resources development and investigations

We were accompanied by Mr J C Regalado of the ydrographic Section

who made most of the advance contacts with field offices in connecshy

tion with our trips We usually travelled to central points by Philshy

ippine Air Lines and were then driven to nearby areas by field officials

of the Hydrographic Section and other agencies The hospitality and

cooperation of everyone toward us was exceptional and much appreciated

Besides a fairly detailed coverage of the Central Luzon area where an

intensified program is proposed our inspections included Northern

Luzon Southern Luzon (the Bicol region) Leyte Panay and several

parts of Mindanao In addition we made a special effort to observe

the country all along the routes of airplane flights taken and that

coupled with airplane stops made on other islands gave us a fairly

comprehensive view of the geography of the Philippines It is upon

this that my recommendations concerning the design of a stream gaging

program are based

19

Bquipment and technical methods-

The stream gaging equipment and methods used by the Hydrographic

Section since 1908 have been patterned mainly after those of the US

Geological Survey as described in the 1904 publication H4ydrographic

Manual Thus it appears likely that the methods and accuracy stanshy

dards have changed but little since the Philippine program was started

Stream gaging tecniques used by the other agencies are similar but

they have not had the advantage of some of the new ICA-furnished equipshy

ment This is expected to be remedied in the aid allocations for fiscal

year 1958

Although some use has been made of the 2-8 method of measuring

discharge present practice is limited almost entirely to the 6method

for low and medium stages and the sub-surface method for high stages

for the latter the meter is suspended over a 15-E weight and set 03

meter below the surface with a coefficient of 0915 applied

The number of verticals or measuring points taken in the cross

section usually is between 8 and 15 No bridge cranes or suspension

reels of any kind have been available all discharge work other than

with wading rod having been done by hand line All this is about to

be changed with the recent arrival of the first ICA-furnished sounding

reels weights and tag lines purchased from 1956 FY funds

Staff gages are read to the nearest centimeter (about 0033 foot)

Most of the gages would be difficult to read to any closer limit alshy

though a few stations have Leupold Stevens enameled gages with levelshy

rod type markings

20

The hydrographer records his discharge measurement notes in a

small bound pocket-size book which he carries until it is full After

each measurement is computed in the field a complete copy of the notes

is made on a card and mailed to the Manila office I am informed

that the bound notebooks are practically never lost or dropped in

the water With the increased amount of flood measuring expected to

be done in the future that situation might change

Rating curves are drawn to average large groups of discharge

measurements Large rectangular-scale cross section sheets are used

Percentage differences of the measured values with respect to the

rating table are not computed A minimum of use is made of Stoutshy

method shifts

The water-stage recorders furnished to date by the ICA have been

manufactured with time scales of either 03 inch per day (the FM

model) or 48 inches per day (the A-35 model) The former scale is

too small for satisfactory use in most stream gaging and the latter

is too large Thirty pairs of time scale gears have been ordered for

converting the A-35s from 48 to 24 inches per day Upon inquiry at

the factory it was learned that no conversion of the FM recorders is

possible An exchange of 25 of them is being made with the ground

water program for an equivalent value in A-35 recordero but the

remaining 65 will be used at the surface water stations They are

very satisfactory on lakes or spring-fed streams or large streams

whose fluctuations are not too sudden

21

Ipo dam on Angat River which diverts water to supply City of Manila and surrounding area March 13 1957 Reservoir is traversed by boat in reaching the gaging station upstream

Ready to leave Ipo Dam for gaging station 6 kilqmeters upstream B Ramos and J Regalado in oanca March 13 1957

4 ~ s~

B Ramos making discharge measurement by wading on Angat River above Ipo DamMarch 13 1957 Spacings between verticals were obtained from cable makings byline hanging from cable car

23

At non-recording gages it has been the custom to hire gagekeepers

at uniform or statutory rates of 025 or P30 per month (not related

to the distance traversed in going to the gage) to obtain readings

three times a day The pay has been the same even where the gage is

located several kilometers away from the gagekeepers home The system

has certain disadvantages which may affect the accuracy of the records

At some stations the pay is too high while at others it is too low

Three readings a day are not necessary most of the time for adequately

developing the hydrograph especially during the dry season and a

request for obviously unnecessary readings seems to put too severe a

test upon human nature It is practically an open invitation to a

certain amount of faking I doubt that it should be held against a

gagekeeper to put down some estimated readings under those circumstances

any more than it would be to blame children for taking candy or cookies

from a forbidden plate left openly in their midst The question then

becomes - what readings can be relied upon and what cannbt I sincerely

believe that a more accurate daily discharge record can be prepared in

the office from a few completely reliable gage readinrs per week by

means of hydrographic comparisons with recording-gage records from

nearby stations and with less expense than can be produced by proshy

cessing comparing and weeding out questionable parts from a complete

(on paper) record of three readings a day A gagekeepers habit

developed during the dry season of not going to the gage when it is

inconvenient or he doesnt feel like it is bound to crop up during

the high water season as well with the result that all his readings

24

must be looked at critically and considered reliAble only after

unusually extensive comparisons are made with weather records and

other stations

In regard to specialized stream gaging equipment listed below

are the amounts purchased by the ICA up to the present time

Ordered from Ordered from Being FY 1955 PPA 1956 PPA ordered Delivered in Delivered in from 1957

May 1956 May 1957 PPA

Canfield reels 0 6 8

Type A reels 0 6 2

Canfield tag lines 0 15 0

A-35 recorders 20 10 25

FM recorders 65 25 0

Enameled gage secs 400 600 200

Currer meter outfits inc ding rod headphonehanuline and 15-pound weight 11 10 0

Pygmy meters 0 0 10

Bridge cranes 0 3 0

Sounding wts 30-lb 0 0 10

50-lb 0 0 10

I i 75-lb 0 0 1

I 100-lb 0 0 1

Stopwatches 20 10 0

Being purchased as models for possible future use in procurement of

weights of local manufacture

25

~-

-~ ~- shy

~-

4rshy~~L~zu 1 - ~ A-

-~ - ~jj ~

~- k ~ ~

Helper and P Nubio National Power Corporationpreparing to make discharge measurement Tag marks of grass being tied to line Bantay River near Bokod Benguet Mountain Province March 26 1957

-- ~ 4

V

Helper holding meter in place suspended on a weight hanger while revolutions are counted oy hydrographer P Nubio E P Nbesamis is at extreme right March 26 1957

26

-p --shy

t-~-- - -

A ~

A~4 ~ 4

A -Y

- -

- - - -

gt~ ~ ~-

Z4z4a - ~z

- shy -~-~shy

4shy- --

I NPC discharge party on Bokod River at-Bokod BenguetMountain Province Helper and gagekeeper holding meter and 15-pound weight in position P Nubio on shore counting revolutions and recording notes March 26 1957

Ar 7

-~ I

0 I 15-pound weight used in discharge measurement work by the NPC hydrographer stationed at Ambuklao Dam March 26 1957

27

Recommendations

A sharp expansion in the stream gaging program of the Philippines

has occurred recently brought about not only by the ICAs economic and

technical aid program but also by the growing local demand for water

resources information It is inevitable that some organizational

changes would be required to accommodate such a sudden growth This

subject was discussed in conferences with Mr Saddam and Mr Regalado

and the following list of special objectives agreed upon They had a

number of these in mind or partly in effect already and were planning

to gradually adopt several others The items are listed here in order

to express my reasons for wanting to see them completely implemented

within the next two or three years They are as follows

A It is recommended that the district offices compute their own disshy

charge records and prepare them for publication for final review

in the central office in ranila

1 Additional engineers would be needed in each district office

and fewer engineers in the Manila office

2 At least the district hydrographer and preferably one other

engineer in addition should be trained in the office work in

Manila before the records were transferred to a district

3 Each engineer in a district office would be given a field area

which he would cover by a round of discharge measurements once

every 4 to 6 weeks each coverage taking about 2 weeks Betshy

ween trips he would do office work preferably on the same

stations that he covers in the field

28

4 Benefits of thissystem are believed to be as follows

a Records requested could be furnished more quickly to the

public especially to those in the district area

b This kind of a close tie between field and office work has

been found to greatly improve the quality of the records

the economy of operation and the performance and developshy

ment of the individual engineers

c The alternating of each person between field and office

work makes him (1) more competent in the field work and

also more competent in the office work than is possible

in segregated office and field groups and (2) permits

him to be home more of the time and lead a more normal

lifc thus increasing his morale and efficiency

5 Personnel arrangements recommended are

a Offer more rapid promotion to those who transfer like

from Manila to a field office or between field offices

b Encourage each man to transfer every few years with

faster promotions as an incentive It has been found

that this develops an engineers competence more rapidly

than if he stays in one office indefinitely Such ability

repays the government in added officiency and production

to an extent greater than its cost in extra salary

B Certain organization changes are recommended as follows

1 Appoint an Office Engineer a Field Engineer and (whenever

needed) a Construction Engineer They would be headquartered

__

V 29

2

~- ~

q

Ambuklao Dam on Agno River Generating capacity 75000 kw Powerplant is underground March 2557

7- t

-JI

Maria Cristina falls and power plant on Agus River River near Iligan Lanao Province Mindanao Present installed capacity 50000 kw May 1 1957

30

II I

Looking downstream at the Binga dam site on Agno River about 15 kilometers east of Baguio March 25 1957

Looking upstream at the Marikina dam site on Marikina River at Wawa near Montalban Rizal about 25 kilometers northeast of Manila April 5 1957

31

in the Manila office and act under the general supervision of

the head of the Section with the following responsibilities

to be included

a Office Engineer

(1) Be responsible for the discharge computations and

related office work in the Manila field district or

area

(2) Be responsible for review and final preparation for

publication of all records in the nation

(3) See that a progress chart of status-of-record compushy

tations is maintained in each district office and

that a summary statement concerning such progress is

sent to the central office at least quarterly

(4) Be responsible for research in office methods and

equipment (See footnote on next page)

b Field Engineer

(1) Act as first assistant to head of the Section of

Hydrography

(2) Be responsible for field operation vork throughout the

nation

(a) Make at least one annual field inspection in each

district

(b) Develop the system in every headquarters of keepshy

ing a running chronological chart of the discharge

measurements made at each gaging station or

32W

scheduled miscellaneous site A form in use in

Tacoma Washington has been found to be very conshy

venient for this purpose Such a chart gives the

supervisor a quick overall view of the status of

the field work and serves as a check at end of

the year to make sure all measurements have been

listed and counted

(3) Be responsible for the design of the stream gaging

network and the selection of sites for new gaging

stations

(4) Be responsible for research in field methods and

equipment

Construction Engineer

(1) Give general supervision and management to the conshy

struction program

(a) Obtain assignment of resident engineer or foreman

for each job

(b) See that the materials are made available Help

the foreman in every way possible in organizing

the job procuring emergency equipment or supplies

and making decisions about serious problems that

may arise on the job

If funds became available for considerable research it probably

would be better to appoint a special Research Engineer

33

~A

Cagayan River gaging station near Cagayan de OroMisamis Oriental Mindanao April 30 1957 Note how corrugated pipe recorder structure was bent by flood J C Regalado J J Ponco gagekeeper and G H Hargreaves in foreground

-

V

View of staff gage and control on Binakaan River at Tifigib near Pastrana Leyte Stream divided by a barand control excavated for unknown reason May 6 1957 J Regalado by the sign and G Hargreaves at right

Cable footbridge below Binga dam site Tree anchorage for cableway onformerly used by NPC in making Angat River above Ipo Damdischarge measurements P Nubio and March 13 1957E Abesamis of NPC on bridge March 25 1957

35

(c) Visit the major jobs occasionally to see that

they are proceding satisfactorily in all the

islands Make sure the stations are installed

according to instructions and plans An approved

sketch plan showing dimensions and elevations is

desirable for each construction job

(d) Prepare first draft of each new station description

(e) Prepare brief construction report including costs

A form in use at Tacoma Washington has been found

convenient for this purpose

C The following policies in regard to gagekeepers are recommended

1 Start a gradual change-over to paying each gagekeeper on basis

only of the hours he works plus a basic amount for taking the

responsibility This may result in increasing the pay of some

but it should reduce the pay of a much larger number

2 Convert most gagekeepers to two readings a day most of the time

with one or more additional readings during floods In some of

the drier parts of the Central Luzon area in cases where gages

are remote from habitation request only one reading a day

during the dry months such as from January through May inclushy

sive more than that are believed to cost more than they are

worth and are an open invitation to the reporting of estimated

readings

3 When a new recorder installation is at a barrio or bridge where

it appears unlikely to be vandalized try running the station

36

without hiring a gagekeeper If this system proves successful

discontinue the services of the gagekeepers at certain selected

recorders At all other recorders reduce the number of readshy

ings required to one per day and reduce their pay accordingly

If a gagekeeper prefers not to accept a lower monthly rate for

fewer readings it is suggested that he resign except in cases

where security of the station structures or right-of-way favors

may be involved

Proceed on the principle that a saving in public tax money from

the above reforms is more important than supporting gagekeepers

just because they depend on the income and need the money The

present dependence of a gagekeeper on his P300 or P360 a year

and the hardship he must undergo in adjusting to a lower rate

of pay for the job are not believed to be sufficient reasons

for continuing indefinitely to pay him more than necessary

However it is recommended that he be given 30 or 60 days

notice before a reduction in pay is placed in effect

D Vehicles

1 It is recommended that a gradual change-over be made from the

short-wheelbase open Jeep to the Jeep station wagon as a hydroshy

graphers car Benefits should be as follows

a The car can be locked leaving only the tires as attractive

to thieves

b The station wagon has more space As the hydrographers

became better equipped that space will be needed

37

Bamboo-and-grass shelters built and used by crew during construction of gaging station on Angat River above Ipo Dam March 13 1957

3

4

-Ti LP

Proposed site for new index-type gaging station selected on Baoas River near Mangatarem Pangasinan above all diversions by Regalado Romasanta dargreaves and Veatch April 15 1957 Photo by J S Romasanta

38

Taking Philippine Airlines plane at Legaspi Albayfor Manila on May 17 1957 Mount Mayon 7960 feet high in background

I

N 1 x

Y

I

Showing typical vehicle used on the reconnaissance and inspection trips over the Philippines

39

c For occasional errands or trips it will be feasible for

only oneman to take the car because he can lock the con

tents when the car is not attended

d It may possibly develop in some parts of the Philippines

that a hydrographer for a certain area will not need a

driver-helper and thereby a saving in funds can be made

However such a change should be made only on a trial

basis and is not recommended until conditions so warrant

and until the hydrographer involved is satisfied with the

change or else desires it

E Certain technical stream-gaging procedures are recommended to be

followed in the Philippine Islands hydrographic work at the average

gaging station by all agencies doing stream gaging as follows

1 Obtain a discharge measurement once every four to six weeks

throughout the year

2 Furnish the hydrographer with a print of the station descripshy

tion and of the rating curve and require him as a general rule

to compute and plot his discharge measurement in the field

3 Have the gage read both before and after each discharge measureshy

ment and the readings recorded on the field notes

4 Use a loose-leaf discharge-measurement note form or forms

containing a summary page patterned to some extent after the

forms in use by the USGS Bound notes make it too inconshy

venient or perhaps impossible for the office engineer to

examine the notes for a whole year when he analyzes a station

record

40

5 Gradually change to the use of ehameled steel gage plates

instead of painted gages because their initial cost is less

and they are more durable Plates graduated somewhat like

those of the US Geological Survey are believed much better

than those stocked by private companies While here I drew

up a suggested design for local manufacture which appealed

to the Hydrographic Section

6 Obtain levels at staff gages at least once a year especially

on the low section of gage Replace or repair each low secshy

tion soon after it becomes damaged or the markings become

indistinct

7 Continue as a general rule to use the 6-depth method with

the sub-surface method for deep swift water Obtain a comshy

plete cross section as soon as feasible after the high water

has subsided

8 Gradually change to the use of heavier sounding weights so

that the 6-depth method with soundings can be used at high

water in any event take soundings and velocities as far out

as practicable from each bank at flood stages then go across

deep part of channel with sub-surface method Check subshy

surface method coeficients whenever practicable by means of

vertical velocity curves Until such checks show otherwise

use a coefficient of 090

9 Compute discharge measurements by the mid-section method

This saves time (and money) and is at least as accurate as the

41

other method Request hydrographers to bear the method in mind

when selecting verticals near edges of channel or at breaks in

the cross section It is recommended that in the interests of

economy this change be made at an early date

10 Consider 20 as a desirable number of verticals in an average

stream cross section Continue to time the meter revolutions

for 40 to 60 seconds at each setting Someday if more accushy

racy is desired in hydrographic work in the Philippines it

would be appropriate to standardize on 30 verticals per measureshy

ment provided the 2-8 depth method were used and the gages

were read to fractions of a centimeter For the present it

seems consistent to take about 20 verticals when using the 6

method and with gages read only to the nearest centimeter

11 Use steel tag lines for wading measurements Paint bridge

rails and cables with markings sufficiently close together

that they can be used rapidly to determine stationing between

them When installing the paint marks use standard intervals

of either 1 meter 2 meters or 5 meters To avoid confusion

do not use intervals of 3 or 4 meters If measuring intervals

are to be 1 meter or less it is very convenient to have a

mark available every meter If intervals are between 1 and 5

meters use a mark every 2 meters A good system for making

the marks readily identifiable is to place 1 paint mark at

each basic interval like every 2 meters then put 2 marks every

10 meters 3 every 50 meters and 4 at 100 meters

42

use on12 Always tags the portion of the meter suspension line

that goes in the water The tags usually consist of small

pieces of colored cloth taped tightly to the line They

should be watched and checked occasionally against slippage

and error The tags should not be more than one meter apart

and should be spaced to give maximum convenience and speed in

measuring the discharge

13 As it may becoin feasible convert Type A current meters to

Type AA The more deeply recessed bearing of the Type AA

meter provides more durability of the pivot and bearing

because trapped air excludes most of the water and silt the

longer pivot results in a relatively lower center of gravity

of the bucke t wheel with respect to the point of bearing and

results in smoother performance

F Design of the stream gaging network

1 Everyone seem3 to agree with the objective of a network of

well-distributed long-term base stations for giving runoffshy

per-square-kilometer values representative of the general

area in which each station is located As rapidly as practishy

cable stations should be L d n the o ting netrk

and designated as base or index stations for permanent operashy

tion They should be the best stations both hydraulically

and as to equipment and should be free from upstream regushy

lation or diversion Where needed new base stations should

be installed as soon as they can be financed to appropriately

L11 out the network

43

2 In between such base stations it is desirable to sample smaller

basins with short-term records of various lengths which can be short term

correlated with the long records For this purpose thestashy

tion structures should be constructed so that they are as moveshy

able or salvageable as possiblej Often these movable stations

will be operated at or near specific project sites

3 It usually is more economical and satisfactory to gage a stream

at a highway crossing or other convenient place rather than

exactly at a project site later the data can be transferred

to the project site by means of drainage area proportions

checked by obtaining at the site e

two miscellaneous measurements or possibly in some cases a

whole year of record

4 A method for studying the existing network of stations to see

whether the intensity of coverage is satisfactory or not is to

plot correlations between the various station records prefershy

ably following the present methods of the USGS

5 It has been found advantageous to classify all gaging stations

that are in operation using categories somewhat like these

areal network base stations primary and secondary main stream

stations and water management stations This procedure is

helpful in planning how long various stations should be operated

Detailed information about station classification methods is

available from the U S Geological Survey for use as a guide

The Technical Training Program

Early plans

When this assignment was given to me it was anticipated that a

series of across-the-table discussions would be held with small groups

of hydrographers from the Philippine government bureaus engaging in

such work Detailed procedures would be discussed without formality

But when arrangements were initiated for such conferences I was inshy

formed that among those wanting to attend were many at the managerial

level as well as a number of representatives of agencies interested

more in water development projects than in resource investigations

These could not be turned down so it was necessary to revise the

agenda to include more of general interest

Later developments

In view of the wide experience and high rank of many prospective

attendants of the conference it did not seem appropriate to call it

a lecture series or school and the name Seminar On Water Resources

was decided upon The agenda is included in this report and will be

self-explanatory Registered attendance for each of the three weeks

was 68 72 and 70 persons respectively for a total of 210 The

setting for the Seminar can best be understood from the photographs

Conditions as a whole were good although the tape-recording of the

entire three weeks of proceedings and the need for a member to come

F M Veatch and Water Resources Seminar group week of April 8-12 1957 at Bureau of Public Highways conference building Manila

I y

rT

I

4

47

forward and use the microphone whenever he asked a question or made a

comment was somewhat of a dampener oh discussion When preparing the

agenda I assumed that few besides the hydrographers would attend the

sessions on technical details of stream gaging scheduled for Wednesday

to Friday yet the entire membership stayed through the full program

each week and so no small-group round-table discussions were practicable

It developed later that the language barrier was a little more

serious than first realized Also it was not evident at first that

many present did not know what a gaging station was One of the main

benefits gained from the field trip was to show them a typical station

along with some equipment Taken as a whole it is believed that the

Seminar was successful and worthwhile

The sending of trainees from the Hydrographic Section to the

United States by ICA is very effective in supplementing the technical

assistance rendered directly by American personnel in the Philippines

and it should be continued as long as possible

Acknowledgments

Announcements and invitations to attend the Seminar were sent to

numerous agencies and offices by the Hydrographic Section who also

made all arrangements such as for space registration loud speaker

system tape recordings and recess refreshments The Bureau of

Public Highways made their new conference building available and the

National Media Center furnished a slide projector screen and room

all of which were greatly appreciated The introductory talks by

48

several busy executives including Director J A Buendia and Messrs

A T Alano R R Lord P G Afable and D Rosell with Mr Tomas

Saddam acting as master of ceremonies contributed ideas and gave

each weeks session a good send-off

Publications

Copies of the following publications of the U S Geological

Survey (one by Bureau of Reclamation and one from ASCE) were disshyon

play at the Seminar at all times for inspection by the members Alshy

though they were requested not to take the publications away quite a

few copies gradually became missing

Irrigation Water Measurement Tables and Diagrams by U S

Bureau of Reclamation

ASCE Separate 413 - Backwater Effects of Open Channel

Constrictions

Stage-Fall Discharge Relation for Steady Flow in Prismatic

Channels Water-Supply Paper 1164

Topographic Characteristics of Drainage Basins W S P 968C

Weir Experiments Coefficients and Formulas WSP 200

Handbook for Hydrologists - Chapters 1 - 11

Chapter 1 -- Instructions for Flood Frequency Compilations

Chapter 2 -- ledian Discharge Computation Methods

Chapter 3 -- Instructions for Abstracting Topographic

Characteristics of Drainage Basins

i

-Imr- I

1 N

L

V10J~

C R Mirray explaining a ground water formula

Ii

17t

o

Water Resources Seminar group at gaging station on Marikina River near Montalban Rizal about an hours drive northeast of Manila April 12 1957

51

-- Channel Storage and Flood Routing

-- Extending Stream-flow Records

Chapter 6 -- Double Mass Curves

Chapter 7-A- Frequency Curves of Low Flows and Storage

Requirements

Chapter 8 -- Flood Frequency Analyses

Chapter 9 -- Small Stream Investigations

Chapter 10 - Hydrologic Definitions

Chapter 11 - Base-Flow Recession-Curves

Computation of Backwater at Open Channel Constrictions

Floods in Western Washington Frequency and Magnitude in

Relation to Drainage Basin Characteristics GS Circular 191

Floods in Georgia Frequency and Magnitude GS Circular 100

Stream-Gaging Procedure - A Manual Describing Methods and

Practice of the Geological Survey - WSP 888

Investigation of Methods and Equipment used in Stream Gaging

Part 2 Intakes For Gage Wells

Computation of Peak Discharge through Culverts

Computation of Backwater at Open-Channel Constrictions

Equipment for River Measurements Structures for Cableways

by Charles H Pierce

Computation of Peak Discharge at Contractions Circular 284

Care and Rating of Current Meters

Surface Water Supply o the United States 1950 Parts 1 - 14

52

In addition to the above publications a two-page single-spaced

memorandum entitled Plotting Flood Frequency Curves (Extracted from

U S Geological Survey publications) was prepared by me under date

of April 3 1957 and handed to each member of the Seminar each week

The program or agenda for the Seminar one copy of which was

given to each member follows on Pages 53 to 63 inclusive The

graphs on Page 63 were referred to during the talks

53

March 29 1957

AGENDA FOiR SEMINARZ ON WATER RESCURCES AND STAE4 GAGING

IN THE PHILIPPINES

PLACE Conference hoom 2nd Floor Bureau of Public Highways Building Second Street Port Area Manila

TIKE April 1-5 8-12 and 22-26 (same program each week)

CONDUCTED BY M1r i 1 Veatch District EngineerSurface WaterBranch Jater Aesources Division United States Geological Suver Thcoma ashington who is un three-month assignment with the ICA

Held in connoction with the Philippine Government-ICA water resources program

54

GENERAL PROGRAM MONDAY AND TUESDAY

honday morning 830

Opening remarks Mr Julian A Buendia Director Bureau of Fublic Works Mr R R Lord Chief Public Works Division ICA Mr G H Hargreaves Hydraulic Engineer ICA

Importance of water resources and their investigation

The hydrologic cycle Evaporation transpiration and precipitation Runoff

Daily discharge record and the hydrograph Storm runoff Base flow

Grou~nd Water Very brief description (this subject to be covered

iaore fully on Tuesday afternoon)

General characteristics of natural stream runoff in the Philippines Quantity

Adequacy Comparison with United States

Variations with time Day to day and year to year Long-term trends

Distributin by area General over the Philippine Islands Variations between nearby drainage basins

Effect of location elevation geology cover etc

Major uses of stream-flow data Many years of rccornds should be crnsidered Granting water r phts

Protect existing rights Prevent capital expenditures where water supply inadequate

Planning river basin developments including municipal supply irrigation pnwer flood control etc

Destping structures such as dams reservoirs dikes floodways canals pumping systems power plants bridges etc

Accuracy and extent of dat needed for minimizing underdesign or wasteful overdesign

Cost of water-supply data in relation to total cost of a project

Operating water projects Distribution of water on projects Operation of storage reservoirs and diversion dams

To make maximum use uf water supply Designing alterations or enlargements to existing projects

RECESS 1000 to 1015

55 -3-

Monday morning (Continued) 1015 aim

Management of the stream gaging program Foreseeing the needs for stream-flow records

Study population and industrial trends Keep inforned on water-development plans and

prgraIIs of all agencies Continuity of the records

Essential for wator-supply studies Regular financinp reouired

Annual appropriations a poundfccted by temporary econoidc or political conditions

Permanent type of financing needed Surcharge method License fee method

-Dissemination of the data Annual publication Occasional summary compilations Furnishing advance cupies of unpublished records Furnishing current data - daily weekly or munthly

wherever required Special water resources investigation agency desirable

Briefly dancribe United States organization Uniform tecnical standards Uniform ways of presenting data One series of publicatiens Distributial center for basic water data Genera l-coverage program requires close coordination

for economy of operation Personal requirements

Engineers Engir ring aids Computers Clerks

ADJOURN - 1145

Resume after lunch only if necessary for completing the above subjects

56

Tueday morning 830

Design of a comprehensive stream gjaging program General rrinciIlac

Represenkc tive runoff-type provinces should be sainpled with stations of various classes

Vary the intensity of coverage with probable intenshysity of water use

Follow tiie tcends variations with records fromand L sri etatiorns secondary

Correlate resultls one continually adjustnetwork Classification of ra-in stationa

Areal prinary and secondary viain strem priiary nd secondary Water-manmfciact stat-i ons Miscellanous dischaige mcasurements

Correlating the dat obttined in comprehensive program Logarithmic pajer Five years of lecord uscd What is a good corrclation

Analyses of data Flood frcouencjs

Annual serics Partial duration series

Low-flow frecuencies Low-flow duration hydrograph

Extending strewm-flow records Comparisons witi other gaging stations Rainfall-runoff correlations

Quality of water Temperature

Intermittent observations Recorders

Chemical gtuality Element -Dissolved solids

Suspended iaterial Time of cecurrence-floods Sampling

Methods Cost

RECESS - 1000 to 1015

57

- 5 -

Tuesday afternoon 130

Ground water (This subject conducted by Mr C R Murray) Occurrence

Water table Artesian Lakes

Movement Through the ground Into stream channels

Availability Geologic structure Aquifers Funing tests

Recharge Froa precipitation Artificial Froma induced lateral movement

Investigation Geology Springs Logs of dug and drilled wells Test wells

lecording Lanual

Quantitative studies Chemical quality analyses

Mincral ccontnt Sallt water intrusion

Drilling of wells for production use Ground water rirhts

Depletion of ground water reservoirs teyond rccharge capability

ADJOURN at 330

Geologist Ground Water Branch dater Resources Division U 6 Geological Survey who is on two-ywar assignment with ICA

58

PROGRAM ON STREMvi GAGING PROCEDURE WEDNESDAY TO FRIDAY

4ednesday morning 830

Establishing and constructing gaging stations Selection of site

Consider najor probable uses of the record Investigate extent of upstream diversion and

-egulation Utilize contour naps Obtain list of nmrjor water right applications

iydraulic conditicns Section control Shifting channel Overbank flow Dackwater

Accessibility Avoid too much expense Need to reach quickly to measure flash floods

Natural protection front flood damage Avoid excessively expensive construction conditions

Bed iock Quick sand Too-longintake pipes

For non-rccording gage choose site convenient to

one or more local gage readers

Survey of site Bank cross-prefile at gage Cross section at cable Plan

Right of way Oral pervrission ritten permission

Easement Land purchase

RECESS - 945 to 1000

- 7 - 59

Wednesday morning (Continued) 100)

Construction Select types and sizes of structures To fit purpose oi the record Plan later salva e (for secondary stations) For economy of operation (for example design cableway to

operat mesily) Adapt availabic standard plans to fit the site Keep costs to hclp in future estimating Make brief construction report for future assistance in

planninr sililar Jobs Prepare staLion descripLion

Road log distences etc for How to reach paragraph Descriptions of gages bench marks etc Dimensions cf structuis Gage datum elevations of portinent parts of structures

Operating and maintaining gaging stations Records of stage

Choice of dtum Arbitrcry local datum

Set gages so there will be no minus gage readings

Mean sea level datum May be used but has disadvantages

1hen later adjustments are made to level networks

Gages have to be reset or Equation must be published

Non-recording gages Types

Vertical staff Inclined staff

ire-weight Crest-stage gages

Refinement of graduations ake adequate for accuracy of record needed

Maintatling dat of gage Adequate number of local reference marks Take levels at least once a year

Work o- local gare reader Fy according to approx number of hours worked Do not roruire too many roadings for the

conditions Warm (with omphasis) against my guessed

readings Inform reader anv errors in reading will

show up in hydrogrq oic comtparisons Engineers obtain check readings whenever

possible Visit gage reader frequently a d show inshy

terest in his gage-height record Encourage reader to retain personal copy

ADJOURN at 1145

60

Thursday morning 800

Records of stage (continued) Recording gages

Select type of instrument and its scales to fit conditions at gaging station

Weekly or continuous recorder Recorder scales Range of stage Rate of change of stage Availability of someone to change weekly

chart Work of Cage inspector of keeper

Avoid resetting pen Repurt any trash or debris causing backwater

at gage Do not have a gage keeper unless needed

aintaining gage datum Check outside gae by levels annually Keep outside gage sections reset to datum

Standard reference gage Inside gage of soie sort preferable

Staff Float-tape Anchor type

Intake action Clean or flush pipes after floods Slot intakes Self-cleaning iitakes

For pipe gage wells For wells built into bridge piers

Draw-down (where excessive) Use bapfle or static tube

Elood marks at station Make record of well-defined high water

marks

AECESS - 945 to 1000

- 9 - 61

Thursday morning (Continudd) 1000

Discharge measuroments Current hmeters

Price Type A Type AA

Pygmpy Carc of inters

Sounding weights E-typc C-type

Lead Brono

Type of notebook Loose shects Loose-leaf book Bound booL

Measurement of depth aeding rod Tag-line nethod Vertical-nglc coofficients Sounding during floods

Ilacemont of mter Sub--surface method 2-depth n cthod 6-de-pth icthod 2- imetY od

Number of verticals Velocity -urgcs

Miscellaneous f-ctors Effect of bridge piers Horizontal angle of current Insufficient weight on current water

1Mean gage hoitht for a discharge measurement Special methods of (Itermining flood discharge

Floats Slope-area method

Rating curv- etonsion method Arca and velocity curves Loparithmic plottig

Contrqctd-opening mothod Flow ovcr dams

Report on condition of control Carry station description and rating curve in field

Ubtain another me asurement if needed If first indicates large shift If new station and stagc advantagoous for

defining blank part of rating curve

ADJOUffN - 1145 AI

Resumne atfter lunch only if necessary for comploting the above subjects

62

- 10 -

Friday morning S00

A few remarks about office methods Rating curves

Log-log paper Upward extonsions Dowmward extensions

Rectangular plotting Computing recorder charts

M-ark index correction and time correction for each inspection reading

Break midnight lines at raph Never oblitertte or mark over the original trace Nake office markings on chart distinctive from

those mad( At the gage Use of colored pencils by computer and checker is one good wa)y

Daily discharge record Flot hydrograph Compare over light box with other stations

This method preferable to plotting several station records on same sheet

Concluding discussions

RECESS - 945 to 1000

Projection of gaging station equipment Lnd scenic slides taken in the United States and Canada

ADJOURN - 1145

Field trip Cars will be available at the conference building to

take members to the raging station on arikina iRivei at ontalban about an hours drive from Manila where a brief demonstration of certain field equipment will be given

Return to noL later thanoanila 500 FL

---

- Ishy4 ~7L~

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- ~ ~-~-----~- V 1~5~ LTLL2P7o -4----4 1 -- I -- I I _ __ --- -- -- - - L - - I ----

~- ~y~-~ 64 4

N

A il

Seminar members observing demonshystrat-n of measurshying e -pment by F M Veatch at Marikina River gaging station April 12 1957

I

Water Resources Seminar members observing working model of proppsed Binga Dam at the hydraulics laboratory of University of the Philippines April 12 1957

65

Current meter rating flume mechanism Y 22 1957

Current meter rating flume mechanism May 22 1957

66

Current Meter Rating Station

The new current meter rating station at the University of the

Philippines (see photographs) was not quite ready for use before I

left the country The mechanism and instruments were manufactured

in Germanyobtained thru ICA-NEC procurement for the Water Resources

Program of the Department of Public Works and have been installed by

Professor Alberto Villares and his hydraulics laboratory staff under

Dean C A Ortigas of the College of Engineering with some guidance

by Professor Edward L Ericksen of the University of Michigan who is

a civil engineer on detail here with the Stanford Group Professor

Villares spent 18 months in the hydraulics laboratory of the Univershy

sity of Iowa

There is every evidence that this rating flume will with expeshy

rience do work accurate enough not only for determining differences

in ratings between current meters but also for preparing absolute or

independent ratings This can be reported on more fully at some

later date by Messrs Hargreaves and Snell

The Central Luzon Region Program

The Water Resources Development Committee is preparing a recomshy

mended plan for the expedited multiple-purpose development of the

water resources of the Central Luzon region The area contains oneshy

sixteenth of the land surface and one-fourth of the population of the

Philippines and is termed the rice granary of the nation It is to

be used as an example or experiment in water and land development

67

The Committee has requested member agencies to submit estimates

of the minimum amount of additional basic data needed for making a

useful report and for proceeding with development projects Such

estimates are to include mapping soil surveys dam and reservoir site

surveys water resources surveys and other items A preliminary

report is to be prepared soon summarizing the existing information

pointing out the need for additional dataand submitting estimates

of cost for the further investigations needed An outline for the

final report has been prepared and distributed so it will be availashy

ble as a guide and funds for the first years efforts are being

sought for fiscal year 1958 It appears reasonable that the report

on a comprehensive plan could be submitted to the President and

Congress of the Philippines in about five years

With the assistance of Mr Hargreaves I have prepared estimates

for a surface water measurement program to complement the existing

program It is designed to fill the worst gaps in the present netshy

work Details are subject to change as more reconnaissance informashy

tion becomes available as only five days were spent covering the area

by automobile Unit costs were provided by the Hydrographic Section

and they include cost of preparation of the records for publication

Estimates were submitted as given below They were supported by a

detailed list of stream names and locations which included desigshy

nations as to the primary purpose or type of each proposed new gaging

station and whether a recording or non-recording gage was recommended

It is available for reference in both the ydrographic Section and

ICA offices

68

New gaging stations

1 Daily discharge type

Installation (including cableways where needed)

Recording ------- 7 Pl650 11550

Non-recording --- 4 950 3800 15350

Operation 1st year -11 660 7260 P22610

2 High water type (flood records)

Installation

Gages (nonshy

recording) ----- 4 150 600

Measuring equipment 800 1400

Operation 1st year - 4 300 1200 2600

Total for new gaging stations ------------- 25210

Miscellaneous discharge measurements

1 4 or 5 during dry season Nov - April

4 sites x 5 per site = 20 30 ---------------- 600

2 1 or 2 during low part of year March and April

37 sites x l per site = 55 k30 ------------- 1650

Total for miscellaneous measurements ------ 2250

Total -------------- -2746o

69

Rainfall And Evaporation Stations

Existing network

A map examination of the existing network of rain gages was made

and a surprisingly large number were found to be in operation -- 2

recording and 115 manual stations or a total of 117 They are beshy

lieved to be fairly adequate in number and are well distributed

areally over the Philippines but like in the United States are conshy

fined largely to the lower altitudes where the agricultural and urban

population live In addition to these records are available for

various lengths of time from about 8 discontinued Weather Bureau

stations and from more than 300 haciendas reforestaion stations

and provincial rnrseries

Additional gages

The Weather Bureau and the Bureau of Public Works are cooperating

in the installation of some new rainfall stations at higher altitudes

part of which will utilize new instruments purchased with ICA aid

funds Some of the instruments will be installed at existing nonshy

recording stations Forty new installations are proposed for 1958

fiscal year It is now recognized that rainfall station coverage at

higher altitudes is needed in order to furnish records that can be

correlated with the long-term valley records and also with the gaging

station discharge records D

70

Weather station maintained by Bureau of Public WorksIrrigation Division near Tuguegarao Cagayan From left to right N Ciriaco District Hydrographer drivershyhelper observer J G Garcia hydrographer J C Regalado and G H Hargreaves May 13 1957

Weather station at Pototan Iloilo Panay A Lacuestadistrict bydro-rapher standing May 5 1957

71

Group luncheon at Tacloban Leyte typical of the hospitality received by us during inspection tour of the Philippines From left to right M Rico irrig distr engr G Hargreaves G Araos E N Salazar P Formilleza L Abella S Velasco JCRegalado V H Sydiongoo distr hydrographer I M Ortega Oscar de Venecia and N Oliver May 7 1957

ICA Public Works Division March 1957 From left to right C R Murray A A Ketchum asat Div head J B Delaney I J Silverstone Sofia Halili 0 H Hosmer R R Lord Div head B B Hill Betty Valdez G H Hargreaves J L Brenden FM Veatch

72

Evaporation stations

Fifteen double-pan (one open and one partially shaded) evaporation

stations with rainfall temperature wind and humidity instruments as

auxiliary are being operated in the Philippines and ten more are to

follow next year They are well distributed over the islands and

should furnish data of great value for reservoir design Thq reccrds

will be publish3d

Publication of rainfall data

All rainfall reccrds are published annually by the Weather Bureau

whose 1954 volume is the latest one printed The 1955 issue should be

released soon One excellent source of information for anyone studyshy

ing rainfall data in the Philippines is the publication The Distrishy

bution of Rainfall In The Philippines by Eugenio B Manalo Chief

Climatological Division Weather Bureau Manila This contains

valuable descriptive material tables of monthly and annual values

and mean monthly and annual isohyets in inches An inspection or

study of the monthly isohyetal maps shows clearly how storm patterns

change with the seasons in certain parts of the Philippines and that

73

in other areas the rain is almost evenly distributed throughout the

year The long dry season of Manila and the central Luzon plains is

graphically portrayed by the isohyets Mr Manalos publication

should be of great benefit to government agencies and private parties

or individuals in connection with agricultural and business activities

over the islands It is presumed that the isohyets will warrant some

revision after another 5 or 10 years as more records especially those

at higher altitudes become available

Sediment Measurement Stations

Practically no silt-sampling has been done in the Philippines

to date and no extensive program is believed possible because of the

lack of funds For the present it is recommended that every governshy

ment field hydrographer be equipped with a thermomater and a turbidity

stick and required to report a spot water temperature and turbidity

reading at time of each discharge measurement Thus without extra

cost a large amount of data can be accumulated which after several

years should make it possible to determine what streams are the

siltiest and where more detailed studies might be needed Whenever a

reservoir project reaches the intensive-investigation stage including

dam-site drilling detailed topography etc it is recommended that

a complete sediment sampling station be operated there for at least

one full flood season before the project feasibility report is

completed

74

Statement Before Water Resources Development Committee

On March 20 1957 I presented the following statement regarding

the streamflow measurement program in the Philippines

The Philippine Republic is blessed with an excellent supply of

water of good quality but much of it is wasted to the sea during the

rainy season The development of this resource is vitally important

to the nation and it involves the storing of flood waters for dryshy

season release Where investments are to be made for construction of

dams etc in the development of irrigation power production and

flood control large sums can easily be wasted through overdesign or

underdesign if enough engineering data are not available Conflicting

or competing uses for the water supplies will gradually develop in

your country the same as they have in the United States If water

rights are to be granted fairly with due regard for all prior users

many years of basic data are necessary so that the long-term water

supply can be estimated For this purpose a good network of stream

gaging records and ground water levels must be secured One would

not attempt to manage the money in a bank without bookkeeping and it

is just as important to have an accounting system when managing water

The sound economical procedure is to base all project designs on as

complete engineering information as can be obtained

The ICA is attempting to assist the Philippine Government in

planning the orderly development of its water resources and we are

concerned that too many structures may be built before accurate

9i

hydrologic data are available for their design For this reason we

strongly urge you to improve the basic data gathering program at the

earliest possible date as follows

(1) Review and publish the stream-flow records that have been

obtained since the war

(2) Finance an expanded program of stream-flow measurement and

ground water study

The Bureau of Public Works has prepared preliminary estimates of

the funds needed for bringing publication of basic data up to date and

for expanding the wiater resources investigation program The attached

copies of estimates are of course provisional and subject to revision

but it is suggested that they be placed in the files of this Committee

for future reference The figure of P56oooo for publication is a

fairly firm figure It is suggested that the Committee take immeshy

diate action to further the procurement of these funds

The procurement of water resources data is a specialized field

requiring engineers and other technical men with a high degree of

education Years must be spent in training them in such special

work The men must endure rigorous physical work corbatting the

elements and using resourcefulness and judgment It is very uneconoshy

mical and unsatisfactory to have a technical organization of that kind

subject to occasional and unpredictable severe cuts in appropriations

It is even more unsatisfactory to have the time sequence of basic

water data collection interrupted and valuable records lost forever

CONTENTS Page

Introduction 1

Purpose of detail 1

Preparation 1

Acknowledgments 1

The Stream Gaging Program In The Philippines 5

3

Status of post-war computations and publication 7

Organization and cooperation a

History

Number of gaging stations operated in Philippines 12

Financing 13

Design of the stream gaging program 17

Equipment and technical methods 19

27Recommendations

Decentralize office work 27

Organization 28

35Gagekeepers

Vehicles 36

39Technical procedures

Design of the stream gaging network 42

The Technical Training Program 44-

Early plans 44

Later developments 44

Acknowledgments 47

RETURN TO - MIDiPW UNITED STATES OF AMERICA OPERATIONS MISSION

TO THE PHILIPPINES (International Cooperation Administration)

Manila Philippines

June 51957

Mr R R Lord Chief Public Works Division International Cooperation Administration Manila Philippines

Dear Mr Lord

Transmitted herewith are three copies of report prepared as result of my detail here from the U S Geological Survey during the period February 21 to June 5 1957

The report has been reproduced in number of copies sufficient for distribution to members of the Water Resources Development Committee and to heads and staff members of Philippine government departments engaged in hydrographic activities and related water development work as may be arranged between you and the heads of those agencies

It is believed that considerable good was accomplished during my assignment here particularly in working out with the Hydrographic Section the various recommendations given in the report With Messrs Hargreaves and Snell available to assist and guide further in the implementation of the recommendations and to add further suggestions that may occur to them I feel confident that the Philippine governshyment will progress rapidly in attaining a more satisfactory surface water investigation program

Respectfully yours

Fred M Veatch Hydraulic Engineer

cc Mr Thomas E Eakin

RETUR- I O- [IIDPW

CONTENTS Page

Publications 48

The Seminar agenda 53

Current Meter Hating 3tation 66

The Central Luzon Region Program 66

Outline of estimates 68

Rainfall Stations 69

Existing network 69

Additional gages 69

Evaporation stations 72

Publication of rainfall data 72

73Sediment Measurement Stations

Statement Before Water Resources Committee 74

Addendum 77

ILLUSTRATIONS

(Unless otherwise indicated photographs were taken

by F M Veatch 1957)

Page

1 Recorder and cableway Marikina R at Montalban

Rizal April 5 5

2 Cableway and recorder Pampanga R at Atate

Nueva Ecija April 14 5

3 Pre-war frame shelter and 36 corr pipe well

Taken by G Hargreaves March 1 6

4 Pipe well attached to bridge pier Pampanga R near

Arayat Pampanga March 1 6

5 New timber recorder structure Pinagcanauan de

Tuguegarao R near Tuguegarao Cagayan with

Garcia and Ciriaco May 14 9

6 Staff gage on Jalaur R at Passi Iloilo May 8 9

7 National Power Corp staff gage on Angat R above

Ipo Dam March 13 10

8 NPC staff painted on bedrock Bantay R near Bokod

Benguet Mt Province March 26 10

9 Staff gage Labangan R at Bagbag Calumpit

Bulacan March 1 15

10 Gagekeeper and staff gage Jalaur R at Calinog

Iloilo Panay May 8 15

ILLUSTRATIONS Page

11 Gagekeeper reading painted 3taff gage Bokod R at

Bokod March 26 16

12 Gagekeeper showing reference point Madlum R near

Sibul Springs Bulacan April 25 16

13 Ipo Dam on Angat River Bulacan March 13 21

14 Banca ready to go up reservoir above Ipo Dam

March 13 21

15 Cableway Angat R above Ipo Dam March 13 22

16 B Ramos making wading measurement Angat R above

Ipo Dam March 13 22

17 Tagging line Bantay R M Bokod Mt Province

March 26 25

18 Measuring flow bantay R M Bokod Mt Province

March 26 25

19 Measuring flow Bokod R at Bokod Mt Province

March 26 26

20 15-pound weight used near Ambuklao March 26 26

21 Ambuklao Dam on Agno R Benguet Mt Prov March 25 29

22 Maria Cristina Dam on Agos R Lanao Mindanao May 1 29

23 Binga dam site on Agno R Mt Province March 25 30

24 Marikina dam site on Marikina River Rizal April 5 30

25 Cableway and recorder on Cagayan R near Cagayan

de Oro Misamis Oriental Mindanao April 30 33

26 Control on Binahaan R at Tiigib near Pastrana

Leyte May 6 33

ILLUSTRATIONS page

27 Footbridge below Binga dam site Agno R March 25 34

28 Tree anchorage for cable Angat R above Ipo Dam

March 13 34

29 Construction shelters at gaging station on Angat R

above Ipo Dam March 13 37

30 Proposed new base gaging station site on Baoas R near

Mangatarem Pangasinan Photo by J S Romasanta

April 15 37

31 Airport at Legaspi Albay May 17 38

32 Jeep and reconnaissance party April 15 38

33 F M Veatch and Seminar group April 9

Photo by E H Capistrano 5

34 F M Veatch and Seminar group April 9

Photo by E H Capistrano

35 C R Murrb and Seminar group April 9 Photo

by E H Capistrano 9

36 Seminar group r-Marikina R gaging station taken

by E H Capistrano from cable car April 12 0

37 Typical discharge hydrograph showing base flow

Manila rainfall 1365 to date 63

38 Demonstration of measuring equipment Seminar

April 12 64

39 Seminar group observing Binga dam model April 12 64

ILLUSTRATIONS Page

40 Looking north at meter rating flume U of P May 22 65

41 Looking south at meter rating flume U of P May 22 65

42 Weather station near Tuguegarao Cagayan May 13 70

43 Weather station at Pototan Iloilo Panay May 5 70

44 Luncheon group at Tacloban Leyte May 7 71

45 ICA Public Works Division personnel March 1957 71

REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON SURFACE WATER RESOURCES INVESTIGATIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES

by

Fred M Veatch

Introduction

Purpose of the detail (1) To assist the ICA and the Philippine

government in determining principles to be followed in laying out a

suitable long-range stream gaging program for the nation (2) To

recommend a specific surface water investigation program for the

Luzon area (3) To hold technical training conferences wiLh Philipshy

pine government personnel in the site selection construction and

field operation of gaging stations (4) To make general recommendations

concerning the precipitation gage network (5) To comment on the posshy

sible need for quality of water investigations in the Philippines and

(6) To comment on the new current meter rating flume being constructed

in Manila

Preparation Orientation or briefing conferences were held with

me in Washington D C January 22-25 1957 by officials of the Geoloshy

gical Survey and the ICA particularly Thomas E Eakin Chief of Overseas

Programs for the Survey and J V B Wells Chief of Surface Water

Division and Malcolm H Jones C L Orrben and E T Hagberg of ICA

Additional briefing was received in Manila

Acknowledgments The carrying out of my assignment in a satisfactory

manner was greatly facilitated in the Philippines by the cooperation and

2

assistance of Mr Russell R Lord Chief of Public Works Division of

ICA and by menmbers of his staff especially Mr George H Hargreaves

Chief Advisor Water Resources Program and by the Philippine Governshy

ment officials with whom I worked most closely including Mr Tomas

Saddam Chief of Hydrographic Section of the Bureau of Public Works

and Mr Jose C Regalado of his staff Mr Alex Delefia of the River

Control Section Messrs I Santos and E P Abesamis of the National

Power Corporation and E B Manalo of the Weather Bureau

Acknowledgment is also made to Messrs R E 01tman and J J

Ligner of the Training Section Surface Water Branch Washington

D C for their cooperation in sending numerous publications needed

at the Seminar and elsewhere in the Philippines and for their sugshy

gestions in regard to training

3

The Stream Gaging Program In The Philippines

History

The Hydrographic Section of the Irrigation Division Department

of Public Works and Communications (formerly the Department of Commerce

and Communications) has been the major stream gaging agency in the

Philippines since the work was started in 1908 265 gaging stations

in 40 of the 49 provinces were operated for short periods of time between

1908 and 1922 mostly in 1910-12 and 1919-22 All daily gage-height and

discharge records collected by that agency between January 1 1923 and

June 1944 became destroyed by Lire during World War II However the

results of numerous discharge measurements made from 1939 to 1942 were

saved for several gaging stations in the Bicol region of southern Luzon

Stream gaging by the Hydrographic Section was resumed on August 19 1945

on the Aringay River near Tubao La Union followed gradually by other

stations as the Liberation progressed

Records for 1908 to 1922 were published in 1923 in four volumes-as

Water Supply Bulletin No 1 Surface Water Supply of the Philippine

Islands which included the results of all discharge measurements as

well as computed daily discharges in second-liters The calendar year

is used rather than a water year The Extremes paragraphs do not

include any stage records the only gage heights published being those

contained in the lists of discharge measurements

k

Forty-six of the gaging stations operated during the 1908-22

period were re-established after World War II at sites where the records

are considered comparable -- that is where the drainage area does not

differ by more than five per cent The longest continuous records of

discharge not affected by diversion or regulation that I have been able

to find in the Philippines for the postwar period are for the Maasim

River near San Rafael Bulacan Luzon October 5 1945 to date and for

the Aringay River near Tubao La Union from August 19 1945 to date

Available maps are not very satisfactory for locating sites of former

gaging stations because the names of many of the barrios and towns are

different on present maps than they were when the stations were first

operated and described

Considerable stream gaging has also been done by the National

Power Corporation and some river stage records have been obtained by

the River Control and Drainage Section Irrigation Division These are

summarized in the tabulation on Page 6 In addition miscelshynumerous

laneous discharge measurements have been obtained by several agencies

Daily discharge records are available in the files of the National

Power Corporation for eight pre-war gaging stations that were operated

for varying periods between 1923 and 1943 by the Bureau of Public Works

One of these on Barit River at Santiago Iriga Camarines Sur was

operated from 1923 to 1940 The original forms for all eight stations

became destroyed during the war but a set of prints was later discovered

by the National Power Corporation in some hydroelectrical project files

that were saved The NPC re-established the Barit River station at

the same site in 1950

5

Marikina R at Montalban Rizal Province with Stevens FM 30-day recorder April 5 1957

TYPICAL NEW GAGING STATION STRUCTURES CONSTRUCTED AS A RESULT CF THE ICA PROGRAM

III I I

I I I

~iz

7~il

2~-

Pampanga River at Atate Nueva Ecija Stevens FM recorder J C Regalado driver helper and L Borbolla in foreground April 14 1957

47~I

-4

4

iuJi rf if poundflLLi

77

Pre-war frame shelter and 36 corr pipe Frame shelter over new 36 corrwell with Gurley weekly recorder Pampanga

J C Regalado B Ramos and E M Veatch pipe well Pampanga River near standing Taken by G H Hargreaves Arayat Pampanga March 1 1957 March 1 1957

Status of post-war computations and publication

Daily discharge computations of the Hydrographic Section tbr 1944

to 1954 are practically coplete those for 1955 are about 40 per deb4t

complete and for 1956 about 15 per cent Office work has been delayed

considerably because of the heavy constructionfprogran which started

in 1956 using supplies and instruments furnished by the ICA All office

computations are made in the Manila office No discharge records have

been published since those of 1908-22 but steps are being taken as

explained later in this report to bring publication up to date It is

planned that the records which have been compuhed for the years 1944 to

1956 will be reviewed before their final preparation for publication

to make sure their standards of accuracy are reasonably consistent

with the slightly higher standards proposed to be instituted as a

result of recommendations made in this report About 1500 stationshy

years of stream-flow recordsless than 10 per cent of which are from

agencies other than the Hydrographic Section are proposed to be comshy

piled and printed in a single-volume publication of monthly and annual

data Tables of monthly minimum discharge are to be included

Organization and cooperation

The Hydrographic Section customarily assigns a district hydrographer

and his assistants as resident at each irrigation district office that

is situated a long distance from Manila Their headquarters are as

follows

District Province Town

Northern Luzon Isabela San Mateo

Bicol Region Luzon Camarines Sur Naga

Eastern Visayas Leyte Tacloban

Western Visayas Iloilo Iloilo

Mindanao Davao Davao

This district is presently being operated by hydrographers from

Manila the same as for the central part of Luzon

The above field hydrographers are each assigned a Jeep and a drivershy

helper Hydrographers pay scales range between about Y2400 and P4200

per annum and in addition they are granted a subsistence allowance of

Y2OO per unit or Y800 a day Driver-helpers receive an average pay

of P5 per day plus a subsistence allowance of P200 per day (which has

been reduced administratively from P450 a day because of lack of funds)

The field personnel send or deliver all basic records to Manila

where they are processed computed and filed Most of the office work

is done by office personnel with the field men doing but little of the

office work

9

New timber recorder structure including plank intake with Stevens A-35 recorder Pinagcanauan de Tuguegarao River near Tuguegarao Cagayan Jose G Garcia assistant hydrographer and Norberto Ciriaco District Hydrographer on walkway May 14 1957

Staff gage on Jalaur River at Passi Iloilo From left to right 2 boys A Lacuesta Distr HydrogrLher J CorderoIrrig Distr Engr G Hargreaves J Regalado gagekeeper (kneeling) and onlooker May 8 1957

I

--- S

F National Power Corporation staff gage on Angat River above Ipo Dam now beingreplaced by a Bureau of Public Works recorder installation March 13 1957

O~

~A F~ ~~ shy- ~

~

- --

I ------ ~

A -~ 1

~ -- gt I~-

5 shy

- ~- ~ U

amp~~ -

2r~ ~k- ~ ~

National Power Cororation painted staff gage Bantay River near Bokod BenguetMountain Province Hydrographers helperstanding March 26 1957 Note lower markings faded

11

Whether any other changes are made or not it is the expressed

plan of the Hydrographic Section to have the District-Hydrographer

who is in charge of the Northern Mindanao District headquartered at

Cagayan de Oro

A considerable portion of the pay of district hydrographers and

their staffs comes directly from the Irrigation Section district

office at which they are headquartered rather than through the

Hydrographic Section This has had the effect of limiting their

efforts somewhat to project work rather than to general or all-purpose

investigations

Some of the other agencies particularly the National Power

Corporation obtain the cooperation of the Hydrographic Section in

helping operate certain gaging stations where a duplication of travel

can thus be avoided However the discharge measurements so made by

the Hydrographic Section are turned over to the NPC who make their

own computations of daily discharge The latter also sometimes pays

directly the salaries of certain gagekeepers Usually this cooperashy

tion does not involve an exchange of funds but some change in that

situation is recommended as explained later in this report

All agencies make their daily discharge records available to the

Hydrographic Section upon request and the plan is to have the later

agency include all such records in their publications No reproduction

machine is available in any of the offices and all copies of records

must be made individually in typing or longhand A machine is under

order by the Hydrographic Section

-fiUMBER OI~ GAGIiG~STATIONS-eP-ERATED IN-PIILIPPINES -

CALENDAR YEAR

YEA HYOROGRAPHIC

STAGE NATIONAL

SECTION PO R0 P

RIVEl CONTROL SECTON

TOT AL

DISCHARGE NATIONAL

HYDROGRAPHIC SECTION ORHYTGRPI SECTION POR

TOTAL TOA

RECORDING NON-REC TOTAL NON-REC NON-REC RECORDING NON-REC TOTAL

1908-1922 265 265 265

1923-1944 3 3 9 12

1945 6 6 6 15 15 2 17

1946 2 12 14 14 28 28 4 32

1947 3 11 14 14 29 29 4 33

1948 3 18 21 5 26 45 45 5 50

1949 3 13 16 6 5 27 74 74 15 89

1950 3 9 12 10 4 26 91 91 20 111

1951 3 15 18 10 4 34 103 103 17 120

1952 3 13 16 10 4 30 111 111 17 128 1953 3 17 20 11 17 48 1 96 97 23 120

1954 4 18 22 11 26 49 1 145 146 22 168

1955 4 18 22 13 19 54 1 207 208 27 235

1956 6 12 15 1 25 52 40 189 26 5

13

Various agencies have submitted lists of proposed gaging stations

which they would like to have installed to provide data for their

projects It is apparent that this work will be well coordinated in

the future and that the other agencies will come to rely more and

more on the Hydrographic Section for most of their basic stream-flow

records But they probably will continue to have their own personnel

make certain types of hydrographic investigations for the detailed

study of specific projects such as river profiles tailwater rating

curves etc

Financing

The main difficulty in regard to financing has been lack of

stability and continuity to the program and insufficient generalshy

fund money to permit the establishment of an all-purpose gaging proshy

gram In 1956 and 1957 the Hydrographic Section rec3ived P120000

(less than half of their total funds) for such general use with all

other monies either from counterpart funds (explained below) in theor

form of contributions from other agencies to cover certain gaging

expenses Another difficulty has been the lack of enough funds to

properly carry out the sudden large construction program generated by

the new ICA-furnished materials and instruments Most of the regular

hydrographic force has been assigned to construction during the last

twelve months or so because separate construction foremen or substitute

hydrographers could not be hired As a result the regular field

operation of gaging stations has suffered considerable neglect This

- - -

14

wuld not have been necessary if the Hydrographic Sections funds had

been flexible and appropriated on basis of a performance budget As

it is the Section must adhere to line items which spell out exactly

how all money is to be spent

The financing of an expanded 1958 program now appears to be

progressing satisfactorily largely from the counterpart monies

This fund consists of pesos allocated by the Philippine government

in an amount equivalent to the dollar value of imports furnished by

the ICA It is administered by the National Economic Council with

allocations subject to approval of the ICA on budget recommendations

received from Philippine government agencies In the case of water

resources programs they are assisted by recommendations of the Water

Resources Development Committee an NEC administratively appointed

body composed of representatives of ten agencies interested or inshy

volved in water development A rougn breakdown of the Hydrographic

Sections budget proposed for the fiscal year starting July 1 1957

is as follows

General Fund Pesos

Annual appropriation - ------------ 120000

Counterpart Funds

For bringing up to date the publication of

annual records plus a compilation - - - - 56000

For an expanded program of surface-water

investigations----------- - 500000

TOTAL - - - - - - 676000

The total funds available in 1955 and 1956 fiscal years were 180000

and 280000 respectively

It

a 7~

IC

U

i

Staff gage out of water Labangan River at Bagbag Calumpit Bulacan March 1 1957

7lt 2

I

fr

Gagekeeper and staff Jalaur River at Calinog Iloilo He read 10 centimeters low today because markings on lower part of gage were illegible

I-J May 8 1957

16 8

hational Power Corp staff gage painted on streamward side of cliff Lower markings gone and gagekeeper determines gage heights three times a day by wading to gage and measuring down with rule as shown in this picture Bokod R at Boiod Benguet Mountain Province March 26 1957

Bureau of Public Works staff gage station Gagekeeper has made readingsby measuring down from a nail since this section of gage was washed out by a flood Madlum River near Sibul Springs Bulacan April 25 1957

17

The only difficulty with counterpart financing is that it is

temporary and could conceivably leave the program stranded in a few

years when ICA aid is discontinued The necessity is recognized for

gradually obtaining regular Congressional appropriations to take the

place of counterpart funds An effort will also be made to have a

performance type of budget accepted because line items make the

program inflexible and prevent the best management and economy

It is recommended that other agencies desiring for their projects

certain stream flow records which cannot be financed from the regular

budget of the Hydrographic Section transfer funds annually (either in

advance or on a reimbursement basis) to the Hydrographic Section to

pay the extra costs required for the fulfilment of their requests

Design of the stream gaging program

As mentioned above the fiscal arrangements prevailing up to this

time have resulted in an almost total emphasis on project-type gaging

stations in the Philippines However I believe everyone is now in

agreement with the desirability or need for a nation-wide network of

index or runoff-per-square-kilometer type of stations which will sample

various runoff provinces such as those with different exposures to storms

and having different topography altitude geology type of land cover

etc The intensity of the network of stations in different regions

would vary depending upon the apparent future economic value or worth

of the water in each area This will be discussed in more detail in

the recommendations

18

In order to look over the existing program observe something of

the technical methods in use and see a variety of runoff and economic

types of areas in the islands to gain an idea of the type of stream

gaging network needed I have visited several regions accompanied most

of the time by Mr George Hargreaves It has been very helpful to me

to have him take such an interest in the detailed objectives of ry

assignment and I am sure it will facilitate Mrs Snellas work a great

deal to have available for consultation and guidance Mr Hargreaves

wide experience in water resources development and investigations

We were accompanied by Mr J C Regalado of the ydrographic Section

who made most of the advance contacts with field offices in connecshy

tion with our trips We usually travelled to central points by Philshy

ippine Air Lines and were then driven to nearby areas by field officials

of the Hydrographic Section and other agencies The hospitality and

cooperation of everyone toward us was exceptional and much appreciated

Besides a fairly detailed coverage of the Central Luzon area where an

intensified program is proposed our inspections included Northern

Luzon Southern Luzon (the Bicol region) Leyte Panay and several

parts of Mindanao In addition we made a special effort to observe

the country all along the routes of airplane flights taken and that

coupled with airplane stops made on other islands gave us a fairly

comprehensive view of the geography of the Philippines It is upon

this that my recommendations concerning the design of a stream gaging

program are based

19

Bquipment and technical methods-

The stream gaging equipment and methods used by the Hydrographic

Section since 1908 have been patterned mainly after those of the US

Geological Survey as described in the 1904 publication H4ydrographic

Manual Thus it appears likely that the methods and accuracy stanshy

dards have changed but little since the Philippine program was started

Stream gaging tecniques used by the other agencies are similar but

they have not had the advantage of some of the new ICA-furnished equipshy

ment This is expected to be remedied in the aid allocations for fiscal

year 1958

Although some use has been made of the 2-8 method of measuring

discharge present practice is limited almost entirely to the 6method

for low and medium stages and the sub-surface method for high stages

for the latter the meter is suspended over a 15-E weight and set 03

meter below the surface with a coefficient of 0915 applied

The number of verticals or measuring points taken in the cross

section usually is between 8 and 15 No bridge cranes or suspension

reels of any kind have been available all discharge work other than

with wading rod having been done by hand line All this is about to

be changed with the recent arrival of the first ICA-furnished sounding

reels weights and tag lines purchased from 1956 FY funds

Staff gages are read to the nearest centimeter (about 0033 foot)

Most of the gages would be difficult to read to any closer limit alshy

though a few stations have Leupold Stevens enameled gages with levelshy

rod type markings

20

The hydrographer records his discharge measurement notes in a

small bound pocket-size book which he carries until it is full After

each measurement is computed in the field a complete copy of the notes

is made on a card and mailed to the Manila office I am informed

that the bound notebooks are practically never lost or dropped in

the water With the increased amount of flood measuring expected to

be done in the future that situation might change

Rating curves are drawn to average large groups of discharge

measurements Large rectangular-scale cross section sheets are used

Percentage differences of the measured values with respect to the

rating table are not computed A minimum of use is made of Stoutshy

method shifts

The water-stage recorders furnished to date by the ICA have been

manufactured with time scales of either 03 inch per day (the FM

model) or 48 inches per day (the A-35 model) The former scale is

too small for satisfactory use in most stream gaging and the latter

is too large Thirty pairs of time scale gears have been ordered for

converting the A-35s from 48 to 24 inches per day Upon inquiry at

the factory it was learned that no conversion of the FM recorders is

possible An exchange of 25 of them is being made with the ground

water program for an equivalent value in A-35 recordero but the

remaining 65 will be used at the surface water stations They are

very satisfactory on lakes or spring-fed streams or large streams

whose fluctuations are not too sudden

21

Ipo dam on Angat River which diverts water to supply City of Manila and surrounding area March 13 1957 Reservoir is traversed by boat in reaching the gaging station upstream

Ready to leave Ipo Dam for gaging station 6 kilqmeters upstream B Ramos and J Regalado in oanca March 13 1957

4 ~ s~

B Ramos making discharge measurement by wading on Angat River above Ipo DamMarch 13 1957 Spacings between verticals were obtained from cable makings byline hanging from cable car

23

At non-recording gages it has been the custom to hire gagekeepers

at uniform or statutory rates of 025 or P30 per month (not related

to the distance traversed in going to the gage) to obtain readings

three times a day The pay has been the same even where the gage is

located several kilometers away from the gagekeepers home The system

has certain disadvantages which may affect the accuracy of the records

At some stations the pay is too high while at others it is too low

Three readings a day are not necessary most of the time for adequately

developing the hydrograph especially during the dry season and a

request for obviously unnecessary readings seems to put too severe a

test upon human nature It is practically an open invitation to a

certain amount of faking I doubt that it should be held against a

gagekeeper to put down some estimated readings under those circumstances

any more than it would be to blame children for taking candy or cookies

from a forbidden plate left openly in their midst The question then

becomes - what readings can be relied upon and what cannbt I sincerely

believe that a more accurate daily discharge record can be prepared in

the office from a few completely reliable gage readinrs per week by

means of hydrographic comparisons with recording-gage records from

nearby stations and with less expense than can be produced by proshy

cessing comparing and weeding out questionable parts from a complete

(on paper) record of three readings a day A gagekeepers habit

developed during the dry season of not going to the gage when it is

inconvenient or he doesnt feel like it is bound to crop up during

the high water season as well with the result that all his readings

24

must be looked at critically and considered reliAble only after

unusually extensive comparisons are made with weather records and

other stations

In regard to specialized stream gaging equipment listed below

are the amounts purchased by the ICA up to the present time

Ordered from Ordered from Being FY 1955 PPA 1956 PPA ordered Delivered in Delivered in from 1957

May 1956 May 1957 PPA

Canfield reels 0 6 8

Type A reels 0 6 2

Canfield tag lines 0 15 0

A-35 recorders 20 10 25

FM recorders 65 25 0

Enameled gage secs 400 600 200

Currer meter outfits inc ding rod headphonehanuline and 15-pound weight 11 10 0

Pygmy meters 0 0 10

Bridge cranes 0 3 0

Sounding wts 30-lb 0 0 10

50-lb 0 0 10

I i 75-lb 0 0 1

I 100-lb 0 0 1

Stopwatches 20 10 0

Being purchased as models for possible future use in procurement of

weights of local manufacture

25

~-

-~ ~- shy

~-

4rshy~~L~zu 1 - ~ A-

-~ - ~jj ~

~- k ~ ~

Helper and P Nubio National Power Corporationpreparing to make discharge measurement Tag marks of grass being tied to line Bantay River near Bokod Benguet Mountain Province March 26 1957

-- ~ 4

V

Helper holding meter in place suspended on a weight hanger while revolutions are counted oy hydrographer P Nubio E P Nbesamis is at extreme right March 26 1957

26

-p --shy

t-~-- - -

A ~

A~4 ~ 4

A -Y

- -

- - - -

gt~ ~ ~-

Z4z4a - ~z

- shy -~-~shy

4shy- --

I NPC discharge party on Bokod River at-Bokod BenguetMountain Province Helper and gagekeeper holding meter and 15-pound weight in position P Nubio on shore counting revolutions and recording notes March 26 1957

Ar 7

-~ I

0 I 15-pound weight used in discharge measurement work by the NPC hydrographer stationed at Ambuklao Dam March 26 1957

27

Recommendations

A sharp expansion in the stream gaging program of the Philippines

has occurred recently brought about not only by the ICAs economic and

technical aid program but also by the growing local demand for water

resources information It is inevitable that some organizational

changes would be required to accommodate such a sudden growth This

subject was discussed in conferences with Mr Saddam and Mr Regalado

and the following list of special objectives agreed upon They had a

number of these in mind or partly in effect already and were planning

to gradually adopt several others The items are listed here in order

to express my reasons for wanting to see them completely implemented

within the next two or three years They are as follows

A It is recommended that the district offices compute their own disshy

charge records and prepare them for publication for final review

in the central office in ranila

1 Additional engineers would be needed in each district office

and fewer engineers in the Manila office

2 At least the district hydrographer and preferably one other

engineer in addition should be trained in the office work in

Manila before the records were transferred to a district

3 Each engineer in a district office would be given a field area

which he would cover by a round of discharge measurements once

every 4 to 6 weeks each coverage taking about 2 weeks Betshy

ween trips he would do office work preferably on the same

stations that he covers in the field

28

4 Benefits of thissystem are believed to be as follows

a Records requested could be furnished more quickly to the

public especially to those in the district area

b This kind of a close tie between field and office work has

been found to greatly improve the quality of the records

the economy of operation and the performance and developshy

ment of the individual engineers

c The alternating of each person between field and office

work makes him (1) more competent in the field work and

also more competent in the office work than is possible

in segregated office and field groups and (2) permits

him to be home more of the time and lead a more normal

lifc thus increasing his morale and efficiency

5 Personnel arrangements recommended are

a Offer more rapid promotion to those who transfer like

from Manila to a field office or between field offices

b Encourage each man to transfer every few years with

faster promotions as an incentive It has been found

that this develops an engineers competence more rapidly

than if he stays in one office indefinitely Such ability

repays the government in added officiency and production

to an extent greater than its cost in extra salary

B Certain organization changes are recommended as follows

1 Appoint an Office Engineer a Field Engineer and (whenever

needed) a Construction Engineer They would be headquartered

__

V 29

2

~- ~

q

Ambuklao Dam on Agno River Generating capacity 75000 kw Powerplant is underground March 2557

7- t

-JI

Maria Cristina falls and power plant on Agus River River near Iligan Lanao Province Mindanao Present installed capacity 50000 kw May 1 1957

30

II I

Looking downstream at the Binga dam site on Agno River about 15 kilometers east of Baguio March 25 1957

Looking upstream at the Marikina dam site on Marikina River at Wawa near Montalban Rizal about 25 kilometers northeast of Manila April 5 1957

31

in the Manila office and act under the general supervision of

the head of the Section with the following responsibilities

to be included

a Office Engineer

(1) Be responsible for the discharge computations and

related office work in the Manila field district or

area

(2) Be responsible for review and final preparation for

publication of all records in the nation

(3) See that a progress chart of status-of-record compushy

tations is maintained in each district office and

that a summary statement concerning such progress is

sent to the central office at least quarterly

(4) Be responsible for research in office methods and

equipment (See footnote on next page)

b Field Engineer

(1) Act as first assistant to head of the Section of

Hydrography

(2) Be responsible for field operation vork throughout the

nation

(a) Make at least one annual field inspection in each

district

(b) Develop the system in every headquarters of keepshy

ing a running chronological chart of the discharge

measurements made at each gaging station or

32W

scheduled miscellaneous site A form in use in

Tacoma Washington has been found to be very conshy

venient for this purpose Such a chart gives the

supervisor a quick overall view of the status of

the field work and serves as a check at end of

the year to make sure all measurements have been

listed and counted

(3) Be responsible for the design of the stream gaging

network and the selection of sites for new gaging

stations

(4) Be responsible for research in field methods and

equipment

Construction Engineer

(1) Give general supervision and management to the conshy

struction program

(a) Obtain assignment of resident engineer or foreman

for each job

(b) See that the materials are made available Help

the foreman in every way possible in organizing

the job procuring emergency equipment or supplies

and making decisions about serious problems that

may arise on the job

If funds became available for considerable research it probably

would be better to appoint a special Research Engineer

33

~A

Cagayan River gaging station near Cagayan de OroMisamis Oriental Mindanao April 30 1957 Note how corrugated pipe recorder structure was bent by flood J C Regalado J J Ponco gagekeeper and G H Hargreaves in foreground

-

V

View of staff gage and control on Binakaan River at Tifigib near Pastrana Leyte Stream divided by a barand control excavated for unknown reason May 6 1957 J Regalado by the sign and G Hargreaves at right

Cable footbridge below Binga dam site Tree anchorage for cableway onformerly used by NPC in making Angat River above Ipo Damdischarge measurements P Nubio and March 13 1957E Abesamis of NPC on bridge March 25 1957

35

(c) Visit the major jobs occasionally to see that

they are proceding satisfactorily in all the

islands Make sure the stations are installed

according to instructions and plans An approved

sketch plan showing dimensions and elevations is

desirable for each construction job

(d) Prepare first draft of each new station description

(e) Prepare brief construction report including costs

A form in use at Tacoma Washington has been found

convenient for this purpose

C The following policies in regard to gagekeepers are recommended

1 Start a gradual change-over to paying each gagekeeper on basis

only of the hours he works plus a basic amount for taking the

responsibility This may result in increasing the pay of some

but it should reduce the pay of a much larger number

2 Convert most gagekeepers to two readings a day most of the time

with one or more additional readings during floods In some of

the drier parts of the Central Luzon area in cases where gages

are remote from habitation request only one reading a day

during the dry months such as from January through May inclushy

sive more than that are believed to cost more than they are

worth and are an open invitation to the reporting of estimated

readings

3 When a new recorder installation is at a barrio or bridge where

it appears unlikely to be vandalized try running the station

36

without hiring a gagekeeper If this system proves successful

discontinue the services of the gagekeepers at certain selected

recorders At all other recorders reduce the number of readshy

ings required to one per day and reduce their pay accordingly

If a gagekeeper prefers not to accept a lower monthly rate for

fewer readings it is suggested that he resign except in cases

where security of the station structures or right-of-way favors

may be involved

Proceed on the principle that a saving in public tax money from

the above reforms is more important than supporting gagekeepers

just because they depend on the income and need the money The

present dependence of a gagekeeper on his P300 or P360 a year

and the hardship he must undergo in adjusting to a lower rate

of pay for the job are not believed to be sufficient reasons

for continuing indefinitely to pay him more than necessary

However it is recommended that he be given 30 or 60 days

notice before a reduction in pay is placed in effect

D Vehicles

1 It is recommended that a gradual change-over be made from the

short-wheelbase open Jeep to the Jeep station wagon as a hydroshy

graphers car Benefits should be as follows

a The car can be locked leaving only the tires as attractive

to thieves

b The station wagon has more space As the hydrographers

became better equipped that space will be needed

37

Bamboo-and-grass shelters built and used by crew during construction of gaging station on Angat River above Ipo Dam March 13 1957

3

4

-Ti LP

Proposed site for new index-type gaging station selected on Baoas River near Mangatarem Pangasinan above all diversions by Regalado Romasanta dargreaves and Veatch April 15 1957 Photo by J S Romasanta

38

Taking Philippine Airlines plane at Legaspi Albayfor Manila on May 17 1957 Mount Mayon 7960 feet high in background

I

N 1 x

Y

I

Showing typical vehicle used on the reconnaissance and inspection trips over the Philippines

39

c For occasional errands or trips it will be feasible for

only oneman to take the car because he can lock the con

tents when the car is not attended

d It may possibly develop in some parts of the Philippines

that a hydrographer for a certain area will not need a

driver-helper and thereby a saving in funds can be made

However such a change should be made only on a trial

basis and is not recommended until conditions so warrant

and until the hydrographer involved is satisfied with the

change or else desires it

E Certain technical stream-gaging procedures are recommended to be

followed in the Philippine Islands hydrographic work at the average

gaging station by all agencies doing stream gaging as follows

1 Obtain a discharge measurement once every four to six weeks

throughout the year

2 Furnish the hydrographer with a print of the station descripshy

tion and of the rating curve and require him as a general rule

to compute and plot his discharge measurement in the field

3 Have the gage read both before and after each discharge measureshy

ment and the readings recorded on the field notes

4 Use a loose-leaf discharge-measurement note form or forms

containing a summary page patterned to some extent after the

forms in use by the USGS Bound notes make it too inconshy

venient or perhaps impossible for the office engineer to

examine the notes for a whole year when he analyzes a station

record

40

5 Gradually change to the use of ehameled steel gage plates

instead of painted gages because their initial cost is less

and they are more durable Plates graduated somewhat like

those of the US Geological Survey are believed much better

than those stocked by private companies While here I drew

up a suggested design for local manufacture which appealed

to the Hydrographic Section

6 Obtain levels at staff gages at least once a year especially

on the low section of gage Replace or repair each low secshy

tion soon after it becomes damaged or the markings become

indistinct

7 Continue as a general rule to use the 6-depth method with

the sub-surface method for deep swift water Obtain a comshy

plete cross section as soon as feasible after the high water

has subsided

8 Gradually change to the use of heavier sounding weights so

that the 6-depth method with soundings can be used at high

water in any event take soundings and velocities as far out

as practicable from each bank at flood stages then go across

deep part of channel with sub-surface method Check subshy

surface method coeficients whenever practicable by means of

vertical velocity curves Until such checks show otherwise

use a coefficient of 090

9 Compute discharge measurements by the mid-section method

This saves time (and money) and is at least as accurate as the

41

other method Request hydrographers to bear the method in mind

when selecting verticals near edges of channel or at breaks in

the cross section It is recommended that in the interests of

economy this change be made at an early date

10 Consider 20 as a desirable number of verticals in an average

stream cross section Continue to time the meter revolutions

for 40 to 60 seconds at each setting Someday if more accushy

racy is desired in hydrographic work in the Philippines it

would be appropriate to standardize on 30 verticals per measureshy

ment provided the 2-8 depth method were used and the gages

were read to fractions of a centimeter For the present it

seems consistent to take about 20 verticals when using the 6

method and with gages read only to the nearest centimeter

11 Use steel tag lines for wading measurements Paint bridge

rails and cables with markings sufficiently close together

that they can be used rapidly to determine stationing between

them When installing the paint marks use standard intervals

of either 1 meter 2 meters or 5 meters To avoid confusion

do not use intervals of 3 or 4 meters If measuring intervals

are to be 1 meter or less it is very convenient to have a

mark available every meter If intervals are between 1 and 5

meters use a mark every 2 meters A good system for making

the marks readily identifiable is to place 1 paint mark at

each basic interval like every 2 meters then put 2 marks every

10 meters 3 every 50 meters and 4 at 100 meters

42

use on12 Always tags the portion of the meter suspension line

that goes in the water The tags usually consist of small

pieces of colored cloth taped tightly to the line They

should be watched and checked occasionally against slippage

and error The tags should not be more than one meter apart

and should be spaced to give maximum convenience and speed in

measuring the discharge

13 As it may becoin feasible convert Type A current meters to

Type AA The more deeply recessed bearing of the Type AA

meter provides more durability of the pivot and bearing

because trapped air excludes most of the water and silt the

longer pivot results in a relatively lower center of gravity

of the bucke t wheel with respect to the point of bearing and

results in smoother performance

F Design of the stream gaging network

1 Everyone seem3 to agree with the objective of a network of

well-distributed long-term base stations for giving runoffshy

per-square-kilometer values representative of the general

area in which each station is located As rapidly as practishy

cable stations should be L d n the o ting netrk

and designated as base or index stations for permanent operashy

tion They should be the best stations both hydraulically

and as to equipment and should be free from upstream regushy

lation or diversion Where needed new base stations should

be installed as soon as they can be financed to appropriately

L11 out the network

43

2 In between such base stations it is desirable to sample smaller

basins with short-term records of various lengths which can be short term

correlated with the long records For this purpose thestashy

tion structures should be constructed so that they are as moveshy

able or salvageable as possiblej Often these movable stations

will be operated at or near specific project sites

3 It usually is more economical and satisfactory to gage a stream

at a highway crossing or other convenient place rather than

exactly at a project site later the data can be transferred

to the project site by means of drainage area proportions

checked by obtaining at the site e

two miscellaneous measurements or possibly in some cases a

whole year of record

4 A method for studying the existing network of stations to see

whether the intensity of coverage is satisfactory or not is to

plot correlations between the various station records prefershy

ably following the present methods of the USGS

5 It has been found advantageous to classify all gaging stations

that are in operation using categories somewhat like these

areal network base stations primary and secondary main stream

stations and water management stations This procedure is

helpful in planning how long various stations should be operated

Detailed information about station classification methods is

available from the U S Geological Survey for use as a guide

The Technical Training Program

Early plans

When this assignment was given to me it was anticipated that a

series of across-the-table discussions would be held with small groups

of hydrographers from the Philippine government bureaus engaging in

such work Detailed procedures would be discussed without formality

But when arrangements were initiated for such conferences I was inshy

formed that among those wanting to attend were many at the managerial

level as well as a number of representatives of agencies interested

more in water development projects than in resource investigations

These could not be turned down so it was necessary to revise the

agenda to include more of general interest

Later developments

In view of the wide experience and high rank of many prospective

attendants of the conference it did not seem appropriate to call it

a lecture series or school and the name Seminar On Water Resources

was decided upon The agenda is included in this report and will be

self-explanatory Registered attendance for each of the three weeks

was 68 72 and 70 persons respectively for a total of 210 The

setting for the Seminar can best be understood from the photographs

Conditions as a whole were good although the tape-recording of the

entire three weeks of proceedings and the need for a member to come

F M Veatch and Water Resources Seminar group week of April 8-12 1957 at Bureau of Public Highways conference building Manila

I y

rT

I

4

47

forward and use the microphone whenever he asked a question or made a

comment was somewhat of a dampener oh discussion When preparing the

agenda I assumed that few besides the hydrographers would attend the

sessions on technical details of stream gaging scheduled for Wednesday

to Friday yet the entire membership stayed through the full program

each week and so no small-group round-table discussions were practicable

It developed later that the language barrier was a little more

serious than first realized Also it was not evident at first that

many present did not know what a gaging station was One of the main

benefits gained from the field trip was to show them a typical station

along with some equipment Taken as a whole it is believed that the

Seminar was successful and worthwhile

The sending of trainees from the Hydrographic Section to the

United States by ICA is very effective in supplementing the technical

assistance rendered directly by American personnel in the Philippines

and it should be continued as long as possible

Acknowledgments

Announcements and invitations to attend the Seminar were sent to

numerous agencies and offices by the Hydrographic Section who also

made all arrangements such as for space registration loud speaker

system tape recordings and recess refreshments The Bureau of

Public Highways made their new conference building available and the

National Media Center furnished a slide projector screen and room

all of which were greatly appreciated The introductory talks by

48

several busy executives including Director J A Buendia and Messrs

A T Alano R R Lord P G Afable and D Rosell with Mr Tomas

Saddam acting as master of ceremonies contributed ideas and gave

each weeks session a good send-off

Publications

Copies of the following publications of the U S Geological

Survey (one by Bureau of Reclamation and one from ASCE) were disshyon

play at the Seminar at all times for inspection by the members Alshy

though they were requested not to take the publications away quite a

few copies gradually became missing

Irrigation Water Measurement Tables and Diagrams by U S

Bureau of Reclamation

ASCE Separate 413 - Backwater Effects of Open Channel

Constrictions

Stage-Fall Discharge Relation for Steady Flow in Prismatic

Channels Water-Supply Paper 1164

Topographic Characteristics of Drainage Basins W S P 968C

Weir Experiments Coefficients and Formulas WSP 200

Handbook for Hydrologists - Chapters 1 - 11

Chapter 1 -- Instructions for Flood Frequency Compilations

Chapter 2 -- ledian Discharge Computation Methods

Chapter 3 -- Instructions for Abstracting Topographic

Characteristics of Drainage Basins

i

-Imr- I

1 N

L

V10J~

C R Mirray explaining a ground water formula

Ii

17t

o

Water Resources Seminar group at gaging station on Marikina River near Montalban Rizal about an hours drive northeast of Manila April 12 1957

51

-- Channel Storage and Flood Routing

-- Extending Stream-flow Records

Chapter 6 -- Double Mass Curves

Chapter 7-A- Frequency Curves of Low Flows and Storage

Requirements

Chapter 8 -- Flood Frequency Analyses

Chapter 9 -- Small Stream Investigations

Chapter 10 - Hydrologic Definitions

Chapter 11 - Base-Flow Recession-Curves

Computation of Backwater at Open Channel Constrictions

Floods in Western Washington Frequency and Magnitude in

Relation to Drainage Basin Characteristics GS Circular 191

Floods in Georgia Frequency and Magnitude GS Circular 100

Stream-Gaging Procedure - A Manual Describing Methods and

Practice of the Geological Survey - WSP 888

Investigation of Methods and Equipment used in Stream Gaging

Part 2 Intakes For Gage Wells

Computation of Peak Discharge through Culverts

Computation of Backwater at Open-Channel Constrictions

Equipment for River Measurements Structures for Cableways

by Charles H Pierce

Computation of Peak Discharge at Contractions Circular 284

Care and Rating of Current Meters

Surface Water Supply o the United States 1950 Parts 1 - 14

52

In addition to the above publications a two-page single-spaced

memorandum entitled Plotting Flood Frequency Curves (Extracted from

U S Geological Survey publications) was prepared by me under date

of April 3 1957 and handed to each member of the Seminar each week

The program or agenda for the Seminar one copy of which was

given to each member follows on Pages 53 to 63 inclusive The

graphs on Page 63 were referred to during the talks

53

March 29 1957

AGENDA FOiR SEMINARZ ON WATER RESCURCES AND STAE4 GAGING

IN THE PHILIPPINES

PLACE Conference hoom 2nd Floor Bureau of Public Highways Building Second Street Port Area Manila

TIKE April 1-5 8-12 and 22-26 (same program each week)

CONDUCTED BY M1r i 1 Veatch District EngineerSurface WaterBranch Jater Aesources Division United States Geological Suver Thcoma ashington who is un three-month assignment with the ICA

Held in connoction with the Philippine Government-ICA water resources program

54

GENERAL PROGRAM MONDAY AND TUESDAY

honday morning 830

Opening remarks Mr Julian A Buendia Director Bureau of Fublic Works Mr R R Lord Chief Public Works Division ICA Mr G H Hargreaves Hydraulic Engineer ICA

Importance of water resources and their investigation

The hydrologic cycle Evaporation transpiration and precipitation Runoff

Daily discharge record and the hydrograph Storm runoff Base flow

Grou~nd Water Very brief description (this subject to be covered

iaore fully on Tuesday afternoon)

General characteristics of natural stream runoff in the Philippines Quantity

Adequacy Comparison with United States

Variations with time Day to day and year to year Long-term trends

Distributin by area General over the Philippine Islands Variations between nearby drainage basins

Effect of location elevation geology cover etc

Major uses of stream-flow data Many years of rccornds should be crnsidered Granting water r phts

Protect existing rights Prevent capital expenditures where water supply inadequate

Planning river basin developments including municipal supply irrigation pnwer flood control etc

Destping structures such as dams reservoirs dikes floodways canals pumping systems power plants bridges etc

Accuracy and extent of dat needed for minimizing underdesign or wasteful overdesign

Cost of water-supply data in relation to total cost of a project

Operating water projects Distribution of water on projects Operation of storage reservoirs and diversion dams

To make maximum use uf water supply Designing alterations or enlargements to existing projects

RECESS 1000 to 1015

55 -3-

Monday morning (Continued) 1015 aim

Management of the stream gaging program Foreseeing the needs for stream-flow records

Study population and industrial trends Keep inforned on water-development plans and

prgraIIs of all agencies Continuity of the records

Essential for wator-supply studies Regular financinp reouired

Annual appropriations a poundfccted by temporary econoidc or political conditions

Permanent type of financing needed Surcharge method License fee method

-Dissemination of the data Annual publication Occasional summary compilations Furnishing advance cupies of unpublished records Furnishing current data - daily weekly or munthly

wherever required Special water resources investigation agency desirable

Briefly dancribe United States organization Uniform tecnical standards Uniform ways of presenting data One series of publicatiens Distributial center for basic water data Genera l-coverage program requires close coordination

for economy of operation Personal requirements

Engineers Engir ring aids Computers Clerks

ADJOURN - 1145

Resume after lunch only if necessary for completing the above subjects

56

Tueday morning 830

Design of a comprehensive stream gjaging program General rrinciIlac

Represenkc tive runoff-type provinces should be sainpled with stations of various classes

Vary the intensity of coverage with probable intenshysity of water use

Follow tiie tcends variations with records fromand L sri etatiorns secondary

Correlate resultls one continually adjustnetwork Classification of ra-in stationa

Areal prinary and secondary viain strem priiary nd secondary Water-manmfciact stat-i ons Miscellanous dischaige mcasurements

Correlating the dat obttined in comprehensive program Logarithmic pajer Five years of lecord uscd What is a good corrclation

Analyses of data Flood frcouencjs

Annual serics Partial duration series

Low-flow frecuencies Low-flow duration hydrograph

Extending strewm-flow records Comparisons witi other gaging stations Rainfall-runoff correlations

Quality of water Temperature

Intermittent observations Recorders

Chemical gtuality Element -Dissolved solids

Suspended iaterial Time of cecurrence-floods Sampling

Methods Cost

RECESS - 1000 to 1015

57

- 5 -

Tuesday afternoon 130

Ground water (This subject conducted by Mr C R Murray) Occurrence

Water table Artesian Lakes

Movement Through the ground Into stream channels

Availability Geologic structure Aquifers Funing tests

Recharge Froa precipitation Artificial Froma induced lateral movement

Investigation Geology Springs Logs of dug and drilled wells Test wells

lecording Lanual

Quantitative studies Chemical quality analyses

Mincral ccontnt Sallt water intrusion

Drilling of wells for production use Ground water rirhts

Depletion of ground water reservoirs teyond rccharge capability

ADJOURN at 330

Geologist Ground Water Branch dater Resources Division U 6 Geological Survey who is on two-ywar assignment with ICA

58

PROGRAM ON STREMvi GAGING PROCEDURE WEDNESDAY TO FRIDAY

4ednesday morning 830

Establishing and constructing gaging stations Selection of site

Consider najor probable uses of the record Investigate extent of upstream diversion and

-egulation Utilize contour naps Obtain list of nmrjor water right applications

iydraulic conditicns Section control Shifting channel Overbank flow Dackwater

Accessibility Avoid too much expense Need to reach quickly to measure flash floods

Natural protection front flood damage Avoid excessively expensive construction conditions

Bed iock Quick sand Too-longintake pipes

For non-rccording gage choose site convenient to

one or more local gage readers

Survey of site Bank cross-prefile at gage Cross section at cable Plan

Right of way Oral pervrission ritten permission

Easement Land purchase

RECESS - 945 to 1000

- 7 - 59

Wednesday morning (Continued) 100)

Construction Select types and sizes of structures To fit purpose oi the record Plan later salva e (for secondary stations) For economy of operation (for example design cableway to

operat mesily) Adapt availabic standard plans to fit the site Keep costs to hclp in future estimating Make brief construction report for future assistance in

planninr sililar Jobs Prepare staLion descripLion

Road log distences etc for How to reach paragraph Descriptions of gages bench marks etc Dimensions cf structuis Gage datum elevations of portinent parts of structures

Operating and maintaining gaging stations Records of stage

Choice of dtum Arbitrcry local datum

Set gages so there will be no minus gage readings

Mean sea level datum May be used but has disadvantages

1hen later adjustments are made to level networks

Gages have to be reset or Equation must be published

Non-recording gages Types

Vertical staff Inclined staff

ire-weight Crest-stage gages

Refinement of graduations ake adequate for accuracy of record needed

Maintatling dat of gage Adequate number of local reference marks Take levels at least once a year

Work o- local gare reader Fy according to approx number of hours worked Do not roruire too many roadings for the

conditions Warm (with omphasis) against my guessed

readings Inform reader anv errors in reading will

show up in hydrogrq oic comtparisons Engineers obtain check readings whenever

possible Visit gage reader frequently a d show inshy

terest in his gage-height record Encourage reader to retain personal copy

ADJOURN at 1145

60

Thursday morning 800

Records of stage (continued) Recording gages

Select type of instrument and its scales to fit conditions at gaging station

Weekly or continuous recorder Recorder scales Range of stage Rate of change of stage Availability of someone to change weekly

chart Work of Cage inspector of keeper

Avoid resetting pen Repurt any trash or debris causing backwater

at gage Do not have a gage keeper unless needed

aintaining gage datum Check outside gae by levels annually Keep outside gage sections reset to datum

Standard reference gage Inside gage of soie sort preferable

Staff Float-tape Anchor type

Intake action Clean or flush pipes after floods Slot intakes Self-cleaning iitakes

For pipe gage wells For wells built into bridge piers

Draw-down (where excessive) Use bapfle or static tube

Elood marks at station Make record of well-defined high water

marks

AECESS - 945 to 1000

- 9 - 61

Thursday morning (Continudd) 1000

Discharge measuroments Current hmeters

Price Type A Type AA

Pygmpy Carc of inters

Sounding weights E-typc C-type

Lead Brono

Type of notebook Loose shects Loose-leaf book Bound booL

Measurement of depth aeding rod Tag-line nethod Vertical-nglc coofficients Sounding during floods

Ilacemont of mter Sub--surface method 2-depth n cthod 6-de-pth icthod 2- imetY od

Number of verticals Velocity -urgcs

Miscellaneous f-ctors Effect of bridge piers Horizontal angle of current Insufficient weight on current water

1Mean gage hoitht for a discharge measurement Special methods of (Itermining flood discharge

Floats Slope-area method

Rating curv- etonsion method Arca and velocity curves Loparithmic plottig

Contrqctd-opening mothod Flow ovcr dams

Report on condition of control Carry station description and rating curve in field

Ubtain another me asurement if needed If first indicates large shift If new station and stagc advantagoous for

defining blank part of rating curve

ADJOUffN - 1145 AI

Resumne atfter lunch only if necessary for comploting the above subjects

62

- 10 -

Friday morning S00

A few remarks about office methods Rating curves

Log-log paper Upward extonsions Dowmward extensions

Rectangular plotting Computing recorder charts

M-ark index correction and time correction for each inspection reading

Break midnight lines at raph Never oblitertte or mark over the original trace Nake office markings on chart distinctive from

those mad( At the gage Use of colored pencils by computer and checker is one good wa)y

Daily discharge record Flot hydrograph Compare over light box with other stations

This method preferable to plotting several station records on same sheet

Concluding discussions

RECESS - 945 to 1000

Projection of gaging station equipment Lnd scenic slides taken in the United States and Canada

ADJOURN - 1145

Field trip Cars will be available at the conference building to

take members to the raging station on arikina iRivei at ontalban about an hours drive from Manila where a brief demonstration of certain field equipment will be given

Return to noL later thanoanila 500 FL

---

- Ishy4 ~7L~

0F OllY LISCIiRE 4- 1 -shy

__L TaI- er A6v-a cca

- O 1 B -- 2r 2 ZZ 23 24 2 c 26 7 8 2717x I 2

_~ I 027 _d- 1 2 shy

7 -

n_ a t-i IZ

- _______________ Pnu~ OAgvhshy

-~ ~-r- 1 - V-shy- i-shytvkty--- in--a-- -~ ~Z2m7~ ~

- ~ ~-~-----~- V 1~5~ LTLL2P7o -4----4 1 -- I -- I I _ __ --- -- -- - - L - - I ----

~- ~y~-~ 64 4

N

A il

Seminar members observing demonshystrat-n of measurshying e -pment by F M Veatch at Marikina River gaging station April 12 1957

I

Water Resources Seminar members observing working model of proppsed Binga Dam at the hydraulics laboratory of University of the Philippines April 12 1957

65

Current meter rating flume mechanism Y 22 1957

Current meter rating flume mechanism May 22 1957

66

Current Meter Rating Station

The new current meter rating station at the University of the

Philippines (see photographs) was not quite ready for use before I

left the country The mechanism and instruments were manufactured

in Germanyobtained thru ICA-NEC procurement for the Water Resources

Program of the Department of Public Works and have been installed by

Professor Alberto Villares and his hydraulics laboratory staff under

Dean C A Ortigas of the College of Engineering with some guidance

by Professor Edward L Ericksen of the University of Michigan who is

a civil engineer on detail here with the Stanford Group Professor

Villares spent 18 months in the hydraulics laboratory of the Univershy

sity of Iowa

There is every evidence that this rating flume will with expeshy

rience do work accurate enough not only for determining differences

in ratings between current meters but also for preparing absolute or

independent ratings This can be reported on more fully at some

later date by Messrs Hargreaves and Snell

The Central Luzon Region Program

The Water Resources Development Committee is preparing a recomshy

mended plan for the expedited multiple-purpose development of the

water resources of the Central Luzon region The area contains oneshy

sixteenth of the land surface and one-fourth of the population of the

Philippines and is termed the rice granary of the nation It is to

be used as an example or experiment in water and land development

67

The Committee has requested member agencies to submit estimates

of the minimum amount of additional basic data needed for making a

useful report and for proceeding with development projects Such

estimates are to include mapping soil surveys dam and reservoir site

surveys water resources surveys and other items A preliminary

report is to be prepared soon summarizing the existing information

pointing out the need for additional dataand submitting estimates

of cost for the further investigations needed An outline for the

final report has been prepared and distributed so it will be availashy

ble as a guide and funds for the first years efforts are being

sought for fiscal year 1958 It appears reasonable that the report

on a comprehensive plan could be submitted to the President and

Congress of the Philippines in about five years

With the assistance of Mr Hargreaves I have prepared estimates

for a surface water measurement program to complement the existing

program It is designed to fill the worst gaps in the present netshy

work Details are subject to change as more reconnaissance informashy

tion becomes available as only five days were spent covering the area

by automobile Unit costs were provided by the Hydrographic Section

and they include cost of preparation of the records for publication

Estimates were submitted as given below They were supported by a

detailed list of stream names and locations which included desigshy

nations as to the primary purpose or type of each proposed new gaging

station and whether a recording or non-recording gage was recommended

It is available for reference in both the ydrographic Section and

ICA offices

68

New gaging stations

1 Daily discharge type

Installation (including cableways where needed)

Recording ------- 7 Pl650 11550

Non-recording --- 4 950 3800 15350

Operation 1st year -11 660 7260 P22610

2 High water type (flood records)

Installation

Gages (nonshy

recording) ----- 4 150 600

Measuring equipment 800 1400

Operation 1st year - 4 300 1200 2600

Total for new gaging stations ------------- 25210

Miscellaneous discharge measurements

1 4 or 5 during dry season Nov - April

4 sites x 5 per site = 20 30 ---------------- 600

2 1 or 2 during low part of year March and April

37 sites x l per site = 55 k30 ------------- 1650

Total for miscellaneous measurements ------ 2250

Total -------------- -2746o

69

Rainfall And Evaporation Stations

Existing network

A map examination of the existing network of rain gages was made

and a surprisingly large number were found to be in operation -- 2

recording and 115 manual stations or a total of 117 They are beshy

lieved to be fairly adequate in number and are well distributed

areally over the Philippines but like in the United States are conshy

fined largely to the lower altitudes where the agricultural and urban

population live In addition to these records are available for

various lengths of time from about 8 discontinued Weather Bureau

stations and from more than 300 haciendas reforestaion stations

and provincial rnrseries

Additional gages

The Weather Bureau and the Bureau of Public Works are cooperating

in the installation of some new rainfall stations at higher altitudes

part of which will utilize new instruments purchased with ICA aid

funds Some of the instruments will be installed at existing nonshy

recording stations Forty new installations are proposed for 1958

fiscal year It is now recognized that rainfall station coverage at

higher altitudes is needed in order to furnish records that can be

correlated with the long-term valley records and also with the gaging

station discharge records D

70

Weather station maintained by Bureau of Public WorksIrrigation Division near Tuguegarao Cagayan From left to right N Ciriaco District Hydrographer drivershyhelper observer J G Garcia hydrographer J C Regalado and G H Hargreaves May 13 1957

Weather station at Pototan Iloilo Panay A Lacuestadistrict bydro-rapher standing May 5 1957

71

Group luncheon at Tacloban Leyte typical of the hospitality received by us during inspection tour of the Philippines From left to right M Rico irrig distr engr G Hargreaves G Araos E N Salazar P Formilleza L Abella S Velasco JCRegalado V H Sydiongoo distr hydrographer I M Ortega Oscar de Venecia and N Oliver May 7 1957

ICA Public Works Division March 1957 From left to right C R Murray A A Ketchum asat Div head J B Delaney I J Silverstone Sofia Halili 0 H Hosmer R R Lord Div head B B Hill Betty Valdez G H Hargreaves J L Brenden FM Veatch

72

Evaporation stations

Fifteen double-pan (one open and one partially shaded) evaporation

stations with rainfall temperature wind and humidity instruments as

auxiliary are being operated in the Philippines and ten more are to

follow next year They are well distributed over the islands and

should furnish data of great value for reservoir design Thq reccrds

will be publish3d

Publication of rainfall data

All rainfall reccrds are published annually by the Weather Bureau

whose 1954 volume is the latest one printed The 1955 issue should be

released soon One excellent source of information for anyone studyshy

ing rainfall data in the Philippines is the publication The Distrishy

bution of Rainfall In The Philippines by Eugenio B Manalo Chief

Climatological Division Weather Bureau Manila This contains

valuable descriptive material tables of monthly and annual values

and mean monthly and annual isohyets in inches An inspection or

study of the monthly isohyetal maps shows clearly how storm patterns

change with the seasons in certain parts of the Philippines and that

73

in other areas the rain is almost evenly distributed throughout the

year The long dry season of Manila and the central Luzon plains is

graphically portrayed by the isohyets Mr Manalos publication

should be of great benefit to government agencies and private parties

or individuals in connection with agricultural and business activities

over the islands It is presumed that the isohyets will warrant some

revision after another 5 or 10 years as more records especially those

at higher altitudes become available

Sediment Measurement Stations

Practically no silt-sampling has been done in the Philippines

to date and no extensive program is believed possible because of the

lack of funds For the present it is recommended that every governshy

ment field hydrographer be equipped with a thermomater and a turbidity

stick and required to report a spot water temperature and turbidity

reading at time of each discharge measurement Thus without extra

cost a large amount of data can be accumulated which after several

years should make it possible to determine what streams are the

siltiest and where more detailed studies might be needed Whenever a

reservoir project reaches the intensive-investigation stage including

dam-site drilling detailed topography etc it is recommended that

a complete sediment sampling station be operated there for at least

one full flood season before the project feasibility report is

completed

74

Statement Before Water Resources Development Committee

On March 20 1957 I presented the following statement regarding

the streamflow measurement program in the Philippines

The Philippine Republic is blessed with an excellent supply of

water of good quality but much of it is wasted to the sea during the

rainy season The development of this resource is vitally important

to the nation and it involves the storing of flood waters for dryshy

season release Where investments are to be made for construction of

dams etc in the development of irrigation power production and

flood control large sums can easily be wasted through overdesign or

underdesign if enough engineering data are not available Conflicting

or competing uses for the water supplies will gradually develop in

your country the same as they have in the United States If water

rights are to be granted fairly with due regard for all prior users

many years of basic data are necessary so that the long-term water

supply can be estimated For this purpose a good network of stream

gaging records and ground water levels must be secured One would

not attempt to manage the money in a bank without bookkeeping and it

is just as important to have an accounting system when managing water

The sound economical procedure is to base all project designs on as

complete engineering information as can be obtained

The ICA is attempting to assist the Philippine Government in

planning the orderly development of its water resources and we are

concerned that too many structures may be built before accurate

9i

hydrologic data are available for their design For this reason we

strongly urge you to improve the basic data gathering program at the

earliest possible date as follows

(1) Review and publish the stream-flow records that have been

obtained since the war

(2) Finance an expanded program of stream-flow measurement and

ground water study

The Bureau of Public Works has prepared preliminary estimates of

the funds needed for bringing publication of basic data up to date and

for expanding the wiater resources investigation program The attached

copies of estimates are of course provisional and subject to revision

but it is suggested that they be placed in the files of this Committee

for future reference The figure of P56oooo for publication is a

fairly firm figure It is suggested that the Committee take immeshy

diate action to further the procurement of these funds

The procurement of water resources data is a specialized field

requiring engineers and other technical men with a high degree of

education Years must be spent in training them in such special

work The men must endure rigorous physical work corbatting the

elements and using resourcefulness and judgment It is very uneconoshy

mical and unsatisfactory to have a technical organization of that kind

subject to occasional and unpredictable severe cuts in appropriations

It is even more unsatisfactory to have the time sequence of basic

water data collection interrupted and valuable records lost forever

RETURN TO - MIDiPW UNITED STATES OF AMERICA OPERATIONS MISSION

TO THE PHILIPPINES (International Cooperation Administration)

Manila Philippines

June 51957

Mr R R Lord Chief Public Works Division International Cooperation Administration Manila Philippines

Dear Mr Lord

Transmitted herewith are three copies of report prepared as result of my detail here from the U S Geological Survey during the period February 21 to June 5 1957

The report has been reproduced in number of copies sufficient for distribution to members of the Water Resources Development Committee and to heads and staff members of Philippine government departments engaged in hydrographic activities and related water development work as may be arranged between you and the heads of those agencies

It is believed that considerable good was accomplished during my assignment here particularly in working out with the Hydrographic Section the various recommendations given in the report With Messrs Hargreaves and Snell available to assist and guide further in the implementation of the recommendations and to add further suggestions that may occur to them I feel confident that the Philippine governshyment will progress rapidly in attaining a more satisfactory surface water investigation program

Respectfully yours

Fred M Veatch Hydraulic Engineer

cc Mr Thomas E Eakin

RETUR- I O- [IIDPW

CONTENTS Page

Publications 48

The Seminar agenda 53

Current Meter Hating 3tation 66

The Central Luzon Region Program 66

Outline of estimates 68

Rainfall Stations 69

Existing network 69

Additional gages 69

Evaporation stations 72

Publication of rainfall data 72

73Sediment Measurement Stations

Statement Before Water Resources Committee 74

Addendum 77

ILLUSTRATIONS

(Unless otherwise indicated photographs were taken

by F M Veatch 1957)

Page

1 Recorder and cableway Marikina R at Montalban

Rizal April 5 5

2 Cableway and recorder Pampanga R at Atate

Nueva Ecija April 14 5

3 Pre-war frame shelter and 36 corr pipe well

Taken by G Hargreaves March 1 6

4 Pipe well attached to bridge pier Pampanga R near

Arayat Pampanga March 1 6

5 New timber recorder structure Pinagcanauan de

Tuguegarao R near Tuguegarao Cagayan with

Garcia and Ciriaco May 14 9

6 Staff gage on Jalaur R at Passi Iloilo May 8 9

7 National Power Corp staff gage on Angat R above

Ipo Dam March 13 10

8 NPC staff painted on bedrock Bantay R near Bokod

Benguet Mt Province March 26 10

9 Staff gage Labangan R at Bagbag Calumpit

Bulacan March 1 15

10 Gagekeeper and staff gage Jalaur R at Calinog

Iloilo Panay May 8 15

ILLUSTRATIONS Page

11 Gagekeeper reading painted 3taff gage Bokod R at

Bokod March 26 16

12 Gagekeeper showing reference point Madlum R near

Sibul Springs Bulacan April 25 16

13 Ipo Dam on Angat River Bulacan March 13 21

14 Banca ready to go up reservoir above Ipo Dam

March 13 21

15 Cableway Angat R above Ipo Dam March 13 22

16 B Ramos making wading measurement Angat R above

Ipo Dam March 13 22

17 Tagging line Bantay R M Bokod Mt Province

March 26 25

18 Measuring flow bantay R M Bokod Mt Province

March 26 25

19 Measuring flow Bokod R at Bokod Mt Province

March 26 26

20 15-pound weight used near Ambuklao March 26 26

21 Ambuklao Dam on Agno R Benguet Mt Prov March 25 29

22 Maria Cristina Dam on Agos R Lanao Mindanao May 1 29

23 Binga dam site on Agno R Mt Province March 25 30

24 Marikina dam site on Marikina River Rizal April 5 30

25 Cableway and recorder on Cagayan R near Cagayan

de Oro Misamis Oriental Mindanao April 30 33

26 Control on Binahaan R at Tiigib near Pastrana

Leyte May 6 33

ILLUSTRATIONS page

27 Footbridge below Binga dam site Agno R March 25 34

28 Tree anchorage for cable Angat R above Ipo Dam

March 13 34

29 Construction shelters at gaging station on Angat R

above Ipo Dam March 13 37

30 Proposed new base gaging station site on Baoas R near

Mangatarem Pangasinan Photo by J S Romasanta

April 15 37

31 Airport at Legaspi Albay May 17 38

32 Jeep and reconnaissance party April 15 38

33 F M Veatch and Seminar group April 9

Photo by E H Capistrano 5

34 F M Veatch and Seminar group April 9

Photo by E H Capistrano

35 C R Murrb and Seminar group April 9 Photo

by E H Capistrano 9

36 Seminar group r-Marikina R gaging station taken

by E H Capistrano from cable car April 12 0

37 Typical discharge hydrograph showing base flow

Manila rainfall 1365 to date 63

38 Demonstration of measuring equipment Seminar

April 12 64

39 Seminar group observing Binga dam model April 12 64

ILLUSTRATIONS Page

40 Looking north at meter rating flume U of P May 22 65

41 Looking south at meter rating flume U of P May 22 65

42 Weather station near Tuguegarao Cagayan May 13 70

43 Weather station at Pototan Iloilo Panay May 5 70

44 Luncheon group at Tacloban Leyte May 7 71

45 ICA Public Works Division personnel March 1957 71

REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON SURFACE WATER RESOURCES INVESTIGATIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES

by

Fred M Veatch

Introduction

Purpose of the detail (1) To assist the ICA and the Philippine

government in determining principles to be followed in laying out a

suitable long-range stream gaging program for the nation (2) To

recommend a specific surface water investigation program for the

Luzon area (3) To hold technical training conferences wiLh Philipshy

pine government personnel in the site selection construction and

field operation of gaging stations (4) To make general recommendations

concerning the precipitation gage network (5) To comment on the posshy

sible need for quality of water investigations in the Philippines and

(6) To comment on the new current meter rating flume being constructed

in Manila

Preparation Orientation or briefing conferences were held with

me in Washington D C January 22-25 1957 by officials of the Geoloshy

gical Survey and the ICA particularly Thomas E Eakin Chief of Overseas

Programs for the Survey and J V B Wells Chief of Surface Water

Division and Malcolm H Jones C L Orrben and E T Hagberg of ICA

Additional briefing was received in Manila

Acknowledgments The carrying out of my assignment in a satisfactory

manner was greatly facilitated in the Philippines by the cooperation and

2

assistance of Mr Russell R Lord Chief of Public Works Division of

ICA and by menmbers of his staff especially Mr George H Hargreaves

Chief Advisor Water Resources Program and by the Philippine Governshy

ment officials with whom I worked most closely including Mr Tomas

Saddam Chief of Hydrographic Section of the Bureau of Public Works

and Mr Jose C Regalado of his staff Mr Alex Delefia of the River

Control Section Messrs I Santos and E P Abesamis of the National

Power Corporation and E B Manalo of the Weather Bureau

Acknowledgment is also made to Messrs R E 01tman and J J

Ligner of the Training Section Surface Water Branch Washington

D C for their cooperation in sending numerous publications needed

at the Seminar and elsewhere in the Philippines and for their sugshy

gestions in regard to training

3

The Stream Gaging Program In The Philippines

History

The Hydrographic Section of the Irrigation Division Department

of Public Works and Communications (formerly the Department of Commerce

and Communications) has been the major stream gaging agency in the

Philippines since the work was started in 1908 265 gaging stations

in 40 of the 49 provinces were operated for short periods of time between

1908 and 1922 mostly in 1910-12 and 1919-22 All daily gage-height and

discharge records collected by that agency between January 1 1923 and

June 1944 became destroyed by Lire during World War II However the

results of numerous discharge measurements made from 1939 to 1942 were

saved for several gaging stations in the Bicol region of southern Luzon

Stream gaging by the Hydrographic Section was resumed on August 19 1945

on the Aringay River near Tubao La Union followed gradually by other

stations as the Liberation progressed

Records for 1908 to 1922 were published in 1923 in four volumes-as

Water Supply Bulletin No 1 Surface Water Supply of the Philippine

Islands which included the results of all discharge measurements as

well as computed daily discharges in second-liters The calendar year

is used rather than a water year The Extremes paragraphs do not

include any stage records the only gage heights published being those

contained in the lists of discharge measurements

k

Forty-six of the gaging stations operated during the 1908-22

period were re-established after World War II at sites where the records

are considered comparable -- that is where the drainage area does not

differ by more than five per cent The longest continuous records of

discharge not affected by diversion or regulation that I have been able

to find in the Philippines for the postwar period are for the Maasim

River near San Rafael Bulacan Luzon October 5 1945 to date and for

the Aringay River near Tubao La Union from August 19 1945 to date

Available maps are not very satisfactory for locating sites of former

gaging stations because the names of many of the barrios and towns are

different on present maps than they were when the stations were first

operated and described

Considerable stream gaging has also been done by the National

Power Corporation and some river stage records have been obtained by

the River Control and Drainage Section Irrigation Division These are

summarized in the tabulation on Page 6 In addition miscelshynumerous

laneous discharge measurements have been obtained by several agencies

Daily discharge records are available in the files of the National

Power Corporation for eight pre-war gaging stations that were operated

for varying periods between 1923 and 1943 by the Bureau of Public Works

One of these on Barit River at Santiago Iriga Camarines Sur was

operated from 1923 to 1940 The original forms for all eight stations

became destroyed during the war but a set of prints was later discovered

by the National Power Corporation in some hydroelectrical project files

that were saved The NPC re-established the Barit River station at

the same site in 1950

5

Marikina R at Montalban Rizal Province with Stevens FM 30-day recorder April 5 1957

TYPICAL NEW GAGING STATION STRUCTURES CONSTRUCTED AS A RESULT CF THE ICA PROGRAM

III I I

I I I

~iz

7~il

2~-

Pampanga River at Atate Nueva Ecija Stevens FM recorder J C Regalado driver helper and L Borbolla in foreground April 14 1957

47~I

-4

4

iuJi rf if poundflLLi

77

Pre-war frame shelter and 36 corr pipe Frame shelter over new 36 corrwell with Gurley weekly recorder Pampanga

J C Regalado B Ramos and E M Veatch pipe well Pampanga River near standing Taken by G H Hargreaves Arayat Pampanga March 1 1957 March 1 1957

Status of post-war computations and publication

Daily discharge computations of the Hydrographic Section tbr 1944

to 1954 are practically coplete those for 1955 are about 40 per deb4t

complete and for 1956 about 15 per cent Office work has been delayed

considerably because of the heavy constructionfprogran which started

in 1956 using supplies and instruments furnished by the ICA All office

computations are made in the Manila office No discharge records have

been published since those of 1908-22 but steps are being taken as

explained later in this report to bring publication up to date It is

planned that the records which have been compuhed for the years 1944 to

1956 will be reviewed before their final preparation for publication

to make sure their standards of accuracy are reasonably consistent

with the slightly higher standards proposed to be instituted as a

result of recommendations made in this report About 1500 stationshy

years of stream-flow recordsless than 10 per cent of which are from

agencies other than the Hydrographic Section are proposed to be comshy

piled and printed in a single-volume publication of monthly and annual

data Tables of monthly minimum discharge are to be included

Organization and cooperation

The Hydrographic Section customarily assigns a district hydrographer

and his assistants as resident at each irrigation district office that

is situated a long distance from Manila Their headquarters are as

follows

District Province Town

Northern Luzon Isabela San Mateo

Bicol Region Luzon Camarines Sur Naga

Eastern Visayas Leyte Tacloban

Western Visayas Iloilo Iloilo

Mindanao Davao Davao

This district is presently being operated by hydrographers from

Manila the same as for the central part of Luzon

The above field hydrographers are each assigned a Jeep and a drivershy

helper Hydrographers pay scales range between about Y2400 and P4200

per annum and in addition they are granted a subsistence allowance of

Y2OO per unit or Y800 a day Driver-helpers receive an average pay

of P5 per day plus a subsistence allowance of P200 per day (which has

been reduced administratively from P450 a day because of lack of funds)

The field personnel send or deliver all basic records to Manila

where they are processed computed and filed Most of the office work

is done by office personnel with the field men doing but little of the

office work

9

New timber recorder structure including plank intake with Stevens A-35 recorder Pinagcanauan de Tuguegarao River near Tuguegarao Cagayan Jose G Garcia assistant hydrographer and Norberto Ciriaco District Hydrographer on walkway May 14 1957

Staff gage on Jalaur River at Passi Iloilo From left to right 2 boys A Lacuesta Distr HydrogrLher J CorderoIrrig Distr Engr G Hargreaves J Regalado gagekeeper (kneeling) and onlooker May 8 1957

I

--- S

F National Power Corporation staff gage on Angat River above Ipo Dam now beingreplaced by a Bureau of Public Works recorder installation March 13 1957

O~

~A F~ ~~ shy- ~

~

- --

I ------ ~

A -~ 1

~ -- gt I~-

5 shy

- ~- ~ U

amp~~ -

2r~ ~k- ~ ~

National Power Cororation painted staff gage Bantay River near Bokod BenguetMountain Province Hydrographers helperstanding March 26 1957 Note lower markings faded

11

Whether any other changes are made or not it is the expressed

plan of the Hydrographic Section to have the District-Hydrographer

who is in charge of the Northern Mindanao District headquartered at

Cagayan de Oro

A considerable portion of the pay of district hydrographers and

their staffs comes directly from the Irrigation Section district

office at which they are headquartered rather than through the

Hydrographic Section This has had the effect of limiting their

efforts somewhat to project work rather than to general or all-purpose

investigations

Some of the other agencies particularly the National Power

Corporation obtain the cooperation of the Hydrographic Section in

helping operate certain gaging stations where a duplication of travel

can thus be avoided However the discharge measurements so made by

the Hydrographic Section are turned over to the NPC who make their

own computations of daily discharge The latter also sometimes pays

directly the salaries of certain gagekeepers Usually this cooperashy

tion does not involve an exchange of funds but some change in that

situation is recommended as explained later in this report

All agencies make their daily discharge records available to the

Hydrographic Section upon request and the plan is to have the later

agency include all such records in their publications No reproduction

machine is available in any of the offices and all copies of records

must be made individually in typing or longhand A machine is under

order by the Hydrographic Section

-fiUMBER OI~ GAGIiG~STATIONS-eP-ERATED IN-PIILIPPINES -

CALENDAR YEAR

YEA HYOROGRAPHIC

STAGE NATIONAL

SECTION PO R0 P

RIVEl CONTROL SECTON

TOT AL

DISCHARGE NATIONAL

HYDROGRAPHIC SECTION ORHYTGRPI SECTION POR

TOTAL TOA

RECORDING NON-REC TOTAL NON-REC NON-REC RECORDING NON-REC TOTAL

1908-1922 265 265 265

1923-1944 3 3 9 12

1945 6 6 6 15 15 2 17

1946 2 12 14 14 28 28 4 32

1947 3 11 14 14 29 29 4 33

1948 3 18 21 5 26 45 45 5 50

1949 3 13 16 6 5 27 74 74 15 89

1950 3 9 12 10 4 26 91 91 20 111

1951 3 15 18 10 4 34 103 103 17 120

1952 3 13 16 10 4 30 111 111 17 128 1953 3 17 20 11 17 48 1 96 97 23 120

1954 4 18 22 11 26 49 1 145 146 22 168

1955 4 18 22 13 19 54 1 207 208 27 235

1956 6 12 15 1 25 52 40 189 26 5

13

Various agencies have submitted lists of proposed gaging stations

which they would like to have installed to provide data for their

projects It is apparent that this work will be well coordinated in

the future and that the other agencies will come to rely more and

more on the Hydrographic Section for most of their basic stream-flow

records But they probably will continue to have their own personnel

make certain types of hydrographic investigations for the detailed

study of specific projects such as river profiles tailwater rating

curves etc

Financing

The main difficulty in regard to financing has been lack of

stability and continuity to the program and insufficient generalshy

fund money to permit the establishment of an all-purpose gaging proshy

gram In 1956 and 1957 the Hydrographic Section rec3ived P120000

(less than half of their total funds) for such general use with all

other monies either from counterpart funds (explained below) in theor

form of contributions from other agencies to cover certain gaging

expenses Another difficulty has been the lack of enough funds to

properly carry out the sudden large construction program generated by

the new ICA-furnished materials and instruments Most of the regular

hydrographic force has been assigned to construction during the last

twelve months or so because separate construction foremen or substitute

hydrographers could not be hired As a result the regular field

operation of gaging stations has suffered considerable neglect This

- - -

14

wuld not have been necessary if the Hydrographic Sections funds had

been flexible and appropriated on basis of a performance budget As

it is the Section must adhere to line items which spell out exactly

how all money is to be spent

The financing of an expanded 1958 program now appears to be

progressing satisfactorily largely from the counterpart monies

This fund consists of pesos allocated by the Philippine government

in an amount equivalent to the dollar value of imports furnished by

the ICA It is administered by the National Economic Council with

allocations subject to approval of the ICA on budget recommendations

received from Philippine government agencies In the case of water

resources programs they are assisted by recommendations of the Water

Resources Development Committee an NEC administratively appointed

body composed of representatives of ten agencies interested or inshy

volved in water development A rougn breakdown of the Hydrographic

Sections budget proposed for the fiscal year starting July 1 1957

is as follows

General Fund Pesos

Annual appropriation - ------------ 120000

Counterpart Funds

For bringing up to date the publication of

annual records plus a compilation - - - - 56000

For an expanded program of surface-water

investigations----------- - 500000

TOTAL - - - - - - 676000

The total funds available in 1955 and 1956 fiscal years were 180000

and 280000 respectively

It

a 7~

IC

U

i

Staff gage out of water Labangan River at Bagbag Calumpit Bulacan March 1 1957

7lt 2

I

fr

Gagekeeper and staff Jalaur River at Calinog Iloilo He read 10 centimeters low today because markings on lower part of gage were illegible

I-J May 8 1957

16 8

hational Power Corp staff gage painted on streamward side of cliff Lower markings gone and gagekeeper determines gage heights three times a day by wading to gage and measuring down with rule as shown in this picture Bokod R at Boiod Benguet Mountain Province March 26 1957

Bureau of Public Works staff gage station Gagekeeper has made readingsby measuring down from a nail since this section of gage was washed out by a flood Madlum River near Sibul Springs Bulacan April 25 1957

17

The only difficulty with counterpart financing is that it is

temporary and could conceivably leave the program stranded in a few

years when ICA aid is discontinued The necessity is recognized for

gradually obtaining regular Congressional appropriations to take the

place of counterpart funds An effort will also be made to have a

performance type of budget accepted because line items make the

program inflexible and prevent the best management and economy

It is recommended that other agencies desiring for their projects

certain stream flow records which cannot be financed from the regular

budget of the Hydrographic Section transfer funds annually (either in

advance or on a reimbursement basis) to the Hydrographic Section to

pay the extra costs required for the fulfilment of their requests

Design of the stream gaging program

As mentioned above the fiscal arrangements prevailing up to this

time have resulted in an almost total emphasis on project-type gaging

stations in the Philippines However I believe everyone is now in

agreement with the desirability or need for a nation-wide network of

index or runoff-per-square-kilometer type of stations which will sample

various runoff provinces such as those with different exposures to storms

and having different topography altitude geology type of land cover

etc The intensity of the network of stations in different regions

would vary depending upon the apparent future economic value or worth

of the water in each area This will be discussed in more detail in

the recommendations

18

In order to look over the existing program observe something of

the technical methods in use and see a variety of runoff and economic

types of areas in the islands to gain an idea of the type of stream

gaging network needed I have visited several regions accompanied most

of the time by Mr George Hargreaves It has been very helpful to me

to have him take such an interest in the detailed objectives of ry

assignment and I am sure it will facilitate Mrs Snellas work a great

deal to have available for consultation and guidance Mr Hargreaves

wide experience in water resources development and investigations

We were accompanied by Mr J C Regalado of the ydrographic Section

who made most of the advance contacts with field offices in connecshy

tion with our trips We usually travelled to central points by Philshy

ippine Air Lines and were then driven to nearby areas by field officials

of the Hydrographic Section and other agencies The hospitality and

cooperation of everyone toward us was exceptional and much appreciated

Besides a fairly detailed coverage of the Central Luzon area where an

intensified program is proposed our inspections included Northern

Luzon Southern Luzon (the Bicol region) Leyte Panay and several

parts of Mindanao In addition we made a special effort to observe

the country all along the routes of airplane flights taken and that

coupled with airplane stops made on other islands gave us a fairly

comprehensive view of the geography of the Philippines It is upon

this that my recommendations concerning the design of a stream gaging

program are based

19

Bquipment and technical methods-

The stream gaging equipment and methods used by the Hydrographic

Section since 1908 have been patterned mainly after those of the US

Geological Survey as described in the 1904 publication H4ydrographic

Manual Thus it appears likely that the methods and accuracy stanshy

dards have changed but little since the Philippine program was started

Stream gaging tecniques used by the other agencies are similar but

they have not had the advantage of some of the new ICA-furnished equipshy

ment This is expected to be remedied in the aid allocations for fiscal

year 1958

Although some use has been made of the 2-8 method of measuring

discharge present practice is limited almost entirely to the 6method

for low and medium stages and the sub-surface method for high stages

for the latter the meter is suspended over a 15-E weight and set 03

meter below the surface with a coefficient of 0915 applied

The number of verticals or measuring points taken in the cross

section usually is between 8 and 15 No bridge cranes or suspension

reels of any kind have been available all discharge work other than

with wading rod having been done by hand line All this is about to

be changed with the recent arrival of the first ICA-furnished sounding

reels weights and tag lines purchased from 1956 FY funds

Staff gages are read to the nearest centimeter (about 0033 foot)

Most of the gages would be difficult to read to any closer limit alshy

though a few stations have Leupold Stevens enameled gages with levelshy

rod type markings

20

The hydrographer records his discharge measurement notes in a

small bound pocket-size book which he carries until it is full After

each measurement is computed in the field a complete copy of the notes

is made on a card and mailed to the Manila office I am informed

that the bound notebooks are practically never lost or dropped in

the water With the increased amount of flood measuring expected to

be done in the future that situation might change

Rating curves are drawn to average large groups of discharge

measurements Large rectangular-scale cross section sheets are used

Percentage differences of the measured values with respect to the

rating table are not computed A minimum of use is made of Stoutshy

method shifts

The water-stage recorders furnished to date by the ICA have been

manufactured with time scales of either 03 inch per day (the FM

model) or 48 inches per day (the A-35 model) The former scale is

too small for satisfactory use in most stream gaging and the latter

is too large Thirty pairs of time scale gears have been ordered for

converting the A-35s from 48 to 24 inches per day Upon inquiry at

the factory it was learned that no conversion of the FM recorders is

possible An exchange of 25 of them is being made with the ground

water program for an equivalent value in A-35 recordero but the

remaining 65 will be used at the surface water stations They are

very satisfactory on lakes or spring-fed streams or large streams

whose fluctuations are not too sudden

21

Ipo dam on Angat River which diverts water to supply City of Manila and surrounding area March 13 1957 Reservoir is traversed by boat in reaching the gaging station upstream

Ready to leave Ipo Dam for gaging station 6 kilqmeters upstream B Ramos and J Regalado in oanca March 13 1957

4 ~ s~

B Ramos making discharge measurement by wading on Angat River above Ipo DamMarch 13 1957 Spacings between verticals were obtained from cable makings byline hanging from cable car

23

At non-recording gages it has been the custom to hire gagekeepers

at uniform or statutory rates of 025 or P30 per month (not related

to the distance traversed in going to the gage) to obtain readings

three times a day The pay has been the same even where the gage is

located several kilometers away from the gagekeepers home The system

has certain disadvantages which may affect the accuracy of the records

At some stations the pay is too high while at others it is too low

Three readings a day are not necessary most of the time for adequately

developing the hydrograph especially during the dry season and a

request for obviously unnecessary readings seems to put too severe a

test upon human nature It is practically an open invitation to a

certain amount of faking I doubt that it should be held against a

gagekeeper to put down some estimated readings under those circumstances

any more than it would be to blame children for taking candy or cookies

from a forbidden plate left openly in their midst The question then

becomes - what readings can be relied upon and what cannbt I sincerely

believe that a more accurate daily discharge record can be prepared in

the office from a few completely reliable gage readinrs per week by

means of hydrographic comparisons with recording-gage records from

nearby stations and with less expense than can be produced by proshy

cessing comparing and weeding out questionable parts from a complete

(on paper) record of three readings a day A gagekeepers habit

developed during the dry season of not going to the gage when it is

inconvenient or he doesnt feel like it is bound to crop up during

the high water season as well with the result that all his readings

24

must be looked at critically and considered reliAble only after

unusually extensive comparisons are made with weather records and

other stations

In regard to specialized stream gaging equipment listed below

are the amounts purchased by the ICA up to the present time

Ordered from Ordered from Being FY 1955 PPA 1956 PPA ordered Delivered in Delivered in from 1957

May 1956 May 1957 PPA

Canfield reels 0 6 8

Type A reels 0 6 2

Canfield tag lines 0 15 0

A-35 recorders 20 10 25

FM recorders 65 25 0

Enameled gage secs 400 600 200

Currer meter outfits inc ding rod headphonehanuline and 15-pound weight 11 10 0

Pygmy meters 0 0 10

Bridge cranes 0 3 0

Sounding wts 30-lb 0 0 10

50-lb 0 0 10

I i 75-lb 0 0 1

I 100-lb 0 0 1

Stopwatches 20 10 0

Being purchased as models for possible future use in procurement of

weights of local manufacture

25

~-

-~ ~- shy

~-

4rshy~~L~zu 1 - ~ A-

-~ - ~jj ~

~- k ~ ~

Helper and P Nubio National Power Corporationpreparing to make discharge measurement Tag marks of grass being tied to line Bantay River near Bokod Benguet Mountain Province March 26 1957

-- ~ 4

V

Helper holding meter in place suspended on a weight hanger while revolutions are counted oy hydrographer P Nubio E P Nbesamis is at extreme right March 26 1957

26

-p --shy

t-~-- - -

A ~

A~4 ~ 4

A -Y

- -

- - - -

gt~ ~ ~-

Z4z4a - ~z

- shy -~-~shy

4shy- --

I NPC discharge party on Bokod River at-Bokod BenguetMountain Province Helper and gagekeeper holding meter and 15-pound weight in position P Nubio on shore counting revolutions and recording notes March 26 1957

Ar 7

-~ I

0 I 15-pound weight used in discharge measurement work by the NPC hydrographer stationed at Ambuklao Dam March 26 1957

27

Recommendations

A sharp expansion in the stream gaging program of the Philippines

has occurred recently brought about not only by the ICAs economic and

technical aid program but also by the growing local demand for water

resources information It is inevitable that some organizational

changes would be required to accommodate such a sudden growth This

subject was discussed in conferences with Mr Saddam and Mr Regalado

and the following list of special objectives agreed upon They had a

number of these in mind or partly in effect already and were planning

to gradually adopt several others The items are listed here in order

to express my reasons for wanting to see them completely implemented

within the next two or three years They are as follows

A It is recommended that the district offices compute their own disshy

charge records and prepare them for publication for final review

in the central office in ranila

1 Additional engineers would be needed in each district office

and fewer engineers in the Manila office

2 At least the district hydrographer and preferably one other

engineer in addition should be trained in the office work in

Manila before the records were transferred to a district

3 Each engineer in a district office would be given a field area

which he would cover by a round of discharge measurements once

every 4 to 6 weeks each coverage taking about 2 weeks Betshy

ween trips he would do office work preferably on the same

stations that he covers in the field

28

4 Benefits of thissystem are believed to be as follows

a Records requested could be furnished more quickly to the

public especially to those in the district area

b This kind of a close tie between field and office work has

been found to greatly improve the quality of the records

the economy of operation and the performance and developshy

ment of the individual engineers

c The alternating of each person between field and office

work makes him (1) more competent in the field work and

also more competent in the office work than is possible

in segregated office and field groups and (2) permits

him to be home more of the time and lead a more normal

lifc thus increasing his morale and efficiency

5 Personnel arrangements recommended are

a Offer more rapid promotion to those who transfer like

from Manila to a field office or between field offices

b Encourage each man to transfer every few years with

faster promotions as an incentive It has been found

that this develops an engineers competence more rapidly

than if he stays in one office indefinitely Such ability

repays the government in added officiency and production

to an extent greater than its cost in extra salary

B Certain organization changes are recommended as follows

1 Appoint an Office Engineer a Field Engineer and (whenever

needed) a Construction Engineer They would be headquartered

__

V 29

2

~- ~

q

Ambuklao Dam on Agno River Generating capacity 75000 kw Powerplant is underground March 2557

7- t

-JI

Maria Cristina falls and power plant on Agus River River near Iligan Lanao Province Mindanao Present installed capacity 50000 kw May 1 1957

30

II I

Looking downstream at the Binga dam site on Agno River about 15 kilometers east of Baguio March 25 1957

Looking upstream at the Marikina dam site on Marikina River at Wawa near Montalban Rizal about 25 kilometers northeast of Manila April 5 1957

31

in the Manila office and act under the general supervision of

the head of the Section with the following responsibilities

to be included

a Office Engineer

(1) Be responsible for the discharge computations and

related office work in the Manila field district or

area

(2) Be responsible for review and final preparation for

publication of all records in the nation

(3) See that a progress chart of status-of-record compushy

tations is maintained in each district office and

that a summary statement concerning such progress is

sent to the central office at least quarterly

(4) Be responsible for research in office methods and

equipment (See footnote on next page)

b Field Engineer

(1) Act as first assistant to head of the Section of

Hydrography

(2) Be responsible for field operation vork throughout the

nation

(a) Make at least one annual field inspection in each

district

(b) Develop the system in every headquarters of keepshy

ing a running chronological chart of the discharge

measurements made at each gaging station or

32W

scheduled miscellaneous site A form in use in

Tacoma Washington has been found to be very conshy

venient for this purpose Such a chart gives the

supervisor a quick overall view of the status of

the field work and serves as a check at end of

the year to make sure all measurements have been

listed and counted

(3) Be responsible for the design of the stream gaging

network and the selection of sites for new gaging

stations

(4) Be responsible for research in field methods and

equipment

Construction Engineer

(1) Give general supervision and management to the conshy

struction program

(a) Obtain assignment of resident engineer or foreman

for each job

(b) See that the materials are made available Help

the foreman in every way possible in organizing

the job procuring emergency equipment or supplies

and making decisions about serious problems that

may arise on the job

If funds became available for considerable research it probably

would be better to appoint a special Research Engineer

33

~A

Cagayan River gaging station near Cagayan de OroMisamis Oriental Mindanao April 30 1957 Note how corrugated pipe recorder structure was bent by flood J C Regalado J J Ponco gagekeeper and G H Hargreaves in foreground

-

V

View of staff gage and control on Binakaan River at Tifigib near Pastrana Leyte Stream divided by a barand control excavated for unknown reason May 6 1957 J Regalado by the sign and G Hargreaves at right

Cable footbridge below Binga dam site Tree anchorage for cableway onformerly used by NPC in making Angat River above Ipo Damdischarge measurements P Nubio and March 13 1957E Abesamis of NPC on bridge March 25 1957

35

(c) Visit the major jobs occasionally to see that

they are proceding satisfactorily in all the

islands Make sure the stations are installed

according to instructions and plans An approved

sketch plan showing dimensions and elevations is

desirable for each construction job

(d) Prepare first draft of each new station description

(e) Prepare brief construction report including costs

A form in use at Tacoma Washington has been found

convenient for this purpose

C The following policies in regard to gagekeepers are recommended

1 Start a gradual change-over to paying each gagekeeper on basis

only of the hours he works plus a basic amount for taking the

responsibility This may result in increasing the pay of some

but it should reduce the pay of a much larger number

2 Convert most gagekeepers to two readings a day most of the time

with one or more additional readings during floods In some of

the drier parts of the Central Luzon area in cases where gages

are remote from habitation request only one reading a day

during the dry months such as from January through May inclushy

sive more than that are believed to cost more than they are

worth and are an open invitation to the reporting of estimated

readings

3 When a new recorder installation is at a barrio or bridge where

it appears unlikely to be vandalized try running the station

36

without hiring a gagekeeper If this system proves successful

discontinue the services of the gagekeepers at certain selected

recorders At all other recorders reduce the number of readshy

ings required to one per day and reduce their pay accordingly

If a gagekeeper prefers not to accept a lower monthly rate for

fewer readings it is suggested that he resign except in cases

where security of the station structures or right-of-way favors

may be involved

Proceed on the principle that a saving in public tax money from

the above reforms is more important than supporting gagekeepers

just because they depend on the income and need the money The

present dependence of a gagekeeper on his P300 or P360 a year

and the hardship he must undergo in adjusting to a lower rate

of pay for the job are not believed to be sufficient reasons

for continuing indefinitely to pay him more than necessary

However it is recommended that he be given 30 or 60 days

notice before a reduction in pay is placed in effect

D Vehicles

1 It is recommended that a gradual change-over be made from the

short-wheelbase open Jeep to the Jeep station wagon as a hydroshy

graphers car Benefits should be as follows

a The car can be locked leaving only the tires as attractive

to thieves

b The station wagon has more space As the hydrographers

became better equipped that space will be needed

37

Bamboo-and-grass shelters built and used by crew during construction of gaging station on Angat River above Ipo Dam March 13 1957

3

4

-Ti LP

Proposed site for new index-type gaging station selected on Baoas River near Mangatarem Pangasinan above all diversions by Regalado Romasanta dargreaves and Veatch April 15 1957 Photo by J S Romasanta

38

Taking Philippine Airlines plane at Legaspi Albayfor Manila on May 17 1957 Mount Mayon 7960 feet high in background

I

N 1 x

Y

I

Showing typical vehicle used on the reconnaissance and inspection trips over the Philippines

39

c For occasional errands or trips it will be feasible for

only oneman to take the car because he can lock the con

tents when the car is not attended

d It may possibly develop in some parts of the Philippines

that a hydrographer for a certain area will not need a

driver-helper and thereby a saving in funds can be made

However such a change should be made only on a trial

basis and is not recommended until conditions so warrant

and until the hydrographer involved is satisfied with the

change or else desires it

E Certain technical stream-gaging procedures are recommended to be

followed in the Philippine Islands hydrographic work at the average

gaging station by all agencies doing stream gaging as follows

1 Obtain a discharge measurement once every four to six weeks

throughout the year

2 Furnish the hydrographer with a print of the station descripshy

tion and of the rating curve and require him as a general rule

to compute and plot his discharge measurement in the field

3 Have the gage read both before and after each discharge measureshy

ment and the readings recorded on the field notes

4 Use a loose-leaf discharge-measurement note form or forms

containing a summary page patterned to some extent after the

forms in use by the USGS Bound notes make it too inconshy

venient or perhaps impossible for the office engineer to

examine the notes for a whole year when he analyzes a station

record

40

5 Gradually change to the use of ehameled steel gage plates

instead of painted gages because their initial cost is less

and they are more durable Plates graduated somewhat like

those of the US Geological Survey are believed much better

than those stocked by private companies While here I drew

up a suggested design for local manufacture which appealed

to the Hydrographic Section

6 Obtain levels at staff gages at least once a year especially

on the low section of gage Replace or repair each low secshy

tion soon after it becomes damaged or the markings become

indistinct

7 Continue as a general rule to use the 6-depth method with

the sub-surface method for deep swift water Obtain a comshy

plete cross section as soon as feasible after the high water

has subsided

8 Gradually change to the use of heavier sounding weights so

that the 6-depth method with soundings can be used at high

water in any event take soundings and velocities as far out

as practicable from each bank at flood stages then go across

deep part of channel with sub-surface method Check subshy

surface method coeficients whenever practicable by means of

vertical velocity curves Until such checks show otherwise

use a coefficient of 090

9 Compute discharge measurements by the mid-section method

This saves time (and money) and is at least as accurate as the

41

other method Request hydrographers to bear the method in mind

when selecting verticals near edges of channel or at breaks in

the cross section It is recommended that in the interests of

economy this change be made at an early date

10 Consider 20 as a desirable number of verticals in an average

stream cross section Continue to time the meter revolutions

for 40 to 60 seconds at each setting Someday if more accushy

racy is desired in hydrographic work in the Philippines it

would be appropriate to standardize on 30 verticals per measureshy

ment provided the 2-8 depth method were used and the gages

were read to fractions of a centimeter For the present it

seems consistent to take about 20 verticals when using the 6

method and with gages read only to the nearest centimeter

11 Use steel tag lines for wading measurements Paint bridge

rails and cables with markings sufficiently close together

that they can be used rapidly to determine stationing between

them When installing the paint marks use standard intervals

of either 1 meter 2 meters or 5 meters To avoid confusion

do not use intervals of 3 or 4 meters If measuring intervals

are to be 1 meter or less it is very convenient to have a

mark available every meter If intervals are between 1 and 5

meters use a mark every 2 meters A good system for making

the marks readily identifiable is to place 1 paint mark at

each basic interval like every 2 meters then put 2 marks every

10 meters 3 every 50 meters and 4 at 100 meters

42

use on12 Always tags the portion of the meter suspension line

that goes in the water The tags usually consist of small

pieces of colored cloth taped tightly to the line They

should be watched and checked occasionally against slippage

and error The tags should not be more than one meter apart

and should be spaced to give maximum convenience and speed in

measuring the discharge

13 As it may becoin feasible convert Type A current meters to

Type AA The more deeply recessed bearing of the Type AA

meter provides more durability of the pivot and bearing

because trapped air excludes most of the water and silt the

longer pivot results in a relatively lower center of gravity

of the bucke t wheel with respect to the point of bearing and

results in smoother performance

F Design of the stream gaging network

1 Everyone seem3 to agree with the objective of a network of

well-distributed long-term base stations for giving runoffshy

per-square-kilometer values representative of the general

area in which each station is located As rapidly as practishy

cable stations should be L d n the o ting netrk

and designated as base or index stations for permanent operashy

tion They should be the best stations both hydraulically

and as to equipment and should be free from upstream regushy

lation or diversion Where needed new base stations should

be installed as soon as they can be financed to appropriately

L11 out the network

43

2 In between such base stations it is desirable to sample smaller

basins with short-term records of various lengths which can be short term

correlated with the long records For this purpose thestashy

tion structures should be constructed so that they are as moveshy

able or salvageable as possiblej Often these movable stations

will be operated at or near specific project sites

3 It usually is more economical and satisfactory to gage a stream

at a highway crossing or other convenient place rather than

exactly at a project site later the data can be transferred

to the project site by means of drainage area proportions

checked by obtaining at the site e

two miscellaneous measurements or possibly in some cases a

whole year of record

4 A method for studying the existing network of stations to see

whether the intensity of coverage is satisfactory or not is to

plot correlations between the various station records prefershy

ably following the present methods of the USGS

5 It has been found advantageous to classify all gaging stations

that are in operation using categories somewhat like these

areal network base stations primary and secondary main stream

stations and water management stations This procedure is

helpful in planning how long various stations should be operated

Detailed information about station classification methods is

available from the U S Geological Survey for use as a guide

The Technical Training Program

Early plans

When this assignment was given to me it was anticipated that a

series of across-the-table discussions would be held with small groups

of hydrographers from the Philippine government bureaus engaging in

such work Detailed procedures would be discussed without formality

But when arrangements were initiated for such conferences I was inshy

formed that among those wanting to attend were many at the managerial

level as well as a number of representatives of agencies interested

more in water development projects than in resource investigations

These could not be turned down so it was necessary to revise the

agenda to include more of general interest

Later developments

In view of the wide experience and high rank of many prospective

attendants of the conference it did not seem appropriate to call it

a lecture series or school and the name Seminar On Water Resources

was decided upon The agenda is included in this report and will be

self-explanatory Registered attendance for each of the three weeks

was 68 72 and 70 persons respectively for a total of 210 The

setting for the Seminar can best be understood from the photographs

Conditions as a whole were good although the tape-recording of the

entire three weeks of proceedings and the need for a member to come

F M Veatch and Water Resources Seminar group week of April 8-12 1957 at Bureau of Public Highways conference building Manila

I y

rT

I

4

47

forward and use the microphone whenever he asked a question or made a

comment was somewhat of a dampener oh discussion When preparing the

agenda I assumed that few besides the hydrographers would attend the

sessions on technical details of stream gaging scheduled for Wednesday

to Friday yet the entire membership stayed through the full program

each week and so no small-group round-table discussions were practicable

It developed later that the language barrier was a little more

serious than first realized Also it was not evident at first that

many present did not know what a gaging station was One of the main

benefits gained from the field trip was to show them a typical station

along with some equipment Taken as a whole it is believed that the

Seminar was successful and worthwhile

The sending of trainees from the Hydrographic Section to the

United States by ICA is very effective in supplementing the technical

assistance rendered directly by American personnel in the Philippines

and it should be continued as long as possible

Acknowledgments

Announcements and invitations to attend the Seminar were sent to

numerous agencies and offices by the Hydrographic Section who also

made all arrangements such as for space registration loud speaker

system tape recordings and recess refreshments The Bureau of

Public Highways made their new conference building available and the

National Media Center furnished a slide projector screen and room

all of which were greatly appreciated The introductory talks by

48

several busy executives including Director J A Buendia and Messrs

A T Alano R R Lord P G Afable and D Rosell with Mr Tomas

Saddam acting as master of ceremonies contributed ideas and gave

each weeks session a good send-off

Publications

Copies of the following publications of the U S Geological

Survey (one by Bureau of Reclamation and one from ASCE) were disshyon

play at the Seminar at all times for inspection by the members Alshy

though they were requested not to take the publications away quite a

few copies gradually became missing

Irrigation Water Measurement Tables and Diagrams by U S

Bureau of Reclamation

ASCE Separate 413 - Backwater Effects of Open Channel

Constrictions

Stage-Fall Discharge Relation for Steady Flow in Prismatic

Channels Water-Supply Paper 1164

Topographic Characteristics of Drainage Basins W S P 968C

Weir Experiments Coefficients and Formulas WSP 200

Handbook for Hydrologists - Chapters 1 - 11

Chapter 1 -- Instructions for Flood Frequency Compilations

Chapter 2 -- ledian Discharge Computation Methods

Chapter 3 -- Instructions for Abstracting Topographic

Characteristics of Drainage Basins

i

-Imr- I

1 N

L

V10J~

C R Mirray explaining a ground water formula

Ii

17t

o

Water Resources Seminar group at gaging station on Marikina River near Montalban Rizal about an hours drive northeast of Manila April 12 1957

51

-- Channel Storage and Flood Routing

-- Extending Stream-flow Records

Chapter 6 -- Double Mass Curves

Chapter 7-A- Frequency Curves of Low Flows and Storage

Requirements

Chapter 8 -- Flood Frequency Analyses

Chapter 9 -- Small Stream Investigations

Chapter 10 - Hydrologic Definitions

Chapter 11 - Base-Flow Recession-Curves

Computation of Backwater at Open Channel Constrictions

Floods in Western Washington Frequency and Magnitude in

Relation to Drainage Basin Characteristics GS Circular 191

Floods in Georgia Frequency and Magnitude GS Circular 100

Stream-Gaging Procedure - A Manual Describing Methods and

Practice of the Geological Survey - WSP 888

Investigation of Methods and Equipment used in Stream Gaging

Part 2 Intakes For Gage Wells

Computation of Peak Discharge through Culverts

Computation of Backwater at Open-Channel Constrictions

Equipment for River Measurements Structures for Cableways

by Charles H Pierce

Computation of Peak Discharge at Contractions Circular 284

Care and Rating of Current Meters

Surface Water Supply o the United States 1950 Parts 1 - 14

52

In addition to the above publications a two-page single-spaced

memorandum entitled Plotting Flood Frequency Curves (Extracted from

U S Geological Survey publications) was prepared by me under date

of April 3 1957 and handed to each member of the Seminar each week

The program or agenda for the Seminar one copy of which was

given to each member follows on Pages 53 to 63 inclusive The

graphs on Page 63 were referred to during the talks

53

March 29 1957

AGENDA FOiR SEMINARZ ON WATER RESCURCES AND STAE4 GAGING

IN THE PHILIPPINES

PLACE Conference hoom 2nd Floor Bureau of Public Highways Building Second Street Port Area Manila

TIKE April 1-5 8-12 and 22-26 (same program each week)

CONDUCTED BY M1r i 1 Veatch District EngineerSurface WaterBranch Jater Aesources Division United States Geological Suver Thcoma ashington who is un three-month assignment with the ICA

Held in connoction with the Philippine Government-ICA water resources program

54

GENERAL PROGRAM MONDAY AND TUESDAY

honday morning 830

Opening remarks Mr Julian A Buendia Director Bureau of Fublic Works Mr R R Lord Chief Public Works Division ICA Mr G H Hargreaves Hydraulic Engineer ICA

Importance of water resources and their investigation

The hydrologic cycle Evaporation transpiration and precipitation Runoff

Daily discharge record and the hydrograph Storm runoff Base flow

Grou~nd Water Very brief description (this subject to be covered

iaore fully on Tuesday afternoon)

General characteristics of natural stream runoff in the Philippines Quantity

Adequacy Comparison with United States

Variations with time Day to day and year to year Long-term trends

Distributin by area General over the Philippine Islands Variations between nearby drainage basins

Effect of location elevation geology cover etc

Major uses of stream-flow data Many years of rccornds should be crnsidered Granting water r phts

Protect existing rights Prevent capital expenditures where water supply inadequate

Planning river basin developments including municipal supply irrigation pnwer flood control etc

Destping structures such as dams reservoirs dikes floodways canals pumping systems power plants bridges etc

Accuracy and extent of dat needed for minimizing underdesign or wasteful overdesign

Cost of water-supply data in relation to total cost of a project

Operating water projects Distribution of water on projects Operation of storage reservoirs and diversion dams

To make maximum use uf water supply Designing alterations or enlargements to existing projects

RECESS 1000 to 1015

55 -3-

Monday morning (Continued) 1015 aim

Management of the stream gaging program Foreseeing the needs for stream-flow records

Study population and industrial trends Keep inforned on water-development plans and

prgraIIs of all agencies Continuity of the records

Essential for wator-supply studies Regular financinp reouired

Annual appropriations a poundfccted by temporary econoidc or political conditions

Permanent type of financing needed Surcharge method License fee method

-Dissemination of the data Annual publication Occasional summary compilations Furnishing advance cupies of unpublished records Furnishing current data - daily weekly or munthly

wherever required Special water resources investigation agency desirable

Briefly dancribe United States organization Uniform tecnical standards Uniform ways of presenting data One series of publicatiens Distributial center for basic water data Genera l-coverage program requires close coordination

for economy of operation Personal requirements

Engineers Engir ring aids Computers Clerks

ADJOURN - 1145

Resume after lunch only if necessary for completing the above subjects

56

Tueday morning 830

Design of a comprehensive stream gjaging program General rrinciIlac

Represenkc tive runoff-type provinces should be sainpled with stations of various classes

Vary the intensity of coverage with probable intenshysity of water use

Follow tiie tcends variations with records fromand L sri etatiorns secondary

Correlate resultls one continually adjustnetwork Classification of ra-in stationa

Areal prinary and secondary viain strem priiary nd secondary Water-manmfciact stat-i ons Miscellanous dischaige mcasurements

Correlating the dat obttined in comprehensive program Logarithmic pajer Five years of lecord uscd What is a good corrclation

Analyses of data Flood frcouencjs

Annual serics Partial duration series

Low-flow frecuencies Low-flow duration hydrograph

Extending strewm-flow records Comparisons witi other gaging stations Rainfall-runoff correlations

Quality of water Temperature

Intermittent observations Recorders

Chemical gtuality Element -Dissolved solids

Suspended iaterial Time of cecurrence-floods Sampling

Methods Cost

RECESS - 1000 to 1015

57

- 5 -

Tuesday afternoon 130

Ground water (This subject conducted by Mr C R Murray) Occurrence

Water table Artesian Lakes

Movement Through the ground Into stream channels

Availability Geologic structure Aquifers Funing tests

Recharge Froa precipitation Artificial Froma induced lateral movement

Investigation Geology Springs Logs of dug and drilled wells Test wells

lecording Lanual

Quantitative studies Chemical quality analyses

Mincral ccontnt Sallt water intrusion

Drilling of wells for production use Ground water rirhts

Depletion of ground water reservoirs teyond rccharge capability

ADJOURN at 330

Geologist Ground Water Branch dater Resources Division U 6 Geological Survey who is on two-ywar assignment with ICA

58

PROGRAM ON STREMvi GAGING PROCEDURE WEDNESDAY TO FRIDAY

4ednesday morning 830

Establishing and constructing gaging stations Selection of site

Consider najor probable uses of the record Investigate extent of upstream diversion and

-egulation Utilize contour naps Obtain list of nmrjor water right applications

iydraulic conditicns Section control Shifting channel Overbank flow Dackwater

Accessibility Avoid too much expense Need to reach quickly to measure flash floods

Natural protection front flood damage Avoid excessively expensive construction conditions

Bed iock Quick sand Too-longintake pipes

For non-rccording gage choose site convenient to

one or more local gage readers

Survey of site Bank cross-prefile at gage Cross section at cable Plan

Right of way Oral pervrission ritten permission

Easement Land purchase

RECESS - 945 to 1000

- 7 - 59

Wednesday morning (Continued) 100)

Construction Select types and sizes of structures To fit purpose oi the record Plan later salva e (for secondary stations) For economy of operation (for example design cableway to

operat mesily) Adapt availabic standard plans to fit the site Keep costs to hclp in future estimating Make brief construction report for future assistance in

planninr sililar Jobs Prepare staLion descripLion

Road log distences etc for How to reach paragraph Descriptions of gages bench marks etc Dimensions cf structuis Gage datum elevations of portinent parts of structures

Operating and maintaining gaging stations Records of stage

Choice of dtum Arbitrcry local datum

Set gages so there will be no minus gage readings

Mean sea level datum May be used but has disadvantages

1hen later adjustments are made to level networks

Gages have to be reset or Equation must be published

Non-recording gages Types

Vertical staff Inclined staff

ire-weight Crest-stage gages

Refinement of graduations ake adequate for accuracy of record needed

Maintatling dat of gage Adequate number of local reference marks Take levels at least once a year

Work o- local gare reader Fy according to approx number of hours worked Do not roruire too many roadings for the

conditions Warm (with omphasis) against my guessed

readings Inform reader anv errors in reading will

show up in hydrogrq oic comtparisons Engineers obtain check readings whenever

possible Visit gage reader frequently a d show inshy

terest in his gage-height record Encourage reader to retain personal copy

ADJOURN at 1145

60

Thursday morning 800

Records of stage (continued) Recording gages

Select type of instrument and its scales to fit conditions at gaging station

Weekly or continuous recorder Recorder scales Range of stage Rate of change of stage Availability of someone to change weekly

chart Work of Cage inspector of keeper

Avoid resetting pen Repurt any trash or debris causing backwater

at gage Do not have a gage keeper unless needed

aintaining gage datum Check outside gae by levels annually Keep outside gage sections reset to datum

Standard reference gage Inside gage of soie sort preferable

Staff Float-tape Anchor type

Intake action Clean or flush pipes after floods Slot intakes Self-cleaning iitakes

For pipe gage wells For wells built into bridge piers

Draw-down (where excessive) Use bapfle or static tube

Elood marks at station Make record of well-defined high water

marks

AECESS - 945 to 1000

- 9 - 61

Thursday morning (Continudd) 1000

Discharge measuroments Current hmeters

Price Type A Type AA

Pygmpy Carc of inters

Sounding weights E-typc C-type

Lead Brono

Type of notebook Loose shects Loose-leaf book Bound booL

Measurement of depth aeding rod Tag-line nethod Vertical-nglc coofficients Sounding during floods

Ilacemont of mter Sub--surface method 2-depth n cthod 6-de-pth icthod 2- imetY od

Number of verticals Velocity -urgcs

Miscellaneous f-ctors Effect of bridge piers Horizontal angle of current Insufficient weight on current water

1Mean gage hoitht for a discharge measurement Special methods of (Itermining flood discharge

Floats Slope-area method

Rating curv- etonsion method Arca and velocity curves Loparithmic plottig

Contrqctd-opening mothod Flow ovcr dams

Report on condition of control Carry station description and rating curve in field

Ubtain another me asurement if needed If first indicates large shift If new station and stagc advantagoous for

defining blank part of rating curve

ADJOUffN - 1145 AI

Resumne atfter lunch only if necessary for comploting the above subjects

62

- 10 -

Friday morning S00

A few remarks about office methods Rating curves

Log-log paper Upward extonsions Dowmward extensions

Rectangular plotting Computing recorder charts

M-ark index correction and time correction for each inspection reading

Break midnight lines at raph Never oblitertte or mark over the original trace Nake office markings on chart distinctive from

those mad( At the gage Use of colored pencils by computer and checker is one good wa)y

Daily discharge record Flot hydrograph Compare over light box with other stations

This method preferable to plotting several station records on same sheet

Concluding discussions

RECESS - 945 to 1000

Projection of gaging station equipment Lnd scenic slides taken in the United States and Canada

ADJOURN - 1145

Field trip Cars will be available at the conference building to

take members to the raging station on arikina iRivei at ontalban about an hours drive from Manila where a brief demonstration of certain field equipment will be given

Return to noL later thanoanila 500 FL

---

- Ishy4 ~7L~

0F OllY LISCIiRE 4- 1 -shy

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- O 1 B -- 2r 2 ZZ 23 24 2 c 26 7 8 2717x I 2

_~ I 027 _d- 1 2 shy

7 -

n_ a t-i IZ

- _______________ Pnu~ OAgvhshy

-~ ~-r- 1 - V-shy- i-shytvkty--- in--a-- -~ ~Z2m7~ ~

- ~ ~-~-----~- V 1~5~ LTLL2P7o -4----4 1 -- I -- I I _ __ --- -- -- - - L - - I ----

~- ~y~-~ 64 4

N

A il

Seminar members observing demonshystrat-n of measurshying e -pment by F M Veatch at Marikina River gaging station April 12 1957

I

Water Resources Seminar members observing working model of proppsed Binga Dam at the hydraulics laboratory of University of the Philippines April 12 1957

65

Current meter rating flume mechanism Y 22 1957

Current meter rating flume mechanism May 22 1957

66

Current Meter Rating Station

The new current meter rating station at the University of the

Philippines (see photographs) was not quite ready for use before I

left the country The mechanism and instruments were manufactured

in Germanyobtained thru ICA-NEC procurement for the Water Resources

Program of the Department of Public Works and have been installed by

Professor Alberto Villares and his hydraulics laboratory staff under

Dean C A Ortigas of the College of Engineering with some guidance

by Professor Edward L Ericksen of the University of Michigan who is

a civil engineer on detail here with the Stanford Group Professor

Villares spent 18 months in the hydraulics laboratory of the Univershy

sity of Iowa

There is every evidence that this rating flume will with expeshy

rience do work accurate enough not only for determining differences

in ratings between current meters but also for preparing absolute or

independent ratings This can be reported on more fully at some

later date by Messrs Hargreaves and Snell

The Central Luzon Region Program

The Water Resources Development Committee is preparing a recomshy

mended plan for the expedited multiple-purpose development of the

water resources of the Central Luzon region The area contains oneshy

sixteenth of the land surface and one-fourth of the population of the

Philippines and is termed the rice granary of the nation It is to

be used as an example or experiment in water and land development

67

The Committee has requested member agencies to submit estimates

of the minimum amount of additional basic data needed for making a

useful report and for proceeding with development projects Such

estimates are to include mapping soil surveys dam and reservoir site

surveys water resources surveys and other items A preliminary

report is to be prepared soon summarizing the existing information

pointing out the need for additional dataand submitting estimates

of cost for the further investigations needed An outline for the

final report has been prepared and distributed so it will be availashy

ble as a guide and funds for the first years efforts are being

sought for fiscal year 1958 It appears reasonable that the report

on a comprehensive plan could be submitted to the President and

Congress of the Philippines in about five years

With the assistance of Mr Hargreaves I have prepared estimates

for a surface water measurement program to complement the existing

program It is designed to fill the worst gaps in the present netshy

work Details are subject to change as more reconnaissance informashy

tion becomes available as only five days were spent covering the area

by automobile Unit costs were provided by the Hydrographic Section

and they include cost of preparation of the records for publication

Estimates were submitted as given below They were supported by a

detailed list of stream names and locations which included desigshy

nations as to the primary purpose or type of each proposed new gaging

station and whether a recording or non-recording gage was recommended

It is available for reference in both the ydrographic Section and

ICA offices

68

New gaging stations

1 Daily discharge type

Installation (including cableways where needed)

Recording ------- 7 Pl650 11550

Non-recording --- 4 950 3800 15350

Operation 1st year -11 660 7260 P22610

2 High water type (flood records)

Installation

Gages (nonshy

recording) ----- 4 150 600

Measuring equipment 800 1400

Operation 1st year - 4 300 1200 2600

Total for new gaging stations ------------- 25210

Miscellaneous discharge measurements

1 4 or 5 during dry season Nov - April

4 sites x 5 per site = 20 30 ---------------- 600

2 1 or 2 during low part of year March and April

37 sites x l per site = 55 k30 ------------- 1650

Total for miscellaneous measurements ------ 2250

Total -------------- -2746o

69

Rainfall And Evaporation Stations

Existing network

A map examination of the existing network of rain gages was made

and a surprisingly large number were found to be in operation -- 2

recording and 115 manual stations or a total of 117 They are beshy

lieved to be fairly adequate in number and are well distributed

areally over the Philippines but like in the United States are conshy

fined largely to the lower altitudes where the agricultural and urban

population live In addition to these records are available for

various lengths of time from about 8 discontinued Weather Bureau

stations and from more than 300 haciendas reforestaion stations

and provincial rnrseries

Additional gages

The Weather Bureau and the Bureau of Public Works are cooperating

in the installation of some new rainfall stations at higher altitudes

part of which will utilize new instruments purchased with ICA aid

funds Some of the instruments will be installed at existing nonshy

recording stations Forty new installations are proposed for 1958

fiscal year It is now recognized that rainfall station coverage at

higher altitudes is needed in order to furnish records that can be

correlated with the long-term valley records and also with the gaging

station discharge records D

70

Weather station maintained by Bureau of Public WorksIrrigation Division near Tuguegarao Cagayan From left to right N Ciriaco District Hydrographer drivershyhelper observer J G Garcia hydrographer J C Regalado and G H Hargreaves May 13 1957

Weather station at Pototan Iloilo Panay A Lacuestadistrict bydro-rapher standing May 5 1957

71

Group luncheon at Tacloban Leyte typical of the hospitality received by us during inspection tour of the Philippines From left to right M Rico irrig distr engr G Hargreaves G Araos E N Salazar P Formilleza L Abella S Velasco JCRegalado V H Sydiongoo distr hydrographer I M Ortega Oscar de Venecia and N Oliver May 7 1957

ICA Public Works Division March 1957 From left to right C R Murray A A Ketchum asat Div head J B Delaney I J Silverstone Sofia Halili 0 H Hosmer R R Lord Div head B B Hill Betty Valdez G H Hargreaves J L Brenden FM Veatch

72

Evaporation stations

Fifteen double-pan (one open and one partially shaded) evaporation

stations with rainfall temperature wind and humidity instruments as

auxiliary are being operated in the Philippines and ten more are to

follow next year They are well distributed over the islands and

should furnish data of great value for reservoir design Thq reccrds

will be publish3d

Publication of rainfall data

All rainfall reccrds are published annually by the Weather Bureau

whose 1954 volume is the latest one printed The 1955 issue should be

released soon One excellent source of information for anyone studyshy

ing rainfall data in the Philippines is the publication The Distrishy

bution of Rainfall In The Philippines by Eugenio B Manalo Chief

Climatological Division Weather Bureau Manila This contains

valuable descriptive material tables of monthly and annual values

and mean monthly and annual isohyets in inches An inspection or

study of the monthly isohyetal maps shows clearly how storm patterns

change with the seasons in certain parts of the Philippines and that

73

in other areas the rain is almost evenly distributed throughout the

year The long dry season of Manila and the central Luzon plains is

graphically portrayed by the isohyets Mr Manalos publication

should be of great benefit to government agencies and private parties

or individuals in connection with agricultural and business activities

over the islands It is presumed that the isohyets will warrant some

revision after another 5 or 10 years as more records especially those

at higher altitudes become available

Sediment Measurement Stations

Practically no silt-sampling has been done in the Philippines

to date and no extensive program is believed possible because of the

lack of funds For the present it is recommended that every governshy

ment field hydrographer be equipped with a thermomater and a turbidity

stick and required to report a spot water temperature and turbidity

reading at time of each discharge measurement Thus without extra

cost a large amount of data can be accumulated which after several

years should make it possible to determine what streams are the

siltiest and where more detailed studies might be needed Whenever a

reservoir project reaches the intensive-investigation stage including

dam-site drilling detailed topography etc it is recommended that

a complete sediment sampling station be operated there for at least

one full flood season before the project feasibility report is

completed

74

Statement Before Water Resources Development Committee

On March 20 1957 I presented the following statement regarding

the streamflow measurement program in the Philippines

The Philippine Republic is blessed with an excellent supply of

water of good quality but much of it is wasted to the sea during the

rainy season The development of this resource is vitally important

to the nation and it involves the storing of flood waters for dryshy

season release Where investments are to be made for construction of

dams etc in the development of irrigation power production and

flood control large sums can easily be wasted through overdesign or

underdesign if enough engineering data are not available Conflicting

or competing uses for the water supplies will gradually develop in

your country the same as they have in the United States If water

rights are to be granted fairly with due regard for all prior users

many years of basic data are necessary so that the long-term water

supply can be estimated For this purpose a good network of stream

gaging records and ground water levels must be secured One would

not attempt to manage the money in a bank without bookkeeping and it

is just as important to have an accounting system when managing water

The sound economical procedure is to base all project designs on as

complete engineering information as can be obtained

The ICA is attempting to assist the Philippine Government in

planning the orderly development of its water resources and we are

concerned that too many structures may be built before accurate

9i

hydrologic data are available for their design For this reason we

strongly urge you to improve the basic data gathering program at the

earliest possible date as follows

(1) Review and publish the stream-flow records that have been

obtained since the war

(2) Finance an expanded program of stream-flow measurement and

ground water study

The Bureau of Public Works has prepared preliminary estimates of

the funds needed for bringing publication of basic data up to date and

for expanding the wiater resources investigation program The attached

copies of estimates are of course provisional and subject to revision

but it is suggested that they be placed in the files of this Committee

for future reference The figure of P56oooo for publication is a

fairly firm figure It is suggested that the Committee take immeshy

diate action to further the procurement of these funds

The procurement of water resources data is a specialized field

requiring engineers and other technical men with a high degree of

education Years must be spent in training them in such special

work The men must endure rigorous physical work corbatting the

elements and using resourcefulness and judgment It is very uneconoshy

mical and unsatisfactory to have a technical organization of that kind

subject to occasional and unpredictable severe cuts in appropriations

It is even more unsatisfactory to have the time sequence of basic

water data collection interrupted and valuable records lost forever

CONTENTS Page

Publications 48

The Seminar agenda 53

Current Meter Hating 3tation 66

The Central Luzon Region Program 66

Outline of estimates 68

Rainfall Stations 69

Existing network 69

Additional gages 69

Evaporation stations 72

Publication of rainfall data 72

73Sediment Measurement Stations

Statement Before Water Resources Committee 74

Addendum 77

ILLUSTRATIONS

(Unless otherwise indicated photographs were taken

by F M Veatch 1957)

Page

1 Recorder and cableway Marikina R at Montalban

Rizal April 5 5

2 Cableway and recorder Pampanga R at Atate

Nueva Ecija April 14 5

3 Pre-war frame shelter and 36 corr pipe well

Taken by G Hargreaves March 1 6

4 Pipe well attached to bridge pier Pampanga R near

Arayat Pampanga March 1 6

5 New timber recorder structure Pinagcanauan de

Tuguegarao R near Tuguegarao Cagayan with

Garcia and Ciriaco May 14 9

6 Staff gage on Jalaur R at Passi Iloilo May 8 9

7 National Power Corp staff gage on Angat R above

Ipo Dam March 13 10

8 NPC staff painted on bedrock Bantay R near Bokod

Benguet Mt Province March 26 10

9 Staff gage Labangan R at Bagbag Calumpit

Bulacan March 1 15

10 Gagekeeper and staff gage Jalaur R at Calinog

Iloilo Panay May 8 15

ILLUSTRATIONS Page

11 Gagekeeper reading painted 3taff gage Bokod R at

Bokod March 26 16

12 Gagekeeper showing reference point Madlum R near

Sibul Springs Bulacan April 25 16

13 Ipo Dam on Angat River Bulacan March 13 21

14 Banca ready to go up reservoir above Ipo Dam

March 13 21

15 Cableway Angat R above Ipo Dam March 13 22

16 B Ramos making wading measurement Angat R above

Ipo Dam March 13 22

17 Tagging line Bantay R M Bokod Mt Province

March 26 25

18 Measuring flow bantay R M Bokod Mt Province

March 26 25

19 Measuring flow Bokod R at Bokod Mt Province

March 26 26

20 15-pound weight used near Ambuklao March 26 26

21 Ambuklao Dam on Agno R Benguet Mt Prov March 25 29

22 Maria Cristina Dam on Agos R Lanao Mindanao May 1 29

23 Binga dam site on Agno R Mt Province March 25 30

24 Marikina dam site on Marikina River Rizal April 5 30

25 Cableway and recorder on Cagayan R near Cagayan

de Oro Misamis Oriental Mindanao April 30 33

26 Control on Binahaan R at Tiigib near Pastrana

Leyte May 6 33

ILLUSTRATIONS page

27 Footbridge below Binga dam site Agno R March 25 34

28 Tree anchorage for cable Angat R above Ipo Dam

March 13 34

29 Construction shelters at gaging station on Angat R

above Ipo Dam March 13 37

30 Proposed new base gaging station site on Baoas R near

Mangatarem Pangasinan Photo by J S Romasanta

April 15 37

31 Airport at Legaspi Albay May 17 38

32 Jeep and reconnaissance party April 15 38

33 F M Veatch and Seminar group April 9

Photo by E H Capistrano 5

34 F M Veatch and Seminar group April 9

Photo by E H Capistrano

35 C R Murrb and Seminar group April 9 Photo

by E H Capistrano 9

36 Seminar group r-Marikina R gaging station taken

by E H Capistrano from cable car April 12 0

37 Typical discharge hydrograph showing base flow

Manila rainfall 1365 to date 63

38 Demonstration of measuring equipment Seminar

April 12 64

39 Seminar group observing Binga dam model April 12 64

ILLUSTRATIONS Page

40 Looking north at meter rating flume U of P May 22 65

41 Looking south at meter rating flume U of P May 22 65

42 Weather station near Tuguegarao Cagayan May 13 70

43 Weather station at Pototan Iloilo Panay May 5 70

44 Luncheon group at Tacloban Leyte May 7 71

45 ICA Public Works Division personnel March 1957 71

REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON SURFACE WATER RESOURCES INVESTIGATIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES

by

Fred M Veatch

Introduction

Purpose of the detail (1) To assist the ICA and the Philippine

government in determining principles to be followed in laying out a

suitable long-range stream gaging program for the nation (2) To

recommend a specific surface water investigation program for the

Luzon area (3) To hold technical training conferences wiLh Philipshy

pine government personnel in the site selection construction and

field operation of gaging stations (4) To make general recommendations

concerning the precipitation gage network (5) To comment on the posshy

sible need for quality of water investigations in the Philippines and

(6) To comment on the new current meter rating flume being constructed

in Manila

Preparation Orientation or briefing conferences were held with

me in Washington D C January 22-25 1957 by officials of the Geoloshy

gical Survey and the ICA particularly Thomas E Eakin Chief of Overseas

Programs for the Survey and J V B Wells Chief of Surface Water

Division and Malcolm H Jones C L Orrben and E T Hagberg of ICA

Additional briefing was received in Manila

Acknowledgments The carrying out of my assignment in a satisfactory

manner was greatly facilitated in the Philippines by the cooperation and

2

assistance of Mr Russell R Lord Chief of Public Works Division of

ICA and by menmbers of his staff especially Mr George H Hargreaves

Chief Advisor Water Resources Program and by the Philippine Governshy

ment officials with whom I worked most closely including Mr Tomas

Saddam Chief of Hydrographic Section of the Bureau of Public Works

and Mr Jose C Regalado of his staff Mr Alex Delefia of the River

Control Section Messrs I Santos and E P Abesamis of the National

Power Corporation and E B Manalo of the Weather Bureau

Acknowledgment is also made to Messrs R E 01tman and J J

Ligner of the Training Section Surface Water Branch Washington

D C for their cooperation in sending numerous publications needed

at the Seminar and elsewhere in the Philippines and for their sugshy

gestions in regard to training

3

The Stream Gaging Program In The Philippines

History

The Hydrographic Section of the Irrigation Division Department

of Public Works and Communications (formerly the Department of Commerce

and Communications) has been the major stream gaging agency in the

Philippines since the work was started in 1908 265 gaging stations

in 40 of the 49 provinces were operated for short periods of time between

1908 and 1922 mostly in 1910-12 and 1919-22 All daily gage-height and

discharge records collected by that agency between January 1 1923 and

June 1944 became destroyed by Lire during World War II However the

results of numerous discharge measurements made from 1939 to 1942 were

saved for several gaging stations in the Bicol region of southern Luzon

Stream gaging by the Hydrographic Section was resumed on August 19 1945

on the Aringay River near Tubao La Union followed gradually by other

stations as the Liberation progressed

Records for 1908 to 1922 were published in 1923 in four volumes-as

Water Supply Bulletin No 1 Surface Water Supply of the Philippine

Islands which included the results of all discharge measurements as

well as computed daily discharges in second-liters The calendar year

is used rather than a water year The Extremes paragraphs do not

include any stage records the only gage heights published being those

contained in the lists of discharge measurements

k

Forty-six of the gaging stations operated during the 1908-22

period were re-established after World War II at sites where the records

are considered comparable -- that is where the drainage area does not

differ by more than five per cent The longest continuous records of

discharge not affected by diversion or regulation that I have been able

to find in the Philippines for the postwar period are for the Maasim

River near San Rafael Bulacan Luzon October 5 1945 to date and for

the Aringay River near Tubao La Union from August 19 1945 to date

Available maps are not very satisfactory for locating sites of former

gaging stations because the names of many of the barrios and towns are

different on present maps than they were when the stations were first

operated and described

Considerable stream gaging has also been done by the National

Power Corporation and some river stage records have been obtained by

the River Control and Drainage Section Irrigation Division These are

summarized in the tabulation on Page 6 In addition miscelshynumerous

laneous discharge measurements have been obtained by several agencies

Daily discharge records are available in the files of the National

Power Corporation for eight pre-war gaging stations that were operated

for varying periods between 1923 and 1943 by the Bureau of Public Works

One of these on Barit River at Santiago Iriga Camarines Sur was

operated from 1923 to 1940 The original forms for all eight stations

became destroyed during the war but a set of prints was later discovered

by the National Power Corporation in some hydroelectrical project files

that were saved The NPC re-established the Barit River station at

the same site in 1950

5

Marikina R at Montalban Rizal Province with Stevens FM 30-day recorder April 5 1957

TYPICAL NEW GAGING STATION STRUCTURES CONSTRUCTED AS A RESULT CF THE ICA PROGRAM

III I I

I I I

~iz

7~il

2~-

Pampanga River at Atate Nueva Ecija Stevens FM recorder J C Regalado driver helper and L Borbolla in foreground April 14 1957

47~I

-4

4

iuJi rf if poundflLLi

77

Pre-war frame shelter and 36 corr pipe Frame shelter over new 36 corrwell with Gurley weekly recorder Pampanga

J C Regalado B Ramos and E M Veatch pipe well Pampanga River near standing Taken by G H Hargreaves Arayat Pampanga March 1 1957 March 1 1957

Status of post-war computations and publication

Daily discharge computations of the Hydrographic Section tbr 1944

to 1954 are practically coplete those for 1955 are about 40 per deb4t

complete and for 1956 about 15 per cent Office work has been delayed

considerably because of the heavy constructionfprogran which started

in 1956 using supplies and instruments furnished by the ICA All office

computations are made in the Manila office No discharge records have

been published since those of 1908-22 but steps are being taken as

explained later in this report to bring publication up to date It is

planned that the records which have been compuhed for the years 1944 to

1956 will be reviewed before their final preparation for publication

to make sure their standards of accuracy are reasonably consistent

with the slightly higher standards proposed to be instituted as a

result of recommendations made in this report About 1500 stationshy

years of stream-flow recordsless than 10 per cent of which are from

agencies other than the Hydrographic Section are proposed to be comshy

piled and printed in a single-volume publication of monthly and annual

data Tables of monthly minimum discharge are to be included

Organization and cooperation

The Hydrographic Section customarily assigns a district hydrographer

and his assistants as resident at each irrigation district office that

is situated a long distance from Manila Their headquarters are as

follows

District Province Town

Northern Luzon Isabela San Mateo

Bicol Region Luzon Camarines Sur Naga

Eastern Visayas Leyte Tacloban

Western Visayas Iloilo Iloilo

Mindanao Davao Davao

This district is presently being operated by hydrographers from

Manila the same as for the central part of Luzon

The above field hydrographers are each assigned a Jeep and a drivershy

helper Hydrographers pay scales range between about Y2400 and P4200

per annum and in addition they are granted a subsistence allowance of

Y2OO per unit or Y800 a day Driver-helpers receive an average pay

of P5 per day plus a subsistence allowance of P200 per day (which has

been reduced administratively from P450 a day because of lack of funds)

The field personnel send or deliver all basic records to Manila

where they are processed computed and filed Most of the office work

is done by office personnel with the field men doing but little of the

office work

9

New timber recorder structure including plank intake with Stevens A-35 recorder Pinagcanauan de Tuguegarao River near Tuguegarao Cagayan Jose G Garcia assistant hydrographer and Norberto Ciriaco District Hydrographer on walkway May 14 1957

Staff gage on Jalaur River at Passi Iloilo From left to right 2 boys A Lacuesta Distr HydrogrLher J CorderoIrrig Distr Engr G Hargreaves J Regalado gagekeeper (kneeling) and onlooker May 8 1957

I

--- S

F National Power Corporation staff gage on Angat River above Ipo Dam now beingreplaced by a Bureau of Public Works recorder installation March 13 1957

O~

~A F~ ~~ shy- ~

~

- --

I ------ ~

A -~ 1

~ -- gt I~-

5 shy

- ~- ~ U

amp~~ -

2r~ ~k- ~ ~

National Power Cororation painted staff gage Bantay River near Bokod BenguetMountain Province Hydrographers helperstanding March 26 1957 Note lower markings faded

11

Whether any other changes are made or not it is the expressed

plan of the Hydrographic Section to have the District-Hydrographer

who is in charge of the Northern Mindanao District headquartered at

Cagayan de Oro

A considerable portion of the pay of district hydrographers and

their staffs comes directly from the Irrigation Section district

office at which they are headquartered rather than through the

Hydrographic Section This has had the effect of limiting their

efforts somewhat to project work rather than to general or all-purpose

investigations

Some of the other agencies particularly the National Power

Corporation obtain the cooperation of the Hydrographic Section in

helping operate certain gaging stations where a duplication of travel

can thus be avoided However the discharge measurements so made by

the Hydrographic Section are turned over to the NPC who make their

own computations of daily discharge The latter also sometimes pays

directly the salaries of certain gagekeepers Usually this cooperashy

tion does not involve an exchange of funds but some change in that

situation is recommended as explained later in this report

All agencies make their daily discharge records available to the

Hydrographic Section upon request and the plan is to have the later

agency include all such records in their publications No reproduction

machine is available in any of the offices and all copies of records

must be made individually in typing or longhand A machine is under

order by the Hydrographic Section

-fiUMBER OI~ GAGIiG~STATIONS-eP-ERATED IN-PIILIPPINES -

CALENDAR YEAR

YEA HYOROGRAPHIC

STAGE NATIONAL

SECTION PO R0 P

RIVEl CONTROL SECTON

TOT AL

DISCHARGE NATIONAL

HYDROGRAPHIC SECTION ORHYTGRPI SECTION POR

TOTAL TOA

RECORDING NON-REC TOTAL NON-REC NON-REC RECORDING NON-REC TOTAL

1908-1922 265 265 265

1923-1944 3 3 9 12

1945 6 6 6 15 15 2 17

1946 2 12 14 14 28 28 4 32

1947 3 11 14 14 29 29 4 33

1948 3 18 21 5 26 45 45 5 50

1949 3 13 16 6 5 27 74 74 15 89

1950 3 9 12 10 4 26 91 91 20 111

1951 3 15 18 10 4 34 103 103 17 120

1952 3 13 16 10 4 30 111 111 17 128 1953 3 17 20 11 17 48 1 96 97 23 120

1954 4 18 22 11 26 49 1 145 146 22 168

1955 4 18 22 13 19 54 1 207 208 27 235

1956 6 12 15 1 25 52 40 189 26 5

13

Various agencies have submitted lists of proposed gaging stations

which they would like to have installed to provide data for their

projects It is apparent that this work will be well coordinated in

the future and that the other agencies will come to rely more and

more on the Hydrographic Section for most of their basic stream-flow

records But they probably will continue to have their own personnel

make certain types of hydrographic investigations for the detailed

study of specific projects such as river profiles tailwater rating

curves etc

Financing

The main difficulty in regard to financing has been lack of

stability and continuity to the program and insufficient generalshy

fund money to permit the establishment of an all-purpose gaging proshy

gram In 1956 and 1957 the Hydrographic Section rec3ived P120000

(less than half of their total funds) for such general use with all

other monies either from counterpart funds (explained below) in theor

form of contributions from other agencies to cover certain gaging

expenses Another difficulty has been the lack of enough funds to

properly carry out the sudden large construction program generated by

the new ICA-furnished materials and instruments Most of the regular

hydrographic force has been assigned to construction during the last

twelve months or so because separate construction foremen or substitute

hydrographers could not be hired As a result the regular field

operation of gaging stations has suffered considerable neglect This

- - -

14

wuld not have been necessary if the Hydrographic Sections funds had

been flexible and appropriated on basis of a performance budget As

it is the Section must adhere to line items which spell out exactly

how all money is to be spent

The financing of an expanded 1958 program now appears to be

progressing satisfactorily largely from the counterpart monies

This fund consists of pesos allocated by the Philippine government

in an amount equivalent to the dollar value of imports furnished by

the ICA It is administered by the National Economic Council with

allocations subject to approval of the ICA on budget recommendations

received from Philippine government agencies In the case of water

resources programs they are assisted by recommendations of the Water

Resources Development Committee an NEC administratively appointed

body composed of representatives of ten agencies interested or inshy

volved in water development A rougn breakdown of the Hydrographic

Sections budget proposed for the fiscal year starting July 1 1957

is as follows

General Fund Pesos

Annual appropriation - ------------ 120000

Counterpart Funds

For bringing up to date the publication of

annual records plus a compilation - - - - 56000

For an expanded program of surface-water

investigations----------- - 500000

TOTAL - - - - - - 676000

The total funds available in 1955 and 1956 fiscal years were 180000

and 280000 respectively

It

a 7~

IC

U

i

Staff gage out of water Labangan River at Bagbag Calumpit Bulacan March 1 1957

7lt 2

I

fr

Gagekeeper and staff Jalaur River at Calinog Iloilo He read 10 centimeters low today because markings on lower part of gage were illegible

I-J May 8 1957

16 8

hational Power Corp staff gage painted on streamward side of cliff Lower markings gone and gagekeeper determines gage heights three times a day by wading to gage and measuring down with rule as shown in this picture Bokod R at Boiod Benguet Mountain Province March 26 1957

Bureau of Public Works staff gage station Gagekeeper has made readingsby measuring down from a nail since this section of gage was washed out by a flood Madlum River near Sibul Springs Bulacan April 25 1957

17

The only difficulty with counterpart financing is that it is

temporary and could conceivably leave the program stranded in a few

years when ICA aid is discontinued The necessity is recognized for

gradually obtaining regular Congressional appropriations to take the

place of counterpart funds An effort will also be made to have a

performance type of budget accepted because line items make the

program inflexible and prevent the best management and economy

It is recommended that other agencies desiring for their projects

certain stream flow records which cannot be financed from the regular

budget of the Hydrographic Section transfer funds annually (either in

advance or on a reimbursement basis) to the Hydrographic Section to

pay the extra costs required for the fulfilment of their requests

Design of the stream gaging program

As mentioned above the fiscal arrangements prevailing up to this

time have resulted in an almost total emphasis on project-type gaging

stations in the Philippines However I believe everyone is now in

agreement with the desirability or need for a nation-wide network of

index or runoff-per-square-kilometer type of stations which will sample

various runoff provinces such as those with different exposures to storms

and having different topography altitude geology type of land cover

etc The intensity of the network of stations in different regions

would vary depending upon the apparent future economic value or worth

of the water in each area This will be discussed in more detail in

the recommendations

18

In order to look over the existing program observe something of

the technical methods in use and see a variety of runoff and economic

types of areas in the islands to gain an idea of the type of stream

gaging network needed I have visited several regions accompanied most

of the time by Mr George Hargreaves It has been very helpful to me

to have him take such an interest in the detailed objectives of ry

assignment and I am sure it will facilitate Mrs Snellas work a great

deal to have available for consultation and guidance Mr Hargreaves

wide experience in water resources development and investigations

We were accompanied by Mr J C Regalado of the ydrographic Section

who made most of the advance contacts with field offices in connecshy

tion with our trips We usually travelled to central points by Philshy

ippine Air Lines and were then driven to nearby areas by field officials

of the Hydrographic Section and other agencies The hospitality and

cooperation of everyone toward us was exceptional and much appreciated

Besides a fairly detailed coverage of the Central Luzon area where an

intensified program is proposed our inspections included Northern

Luzon Southern Luzon (the Bicol region) Leyte Panay and several

parts of Mindanao In addition we made a special effort to observe

the country all along the routes of airplane flights taken and that

coupled with airplane stops made on other islands gave us a fairly

comprehensive view of the geography of the Philippines It is upon

this that my recommendations concerning the design of a stream gaging

program are based

19

Bquipment and technical methods-

The stream gaging equipment and methods used by the Hydrographic

Section since 1908 have been patterned mainly after those of the US

Geological Survey as described in the 1904 publication H4ydrographic

Manual Thus it appears likely that the methods and accuracy stanshy

dards have changed but little since the Philippine program was started

Stream gaging tecniques used by the other agencies are similar but

they have not had the advantage of some of the new ICA-furnished equipshy

ment This is expected to be remedied in the aid allocations for fiscal

year 1958

Although some use has been made of the 2-8 method of measuring

discharge present practice is limited almost entirely to the 6method

for low and medium stages and the sub-surface method for high stages

for the latter the meter is suspended over a 15-E weight and set 03

meter below the surface with a coefficient of 0915 applied

The number of verticals or measuring points taken in the cross

section usually is between 8 and 15 No bridge cranes or suspension

reels of any kind have been available all discharge work other than

with wading rod having been done by hand line All this is about to

be changed with the recent arrival of the first ICA-furnished sounding

reels weights and tag lines purchased from 1956 FY funds

Staff gages are read to the nearest centimeter (about 0033 foot)

Most of the gages would be difficult to read to any closer limit alshy

though a few stations have Leupold Stevens enameled gages with levelshy

rod type markings

20

The hydrographer records his discharge measurement notes in a

small bound pocket-size book which he carries until it is full After

each measurement is computed in the field a complete copy of the notes

is made on a card and mailed to the Manila office I am informed

that the bound notebooks are practically never lost or dropped in

the water With the increased amount of flood measuring expected to

be done in the future that situation might change

Rating curves are drawn to average large groups of discharge

measurements Large rectangular-scale cross section sheets are used

Percentage differences of the measured values with respect to the

rating table are not computed A minimum of use is made of Stoutshy

method shifts

The water-stage recorders furnished to date by the ICA have been

manufactured with time scales of either 03 inch per day (the FM

model) or 48 inches per day (the A-35 model) The former scale is

too small for satisfactory use in most stream gaging and the latter

is too large Thirty pairs of time scale gears have been ordered for

converting the A-35s from 48 to 24 inches per day Upon inquiry at

the factory it was learned that no conversion of the FM recorders is

possible An exchange of 25 of them is being made with the ground

water program for an equivalent value in A-35 recordero but the

remaining 65 will be used at the surface water stations They are

very satisfactory on lakes or spring-fed streams or large streams

whose fluctuations are not too sudden

21

Ipo dam on Angat River which diverts water to supply City of Manila and surrounding area March 13 1957 Reservoir is traversed by boat in reaching the gaging station upstream

Ready to leave Ipo Dam for gaging station 6 kilqmeters upstream B Ramos and J Regalado in oanca March 13 1957

4 ~ s~

B Ramos making discharge measurement by wading on Angat River above Ipo DamMarch 13 1957 Spacings between verticals were obtained from cable makings byline hanging from cable car

23

At non-recording gages it has been the custom to hire gagekeepers

at uniform or statutory rates of 025 or P30 per month (not related

to the distance traversed in going to the gage) to obtain readings

three times a day The pay has been the same even where the gage is

located several kilometers away from the gagekeepers home The system

has certain disadvantages which may affect the accuracy of the records

At some stations the pay is too high while at others it is too low

Three readings a day are not necessary most of the time for adequately

developing the hydrograph especially during the dry season and a

request for obviously unnecessary readings seems to put too severe a

test upon human nature It is practically an open invitation to a

certain amount of faking I doubt that it should be held against a

gagekeeper to put down some estimated readings under those circumstances

any more than it would be to blame children for taking candy or cookies

from a forbidden plate left openly in their midst The question then

becomes - what readings can be relied upon and what cannbt I sincerely

believe that a more accurate daily discharge record can be prepared in

the office from a few completely reliable gage readinrs per week by

means of hydrographic comparisons with recording-gage records from

nearby stations and with less expense than can be produced by proshy

cessing comparing and weeding out questionable parts from a complete

(on paper) record of three readings a day A gagekeepers habit

developed during the dry season of not going to the gage when it is

inconvenient or he doesnt feel like it is bound to crop up during

the high water season as well with the result that all his readings

24

must be looked at critically and considered reliAble only after

unusually extensive comparisons are made with weather records and

other stations

In regard to specialized stream gaging equipment listed below

are the amounts purchased by the ICA up to the present time

Ordered from Ordered from Being FY 1955 PPA 1956 PPA ordered Delivered in Delivered in from 1957

May 1956 May 1957 PPA

Canfield reels 0 6 8

Type A reels 0 6 2

Canfield tag lines 0 15 0

A-35 recorders 20 10 25

FM recorders 65 25 0

Enameled gage secs 400 600 200

Currer meter outfits inc ding rod headphonehanuline and 15-pound weight 11 10 0

Pygmy meters 0 0 10

Bridge cranes 0 3 0

Sounding wts 30-lb 0 0 10

50-lb 0 0 10

I i 75-lb 0 0 1

I 100-lb 0 0 1

Stopwatches 20 10 0

Being purchased as models for possible future use in procurement of

weights of local manufacture

25

~-

-~ ~- shy

~-

4rshy~~L~zu 1 - ~ A-

-~ - ~jj ~

~- k ~ ~

Helper and P Nubio National Power Corporationpreparing to make discharge measurement Tag marks of grass being tied to line Bantay River near Bokod Benguet Mountain Province March 26 1957

-- ~ 4

V

Helper holding meter in place suspended on a weight hanger while revolutions are counted oy hydrographer P Nubio E P Nbesamis is at extreme right March 26 1957

26

-p --shy

t-~-- - -

A ~

A~4 ~ 4

A -Y

- -

- - - -

gt~ ~ ~-

Z4z4a - ~z

- shy -~-~shy

4shy- --

I NPC discharge party on Bokod River at-Bokod BenguetMountain Province Helper and gagekeeper holding meter and 15-pound weight in position P Nubio on shore counting revolutions and recording notes March 26 1957

Ar 7

-~ I

0 I 15-pound weight used in discharge measurement work by the NPC hydrographer stationed at Ambuklao Dam March 26 1957

27

Recommendations

A sharp expansion in the stream gaging program of the Philippines

has occurred recently brought about not only by the ICAs economic and

technical aid program but also by the growing local demand for water

resources information It is inevitable that some organizational

changes would be required to accommodate such a sudden growth This

subject was discussed in conferences with Mr Saddam and Mr Regalado

and the following list of special objectives agreed upon They had a

number of these in mind or partly in effect already and were planning

to gradually adopt several others The items are listed here in order

to express my reasons for wanting to see them completely implemented

within the next two or three years They are as follows

A It is recommended that the district offices compute their own disshy

charge records and prepare them for publication for final review

in the central office in ranila

1 Additional engineers would be needed in each district office

and fewer engineers in the Manila office

2 At least the district hydrographer and preferably one other

engineer in addition should be trained in the office work in

Manila before the records were transferred to a district

3 Each engineer in a district office would be given a field area

which he would cover by a round of discharge measurements once

every 4 to 6 weeks each coverage taking about 2 weeks Betshy

ween trips he would do office work preferably on the same

stations that he covers in the field

28

4 Benefits of thissystem are believed to be as follows

a Records requested could be furnished more quickly to the

public especially to those in the district area

b This kind of a close tie between field and office work has

been found to greatly improve the quality of the records

the economy of operation and the performance and developshy

ment of the individual engineers

c The alternating of each person between field and office

work makes him (1) more competent in the field work and

also more competent in the office work than is possible

in segregated office and field groups and (2) permits

him to be home more of the time and lead a more normal

lifc thus increasing his morale and efficiency

5 Personnel arrangements recommended are

a Offer more rapid promotion to those who transfer like

from Manila to a field office or between field offices

b Encourage each man to transfer every few years with

faster promotions as an incentive It has been found

that this develops an engineers competence more rapidly

than if he stays in one office indefinitely Such ability

repays the government in added officiency and production

to an extent greater than its cost in extra salary

B Certain organization changes are recommended as follows

1 Appoint an Office Engineer a Field Engineer and (whenever

needed) a Construction Engineer They would be headquartered

__

V 29

2

~- ~

q

Ambuklao Dam on Agno River Generating capacity 75000 kw Powerplant is underground March 2557

7- t

-JI

Maria Cristina falls and power plant on Agus River River near Iligan Lanao Province Mindanao Present installed capacity 50000 kw May 1 1957

30

II I

Looking downstream at the Binga dam site on Agno River about 15 kilometers east of Baguio March 25 1957

Looking upstream at the Marikina dam site on Marikina River at Wawa near Montalban Rizal about 25 kilometers northeast of Manila April 5 1957

31

in the Manila office and act under the general supervision of

the head of the Section with the following responsibilities

to be included

a Office Engineer

(1) Be responsible for the discharge computations and

related office work in the Manila field district or

area

(2) Be responsible for review and final preparation for

publication of all records in the nation

(3) See that a progress chart of status-of-record compushy

tations is maintained in each district office and

that a summary statement concerning such progress is

sent to the central office at least quarterly

(4) Be responsible for research in office methods and

equipment (See footnote on next page)

b Field Engineer

(1) Act as first assistant to head of the Section of

Hydrography

(2) Be responsible for field operation vork throughout the

nation

(a) Make at least one annual field inspection in each

district

(b) Develop the system in every headquarters of keepshy

ing a running chronological chart of the discharge

measurements made at each gaging station or

32W

scheduled miscellaneous site A form in use in

Tacoma Washington has been found to be very conshy

venient for this purpose Such a chart gives the

supervisor a quick overall view of the status of

the field work and serves as a check at end of

the year to make sure all measurements have been

listed and counted

(3) Be responsible for the design of the stream gaging

network and the selection of sites for new gaging

stations

(4) Be responsible for research in field methods and

equipment

Construction Engineer

(1) Give general supervision and management to the conshy

struction program

(a) Obtain assignment of resident engineer or foreman

for each job

(b) See that the materials are made available Help

the foreman in every way possible in organizing

the job procuring emergency equipment or supplies

and making decisions about serious problems that

may arise on the job

If funds became available for considerable research it probably

would be better to appoint a special Research Engineer

33

~A

Cagayan River gaging station near Cagayan de OroMisamis Oriental Mindanao April 30 1957 Note how corrugated pipe recorder structure was bent by flood J C Regalado J J Ponco gagekeeper and G H Hargreaves in foreground

-

V

View of staff gage and control on Binakaan River at Tifigib near Pastrana Leyte Stream divided by a barand control excavated for unknown reason May 6 1957 J Regalado by the sign and G Hargreaves at right

Cable footbridge below Binga dam site Tree anchorage for cableway onformerly used by NPC in making Angat River above Ipo Damdischarge measurements P Nubio and March 13 1957E Abesamis of NPC on bridge March 25 1957

35

(c) Visit the major jobs occasionally to see that

they are proceding satisfactorily in all the

islands Make sure the stations are installed

according to instructions and plans An approved

sketch plan showing dimensions and elevations is

desirable for each construction job

(d) Prepare first draft of each new station description

(e) Prepare brief construction report including costs

A form in use at Tacoma Washington has been found

convenient for this purpose

C The following policies in regard to gagekeepers are recommended

1 Start a gradual change-over to paying each gagekeeper on basis

only of the hours he works plus a basic amount for taking the

responsibility This may result in increasing the pay of some

but it should reduce the pay of a much larger number

2 Convert most gagekeepers to two readings a day most of the time

with one or more additional readings during floods In some of

the drier parts of the Central Luzon area in cases where gages

are remote from habitation request only one reading a day

during the dry months such as from January through May inclushy

sive more than that are believed to cost more than they are

worth and are an open invitation to the reporting of estimated

readings

3 When a new recorder installation is at a barrio or bridge where

it appears unlikely to be vandalized try running the station

36

without hiring a gagekeeper If this system proves successful

discontinue the services of the gagekeepers at certain selected

recorders At all other recorders reduce the number of readshy

ings required to one per day and reduce their pay accordingly

If a gagekeeper prefers not to accept a lower monthly rate for

fewer readings it is suggested that he resign except in cases

where security of the station structures or right-of-way favors

may be involved

Proceed on the principle that a saving in public tax money from

the above reforms is more important than supporting gagekeepers

just because they depend on the income and need the money The

present dependence of a gagekeeper on his P300 or P360 a year

and the hardship he must undergo in adjusting to a lower rate

of pay for the job are not believed to be sufficient reasons

for continuing indefinitely to pay him more than necessary

However it is recommended that he be given 30 or 60 days

notice before a reduction in pay is placed in effect

D Vehicles

1 It is recommended that a gradual change-over be made from the

short-wheelbase open Jeep to the Jeep station wagon as a hydroshy

graphers car Benefits should be as follows

a The car can be locked leaving only the tires as attractive

to thieves

b The station wagon has more space As the hydrographers

became better equipped that space will be needed

37

Bamboo-and-grass shelters built and used by crew during construction of gaging station on Angat River above Ipo Dam March 13 1957

3

4

-Ti LP

Proposed site for new index-type gaging station selected on Baoas River near Mangatarem Pangasinan above all diversions by Regalado Romasanta dargreaves and Veatch April 15 1957 Photo by J S Romasanta

38

Taking Philippine Airlines plane at Legaspi Albayfor Manila on May 17 1957 Mount Mayon 7960 feet high in background

I

N 1 x

Y

I

Showing typical vehicle used on the reconnaissance and inspection trips over the Philippines

39

c For occasional errands or trips it will be feasible for

only oneman to take the car because he can lock the con

tents when the car is not attended

d It may possibly develop in some parts of the Philippines

that a hydrographer for a certain area will not need a

driver-helper and thereby a saving in funds can be made

However such a change should be made only on a trial

basis and is not recommended until conditions so warrant

and until the hydrographer involved is satisfied with the

change or else desires it

E Certain technical stream-gaging procedures are recommended to be

followed in the Philippine Islands hydrographic work at the average

gaging station by all agencies doing stream gaging as follows

1 Obtain a discharge measurement once every four to six weeks

throughout the year

2 Furnish the hydrographer with a print of the station descripshy

tion and of the rating curve and require him as a general rule

to compute and plot his discharge measurement in the field

3 Have the gage read both before and after each discharge measureshy

ment and the readings recorded on the field notes

4 Use a loose-leaf discharge-measurement note form or forms

containing a summary page patterned to some extent after the

forms in use by the USGS Bound notes make it too inconshy

venient or perhaps impossible for the office engineer to

examine the notes for a whole year when he analyzes a station

record

40

5 Gradually change to the use of ehameled steel gage plates

instead of painted gages because their initial cost is less

and they are more durable Plates graduated somewhat like

those of the US Geological Survey are believed much better

than those stocked by private companies While here I drew

up a suggested design for local manufacture which appealed

to the Hydrographic Section

6 Obtain levels at staff gages at least once a year especially

on the low section of gage Replace or repair each low secshy

tion soon after it becomes damaged or the markings become

indistinct

7 Continue as a general rule to use the 6-depth method with

the sub-surface method for deep swift water Obtain a comshy

plete cross section as soon as feasible after the high water

has subsided

8 Gradually change to the use of heavier sounding weights so

that the 6-depth method with soundings can be used at high

water in any event take soundings and velocities as far out

as practicable from each bank at flood stages then go across

deep part of channel with sub-surface method Check subshy

surface method coeficients whenever practicable by means of

vertical velocity curves Until such checks show otherwise

use a coefficient of 090

9 Compute discharge measurements by the mid-section method

This saves time (and money) and is at least as accurate as the

41

other method Request hydrographers to bear the method in mind

when selecting verticals near edges of channel or at breaks in

the cross section It is recommended that in the interests of

economy this change be made at an early date

10 Consider 20 as a desirable number of verticals in an average

stream cross section Continue to time the meter revolutions

for 40 to 60 seconds at each setting Someday if more accushy

racy is desired in hydrographic work in the Philippines it

would be appropriate to standardize on 30 verticals per measureshy

ment provided the 2-8 depth method were used and the gages

were read to fractions of a centimeter For the present it

seems consistent to take about 20 verticals when using the 6

method and with gages read only to the nearest centimeter

11 Use steel tag lines for wading measurements Paint bridge

rails and cables with markings sufficiently close together

that they can be used rapidly to determine stationing between

them When installing the paint marks use standard intervals

of either 1 meter 2 meters or 5 meters To avoid confusion

do not use intervals of 3 or 4 meters If measuring intervals

are to be 1 meter or less it is very convenient to have a

mark available every meter If intervals are between 1 and 5

meters use a mark every 2 meters A good system for making

the marks readily identifiable is to place 1 paint mark at

each basic interval like every 2 meters then put 2 marks every

10 meters 3 every 50 meters and 4 at 100 meters

42

use on12 Always tags the portion of the meter suspension line

that goes in the water The tags usually consist of small

pieces of colored cloth taped tightly to the line They

should be watched and checked occasionally against slippage

and error The tags should not be more than one meter apart

and should be spaced to give maximum convenience and speed in

measuring the discharge

13 As it may becoin feasible convert Type A current meters to

Type AA The more deeply recessed bearing of the Type AA

meter provides more durability of the pivot and bearing

because trapped air excludes most of the water and silt the

longer pivot results in a relatively lower center of gravity

of the bucke t wheel with respect to the point of bearing and

results in smoother performance

F Design of the stream gaging network

1 Everyone seem3 to agree with the objective of a network of

well-distributed long-term base stations for giving runoffshy

per-square-kilometer values representative of the general

area in which each station is located As rapidly as practishy

cable stations should be L d n the o ting netrk

and designated as base or index stations for permanent operashy

tion They should be the best stations both hydraulically

and as to equipment and should be free from upstream regushy

lation or diversion Where needed new base stations should

be installed as soon as they can be financed to appropriately

L11 out the network

43

2 In between such base stations it is desirable to sample smaller

basins with short-term records of various lengths which can be short term

correlated with the long records For this purpose thestashy

tion structures should be constructed so that they are as moveshy

able or salvageable as possiblej Often these movable stations

will be operated at or near specific project sites

3 It usually is more economical and satisfactory to gage a stream

at a highway crossing or other convenient place rather than

exactly at a project site later the data can be transferred

to the project site by means of drainage area proportions

checked by obtaining at the site e

two miscellaneous measurements or possibly in some cases a

whole year of record

4 A method for studying the existing network of stations to see

whether the intensity of coverage is satisfactory or not is to

plot correlations between the various station records prefershy

ably following the present methods of the USGS

5 It has been found advantageous to classify all gaging stations

that are in operation using categories somewhat like these

areal network base stations primary and secondary main stream

stations and water management stations This procedure is

helpful in planning how long various stations should be operated

Detailed information about station classification methods is

available from the U S Geological Survey for use as a guide

The Technical Training Program

Early plans

When this assignment was given to me it was anticipated that a

series of across-the-table discussions would be held with small groups

of hydrographers from the Philippine government bureaus engaging in

such work Detailed procedures would be discussed without formality

But when arrangements were initiated for such conferences I was inshy

formed that among those wanting to attend were many at the managerial

level as well as a number of representatives of agencies interested

more in water development projects than in resource investigations

These could not be turned down so it was necessary to revise the

agenda to include more of general interest

Later developments

In view of the wide experience and high rank of many prospective

attendants of the conference it did not seem appropriate to call it

a lecture series or school and the name Seminar On Water Resources

was decided upon The agenda is included in this report and will be

self-explanatory Registered attendance for each of the three weeks

was 68 72 and 70 persons respectively for a total of 210 The

setting for the Seminar can best be understood from the photographs

Conditions as a whole were good although the tape-recording of the

entire three weeks of proceedings and the need for a member to come

F M Veatch and Water Resources Seminar group week of April 8-12 1957 at Bureau of Public Highways conference building Manila

I y

rT

I

4

47

forward and use the microphone whenever he asked a question or made a

comment was somewhat of a dampener oh discussion When preparing the

agenda I assumed that few besides the hydrographers would attend the

sessions on technical details of stream gaging scheduled for Wednesday

to Friday yet the entire membership stayed through the full program

each week and so no small-group round-table discussions were practicable

It developed later that the language barrier was a little more

serious than first realized Also it was not evident at first that

many present did not know what a gaging station was One of the main

benefits gained from the field trip was to show them a typical station

along with some equipment Taken as a whole it is believed that the

Seminar was successful and worthwhile

The sending of trainees from the Hydrographic Section to the

United States by ICA is very effective in supplementing the technical

assistance rendered directly by American personnel in the Philippines

and it should be continued as long as possible

Acknowledgments

Announcements and invitations to attend the Seminar were sent to

numerous agencies and offices by the Hydrographic Section who also

made all arrangements such as for space registration loud speaker

system tape recordings and recess refreshments The Bureau of

Public Highways made their new conference building available and the

National Media Center furnished a slide projector screen and room

all of which were greatly appreciated The introductory talks by

48

several busy executives including Director J A Buendia and Messrs

A T Alano R R Lord P G Afable and D Rosell with Mr Tomas

Saddam acting as master of ceremonies contributed ideas and gave

each weeks session a good send-off

Publications

Copies of the following publications of the U S Geological

Survey (one by Bureau of Reclamation and one from ASCE) were disshyon

play at the Seminar at all times for inspection by the members Alshy

though they were requested not to take the publications away quite a

few copies gradually became missing

Irrigation Water Measurement Tables and Diagrams by U S

Bureau of Reclamation

ASCE Separate 413 - Backwater Effects of Open Channel

Constrictions

Stage-Fall Discharge Relation for Steady Flow in Prismatic

Channels Water-Supply Paper 1164

Topographic Characteristics of Drainage Basins W S P 968C

Weir Experiments Coefficients and Formulas WSP 200

Handbook for Hydrologists - Chapters 1 - 11

Chapter 1 -- Instructions for Flood Frequency Compilations

Chapter 2 -- ledian Discharge Computation Methods

Chapter 3 -- Instructions for Abstracting Topographic

Characteristics of Drainage Basins

i

-Imr- I

1 N

L

V10J~

C R Mirray explaining a ground water formula

Ii

17t

o

Water Resources Seminar group at gaging station on Marikina River near Montalban Rizal about an hours drive northeast of Manila April 12 1957

51

-- Channel Storage and Flood Routing

-- Extending Stream-flow Records

Chapter 6 -- Double Mass Curves

Chapter 7-A- Frequency Curves of Low Flows and Storage

Requirements

Chapter 8 -- Flood Frequency Analyses

Chapter 9 -- Small Stream Investigations

Chapter 10 - Hydrologic Definitions

Chapter 11 - Base-Flow Recession-Curves

Computation of Backwater at Open Channel Constrictions

Floods in Western Washington Frequency and Magnitude in

Relation to Drainage Basin Characteristics GS Circular 191

Floods in Georgia Frequency and Magnitude GS Circular 100

Stream-Gaging Procedure - A Manual Describing Methods and

Practice of the Geological Survey - WSP 888

Investigation of Methods and Equipment used in Stream Gaging

Part 2 Intakes For Gage Wells

Computation of Peak Discharge through Culverts

Computation of Backwater at Open-Channel Constrictions

Equipment for River Measurements Structures for Cableways

by Charles H Pierce

Computation of Peak Discharge at Contractions Circular 284

Care and Rating of Current Meters

Surface Water Supply o the United States 1950 Parts 1 - 14

52

In addition to the above publications a two-page single-spaced

memorandum entitled Plotting Flood Frequency Curves (Extracted from

U S Geological Survey publications) was prepared by me under date

of April 3 1957 and handed to each member of the Seminar each week

The program or agenda for the Seminar one copy of which was

given to each member follows on Pages 53 to 63 inclusive The

graphs on Page 63 were referred to during the talks

53

March 29 1957

AGENDA FOiR SEMINARZ ON WATER RESCURCES AND STAE4 GAGING

IN THE PHILIPPINES

PLACE Conference hoom 2nd Floor Bureau of Public Highways Building Second Street Port Area Manila

TIKE April 1-5 8-12 and 22-26 (same program each week)

CONDUCTED BY M1r i 1 Veatch District EngineerSurface WaterBranch Jater Aesources Division United States Geological Suver Thcoma ashington who is un three-month assignment with the ICA

Held in connoction with the Philippine Government-ICA water resources program

54

GENERAL PROGRAM MONDAY AND TUESDAY

honday morning 830

Opening remarks Mr Julian A Buendia Director Bureau of Fublic Works Mr R R Lord Chief Public Works Division ICA Mr G H Hargreaves Hydraulic Engineer ICA

Importance of water resources and their investigation

The hydrologic cycle Evaporation transpiration and precipitation Runoff

Daily discharge record and the hydrograph Storm runoff Base flow

Grou~nd Water Very brief description (this subject to be covered

iaore fully on Tuesday afternoon)

General characteristics of natural stream runoff in the Philippines Quantity

Adequacy Comparison with United States

Variations with time Day to day and year to year Long-term trends

Distributin by area General over the Philippine Islands Variations between nearby drainage basins

Effect of location elevation geology cover etc

Major uses of stream-flow data Many years of rccornds should be crnsidered Granting water r phts

Protect existing rights Prevent capital expenditures where water supply inadequate

Planning river basin developments including municipal supply irrigation pnwer flood control etc

Destping structures such as dams reservoirs dikes floodways canals pumping systems power plants bridges etc

Accuracy and extent of dat needed for minimizing underdesign or wasteful overdesign

Cost of water-supply data in relation to total cost of a project

Operating water projects Distribution of water on projects Operation of storage reservoirs and diversion dams

To make maximum use uf water supply Designing alterations or enlargements to existing projects

RECESS 1000 to 1015

55 -3-

Monday morning (Continued) 1015 aim

Management of the stream gaging program Foreseeing the needs for stream-flow records

Study population and industrial trends Keep inforned on water-development plans and

prgraIIs of all agencies Continuity of the records

Essential for wator-supply studies Regular financinp reouired

Annual appropriations a poundfccted by temporary econoidc or political conditions

Permanent type of financing needed Surcharge method License fee method

-Dissemination of the data Annual publication Occasional summary compilations Furnishing advance cupies of unpublished records Furnishing current data - daily weekly or munthly

wherever required Special water resources investigation agency desirable

Briefly dancribe United States organization Uniform tecnical standards Uniform ways of presenting data One series of publicatiens Distributial center for basic water data Genera l-coverage program requires close coordination

for economy of operation Personal requirements

Engineers Engir ring aids Computers Clerks

ADJOURN - 1145

Resume after lunch only if necessary for completing the above subjects

56

Tueday morning 830

Design of a comprehensive stream gjaging program General rrinciIlac

Represenkc tive runoff-type provinces should be sainpled with stations of various classes

Vary the intensity of coverage with probable intenshysity of water use

Follow tiie tcends variations with records fromand L sri etatiorns secondary

Correlate resultls one continually adjustnetwork Classification of ra-in stationa

Areal prinary and secondary viain strem priiary nd secondary Water-manmfciact stat-i ons Miscellanous dischaige mcasurements

Correlating the dat obttined in comprehensive program Logarithmic pajer Five years of lecord uscd What is a good corrclation

Analyses of data Flood frcouencjs

Annual serics Partial duration series

Low-flow frecuencies Low-flow duration hydrograph

Extending strewm-flow records Comparisons witi other gaging stations Rainfall-runoff correlations

Quality of water Temperature

Intermittent observations Recorders

Chemical gtuality Element -Dissolved solids

Suspended iaterial Time of cecurrence-floods Sampling

Methods Cost

RECESS - 1000 to 1015

57

- 5 -

Tuesday afternoon 130

Ground water (This subject conducted by Mr C R Murray) Occurrence

Water table Artesian Lakes

Movement Through the ground Into stream channels

Availability Geologic structure Aquifers Funing tests

Recharge Froa precipitation Artificial Froma induced lateral movement

Investigation Geology Springs Logs of dug and drilled wells Test wells

lecording Lanual

Quantitative studies Chemical quality analyses

Mincral ccontnt Sallt water intrusion

Drilling of wells for production use Ground water rirhts

Depletion of ground water reservoirs teyond rccharge capability

ADJOURN at 330

Geologist Ground Water Branch dater Resources Division U 6 Geological Survey who is on two-ywar assignment with ICA

58

PROGRAM ON STREMvi GAGING PROCEDURE WEDNESDAY TO FRIDAY

4ednesday morning 830

Establishing and constructing gaging stations Selection of site

Consider najor probable uses of the record Investigate extent of upstream diversion and

-egulation Utilize contour naps Obtain list of nmrjor water right applications

iydraulic conditicns Section control Shifting channel Overbank flow Dackwater

Accessibility Avoid too much expense Need to reach quickly to measure flash floods

Natural protection front flood damage Avoid excessively expensive construction conditions

Bed iock Quick sand Too-longintake pipes

For non-rccording gage choose site convenient to

one or more local gage readers

Survey of site Bank cross-prefile at gage Cross section at cable Plan

Right of way Oral pervrission ritten permission

Easement Land purchase

RECESS - 945 to 1000

- 7 - 59

Wednesday morning (Continued) 100)

Construction Select types and sizes of structures To fit purpose oi the record Plan later salva e (for secondary stations) For economy of operation (for example design cableway to

operat mesily) Adapt availabic standard plans to fit the site Keep costs to hclp in future estimating Make brief construction report for future assistance in

planninr sililar Jobs Prepare staLion descripLion

Road log distences etc for How to reach paragraph Descriptions of gages bench marks etc Dimensions cf structuis Gage datum elevations of portinent parts of structures

Operating and maintaining gaging stations Records of stage

Choice of dtum Arbitrcry local datum

Set gages so there will be no minus gage readings

Mean sea level datum May be used but has disadvantages

1hen later adjustments are made to level networks

Gages have to be reset or Equation must be published

Non-recording gages Types

Vertical staff Inclined staff

ire-weight Crest-stage gages

Refinement of graduations ake adequate for accuracy of record needed

Maintatling dat of gage Adequate number of local reference marks Take levels at least once a year

Work o- local gare reader Fy according to approx number of hours worked Do not roruire too many roadings for the

conditions Warm (with omphasis) against my guessed

readings Inform reader anv errors in reading will

show up in hydrogrq oic comtparisons Engineers obtain check readings whenever

possible Visit gage reader frequently a d show inshy

terest in his gage-height record Encourage reader to retain personal copy

ADJOURN at 1145

60

Thursday morning 800

Records of stage (continued) Recording gages

Select type of instrument and its scales to fit conditions at gaging station

Weekly or continuous recorder Recorder scales Range of stage Rate of change of stage Availability of someone to change weekly

chart Work of Cage inspector of keeper

Avoid resetting pen Repurt any trash or debris causing backwater

at gage Do not have a gage keeper unless needed

aintaining gage datum Check outside gae by levels annually Keep outside gage sections reset to datum

Standard reference gage Inside gage of soie sort preferable

Staff Float-tape Anchor type

Intake action Clean or flush pipes after floods Slot intakes Self-cleaning iitakes

For pipe gage wells For wells built into bridge piers

Draw-down (where excessive) Use bapfle or static tube

Elood marks at station Make record of well-defined high water

marks

AECESS - 945 to 1000

- 9 - 61

Thursday morning (Continudd) 1000

Discharge measuroments Current hmeters

Price Type A Type AA

Pygmpy Carc of inters

Sounding weights E-typc C-type

Lead Brono

Type of notebook Loose shects Loose-leaf book Bound booL

Measurement of depth aeding rod Tag-line nethod Vertical-nglc coofficients Sounding during floods

Ilacemont of mter Sub--surface method 2-depth n cthod 6-de-pth icthod 2- imetY od

Number of verticals Velocity -urgcs

Miscellaneous f-ctors Effect of bridge piers Horizontal angle of current Insufficient weight on current water

1Mean gage hoitht for a discharge measurement Special methods of (Itermining flood discharge

Floats Slope-area method

Rating curv- etonsion method Arca and velocity curves Loparithmic plottig

Contrqctd-opening mothod Flow ovcr dams

Report on condition of control Carry station description and rating curve in field

Ubtain another me asurement if needed If first indicates large shift If new station and stagc advantagoous for

defining blank part of rating curve

ADJOUffN - 1145 AI

Resumne atfter lunch only if necessary for comploting the above subjects

62

- 10 -

Friday morning S00

A few remarks about office methods Rating curves

Log-log paper Upward extonsions Dowmward extensions

Rectangular plotting Computing recorder charts

M-ark index correction and time correction for each inspection reading

Break midnight lines at raph Never oblitertte or mark over the original trace Nake office markings on chart distinctive from

those mad( At the gage Use of colored pencils by computer and checker is one good wa)y

Daily discharge record Flot hydrograph Compare over light box with other stations

This method preferable to plotting several station records on same sheet

Concluding discussions

RECESS - 945 to 1000

Projection of gaging station equipment Lnd scenic slides taken in the United States and Canada

ADJOURN - 1145

Field trip Cars will be available at the conference building to

take members to the raging station on arikina iRivei at ontalban about an hours drive from Manila where a brief demonstration of certain field equipment will be given

Return to noL later thanoanila 500 FL

---

- Ishy4 ~7L~

0F OllY LISCIiRE 4- 1 -shy

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- O 1 B -- 2r 2 ZZ 23 24 2 c 26 7 8 2717x I 2

_~ I 027 _d- 1 2 shy

7 -

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- _______________ Pnu~ OAgvhshy

-~ ~-r- 1 - V-shy- i-shytvkty--- in--a-- -~ ~Z2m7~ ~

- ~ ~-~-----~- V 1~5~ LTLL2P7o -4----4 1 -- I -- I I _ __ --- -- -- - - L - - I ----

~- ~y~-~ 64 4

N

A il

Seminar members observing demonshystrat-n of measurshying e -pment by F M Veatch at Marikina River gaging station April 12 1957

I

Water Resources Seminar members observing working model of proppsed Binga Dam at the hydraulics laboratory of University of the Philippines April 12 1957

65

Current meter rating flume mechanism Y 22 1957

Current meter rating flume mechanism May 22 1957

66

Current Meter Rating Station

The new current meter rating station at the University of the

Philippines (see photographs) was not quite ready for use before I

left the country The mechanism and instruments were manufactured

in Germanyobtained thru ICA-NEC procurement for the Water Resources

Program of the Department of Public Works and have been installed by

Professor Alberto Villares and his hydraulics laboratory staff under

Dean C A Ortigas of the College of Engineering with some guidance

by Professor Edward L Ericksen of the University of Michigan who is

a civil engineer on detail here with the Stanford Group Professor

Villares spent 18 months in the hydraulics laboratory of the Univershy

sity of Iowa

There is every evidence that this rating flume will with expeshy

rience do work accurate enough not only for determining differences

in ratings between current meters but also for preparing absolute or

independent ratings This can be reported on more fully at some

later date by Messrs Hargreaves and Snell

The Central Luzon Region Program

The Water Resources Development Committee is preparing a recomshy

mended plan for the expedited multiple-purpose development of the

water resources of the Central Luzon region The area contains oneshy

sixteenth of the land surface and one-fourth of the population of the

Philippines and is termed the rice granary of the nation It is to

be used as an example or experiment in water and land development

67

The Committee has requested member agencies to submit estimates

of the minimum amount of additional basic data needed for making a

useful report and for proceeding with development projects Such

estimates are to include mapping soil surveys dam and reservoir site

surveys water resources surveys and other items A preliminary

report is to be prepared soon summarizing the existing information

pointing out the need for additional dataand submitting estimates

of cost for the further investigations needed An outline for the

final report has been prepared and distributed so it will be availashy

ble as a guide and funds for the first years efforts are being

sought for fiscal year 1958 It appears reasonable that the report

on a comprehensive plan could be submitted to the President and

Congress of the Philippines in about five years

With the assistance of Mr Hargreaves I have prepared estimates

for a surface water measurement program to complement the existing

program It is designed to fill the worst gaps in the present netshy

work Details are subject to change as more reconnaissance informashy

tion becomes available as only five days were spent covering the area

by automobile Unit costs were provided by the Hydrographic Section

and they include cost of preparation of the records for publication

Estimates were submitted as given below They were supported by a

detailed list of stream names and locations which included desigshy

nations as to the primary purpose or type of each proposed new gaging

station and whether a recording or non-recording gage was recommended

It is available for reference in both the ydrographic Section and

ICA offices

68

New gaging stations

1 Daily discharge type

Installation (including cableways where needed)

Recording ------- 7 Pl650 11550

Non-recording --- 4 950 3800 15350

Operation 1st year -11 660 7260 P22610

2 High water type (flood records)

Installation

Gages (nonshy

recording) ----- 4 150 600

Measuring equipment 800 1400

Operation 1st year - 4 300 1200 2600

Total for new gaging stations ------------- 25210

Miscellaneous discharge measurements

1 4 or 5 during dry season Nov - April

4 sites x 5 per site = 20 30 ---------------- 600

2 1 or 2 during low part of year March and April

37 sites x l per site = 55 k30 ------------- 1650

Total for miscellaneous measurements ------ 2250

Total -------------- -2746o

69

Rainfall And Evaporation Stations

Existing network

A map examination of the existing network of rain gages was made

and a surprisingly large number were found to be in operation -- 2

recording and 115 manual stations or a total of 117 They are beshy

lieved to be fairly adequate in number and are well distributed

areally over the Philippines but like in the United States are conshy

fined largely to the lower altitudes where the agricultural and urban

population live In addition to these records are available for

various lengths of time from about 8 discontinued Weather Bureau

stations and from more than 300 haciendas reforestaion stations

and provincial rnrseries

Additional gages

The Weather Bureau and the Bureau of Public Works are cooperating

in the installation of some new rainfall stations at higher altitudes

part of which will utilize new instruments purchased with ICA aid

funds Some of the instruments will be installed at existing nonshy

recording stations Forty new installations are proposed for 1958

fiscal year It is now recognized that rainfall station coverage at

higher altitudes is needed in order to furnish records that can be

correlated with the long-term valley records and also with the gaging

station discharge records D

70

Weather station maintained by Bureau of Public WorksIrrigation Division near Tuguegarao Cagayan From left to right N Ciriaco District Hydrographer drivershyhelper observer J G Garcia hydrographer J C Regalado and G H Hargreaves May 13 1957

Weather station at Pototan Iloilo Panay A Lacuestadistrict bydro-rapher standing May 5 1957

71

Group luncheon at Tacloban Leyte typical of the hospitality received by us during inspection tour of the Philippines From left to right M Rico irrig distr engr G Hargreaves G Araos E N Salazar P Formilleza L Abella S Velasco JCRegalado V H Sydiongoo distr hydrographer I M Ortega Oscar de Venecia and N Oliver May 7 1957

ICA Public Works Division March 1957 From left to right C R Murray A A Ketchum asat Div head J B Delaney I J Silverstone Sofia Halili 0 H Hosmer R R Lord Div head B B Hill Betty Valdez G H Hargreaves J L Brenden FM Veatch

72

Evaporation stations

Fifteen double-pan (one open and one partially shaded) evaporation

stations with rainfall temperature wind and humidity instruments as

auxiliary are being operated in the Philippines and ten more are to

follow next year They are well distributed over the islands and

should furnish data of great value for reservoir design Thq reccrds

will be publish3d

Publication of rainfall data

All rainfall reccrds are published annually by the Weather Bureau

whose 1954 volume is the latest one printed The 1955 issue should be

released soon One excellent source of information for anyone studyshy

ing rainfall data in the Philippines is the publication The Distrishy

bution of Rainfall In The Philippines by Eugenio B Manalo Chief

Climatological Division Weather Bureau Manila This contains

valuable descriptive material tables of monthly and annual values

and mean monthly and annual isohyets in inches An inspection or

study of the monthly isohyetal maps shows clearly how storm patterns

change with the seasons in certain parts of the Philippines and that

73

in other areas the rain is almost evenly distributed throughout the

year The long dry season of Manila and the central Luzon plains is

graphically portrayed by the isohyets Mr Manalos publication

should be of great benefit to government agencies and private parties

or individuals in connection with agricultural and business activities

over the islands It is presumed that the isohyets will warrant some

revision after another 5 or 10 years as more records especially those

at higher altitudes become available

Sediment Measurement Stations

Practically no silt-sampling has been done in the Philippines

to date and no extensive program is believed possible because of the

lack of funds For the present it is recommended that every governshy

ment field hydrographer be equipped with a thermomater and a turbidity

stick and required to report a spot water temperature and turbidity

reading at time of each discharge measurement Thus without extra

cost a large amount of data can be accumulated which after several

years should make it possible to determine what streams are the

siltiest and where more detailed studies might be needed Whenever a

reservoir project reaches the intensive-investigation stage including

dam-site drilling detailed topography etc it is recommended that

a complete sediment sampling station be operated there for at least

one full flood season before the project feasibility report is

completed

74

Statement Before Water Resources Development Committee

On March 20 1957 I presented the following statement regarding

the streamflow measurement program in the Philippines

The Philippine Republic is blessed with an excellent supply of

water of good quality but much of it is wasted to the sea during the

rainy season The development of this resource is vitally important

to the nation and it involves the storing of flood waters for dryshy

season release Where investments are to be made for construction of

dams etc in the development of irrigation power production and

flood control large sums can easily be wasted through overdesign or

underdesign if enough engineering data are not available Conflicting

or competing uses for the water supplies will gradually develop in

your country the same as they have in the United States If water

rights are to be granted fairly with due regard for all prior users

many years of basic data are necessary so that the long-term water

supply can be estimated For this purpose a good network of stream

gaging records and ground water levels must be secured One would

not attempt to manage the money in a bank without bookkeeping and it

is just as important to have an accounting system when managing water

The sound economical procedure is to base all project designs on as

complete engineering information as can be obtained

The ICA is attempting to assist the Philippine Government in

planning the orderly development of its water resources and we are

concerned that too many structures may be built before accurate

9i

hydrologic data are available for their design For this reason we

strongly urge you to improve the basic data gathering program at the

earliest possible date as follows

(1) Review and publish the stream-flow records that have been

obtained since the war

(2) Finance an expanded program of stream-flow measurement and

ground water study

The Bureau of Public Works has prepared preliminary estimates of

the funds needed for bringing publication of basic data up to date and

for expanding the wiater resources investigation program The attached

copies of estimates are of course provisional and subject to revision

but it is suggested that they be placed in the files of this Committee

for future reference The figure of P56oooo for publication is a

fairly firm figure It is suggested that the Committee take immeshy

diate action to further the procurement of these funds

The procurement of water resources data is a specialized field

requiring engineers and other technical men with a high degree of

education Years must be spent in training them in such special

work The men must endure rigorous physical work corbatting the

elements and using resourcefulness and judgment It is very uneconoshy

mical and unsatisfactory to have a technical organization of that kind

subject to occasional and unpredictable severe cuts in appropriations

It is even more unsatisfactory to have the time sequence of basic

water data collection interrupted and valuable records lost forever

ILLUSTRATIONS

(Unless otherwise indicated photographs were taken

by F M Veatch 1957)

Page

1 Recorder and cableway Marikina R at Montalban

Rizal April 5 5

2 Cableway and recorder Pampanga R at Atate

Nueva Ecija April 14 5

3 Pre-war frame shelter and 36 corr pipe well

Taken by G Hargreaves March 1 6

4 Pipe well attached to bridge pier Pampanga R near

Arayat Pampanga March 1 6

5 New timber recorder structure Pinagcanauan de

Tuguegarao R near Tuguegarao Cagayan with

Garcia and Ciriaco May 14 9

6 Staff gage on Jalaur R at Passi Iloilo May 8 9

7 National Power Corp staff gage on Angat R above

Ipo Dam March 13 10

8 NPC staff painted on bedrock Bantay R near Bokod

Benguet Mt Province March 26 10

9 Staff gage Labangan R at Bagbag Calumpit

Bulacan March 1 15

10 Gagekeeper and staff gage Jalaur R at Calinog

Iloilo Panay May 8 15

ILLUSTRATIONS Page

11 Gagekeeper reading painted 3taff gage Bokod R at

Bokod March 26 16

12 Gagekeeper showing reference point Madlum R near

Sibul Springs Bulacan April 25 16

13 Ipo Dam on Angat River Bulacan March 13 21

14 Banca ready to go up reservoir above Ipo Dam

March 13 21

15 Cableway Angat R above Ipo Dam March 13 22

16 B Ramos making wading measurement Angat R above

Ipo Dam March 13 22

17 Tagging line Bantay R M Bokod Mt Province

March 26 25

18 Measuring flow bantay R M Bokod Mt Province

March 26 25

19 Measuring flow Bokod R at Bokod Mt Province

March 26 26

20 15-pound weight used near Ambuklao March 26 26

21 Ambuklao Dam on Agno R Benguet Mt Prov March 25 29

22 Maria Cristina Dam on Agos R Lanao Mindanao May 1 29

23 Binga dam site on Agno R Mt Province March 25 30

24 Marikina dam site on Marikina River Rizal April 5 30

25 Cableway and recorder on Cagayan R near Cagayan

de Oro Misamis Oriental Mindanao April 30 33

26 Control on Binahaan R at Tiigib near Pastrana

Leyte May 6 33

ILLUSTRATIONS page

27 Footbridge below Binga dam site Agno R March 25 34

28 Tree anchorage for cable Angat R above Ipo Dam

March 13 34

29 Construction shelters at gaging station on Angat R

above Ipo Dam March 13 37

30 Proposed new base gaging station site on Baoas R near

Mangatarem Pangasinan Photo by J S Romasanta

April 15 37

31 Airport at Legaspi Albay May 17 38

32 Jeep and reconnaissance party April 15 38

33 F M Veatch and Seminar group April 9

Photo by E H Capistrano 5

34 F M Veatch and Seminar group April 9

Photo by E H Capistrano

35 C R Murrb and Seminar group April 9 Photo

by E H Capistrano 9

36 Seminar group r-Marikina R gaging station taken

by E H Capistrano from cable car April 12 0

37 Typical discharge hydrograph showing base flow

Manila rainfall 1365 to date 63

38 Demonstration of measuring equipment Seminar

April 12 64

39 Seminar group observing Binga dam model April 12 64

ILLUSTRATIONS Page

40 Looking north at meter rating flume U of P May 22 65

41 Looking south at meter rating flume U of P May 22 65

42 Weather station near Tuguegarao Cagayan May 13 70

43 Weather station at Pototan Iloilo Panay May 5 70

44 Luncheon group at Tacloban Leyte May 7 71

45 ICA Public Works Division personnel March 1957 71

REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON SURFACE WATER RESOURCES INVESTIGATIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES

by

Fred M Veatch

Introduction

Purpose of the detail (1) To assist the ICA and the Philippine

government in determining principles to be followed in laying out a

suitable long-range stream gaging program for the nation (2) To

recommend a specific surface water investigation program for the

Luzon area (3) To hold technical training conferences wiLh Philipshy

pine government personnel in the site selection construction and

field operation of gaging stations (4) To make general recommendations

concerning the precipitation gage network (5) To comment on the posshy

sible need for quality of water investigations in the Philippines and

(6) To comment on the new current meter rating flume being constructed

in Manila

Preparation Orientation or briefing conferences were held with

me in Washington D C January 22-25 1957 by officials of the Geoloshy

gical Survey and the ICA particularly Thomas E Eakin Chief of Overseas

Programs for the Survey and J V B Wells Chief of Surface Water

Division and Malcolm H Jones C L Orrben and E T Hagberg of ICA

Additional briefing was received in Manila

Acknowledgments The carrying out of my assignment in a satisfactory

manner was greatly facilitated in the Philippines by the cooperation and

2

assistance of Mr Russell R Lord Chief of Public Works Division of

ICA and by menmbers of his staff especially Mr George H Hargreaves

Chief Advisor Water Resources Program and by the Philippine Governshy

ment officials with whom I worked most closely including Mr Tomas

Saddam Chief of Hydrographic Section of the Bureau of Public Works

and Mr Jose C Regalado of his staff Mr Alex Delefia of the River

Control Section Messrs I Santos and E P Abesamis of the National

Power Corporation and E B Manalo of the Weather Bureau

Acknowledgment is also made to Messrs R E 01tman and J J

Ligner of the Training Section Surface Water Branch Washington

D C for their cooperation in sending numerous publications needed

at the Seminar and elsewhere in the Philippines and for their sugshy

gestions in regard to training

3

The Stream Gaging Program In The Philippines

History

The Hydrographic Section of the Irrigation Division Department

of Public Works and Communications (formerly the Department of Commerce

and Communications) has been the major stream gaging agency in the

Philippines since the work was started in 1908 265 gaging stations

in 40 of the 49 provinces were operated for short periods of time between

1908 and 1922 mostly in 1910-12 and 1919-22 All daily gage-height and

discharge records collected by that agency between January 1 1923 and

June 1944 became destroyed by Lire during World War II However the

results of numerous discharge measurements made from 1939 to 1942 were

saved for several gaging stations in the Bicol region of southern Luzon

Stream gaging by the Hydrographic Section was resumed on August 19 1945

on the Aringay River near Tubao La Union followed gradually by other

stations as the Liberation progressed

Records for 1908 to 1922 were published in 1923 in four volumes-as

Water Supply Bulletin No 1 Surface Water Supply of the Philippine

Islands which included the results of all discharge measurements as

well as computed daily discharges in second-liters The calendar year

is used rather than a water year The Extremes paragraphs do not

include any stage records the only gage heights published being those

contained in the lists of discharge measurements

k

Forty-six of the gaging stations operated during the 1908-22

period were re-established after World War II at sites where the records

are considered comparable -- that is where the drainage area does not

differ by more than five per cent The longest continuous records of

discharge not affected by diversion or regulation that I have been able

to find in the Philippines for the postwar period are for the Maasim

River near San Rafael Bulacan Luzon October 5 1945 to date and for

the Aringay River near Tubao La Union from August 19 1945 to date

Available maps are not very satisfactory for locating sites of former

gaging stations because the names of many of the barrios and towns are

different on present maps than they were when the stations were first

operated and described

Considerable stream gaging has also been done by the National

Power Corporation and some river stage records have been obtained by

the River Control and Drainage Section Irrigation Division These are

summarized in the tabulation on Page 6 In addition miscelshynumerous

laneous discharge measurements have been obtained by several agencies

Daily discharge records are available in the files of the National

Power Corporation for eight pre-war gaging stations that were operated

for varying periods between 1923 and 1943 by the Bureau of Public Works

One of these on Barit River at Santiago Iriga Camarines Sur was

operated from 1923 to 1940 The original forms for all eight stations

became destroyed during the war but a set of prints was later discovered

by the National Power Corporation in some hydroelectrical project files

that were saved The NPC re-established the Barit River station at

the same site in 1950

5

Marikina R at Montalban Rizal Province with Stevens FM 30-day recorder April 5 1957

TYPICAL NEW GAGING STATION STRUCTURES CONSTRUCTED AS A RESULT CF THE ICA PROGRAM

III I I

I I I

~iz

7~il

2~-

Pampanga River at Atate Nueva Ecija Stevens FM recorder J C Regalado driver helper and L Borbolla in foreground April 14 1957

47~I

-4

4

iuJi rf if poundflLLi

77

Pre-war frame shelter and 36 corr pipe Frame shelter over new 36 corrwell with Gurley weekly recorder Pampanga

J C Regalado B Ramos and E M Veatch pipe well Pampanga River near standing Taken by G H Hargreaves Arayat Pampanga March 1 1957 March 1 1957

Status of post-war computations and publication

Daily discharge computations of the Hydrographic Section tbr 1944

to 1954 are practically coplete those for 1955 are about 40 per deb4t

complete and for 1956 about 15 per cent Office work has been delayed

considerably because of the heavy constructionfprogran which started

in 1956 using supplies and instruments furnished by the ICA All office

computations are made in the Manila office No discharge records have

been published since those of 1908-22 but steps are being taken as

explained later in this report to bring publication up to date It is

planned that the records which have been compuhed for the years 1944 to

1956 will be reviewed before their final preparation for publication

to make sure their standards of accuracy are reasonably consistent

with the slightly higher standards proposed to be instituted as a

result of recommendations made in this report About 1500 stationshy

years of stream-flow recordsless than 10 per cent of which are from

agencies other than the Hydrographic Section are proposed to be comshy

piled and printed in a single-volume publication of monthly and annual

data Tables of monthly minimum discharge are to be included

Organization and cooperation

The Hydrographic Section customarily assigns a district hydrographer

and his assistants as resident at each irrigation district office that

is situated a long distance from Manila Their headquarters are as

follows

District Province Town

Northern Luzon Isabela San Mateo

Bicol Region Luzon Camarines Sur Naga

Eastern Visayas Leyte Tacloban

Western Visayas Iloilo Iloilo

Mindanao Davao Davao

This district is presently being operated by hydrographers from

Manila the same as for the central part of Luzon

The above field hydrographers are each assigned a Jeep and a drivershy

helper Hydrographers pay scales range between about Y2400 and P4200

per annum and in addition they are granted a subsistence allowance of

Y2OO per unit or Y800 a day Driver-helpers receive an average pay

of P5 per day plus a subsistence allowance of P200 per day (which has

been reduced administratively from P450 a day because of lack of funds)

The field personnel send or deliver all basic records to Manila

where they are processed computed and filed Most of the office work

is done by office personnel with the field men doing but little of the

office work

9

New timber recorder structure including plank intake with Stevens A-35 recorder Pinagcanauan de Tuguegarao River near Tuguegarao Cagayan Jose G Garcia assistant hydrographer and Norberto Ciriaco District Hydrographer on walkway May 14 1957

Staff gage on Jalaur River at Passi Iloilo From left to right 2 boys A Lacuesta Distr HydrogrLher J CorderoIrrig Distr Engr G Hargreaves J Regalado gagekeeper (kneeling) and onlooker May 8 1957

I

--- S

F National Power Corporation staff gage on Angat River above Ipo Dam now beingreplaced by a Bureau of Public Works recorder installation March 13 1957

O~

~A F~ ~~ shy- ~

~

- --

I ------ ~

A -~ 1

~ -- gt I~-

5 shy

- ~- ~ U

amp~~ -

2r~ ~k- ~ ~

National Power Cororation painted staff gage Bantay River near Bokod BenguetMountain Province Hydrographers helperstanding March 26 1957 Note lower markings faded

11

Whether any other changes are made or not it is the expressed

plan of the Hydrographic Section to have the District-Hydrographer

who is in charge of the Northern Mindanao District headquartered at

Cagayan de Oro

A considerable portion of the pay of district hydrographers and

their staffs comes directly from the Irrigation Section district

office at which they are headquartered rather than through the

Hydrographic Section This has had the effect of limiting their

efforts somewhat to project work rather than to general or all-purpose

investigations

Some of the other agencies particularly the National Power

Corporation obtain the cooperation of the Hydrographic Section in

helping operate certain gaging stations where a duplication of travel

can thus be avoided However the discharge measurements so made by

the Hydrographic Section are turned over to the NPC who make their

own computations of daily discharge The latter also sometimes pays

directly the salaries of certain gagekeepers Usually this cooperashy

tion does not involve an exchange of funds but some change in that

situation is recommended as explained later in this report

All agencies make their daily discharge records available to the

Hydrographic Section upon request and the plan is to have the later

agency include all such records in their publications No reproduction

machine is available in any of the offices and all copies of records

must be made individually in typing or longhand A machine is under

order by the Hydrographic Section

-fiUMBER OI~ GAGIiG~STATIONS-eP-ERATED IN-PIILIPPINES -

CALENDAR YEAR

YEA HYOROGRAPHIC

STAGE NATIONAL

SECTION PO R0 P

RIVEl CONTROL SECTON

TOT AL

DISCHARGE NATIONAL

HYDROGRAPHIC SECTION ORHYTGRPI SECTION POR

TOTAL TOA

RECORDING NON-REC TOTAL NON-REC NON-REC RECORDING NON-REC TOTAL

1908-1922 265 265 265

1923-1944 3 3 9 12

1945 6 6 6 15 15 2 17

1946 2 12 14 14 28 28 4 32

1947 3 11 14 14 29 29 4 33

1948 3 18 21 5 26 45 45 5 50

1949 3 13 16 6 5 27 74 74 15 89

1950 3 9 12 10 4 26 91 91 20 111

1951 3 15 18 10 4 34 103 103 17 120

1952 3 13 16 10 4 30 111 111 17 128 1953 3 17 20 11 17 48 1 96 97 23 120

1954 4 18 22 11 26 49 1 145 146 22 168

1955 4 18 22 13 19 54 1 207 208 27 235

1956 6 12 15 1 25 52 40 189 26 5

13

Various agencies have submitted lists of proposed gaging stations

which they would like to have installed to provide data for their

projects It is apparent that this work will be well coordinated in

the future and that the other agencies will come to rely more and

more on the Hydrographic Section for most of their basic stream-flow

records But they probably will continue to have their own personnel

make certain types of hydrographic investigations for the detailed

study of specific projects such as river profiles tailwater rating

curves etc

Financing

The main difficulty in regard to financing has been lack of

stability and continuity to the program and insufficient generalshy

fund money to permit the establishment of an all-purpose gaging proshy

gram In 1956 and 1957 the Hydrographic Section rec3ived P120000

(less than half of their total funds) for such general use with all

other monies either from counterpart funds (explained below) in theor

form of contributions from other agencies to cover certain gaging

expenses Another difficulty has been the lack of enough funds to

properly carry out the sudden large construction program generated by

the new ICA-furnished materials and instruments Most of the regular

hydrographic force has been assigned to construction during the last

twelve months or so because separate construction foremen or substitute

hydrographers could not be hired As a result the regular field

operation of gaging stations has suffered considerable neglect This

- - -

14

wuld not have been necessary if the Hydrographic Sections funds had

been flexible and appropriated on basis of a performance budget As

it is the Section must adhere to line items which spell out exactly

how all money is to be spent

The financing of an expanded 1958 program now appears to be

progressing satisfactorily largely from the counterpart monies

This fund consists of pesos allocated by the Philippine government

in an amount equivalent to the dollar value of imports furnished by

the ICA It is administered by the National Economic Council with

allocations subject to approval of the ICA on budget recommendations

received from Philippine government agencies In the case of water

resources programs they are assisted by recommendations of the Water

Resources Development Committee an NEC administratively appointed

body composed of representatives of ten agencies interested or inshy

volved in water development A rougn breakdown of the Hydrographic

Sections budget proposed for the fiscal year starting July 1 1957

is as follows

General Fund Pesos

Annual appropriation - ------------ 120000

Counterpart Funds

For bringing up to date the publication of

annual records plus a compilation - - - - 56000

For an expanded program of surface-water

investigations----------- - 500000

TOTAL - - - - - - 676000

The total funds available in 1955 and 1956 fiscal years were 180000

and 280000 respectively

It

a 7~

IC

U

i

Staff gage out of water Labangan River at Bagbag Calumpit Bulacan March 1 1957

7lt 2

I

fr

Gagekeeper and staff Jalaur River at Calinog Iloilo He read 10 centimeters low today because markings on lower part of gage were illegible

I-J May 8 1957

16 8

hational Power Corp staff gage painted on streamward side of cliff Lower markings gone and gagekeeper determines gage heights three times a day by wading to gage and measuring down with rule as shown in this picture Bokod R at Boiod Benguet Mountain Province March 26 1957

Bureau of Public Works staff gage station Gagekeeper has made readingsby measuring down from a nail since this section of gage was washed out by a flood Madlum River near Sibul Springs Bulacan April 25 1957

17

The only difficulty with counterpart financing is that it is

temporary and could conceivably leave the program stranded in a few

years when ICA aid is discontinued The necessity is recognized for

gradually obtaining regular Congressional appropriations to take the

place of counterpart funds An effort will also be made to have a

performance type of budget accepted because line items make the

program inflexible and prevent the best management and economy

It is recommended that other agencies desiring for their projects

certain stream flow records which cannot be financed from the regular

budget of the Hydrographic Section transfer funds annually (either in

advance or on a reimbursement basis) to the Hydrographic Section to

pay the extra costs required for the fulfilment of their requests

Design of the stream gaging program

As mentioned above the fiscal arrangements prevailing up to this

time have resulted in an almost total emphasis on project-type gaging

stations in the Philippines However I believe everyone is now in

agreement with the desirability or need for a nation-wide network of

index or runoff-per-square-kilometer type of stations which will sample

various runoff provinces such as those with different exposures to storms

and having different topography altitude geology type of land cover

etc The intensity of the network of stations in different regions

would vary depending upon the apparent future economic value or worth

of the water in each area This will be discussed in more detail in

the recommendations

18

In order to look over the existing program observe something of

the technical methods in use and see a variety of runoff and economic

types of areas in the islands to gain an idea of the type of stream

gaging network needed I have visited several regions accompanied most

of the time by Mr George Hargreaves It has been very helpful to me

to have him take such an interest in the detailed objectives of ry

assignment and I am sure it will facilitate Mrs Snellas work a great

deal to have available for consultation and guidance Mr Hargreaves

wide experience in water resources development and investigations

We were accompanied by Mr J C Regalado of the ydrographic Section

who made most of the advance contacts with field offices in connecshy

tion with our trips We usually travelled to central points by Philshy

ippine Air Lines and were then driven to nearby areas by field officials

of the Hydrographic Section and other agencies The hospitality and

cooperation of everyone toward us was exceptional and much appreciated

Besides a fairly detailed coverage of the Central Luzon area where an

intensified program is proposed our inspections included Northern

Luzon Southern Luzon (the Bicol region) Leyte Panay and several

parts of Mindanao In addition we made a special effort to observe

the country all along the routes of airplane flights taken and that

coupled with airplane stops made on other islands gave us a fairly

comprehensive view of the geography of the Philippines It is upon

this that my recommendations concerning the design of a stream gaging

program are based

19

Bquipment and technical methods-

The stream gaging equipment and methods used by the Hydrographic

Section since 1908 have been patterned mainly after those of the US

Geological Survey as described in the 1904 publication H4ydrographic

Manual Thus it appears likely that the methods and accuracy stanshy

dards have changed but little since the Philippine program was started

Stream gaging tecniques used by the other agencies are similar but

they have not had the advantage of some of the new ICA-furnished equipshy

ment This is expected to be remedied in the aid allocations for fiscal

year 1958

Although some use has been made of the 2-8 method of measuring

discharge present practice is limited almost entirely to the 6method

for low and medium stages and the sub-surface method for high stages

for the latter the meter is suspended over a 15-E weight and set 03

meter below the surface with a coefficient of 0915 applied

The number of verticals or measuring points taken in the cross

section usually is between 8 and 15 No bridge cranes or suspension

reels of any kind have been available all discharge work other than

with wading rod having been done by hand line All this is about to

be changed with the recent arrival of the first ICA-furnished sounding

reels weights and tag lines purchased from 1956 FY funds

Staff gages are read to the nearest centimeter (about 0033 foot)

Most of the gages would be difficult to read to any closer limit alshy

though a few stations have Leupold Stevens enameled gages with levelshy

rod type markings

20

The hydrographer records his discharge measurement notes in a

small bound pocket-size book which he carries until it is full After

each measurement is computed in the field a complete copy of the notes

is made on a card and mailed to the Manila office I am informed

that the bound notebooks are practically never lost or dropped in

the water With the increased amount of flood measuring expected to

be done in the future that situation might change

Rating curves are drawn to average large groups of discharge

measurements Large rectangular-scale cross section sheets are used

Percentage differences of the measured values with respect to the

rating table are not computed A minimum of use is made of Stoutshy

method shifts

The water-stage recorders furnished to date by the ICA have been

manufactured with time scales of either 03 inch per day (the FM

model) or 48 inches per day (the A-35 model) The former scale is

too small for satisfactory use in most stream gaging and the latter

is too large Thirty pairs of time scale gears have been ordered for

converting the A-35s from 48 to 24 inches per day Upon inquiry at

the factory it was learned that no conversion of the FM recorders is

possible An exchange of 25 of them is being made with the ground

water program for an equivalent value in A-35 recordero but the

remaining 65 will be used at the surface water stations They are

very satisfactory on lakes or spring-fed streams or large streams

whose fluctuations are not too sudden

21

Ipo dam on Angat River which diverts water to supply City of Manila and surrounding area March 13 1957 Reservoir is traversed by boat in reaching the gaging station upstream

Ready to leave Ipo Dam for gaging station 6 kilqmeters upstream B Ramos and J Regalado in oanca March 13 1957

4 ~ s~

B Ramos making discharge measurement by wading on Angat River above Ipo DamMarch 13 1957 Spacings between verticals were obtained from cable makings byline hanging from cable car

23

At non-recording gages it has been the custom to hire gagekeepers

at uniform or statutory rates of 025 or P30 per month (not related

to the distance traversed in going to the gage) to obtain readings

three times a day The pay has been the same even where the gage is

located several kilometers away from the gagekeepers home The system

has certain disadvantages which may affect the accuracy of the records

At some stations the pay is too high while at others it is too low

Three readings a day are not necessary most of the time for adequately

developing the hydrograph especially during the dry season and a

request for obviously unnecessary readings seems to put too severe a

test upon human nature It is practically an open invitation to a

certain amount of faking I doubt that it should be held against a

gagekeeper to put down some estimated readings under those circumstances

any more than it would be to blame children for taking candy or cookies

from a forbidden plate left openly in their midst The question then

becomes - what readings can be relied upon and what cannbt I sincerely

believe that a more accurate daily discharge record can be prepared in

the office from a few completely reliable gage readinrs per week by

means of hydrographic comparisons with recording-gage records from

nearby stations and with less expense than can be produced by proshy

cessing comparing and weeding out questionable parts from a complete

(on paper) record of three readings a day A gagekeepers habit

developed during the dry season of not going to the gage when it is

inconvenient or he doesnt feel like it is bound to crop up during

the high water season as well with the result that all his readings

24

must be looked at critically and considered reliAble only after

unusually extensive comparisons are made with weather records and

other stations

In regard to specialized stream gaging equipment listed below

are the amounts purchased by the ICA up to the present time

Ordered from Ordered from Being FY 1955 PPA 1956 PPA ordered Delivered in Delivered in from 1957

May 1956 May 1957 PPA

Canfield reels 0 6 8

Type A reels 0 6 2

Canfield tag lines 0 15 0

A-35 recorders 20 10 25

FM recorders 65 25 0

Enameled gage secs 400 600 200

Currer meter outfits inc ding rod headphonehanuline and 15-pound weight 11 10 0

Pygmy meters 0 0 10

Bridge cranes 0 3 0

Sounding wts 30-lb 0 0 10

50-lb 0 0 10

I i 75-lb 0 0 1

I 100-lb 0 0 1

Stopwatches 20 10 0

Being purchased as models for possible future use in procurement of

weights of local manufacture

25

~-

-~ ~- shy

~-

4rshy~~L~zu 1 - ~ A-

-~ - ~jj ~

~- k ~ ~

Helper and P Nubio National Power Corporationpreparing to make discharge measurement Tag marks of grass being tied to line Bantay River near Bokod Benguet Mountain Province March 26 1957

-- ~ 4

V

Helper holding meter in place suspended on a weight hanger while revolutions are counted oy hydrographer P Nubio E P Nbesamis is at extreme right March 26 1957

26

-p --shy

t-~-- - -

A ~

A~4 ~ 4

A -Y

- -

- - - -

gt~ ~ ~-

Z4z4a - ~z

- shy -~-~shy

4shy- --

I NPC discharge party on Bokod River at-Bokod BenguetMountain Province Helper and gagekeeper holding meter and 15-pound weight in position P Nubio on shore counting revolutions and recording notes March 26 1957

Ar 7

-~ I

0 I 15-pound weight used in discharge measurement work by the NPC hydrographer stationed at Ambuklao Dam March 26 1957

27

Recommendations

A sharp expansion in the stream gaging program of the Philippines

has occurred recently brought about not only by the ICAs economic and

technical aid program but also by the growing local demand for water

resources information It is inevitable that some organizational

changes would be required to accommodate such a sudden growth This

subject was discussed in conferences with Mr Saddam and Mr Regalado

and the following list of special objectives agreed upon They had a

number of these in mind or partly in effect already and were planning

to gradually adopt several others The items are listed here in order

to express my reasons for wanting to see them completely implemented

within the next two or three years They are as follows

A It is recommended that the district offices compute their own disshy

charge records and prepare them for publication for final review

in the central office in ranila

1 Additional engineers would be needed in each district office

and fewer engineers in the Manila office

2 At least the district hydrographer and preferably one other

engineer in addition should be trained in the office work in

Manila before the records were transferred to a district

3 Each engineer in a district office would be given a field area

which he would cover by a round of discharge measurements once

every 4 to 6 weeks each coverage taking about 2 weeks Betshy

ween trips he would do office work preferably on the same

stations that he covers in the field

28

4 Benefits of thissystem are believed to be as follows

a Records requested could be furnished more quickly to the

public especially to those in the district area

b This kind of a close tie between field and office work has

been found to greatly improve the quality of the records

the economy of operation and the performance and developshy

ment of the individual engineers

c The alternating of each person between field and office

work makes him (1) more competent in the field work and

also more competent in the office work than is possible

in segregated office and field groups and (2) permits

him to be home more of the time and lead a more normal

lifc thus increasing his morale and efficiency

5 Personnel arrangements recommended are

a Offer more rapid promotion to those who transfer like

from Manila to a field office or between field offices

b Encourage each man to transfer every few years with

faster promotions as an incentive It has been found

that this develops an engineers competence more rapidly

than if he stays in one office indefinitely Such ability

repays the government in added officiency and production

to an extent greater than its cost in extra salary

B Certain organization changes are recommended as follows

1 Appoint an Office Engineer a Field Engineer and (whenever

needed) a Construction Engineer They would be headquartered

__

V 29

2

~- ~

q

Ambuklao Dam on Agno River Generating capacity 75000 kw Powerplant is underground March 2557

7- t

-JI

Maria Cristina falls and power plant on Agus River River near Iligan Lanao Province Mindanao Present installed capacity 50000 kw May 1 1957

30

II I

Looking downstream at the Binga dam site on Agno River about 15 kilometers east of Baguio March 25 1957

Looking upstream at the Marikina dam site on Marikina River at Wawa near Montalban Rizal about 25 kilometers northeast of Manila April 5 1957

31

in the Manila office and act under the general supervision of

the head of the Section with the following responsibilities

to be included

a Office Engineer

(1) Be responsible for the discharge computations and

related office work in the Manila field district or

area

(2) Be responsible for review and final preparation for

publication of all records in the nation

(3) See that a progress chart of status-of-record compushy

tations is maintained in each district office and

that a summary statement concerning such progress is

sent to the central office at least quarterly

(4) Be responsible for research in office methods and

equipment (See footnote on next page)

b Field Engineer

(1) Act as first assistant to head of the Section of

Hydrography

(2) Be responsible for field operation vork throughout the

nation

(a) Make at least one annual field inspection in each

district

(b) Develop the system in every headquarters of keepshy

ing a running chronological chart of the discharge

measurements made at each gaging station or

32W

scheduled miscellaneous site A form in use in

Tacoma Washington has been found to be very conshy

venient for this purpose Such a chart gives the

supervisor a quick overall view of the status of

the field work and serves as a check at end of

the year to make sure all measurements have been

listed and counted

(3) Be responsible for the design of the stream gaging

network and the selection of sites for new gaging

stations

(4) Be responsible for research in field methods and

equipment

Construction Engineer

(1) Give general supervision and management to the conshy

struction program

(a) Obtain assignment of resident engineer or foreman

for each job

(b) See that the materials are made available Help

the foreman in every way possible in organizing

the job procuring emergency equipment or supplies

and making decisions about serious problems that

may arise on the job

If funds became available for considerable research it probably

would be better to appoint a special Research Engineer

33

~A

Cagayan River gaging station near Cagayan de OroMisamis Oriental Mindanao April 30 1957 Note how corrugated pipe recorder structure was bent by flood J C Regalado J J Ponco gagekeeper and G H Hargreaves in foreground

-

V

View of staff gage and control on Binakaan River at Tifigib near Pastrana Leyte Stream divided by a barand control excavated for unknown reason May 6 1957 J Regalado by the sign and G Hargreaves at right

Cable footbridge below Binga dam site Tree anchorage for cableway onformerly used by NPC in making Angat River above Ipo Damdischarge measurements P Nubio and March 13 1957E Abesamis of NPC on bridge March 25 1957

35

(c) Visit the major jobs occasionally to see that

they are proceding satisfactorily in all the

islands Make sure the stations are installed

according to instructions and plans An approved

sketch plan showing dimensions and elevations is

desirable for each construction job

(d) Prepare first draft of each new station description

(e) Prepare brief construction report including costs

A form in use at Tacoma Washington has been found

convenient for this purpose

C The following policies in regard to gagekeepers are recommended

1 Start a gradual change-over to paying each gagekeeper on basis

only of the hours he works plus a basic amount for taking the

responsibility This may result in increasing the pay of some

but it should reduce the pay of a much larger number

2 Convert most gagekeepers to two readings a day most of the time

with one or more additional readings during floods In some of

the drier parts of the Central Luzon area in cases where gages

are remote from habitation request only one reading a day

during the dry months such as from January through May inclushy

sive more than that are believed to cost more than they are

worth and are an open invitation to the reporting of estimated

readings

3 When a new recorder installation is at a barrio or bridge where

it appears unlikely to be vandalized try running the station

36

without hiring a gagekeeper If this system proves successful

discontinue the services of the gagekeepers at certain selected

recorders At all other recorders reduce the number of readshy

ings required to one per day and reduce their pay accordingly

If a gagekeeper prefers not to accept a lower monthly rate for

fewer readings it is suggested that he resign except in cases

where security of the station structures or right-of-way favors

may be involved

Proceed on the principle that a saving in public tax money from

the above reforms is more important than supporting gagekeepers

just because they depend on the income and need the money The

present dependence of a gagekeeper on his P300 or P360 a year

and the hardship he must undergo in adjusting to a lower rate

of pay for the job are not believed to be sufficient reasons

for continuing indefinitely to pay him more than necessary

However it is recommended that he be given 30 or 60 days

notice before a reduction in pay is placed in effect

D Vehicles

1 It is recommended that a gradual change-over be made from the

short-wheelbase open Jeep to the Jeep station wagon as a hydroshy

graphers car Benefits should be as follows

a The car can be locked leaving only the tires as attractive

to thieves

b The station wagon has more space As the hydrographers

became better equipped that space will be needed

37

Bamboo-and-grass shelters built and used by crew during construction of gaging station on Angat River above Ipo Dam March 13 1957

3

4

-Ti LP

Proposed site for new index-type gaging station selected on Baoas River near Mangatarem Pangasinan above all diversions by Regalado Romasanta dargreaves and Veatch April 15 1957 Photo by J S Romasanta

38

Taking Philippine Airlines plane at Legaspi Albayfor Manila on May 17 1957 Mount Mayon 7960 feet high in background

I

N 1 x

Y

I

Showing typical vehicle used on the reconnaissance and inspection trips over the Philippines

39

c For occasional errands or trips it will be feasible for

only oneman to take the car because he can lock the con

tents when the car is not attended

d It may possibly develop in some parts of the Philippines

that a hydrographer for a certain area will not need a

driver-helper and thereby a saving in funds can be made

However such a change should be made only on a trial

basis and is not recommended until conditions so warrant

and until the hydrographer involved is satisfied with the

change or else desires it

E Certain technical stream-gaging procedures are recommended to be

followed in the Philippine Islands hydrographic work at the average

gaging station by all agencies doing stream gaging as follows

1 Obtain a discharge measurement once every four to six weeks

throughout the year

2 Furnish the hydrographer with a print of the station descripshy

tion and of the rating curve and require him as a general rule

to compute and plot his discharge measurement in the field

3 Have the gage read both before and after each discharge measureshy

ment and the readings recorded on the field notes

4 Use a loose-leaf discharge-measurement note form or forms

containing a summary page patterned to some extent after the

forms in use by the USGS Bound notes make it too inconshy

venient or perhaps impossible for the office engineer to

examine the notes for a whole year when he analyzes a station

record

40

5 Gradually change to the use of ehameled steel gage plates

instead of painted gages because their initial cost is less

and they are more durable Plates graduated somewhat like

those of the US Geological Survey are believed much better

than those stocked by private companies While here I drew

up a suggested design for local manufacture which appealed

to the Hydrographic Section

6 Obtain levels at staff gages at least once a year especially

on the low section of gage Replace or repair each low secshy

tion soon after it becomes damaged or the markings become

indistinct

7 Continue as a general rule to use the 6-depth method with

the sub-surface method for deep swift water Obtain a comshy

plete cross section as soon as feasible after the high water

has subsided

8 Gradually change to the use of heavier sounding weights so

that the 6-depth method with soundings can be used at high

water in any event take soundings and velocities as far out

as practicable from each bank at flood stages then go across

deep part of channel with sub-surface method Check subshy

surface method coeficients whenever practicable by means of

vertical velocity curves Until such checks show otherwise

use a coefficient of 090

9 Compute discharge measurements by the mid-section method

This saves time (and money) and is at least as accurate as the

41

other method Request hydrographers to bear the method in mind

when selecting verticals near edges of channel or at breaks in

the cross section It is recommended that in the interests of

economy this change be made at an early date

10 Consider 20 as a desirable number of verticals in an average

stream cross section Continue to time the meter revolutions

for 40 to 60 seconds at each setting Someday if more accushy

racy is desired in hydrographic work in the Philippines it

would be appropriate to standardize on 30 verticals per measureshy

ment provided the 2-8 depth method were used and the gages

were read to fractions of a centimeter For the present it

seems consistent to take about 20 verticals when using the 6

method and with gages read only to the nearest centimeter

11 Use steel tag lines for wading measurements Paint bridge

rails and cables with markings sufficiently close together

that they can be used rapidly to determine stationing between

them When installing the paint marks use standard intervals

of either 1 meter 2 meters or 5 meters To avoid confusion

do not use intervals of 3 or 4 meters If measuring intervals

are to be 1 meter or less it is very convenient to have a

mark available every meter If intervals are between 1 and 5

meters use a mark every 2 meters A good system for making

the marks readily identifiable is to place 1 paint mark at

each basic interval like every 2 meters then put 2 marks every

10 meters 3 every 50 meters and 4 at 100 meters

42

use on12 Always tags the portion of the meter suspension line

that goes in the water The tags usually consist of small

pieces of colored cloth taped tightly to the line They

should be watched and checked occasionally against slippage

and error The tags should not be more than one meter apart

and should be spaced to give maximum convenience and speed in

measuring the discharge

13 As it may becoin feasible convert Type A current meters to

Type AA The more deeply recessed bearing of the Type AA

meter provides more durability of the pivot and bearing

because trapped air excludes most of the water and silt the

longer pivot results in a relatively lower center of gravity

of the bucke t wheel with respect to the point of bearing and

results in smoother performance

F Design of the stream gaging network

1 Everyone seem3 to agree with the objective of a network of

well-distributed long-term base stations for giving runoffshy

per-square-kilometer values representative of the general

area in which each station is located As rapidly as practishy

cable stations should be L d n the o ting netrk

and designated as base or index stations for permanent operashy

tion They should be the best stations both hydraulically

and as to equipment and should be free from upstream regushy

lation or diversion Where needed new base stations should

be installed as soon as they can be financed to appropriately

L11 out the network

43

2 In between such base stations it is desirable to sample smaller

basins with short-term records of various lengths which can be short term

correlated with the long records For this purpose thestashy

tion structures should be constructed so that they are as moveshy

able or salvageable as possiblej Often these movable stations

will be operated at or near specific project sites

3 It usually is more economical and satisfactory to gage a stream

at a highway crossing or other convenient place rather than

exactly at a project site later the data can be transferred

to the project site by means of drainage area proportions

checked by obtaining at the site e

two miscellaneous measurements or possibly in some cases a

whole year of record

4 A method for studying the existing network of stations to see

whether the intensity of coverage is satisfactory or not is to

plot correlations between the various station records prefershy

ably following the present methods of the USGS

5 It has been found advantageous to classify all gaging stations

that are in operation using categories somewhat like these

areal network base stations primary and secondary main stream

stations and water management stations This procedure is

helpful in planning how long various stations should be operated

Detailed information about station classification methods is

available from the U S Geological Survey for use as a guide

The Technical Training Program

Early plans

When this assignment was given to me it was anticipated that a

series of across-the-table discussions would be held with small groups

of hydrographers from the Philippine government bureaus engaging in

such work Detailed procedures would be discussed without formality

But when arrangements were initiated for such conferences I was inshy

formed that among those wanting to attend were many at the managerial

level as well as a number of representatives of agencies interested

more in water development projects than in resource investigations

These could not be turned down so it was necessary to revise the

agenda to include more of general interest

Later developments

In view of the wide experience and high rank of many prospective

attendants of the conference it did not seem appropriate to call it

a lecture series or school and the name Seminar On Water Resources

was decided upon The agenda is included in this report and will be

self-explanatory Registered attendance for each of the three weeks

was 68 72 and 70 persons respectively for a total of 210 The

setting for the Seminar can best be understood from the photographs

Conditions as a whole were good although the tape-recording of the

entire three weeks of proceedings and the need for a member to come

F M Veatch and Water Resources Seminar group week of April 8-12 1957 at Bureau of Public Highways conference building Manila

I y

rT

I

4

47

forward and use the microphone whenever he asked a question or made a

comment was somewhat of a dampener oh discussion When preparing the

agenda I assumed that few besides the hydrographers would attend the

sessions on technical details of stream gaging scheduled for Wednesday

to Friday yet the entire membership stayed through the full program

each week and so no small-group round-table discussions were practicable

It developed later that the language barrier was a little more

serious than first realized Also it was not evident at first that

many present did not know what a gaging station was One of the main

benefits gained from the field trip was to show them a typical station

along with some equipment Taken as a whole it is believed that the

Seminar was successful and worthwhile

The sending of trainees from the Hydrographic Section to the

United States by ICA is very effective in supplementing the technical

assistance rendered directly by American personnel in the Philippines

and it should be continued as long as possible

Acknowledgments

Announcements and invitations to attend the Seminar were sent to

numerous agencies and offices by the Hydrographic Section who also

made all arrangements such as for space registration loud speaker

system tape recordings and recess refreshments The Bureau of

Public Highways made their new conference building available and the

National Media Center furnished a slide projector screen and room

all of which were greatly appreciated The introductory talks by

48

several busy executives including Director J A Buendia and Messrs

A T Alano R R Lord P G Afable and D Rosell with Mr Tomas

Saddam acting as master of ceremonies contributed ideas and gave

each weeks session a good send-off

Publications

Copies of the following publications of the U S Geological

Survey (one by Bureau of Reclamation and one from ASCE) were disshyon

play at the Seminar at all times for inspection by the members Alshy

though they were requested not to take the publications away quite a

few copies gradually became missing

Irrigation Water Measurement Tables and Diagrams by U S

Bureau of Reclamation

ASCE Separate 413 - Backwater Effects of Open Channel

Constrictions

Stage-Fall Discharge Relation for Steady Flow in Prismatic

Channels Water-Supply Paper 1164

Topographic Characteristics of Drainage Basins W S P 968C

Weir Experiments Coefficients and Formulas WSP 200

Handbook for Hydrologists - Chapters 1 - 11

Chapter 1 -- Instructions for Flood Frequency Compilations

Chapter 2 -- ledian Discharge Computation Methods

Chapter 3 -- Instructions for Abstracting Topographic

Characteristics of Drainage Basins

i

-Imr- I

1 N

L

V10J~

C R Mirray explaining a ground water formula

Ii

17t

o

Water Resources Seminar group at gaging station on Marikina River near Montalban Rizal about an hours drive northeast of Manila April 12 1957

51

-- Channel Storage and Flood Routing

-- Extending Stream-flow Records

Chapter 6 -- Double Mass Curves

Chapter 7-A- Frequency Curves of Low Flows and Storage

Requirements

Chapter 8 -- Flood Frequency Analyses

Chapter 9 -- Small Stream Investigations

Chapter 10 - Hydrologic Definitions

Chapter 11 - Base-Flow Recession-Curves

Computation of Backwater at Open Channel Constrictions

Floods in Western Washington Frequency and Magnitude in

Relation to Drainage Basin Characteristics GS Circular 191

Floods in Georgia Frequency and Magnitude GS Circular 100

Stream-Gaging Procedure - A Manual Describing Methods and

Practice of the Geological Survey - WSP 888

Investigation of Methods and Equipment used in Stream Gaging

Part 2 Intakes For Gage Wells

Computation of Peak Discharge through Culverts

Computation of Backwater at Open-Channel Constrictions

Equipment for River Measurements Structures for Cableways

by Charles H Pierce

Computation of Peak Discharge at Contractions Circular 284

Care and Rating of Current Meters

Surface Water Supply o the United States 1950 Parts 1 - 14

52

In addition to the above publications a two-page single-spaced

memorandum entitled Plotting Flood Frequency Curves (Extracted from

U S Geological Survey publications) was prepared by me under date

of April 3 1957 and handed to each member of the Seminar each week

The program or agenda for the Seminar one copy of which was

given to each member follows on Pages 53 to 63 inclusive The

graphs on Page 63 were referred to during the talks

53

March 29 1957

AGENDA FOiR SEMINARZ ON WATER RESCURCES AND STAE4 GAGING

IN THE PHILIPPINES

PLACE Conference hoom 2nd Floor Bureau of Public Highways Building Second Street Port Area Manila

TIKE April 1-5 8-12 and 22-26 (same program each week)

CONDUCTED BY M1r i 1 Veatch District EngineerSurface WaterBranch Jater Aesources Division United States Geological Suver Thcoma ashington who is un three-month assignment with the ICA

Held in connoction with the Philippine Government-ICA water resources program

54

GENERAL PROGRAM MONDAY AND TUESDAY

honday morning 830

Opening remarks Mr Julian A Buendia Director Bureau of Fublic Works Mr R R Lord Chief Public Works Division ICA Mr G H Hargreaves Hydraulic Engineer ICA

Importance of water resources and their investigation

The hydrologic cycle Evaporation transpiration and precipitation Runoff

Daily discharge record and the hydrograph Storm runoff Base flow

Grou~nd Water Very brief description (this subject to be covered

iaore fully on Tuesday afternoon)

General characteristics of natural stream runoff in the Philippines Quantity

Adequacy Comparison with United States

Variations with time Day to day and year to year Long-term trends

Distributin by area General over the Philippine Islands Variations between nearby drainage basins

Effect of location elevation geology cover etc

Major uses of stream-flow data Many years of rccornds should be crnsidered Granting water r phts

Protect existing rights Prevent capital expenditures where water supply inadequate

Planning river basin developments including municipal supply irrigation pnwer flood control etc

Destping structures such as dams reservoirs dikes floodways canals pumping systems power plants bridges etc

Accuracy and extent of dat needed for minimizing underdesign or wasteful overdesign

Cost of water-supply data in relation to total cost of a project

Operating water projects Distribution of water on projects Operation of storage reservoirs and diversion dams

To make maximum use uf water supply Designing alterations or enlargements to existing projects

RECESS 1000 to 1015

55 -3-

Monday morning (Continued) 1015 aim

Management of the stream gaging program Foreseeing the needs for stream-flow records

Study population and industrial trends Keep inforned on water-development plans and

prgraIIs of all agencies Continuity of the records

Essential for wator-supply studies Regular financinp reouired

Annual appropriations a poundfccted by temporary econoidc or political conditions

Permanent type of financing needed Surcharge method License fee method

-Dissemination of the data Annual publication Occasional summary compilations Furnishing advance cupies of unpublished records Furnishing current data - daily weekly or munthly

wherever required Special water resources investigation agency desirable

Briefly dancribe United States organization Uniform tecnical standards Uniform ways of presenting data One series of publicatiens Distributial center for basic water data Genera l-coverage program requires close coordination

for economy of operation Personal requirements

Engineers Engir ring aids Computers Clerks

ADJOURN - 1145

Resume after lunch only if necessary for completing the above subjects

56

Tueday morning 830

Design of a comprehensive stream gjaging program General rrinciIlac

Represenkc tive runoff-type provinces should be sainpled with stations of various classes

Vary the intensity of coverage with probable intenshysity of water use

Follow tiie tcends variations with records fromand L sri etatiorns secondary

Correlate resultls one continually adjustnetwork Classification of ra-in stationa

Areal prinary and secondary viain strem priiary nd secondary Water-manmfciact stat-i ons Miscellanous dischaige mcasurements

Correlating the dat obttined in comprehensive program Logarithmic pajer Five years of lecord uscd What is a good corrclation

Analyses of data Flood frcouencjs

Annual serics Partial duration series

Low-flow frecuencies Low-flow duration hydrograph

Extending strewm-flow records Comparisons witi other gaging stations Rainfall-runoff correlations

Quality of water Temperature

Intermittent observations Recorders

Chemical gtuality Element -Dissolved solids

Suspended iaterial Time of cecurrence-floods Sampling

Methods Cost

RECESS - 1000 to 1015

57

- 5 -

Tuesday afternoon 130

Ground water (This subject conducted by Mr C R Murray) Occurrence

Water table Artesian Lakes

Movement Through the ground Into stream channels

Availability Geologic structure Aquifers Funing tests

Recharge Froa precipitation Artificial Froma induced lateral movement

Investigation Geology Springs Logs of dug and drilled wells Test wells

lecording Lanual

Quantitative studies Chemical quality analyses

Mincral ccontnt Sallt water intrusion

Drilling of wells for production use Ground water rirhts

Depletion of ground water reservoirs teyond rccharge capability

ADJOURN at 330

Geologist Ground Water Branch dater Resources Division U 6 Geological Survey who is on two-ywar assignment with ICA

58

PROGRAM ON STREMvi GAGING PROCEDURE WEDNESDAY TO FRIDAY

4ednesday morning 830

Establishing and constructing gaging stations Selection of site

Consider najor probable uses of the record Investigate extent of upstream diversion and

-egulation Utilize contour naps Obtain list of nmrjor water right applications

iydraulic conditicns Section control Shifting channel Overbank flow Dackwater

Accessibility Avoid too much expense Need to reach quickly to measure flash floods

Natural protection front flood damage Avoid excessively expensive construction conditions

Bed iock Quick sand Too-longintake pipes

For non-rccording gage choose site convenient to

one or more local gage readers

Survey of site Bank cross-prefile at gage Cross section at cable Plan

Right of way Oral pervrission ritten permission

Easement Land purchase

RECESS - 945 to 1000

- 7 - 59

Wednesday morning (Continued) 100)

Construction Select types and sizes of structures To fit purpose oi the record Plan later salva e (for secondary stations) For economy of operation (for example design cableway to

operat mesily) Adapt availabic standard plans to fit the site Keep costs to hclp in future estimating Make brief construction report for future assistance in

planninr sililar Jobs Prepare staLion descripLion

Road log distences etc for How to reach paragraph Descriptions of gages bench marks etc Dimensions cf structuis Gage datum elevations of portinent parts of structures

Operating and maintaining gaging stations Records of stage

Choice of dtum Arbitrcry local datum

Set gages so there will be no minus gage readings

Mean sea level datum May be used but has disadvantages

1hen later adjustments are made to level networks

Gages have to be reset or Equation must be published

Non-recording gages Types

Vertical staff Inclined staff

ire-weight Crest-stage gages

Refinement of graduations ake adequate for accuracy of record needed

Maintatling dat of gage Adequate number of local reference marks Take levels at least once a year

Work o- local gare reader Fy according to approx number of hours worked Do not roruire too many roadings for the

conditions Warm (with omphasis) against my guessed

readings Inform reader anv errors in reading will

show up in hydrogrq oic comtparisons Engineers obtain check readings whenever

possible Visit gage reader frequently a d show inshy

terest in his gage-height record Encourage reader to retain personal copy

ADJOURN at 1145

60

Thursday morning 800

Records of stage (continued) Recording gages

Select type of instrument and its scales to fit conditions at gaging station

Weekly or continuous recorder Recorder scales Range of stage Rate of change of stage Availability of someone to change weekly

chart Work of Cage inspector of keeper

Avoid resetting pen Repurt any trash or debris causing backwater

at gage Do not have a gage keeper unless needed

aintaining gage datum Check outside gae by levels annually Keep outside gage sections reset to datum

Standard reference gage Inside gage of soie sort preferable

Staff Float-tape Anchor type

Intake action Clean or flush pipes after floods Slot intakes Self-cleaning iitakes

For pipe gage wells For wells built into bridge piers

Draw-down (where excessive) Use bapfle or static tube

Elood marks at station Make record of well-defined high water

marks

AECESS - 945 to 1000

- 9 - 61

Thursday morning (Continudd) 1000

Discharge measuroments Current hmeters

Price Type A Type AA

Pygmpy Carc of inters

Sounding weights E-typc C-type

Lead Brono

Type of notebook Loose shects Loose-leaf book Bound booL

Measurement of depth aeding rod Tag-line nethod Vertical-nglc coofficients Sounding during floods

Ilacemont of mter Sub--surface method 2-depth n cthod 6-de-pth icthod 2- imetY od

Number of verticals Velocity -urgcs

Miscellaneous f-ctors Effect of bridge piers Horizontal angle of current Insufficient weight on current water

1Mean gage hoitht for a discharge measurement Special methods of (Itermining flood discharge

Floats Slope-area method

Rating curv- etonsion method Arca and velocity curves Loparithmic plottig

Contrqctd-opening mothod Flow ovcr dams

Report on condition of control Carry station description and rating curve in field

Ubtain another me asurement if needed If first indicates large shift If new station and stagc advantagoous for

defining blank part of rating curve

ADJOUffN - 1145 AI

Resumne atfter lunch only if necessary for comploting the above subjects

62

- 10 -

Friday morning S00

A few remarks about office methods Rating curves

Log-log paper Upward extonsions Dowmward extensions

Rectangular plotting Computing recorder charts

M-ark index correction and time correction for each inspection reading

Break midnight lines at raph Never oblitertte or mark over the original trace Nake office markings on chart distinctive from

those mad( At the gage Use of colored pencils by computer and checker is one good wa)y

Daily discharge record Flot hydrograph Compare over light box with other stations

This method preferable to plotting several station records on same sheet

Concluding discussions

RECESS - 945 to 1000

Projection of gaging station equipment Lnd scenic slides taken in the United States and Canada

ADJOURN - 1145

Field trip Cars will be available at the conference building to

take members to the raging station on arikina iRivei at ontalban about an hours drive from Manila where a brief demonstration of certain field equipment will be given

Return to noL later thanoanila 500 FL

---

- Ishy4 ~7L~

0F OllY LISCIiRE 4- 1 -shy

__L TaI- er A6v-a cca

- O 1 B -- 2r 2 ZZ 23 24 2 c 26 7 8 2717x I 2

_~ I 027 _d- 1 2 shy

7 -

n_ a t-i IZ

- _______________ Pnu~ OAgvhshy

-~ ~-r- 1 - V-shy- i-shytvkty--- in--a-- -~ ~Z2m7~ ~

- ~ ~-~-----~- V 1~5~ LTLL2P7o -4----4 1 -- I -- I I _ __ --- -- -- - - L - - I ----

~- ~y~-~ 64 4

N

A il

Seminar members observing demonshystrat-n of measurshying e -pment by F M Veatch at Marikina River gaging station April 12 1957

I

Water Resources Seminar members observing working model of proppsed Binga Dam at the hydraulics laboratory of University of the Philippines April 12 1957

65

Current meter rating flume mechanism Y 22 1957

Current meter rating flume mechanism May 22 1957

66

Current Meter Rating Station

The new current meter rating station at the University of the

Philippines (see photographs) was not quite ready for use before I

left the country The mechanism and instruments were manufactured

in Germanyobtained thru ICA-NEC procurement for the Water Resources

Program of the Department of Public Works and have been installed by

Professor Alberto Villares and his hydraulics laboratory staff under

Dean C A Ortigas of the College of Engineering with some guidance

by Professor Edward L Ericksen of the University of Michigan who is

a civil engineer on detail here with the Stanford Group Professor

Villares spent 18 months in the hydraulics laboratory of the Univershy

sity of Iowa

There is every evidence that this rating flume will with expeshy

rience do work accurate enough not only for determining differences

in ratings between current meters but also for preparing absolute or

independent ratings This can be reported on more fully at some

later date by Messrs Hargreaves and Snell

The Central Luzon Region Program

The Water Resources Development Committee is preparing a recomshy

mended plan for the expedited multiple-purpose development of the

water resources of the Central Luzon region The area contains oneshy

sixteenth of the land surface and one-fourth of the population of the

Philippines and is termed the rice granary of the nation It is to

be used as an example or experiment in water and land development

67

The Committee has requested member agencies to submit estimates

of the minimum amount of additional basic data needed for making a

useful report and for proceeding with development projects Such

estimates are to include mapping soil surveys dam and reservoir site

surveys water resources surveys and other items A preliminary

report is to be prepared soon summarizing the existing information

pointing out the need for additional dataand submitting estimates

of cost for the further investigations needed An outline for the

final report has been prepared and distributed so it will be availashy

ble as a guide and funds for the first years efforts are being

sought for fiscal year 1958 It appears reasonable that the report

on a comprehensive plan could be submitted to the President and

Congress of the Philippines in about five years

With the assistance of Mr Hargreaves I have prepared estimates

for a surface water measurement program to complement the existing

program It is designed to fill the worst gaps in the present netshy

work Details are subject to change as more reconnaissance informashy

tion becomes available as only five days were spent covering the area

by automobile Unit costs were provided by the Hydrographic Section

and they include cost of preparation of the records for publication

Estimates were submitted as given below They were supported by a

detailed list of stream names and locations which included desigshy

nations as to the primary purpose or type of each proposed new gaging

station and whether a recording or non-recording gage was recommended

It is available for reference in both the ydrographic Section and

ICA offices

68

New gaging stations

1 Daily discharge type

Installation (including cableways where needed)

Recording ------- 7 Pl650 11550

Non-recording --- 4 950 3800 15350

Operation 1st year -11 660 7260 P22610

2 High water type (flood records)

Installation

Gages (nonshy

recording) ----- 4 150 600

Measuring equipment 800 1400

Operation 1st year - 4 300 1200 2600

Total for new gaging stations ------------- 25210

Miscellaneous discharge measurements

1 4 or 5 during dry season Nov - April

4 sites x 5 per site = 20 30 ---------------- 600

2 1 or 2 during low part of year March and April

37 sites x l per site = 55 k30 ------------- 1650

Total for miscellaneous measurements ------ 2250

Total -------------- -2746o

69

Rainfall And Evaporation Stations

Existing network

A map examination of the existing network of rain gages was made

and a surprisingly large number were found to be in operation -- 2

recording and 115 manual stations or a total of 117 They are beshy

lieved to be fairly adequate in number and are well distributed

areally over the Philippines but like in the United States are conshy

fined largely to the lower altitudes where the agricultural and urban

population live In addition to these records are available for

various lengths of time from about 8 discontinued Weather Bureau

stations and from more than 300 haciendas reforestaion stations

and provincial rnrseries

Additional gages

The Weather Bureau and the Bureau of Public Works are cooperating

in the installation of some new rainfall stations at higher altitudes

part of which will utilize new instruments purchased with ICA aid

funds Some of the instruments will be installed at existing nonshy

recording stations Forty new installations are proposed for 1958

fiscal year It is now recognized that rainfall station coverage at

higher altitudes is needed in order to furnish records that can be

correlated with the long-term valley records and also with the gaging

station discharge records D

70

Weather station maintained by Bureau of Public WorksIrrigation Division near Tuguegarao Cagayan From left to right N Ciriaco District Hydrographer drivershyhelper observer J G Garcia hydrographer J C Regalado and G H Hargreaves May 13 1957

Weather station at Pototan Iloilo Panay A Lacuestadistrict bydro-rapher standing May 5 1957

71

Group luncheon at Tacloban Leyte typical of the hospitality received by us during inspection tour of the Philippines From left to right M Rico irrig distr engr G Hargreaves G Araos E N Salazar P Formilleza L Abella S Velasco JCRegalado V H Sydiongoo distr hydrographer I M Ortega Oscar de Venecia and N Oliver May 7 1957

ICA Public Works Division March 1957 From left to right C R Murray A A Ketchum asat Div head J B Delaney I J Silverstone Sofia Halili 0 H Hosmer R R Lord Div head B B Hill Betty Valdez G H Hargreaves J L Brenden FM Veatch

72

Evaporation stations

Fifteen double-pan (one open and one partially shaded) evaporation

stations with rainfall temperature wind and humidity instruments as

auxiliary are being operated in the Philippines and ten more are to

follow next year They are well distributed over the islands and

should furnish data of great value for reservoir design Thq reccrds

will be publish3d

Publication of rainfall data

All rainfall reccrds are published annually by the Weather Bureau

whose 1954 volume is the latest one printed The 1955 issue should be

released soon One excellent source of information for anyone studyshy

ing rainfall data in the Philippines is the publication The Distrishy

bution of Rainfall In The Philippines by Eugenio B Manalo Chief

Climatological Division Weather Bureau Manila This contains

valuable descriptive material tables of monthly and annual values

and mean monthly and annual isohyets in inches An inspection or

study of the monthly isohyetal maps shows clearly how storm patterns

change with the seasons in certain parts of the Philippines and that

73

in other areas the rain is almost evenly distributed throughout the

year The long dry season of Manila and the central Luzon plains is

graphically portrayed by the isohyets Mr Manalos publication

should be of great benefit to government agencies and private parties

or individuals in connection with agricultural and business activities

over the islands It is presumed that the isohyets will warrant some

revision after another 5 or 10 years as more records especially those

at higher altitudes become available

Sediment Measurement Stations

Practically no silt-sampling has been done in the Philippines

to date and no extensive program is believed possible because of the

lack of funds For the present it is recommended that every governshy

ment field hydrographer be equipped with a thermomater and a turbidity

stick and required to report a spot water temperature and turbidity

reading at time of each discharge measurement Thus without extra

cost a large amount of data can be accumulated which after several

years should make it possible to determine what streams are the

siltiest and where more detailed studies might be needed Whenever a

reservoir project reaches the intensive-investigation stage including

dam-site drilling detailed topography etc it is recommended that

a complete sediment sampling station be operated there for at least

one full flood season before the project feasibility report is

completed

74

Statement Before Water Resources Development Committee

On March 20 1957 I presented the following statement regarding

the streamflow measurement program in the Philippines

The Philippine Republic is blessed with an excellent supply of

water of good quality but much of it is wasted to the sea during the

rainy season The development of this resource is vitally important

to the nation and it involves the storing of flood waters for dryshy

season release Where investments are to be made for construction of

dams etc in the development of irrigation power production and

flood control large sums can easily be wasted through overdesign or

underdesign if enough engineering data are not available Conflicting

or competing uses for the water supplies will gradually develop in

your country the same as they have in the United States If water

rights are to be granted fairly with due regard for all prior users

many years of basic data are necessary so that the long-term water

supply can be estimated For this purpose a good network of stream

gaging records and ground water levels must be secured One would

not attempt to manage the money in a bank without bookkeeping and it

is just as important to have an accounting system when managing water

The sound economical procedure is to base all project designs on as

complete engineering information as can be obtained

The ICA is attempting to assist the Philippine Government in

planning the orderly development of its water resources and we are

concerned that too many structures may be built before accurate

9i

hydrologic data are available for their design For this reason we

strongly urge you to improve the basic data gathering program at the

earliest possible date as follows

(1) Review and publish the stream-flow records that have been

obtained since the war

(2) Finance an expanded program of stream-flow measurement and

ground water study

The Bureau of Public Works has prepared preliminary estimates of

the funds needed for bringing publication of basic data up to date and

for expanding the wiater resources investigation program The attached

copies of estimates are of course provisional and subject to revision

but it is suggested that they be placed in the files of this Committee

for future reference The figure of P56oooo for publication is a

fairly firm figure It is suggested that the Committee take immeshy

diate action to further the procurement of these funds

The procurement of water resources data is a specialized field

requiring engineers and other technical men with a high degree of

education Years must be spent in training them in such special

work The men must endure rigorous physical work corbatting the

elements and using resourcefulness and judgment It is very uneconoshy

mical and unsatisfactory to have a technical organization of that kind

subject to occasional and unpredictable severe cuts in appropriations

It is even more unsatisfactory to have the time sequence of basic

water data collection interrupted and valuable records lost forever

ILLUSTRATIONS Page

11 Gagekeeper reading painted 3taff gage Bokod R at

Bokod March 26 16

12 Gagekeeper showing reference point Madlum R near

Sibul Springs Bulacan April 25 16

13 Ipo Dam on Angat River Bulacan March 13 21

14 Banca ready to go up reservoir above Ipo Dam

March 13 21

15 Cableway Angat R above Ipo Dam March 13 22

16 B Ramos making wading measurement Angat R above

Ipo Dam March 13 22

17 Tagging line Bantay R M Bokod Mt Province

March 26 25

18 Measuring flow bantay R M Bokod Mt Province

March 26 25

19 Measuring flow Bokod R at Bokod Mt Province

March 26 26

20 15-pound weight used near Ambuklao March 26 26

21 Ambuklao Dam on Agno R Benguet Mt Prov March 25 29

22 Maria Cristina Dam on Agos R Lanao Mindanao May 1 29

23 Binga dam site on Agno R Mt Province March 25 30

24 Marikina dam site on Marikina River Rizal April 5 30

25 Cableway and recorder on Cagayan R near Cagayan

de Oro Misamis Oriental Mindanao April 30 33

26 Control on Binahaan R at Tiigib near Pastrana

Leyte May 6 33

ILLUSTRATIONS page

27 Footbridge below Binga dam site Agno R March 25 34

28 Tree anchorage for cable Angat R above Ipo Dam

March 13 34

29 Construction shelters at gaging station on Angat R

above Ipo Dam March 13 37

30 Proposed new base gaging station site on Baoas R near

Mangatarem Pangasinan Photo by J S Romasanta

April 15 37

31 Airport at Legaspi Albay May 17 38

32 Jeep and reconnaissance party April 15 38

33 F M Veatch and Seminar group April 9

Photo by E H Capistrano 5

34 F M Veatch and Seminar group April 9

Photo by E H Capistrano

35 C R Murrb and Seminar group April 9 Photo

by E H Capistrano 9

36 Seminar group r-Marikina R gaging station taken

by E H Capistrano from cable car April 12 0

37 Typical discharge hydrograph showing base flow

Manila rainfall 1365 to date 63

38 Demonstration of measuring equipment Seminar

April 12 64

39 Seminar group observing Binga dam model April 12 64

ILLUSTRATIONS Page

40 Looking north at meter rating flume U of P May 22 65

41 Looking south at meter rating flume U of P May 22 65

42 Weather station near Tuguegarao Cagayan May 13 70

43 Weather station at Pototan Iloilo Panay May 5 70

44 Luncheon group at Tacloban Leyte May 7 71

45 ICA Public Works Division personnel March 1957 71

REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON SURFACE WATER RESOURCES INVESTIGATIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES

by

Fred M Veatch

Introduction

Purpose of the detail (1) To assist the ICA and the Philippine

government in determining principles to be followed in laying out a

suitable long-range stream gaging program for the nation (2) To

recommend a specific surface water investigation program for the

Luzon area (3) To hold technical training conferences wiLh Philipshy

pine government personnel in the site selection construction and

field operation of gaging stations (4) To make general recommendations

concerning the precipitation gage network (5) To comment on the posshy

sible need for quality of water investigations in the Philippines and

(6) To comment on the new current meter rating flume being constructed

in Manila

Preparation Orientation or briefing conferences were held with

me in Washington D C January 22-25 1957 by officials of the Geoloshy

gical Survey and the ICA particularly Thomas E Eakin Chief of Overseas

Programs for the Survey and J V B Wells Chief of Surface Water

Division and Malcolm H Jones C L Orrben and E T Hagberg of ICA

Additional briefing was received in Manila

Acknowledgments The carrying out of my assignment in a satisfactory

manner was greatly facilitated in the Philippines by the cooperation and

2

assistance of Mr Russell R Lord Chief of Public Works Division of

ICA and by menmbers of his staff especially Mr George H Hargreaves

Chief Advisor Water Resources Program and by the Philippine Governshy

ment officials with whom I worked most closely including Mr Tomas

Saddam Chief of Hydrographic Section of the Bureau of Public Works

and Mr Jose C Regalado of his staff Mr Alex Delefia of the River

Control Section Messrs I Santos and E P Abesamis of the National

Power Corporation and E B Manalo of the Weather Bureau

Acknowledgment is also made to Messrs R E 01tman and J J

Ligner of the Training Section Surface Water Branch Washington

D C for their cooperation in sending numerous publications needed

at the Seminar and elsewhere in the Philippines and for their sugshy

gestions in regard to training

3

The Stream Gaging Program In The Philippines

History

The Hydrographic Section of the Irrigation Division Department

of Public Works and Communications (formerly the Department of Commerce

and Communications) has been the major stream gaging agency in the

Philippines since the work was started in 1908 265 gaging stations

in 40 of the 49 provinces were operated for short periods of time between

1908 and 1922 mostly in 1910-12 and 1919-22 All daily gage-height and

discharge records collected by that agency between January 1 1923 and

June 1944 became destroyed by Lire during World War II However the

results of numerous discharge measurements made from 1939 to 1942 were

saved for several gaging stations in the Bicol region of southern Luzon

Stream gaging by the Hydrographic Section was resumed on August 19 1945

on the Aringay River near Tubao La Union followed gradually by other

stations as the Liberation progressed

Records for 1908 to 1922 were published in 1923 in four volumes-as

Water Supply Bulletin No 1 Surface Water Supply of the Philippine

Islands which included the results of all discharge measurements as

well as computed daily discharges in second-liters The calendar year

is used rather than a water year The Extremes paragraphs do not

include any stage records the only gage heights published being those

contained in the lists of discharge measurements

k

Forty-six of the gaging stations operated during the 1908-22

period were re-established after World War II at sites where the records

are considered comparable -- that is where the drainage area does not

differ by more than five per cent The longest continuous records of

discharge not affected by diversion or regulation that I have been able

to find in the Philippines for the postwar period are for the Maasim

River near San Rafael Bulacan Luzon October 5 1945 to date and for

the Aringay River near Tubao La Union from August 19 1945 to date

Available maps are not very satisfactory for locating sites of former

gaging stations because the names of many of the barrios and towns are

different on present maps than they were when the stations were first

operated and described

Considerable stream gaging has also been done by the National

Power Corporation and some river stage records have been obtained by

the River Control and Drainage Section Irrigation Division These are

summarized in the tabulation on Page 6 In addition miscelshynumerous

laneous discharge measurements have been obtained by several agencies

Daily discharge records are available in the files of the National

Power Corporation for eight pre-war gaging stations that were operated

for varying periods between 1923 and 1943 by the Bureau of Public Works

One of these on Barit River at Santiago Iriga Camarines Sur was

operated from 1923 to 1940 The original forms for all eight stations

became destroyed during the war but a set of prints was later discovered

by the National Power Corporation in some hydroelectrical project files

that were saved The NPC re-established the Barit River station at

the same site in 1950

5

Marikina R at Montalban Rizal Province with Stevens FM 30-day recorder April 5 1957

TYPICAL NEW GAGING STATION STRUCTURES CONSTRUCTED AS A RESULT CF THE ICA PROGRAM

III I I

I I I

~iz

7~il

2~-

Pampanga River at Atate Nueva Ecija Stevens FM recorder J C Regalado driver helper and L Borbolla in foreground April 14 1957

47~I

-4

4

iuJi rf if poundflLLi

77

Pre-war frame shelter and 36 corr pipe Frame shelter over new 36 corrwell with Gurley weekly recorder Pampanga

J C Regalado B Ramos and E M Veatch pipe well Pampanga River near standing Taken by G H Hargreaves Arayat Pampanga March 1 1957 March 1 1957

Status of post-war computations and publication

Daily discharge computations of the Hydrographic Section tbr 1944

to 1954 are practically coplete those for 1955 are about 40 per deb4t

complete and for 1956 about 15 per cent Office work has been delayed

considerably because of the heavy constructionfprogran which started

in 1956 using supplies and instruments furnished by the ICA All office

computations are made in the Manila office No discharge records have

been published since those of 1908-22 but steps are being taken as

explained later in this report to bring publication up to date It is

planned that the records which have been compuhed for the years 1944 to

1956 will be reviewed before their final preparation for publication

to make sure their standards of accuracy are reasonably consistent

with the slightly higher standards proposed to be instituted as a

result of recommendations made in this report About 1500 stationshy

years of stream-flow recordsless than 10 per cent of which are from

agencies other than the Hydrographic Section are proposed to be comshy

piled and printed in a single-volume publication of monthly and annual

data Tables of monthly minimum discharge are to be included

Organization and cooperation

The Hydrographic Section customarily assigns a district hydrographer

and his assistants as resident at each irrigation district office that

is situated a long distance from Manila Their headquarters are as

follows

District Province Town

Northern Luzon Isabela San Mateo

Bicol Region Luzon Camarines Sur Naga

Eastern Visayas Leyte Tacloban

Western Visayas Iloilo Iloilo

Mindanao Davao Davao

This district is presently being operated by hydrographers from

Manila the same as for the central part of Luzon

The above field hydrographers are each assigned a Jeep and a drivershy

helper Hydrographers pay scales range between about Y2400 and P4200

per annum and in addition they are granted a subsistence allowance of

Y2OO per unit or Y800 a day Driver-helpers receive an average pay

of P5 per day plus a subsistence allowance of P200 per day (which has

been reduced administratively from P450 a day because of lack of funds)

The field personnel send or deliver all basic records to Manila

where they are processed computed and filed Most of the office work

is done by office personnel with the field men doing but little of the

office work

9

New timber recorder structure including plank intake with Stevens A-35 recorder Pinagcanauan de Tuguegarao River near Tuguegarao Cagayan Jose G Garcia assistant hydrographer and Norberto Ciriaco District Hydrographer on walkway May 14 1957

Staff gage on Jalaur River at Passi Iloilo From left to right 2 boys A Lacuesta Distr HydrogrLher J CorderoIrrig Distr Engr G Hargreaves J Regalado gagekeeper (kneeling) and onlooker May 8 1957

I

--- S

F National Power Corporation staff gage on Angat River above Ipo Dam now beingreplaced by a Bureau of Public Works recorder installation March 13 1957

O~

~A F~ ~~ shy- ~

~

- --

I ------ ~

A -~ 1

~ -- gt I~-

5 shy

- ~- ~ U

amp~~ -

2r~ ~k- ~ ~

National Power Cororation painted staff gage Bantay River near Bokod BenguetMountain Province Hydrographers helperstanding March 26 1957 Note lower markings faded

11

Whether any other changes are made or not it is the expressed

plan of the Hydrographic Section to have the District-Hydrographer

who is in charge of the Northern Mindanao District headquartered at

Cagayan de Oro

A considerable portion of the pay of district hydrographers and

their staffs comes directly from the Irrigation Section district

office at which they are headquartered rather than through the

Hydrographic Section This has had the effect of limiting their

efforts somewhat to project work rather than to general or all-purpose

investigations

Some of the other agencies particularly the National Power

Corporation obtain the cooperation of the Hydrographic Section in

helping operate certain gaging stations where a duplication of travel

can thus be avoided However the discharge measurements so made by

the Hydrographic Section are turned over to the NPC who make their

own computations of daily discharge The latter also sometimes pays

directly the salaries of certain gagekeepers Usually this cooperashy

tion does not involve an exchange of funds but some change in that

situation is recommended as explained later in this report

All agencies make their daily discharge records available to the

Hydrographic Section upon request and the plan is to have the later

agency include all such records in their publications No reproduction

machine is available in any of the offices and all copies of records

must be made individually in typing or longhand A machine is under

order by the Hydrographic Section

-fiUMBER OI~ GAGIiG~STATIONS-eP-ERATED IN-PIILIPPINES -

CALENDAR YEAR

YEA HYOROGRAPHIC

STAGE NATIONAL

SECTION PO R0 P

RIVEl CONTROL SECTON

TOT AL

DISCHARGE NATIONAL

HYDROGRAPHIC SECTION ORHYTGRPI SECTION POR

TOTAL TOA

RECORDING NON-REC TOTAL NON-REC NON-REC RECORDING NON-REC TOTAL

1908-1922 265 265 265

1923-1944 3 3 9 12

1945 6 6 6 15 15 2 17

1946 2 12 14 14 28 28 4 32

1947 3 11 14 14 29 29 4 33

1948 3 18 21 5 26 45 45 5 50

1949 3 13 16 6 5 27 74 74 15 89

1950 3 9 12 10 4 26 91 91 20 111

1951 3 15 18 10 4 34 103 103 17 120

1952 3 13 16 10 4 30 111 111 17 128 1953 3 17 20 11 17 48 1 96 97 23 120

1954 4 18 22 11 26 49 1 145 146 22 168

1955 4 18 22 13 19 54 1 207 208 27 235

1956 6 12 15 1 25 52 40 189 26 5

13

Various agencies have submitted lists of proposed gaging stations

which they would like to have installed to provide data for their

projects It is apparent that this work will be well coordinated in

the future and that the other agencies will come to rely more and

more on the Hydrographic Section for most of their basic stream-flow

records But they probably will continue to have their own personnel

make certain types of hydrographic investigations for the detailed

study of specific projects such as river profiles tailwater rating

curves etc

Financing

The main difficulty in regard to financing has been lack of

stability and continuity to the program and insufficient generalshy

fund money to permit the establishment of an all-purpose gaging proshy

gram In 1956 and 1957 the Hydrographic Section rec3ived P120000

(less than half of their total funds) for such general use with all

other monies either from counterpart funds (explained below) in theor

form of contributions from other agencies to cover certain gaging

expenses Another difficulty has been the lack of enough funds to

properly carry out the sudden large construction program generated by

the new ICA-furnished materials and instruments Most of the regular

hydrographic force has been assigned to construction during the last

twelve months or so because separate construction foremen or substitute

hydrographers could not be hired As a result the regular field

operation of gaging stations has suffered considerable neglect This

- - -

14

wuld not have been necessary if the Hydrographic Sections funds had

been flexible and appropriated on basis of a performance budget As

it is the Section must adhere to line items which spell out exactly

how all money is to be spent

The financing of an expanded 1958 program now appears to be

progressing satisfactorily largely from the counterpart monies

This fund consists of pesos allocated by the Philippine government

in an amount equivalent to the dollar value of imports furnished by

the ICA It is administered by the National Economic Council with

allocations subject to approval of the ICA on budget recommendations

received from Philippine government agencies In the case of water

resources programs they are assisted by recommendations of the Water

Resources Development Committee an NEC administratively appointed

body composed of representatives of ten agencies interested or inshy

volved in water development A rougn breakdown of the Hydrographic

Sections budget proposed for the fiscal year starting July 1 1957

is as follows

General Fund Pesos

Annual appropriation - ------------ 120000

Counterpart Funds

For bringing up to date the publication of

annual records plus a compilation - - - - 56000

For an expanded program of surface-water

investigations----------- - 500000

TOTAL - - - - - - 676000

The total funds available in 1955 and 1956 fiscal years were 180000

and 280000 respectively

It

a 7~

IC

U

i

Staff gage out of water Labangan River at Bagbag Calumpit Bulacan March 1 1957

7lt 2

I

fr

Gagekeeper and staff Jalaur River at Calinog Iloilo He read 10 centimeters low today because markings on lower part of gage were illegible

I-J May 8 1957

16 8

hational Power Corp staff gage painted on streamward side of cliff Lower markings gone and gagekeeper determines gage heights three times a day by wading to gage and measuring down with rule as shown in this picture Bokod R at Boiod Benguet Mountain Province March 26 1957

Bureau of Public Works staff gage station Gagekeeper has made readingsby measuring down from a nail since this section of gage was washed out by a flood Madlum River near Sibul Springs Bulacan April 25 1957

17

The only difficulty with counterpart financing is that it is

temporary and could conceivably leave the program stranded in a few

years when ICA aid is discontinued The necessity is recognized for

gradually obtaining regular Congressional appropriations to take the

place of counterpart funds An effort will also be made to have a

performance type of budget accepted because line items make the

program inflexible and prevent the best management and economy

It is recommended that other agencies desiring for their projects

certain stream flow records which cannot be financed from the regular

budget of the Hydrographic Section transfer funds annually (either in

advance or on a reimbursement basis) to the Hydrographic Section to

pay the extra costs required for the fulfilment of their requests

Design of the stream gaging program

As mentioned above the fiscal arrangements prevailing up to this

time have resulted in an almost total emphasis on project-type gaging

stations in the Philippines However I believe everyone is now in

agreement with the desirability or need for a nation-wide network of

index or runoff-per-square-kilometer type of stations which will sample

various runoff provinces such as those with different exposures to storms

and having different topography altitude geology type of land cover

etc The intensity of the network of stations in different regions

would vary depending upon the apparent future economic value or worth

of the water in each area This will be discussed in more detail in

the recommendations

18

In order to look over the existing program observe something of

the technical methods in use and see a variety of runoff and economic

types of areas in the islands to gain an idea of the type of stream

gaging network needed I have visited several regions accompanied most

of the time by Mr George Hargreaves It has been very helpful to me

to have him take such an interest in the detailed objectives of ry

assignment and I am sure it will facilitate Mrs Snellas work a great

deal to have available for consultation and guidance Mr Hargreaves

wide experience in water resources development and investigations

We were accompanied by Mr J C Regalado of the ydrographic Section

who made most of the advance contacts with field offices in connecshy

tion with our trips We usually travelled to central points by Philshy

ippine Air Lines and were then driven to nearby areas by field officials

of the Hydrographic Section and other agencies The hospitality and

cooperation of everyone toward us was exceptional and much appreciated

Besides a fairly detailed coverage of the Central Luzon area where an

intensified program is proposed our inspections included Northern

Luzon Southern Luzon (the Bicol region) Leyte Panay and several

parts of Mindanao In addition we made a special effort to observe

the country all along the routes of airplane flights taken and that

coupled with airplane stops made on other islands gave us a fairly

comprehensive view of the geography of the Philippines It is upon

this that my recommendations concerning the design of a stream gaging

program are based

19

Bquipment and technical methods-

The stream gaging equipment and methods used by the Hydrographic

Section since 1908 have been patterned mainly after those of the US

Geological Survey as described in the 1904 publication H4ydrographic

Manual Thus it appears likely that the methods and accuracy stanshy

dards have changed but little since the Philippine program was started

Stream gaging tecniques used by the other agencies are similar but

they have not had the advantage of some of the new ICA-furnished equipshy

ment This is expected to be remedied in the aid allocations for fiscal

year 1958

Although some use has been made of the 2-8 method of measuring

discharge present practice is limited almost entirely to the 6method

for low and medium stages and the sub-surface method for high stages

for the latter the meter is suspended over a 15-E weight and set 03

meter below the surface with a coefficient of 0915 applied

The number of verticals or measuring points taken in the cross

section usually is between 8 and 15 No bridge cranes or suspension

reels of any kind have been available all discharge work other than

with wading rod having been done by hand line All this is about to

be changed with the recent arrival of the first ICA-furnished sounding

reels weights and tag lines purchased from 1956 FY funds

Staff gages are read to the nearest centimeter (about 0033 foot)

Most of the gages would be difficult to read to any closer limit alshy

though a few stations have Leupold Stevens enameled gages with levelshy

rod type markings

20

The hydrographer records his discharge measurement notes in a

small bound pocket-size book which he carries until it is full After

each measurement is computed in the field a complete copy of the notes

is made on a card and mailed to the Manila office I am informed

that the bound notebooks are practically never lost or dropped in

the water With the increased amount of flood measuring expected to

be done in the future that situation might change

Rating curves are drawn to average large groups of discharge

measurements Large rectangular-scale cross section sheets are used

Percentage differences of the measured values with respect to the

rating table are not computed A minimum of use is made of Stoutshy

method shifts

The water-stage recorders furnished to date by the ICA have been

manufactured with time scales of either 03 inch per day (the FM

model) or 48 inches per day (the A-35 model) The former scale is

too small for satisfactory use in most stream gaging and the latter

is too large Thirty pairs of time scale gears have been ordered for

converting the A-35s from 48 to 24 inches per day Upon inquiry at

the factory it was learned that no conversion of the FM recorders is

possible An exchange of 25 of them is being made with the ground

water program for an equivalent value in A-35 recordero but the

remaining 65 will be used at the surface water stations They are

very satisfactory on lakes or spring-fed streams or large streams

whose fluctuations are not too sudden

21

Ipo dam on Angat River which diverts water to supply City of Manila and surrounding area March 13 1957 Reservoir is traversed by boat in reaching the gaging station upstream

Ready to leave Ipo Dam for gaging station 6 kilqmeters upstream B Ramos and J Regalado in oanca March 13 1957

4 ~ s~

B Ramos making discharge measurement by wading on Angat River above Ipo DamMarch 13 1957 Spacings between verticals were obtained from cable makings byline hanging from cable car

23

At non-recording gages it has been the custom to hire gagekeepers

at uniform or statutory rates of 025 or P30 per month (not related

to the distance traversed in going to the gage) to obtain readings

three times a day The pay has been the same even where the gage is

located several kilometers away from the gagekeepers home The system

has certain disadvantages which may affect the accuracy of the records

At some stations the pay is too high while at others it is too low

Three readings a day are not necessary most of the time for adequately

developing the hydrograph especially during the dry season and a

request for obviously unnecessary readings seems to put too severe a

test upon human nature It is practically an open invitation to a

certain amount of faking I doubt that it should be held against a

gagekeeper to put down some estimated readings under those circumstances

any more than it would be to blame children for taking candy or cookies

from a forbidden plate left openly in their midst The question then

becomes - what readings can be relied upon and what cannbt I sincerely

believe that a more accurate daily discharge record can be prepared in

the office from a few completely reliable gage readinrs per week by

means of hydrographic comparisons with recording-gage records from

nearby stations and with less expense than can be produced by proshy

cessing comparing and weeding out questionable parts from a complete

(on paper) record of three readings a day A gagekeepers habit

developed during the dry season of not going to the gage when it is

inconvenient or he doesnt feel like it is bound to crop up during

the high water season as well with the result that all his readings

24

must be looked at critically and considered reliAble only after

unusually extensive comparisons are made with weather records and

other stations

In regard to specialized stream gaging equipment listed below

are the amounts purchased by the ICA up to the present time

Ordered from Ordered from Being FY 1955 PPA 1956 PPA ordered Delivered in Delivered in from 1957

May 1956 May 1957 PPA

Canfield reels 0 6 8

Type A reels 0 6 2

Canfield tag lines 0 15 0

A-35 recorders 20 10 25

FM recorders 65 25 0

Enameled gage secs 400 600 200

Currer meter outfits inc ding rod headphonehanuline and 15-pound weight 11 10 0

Pygmy meters 0 0 10

Bridge cranes 0 3 0

Sounding wts 30-lb 0 0 10

50-lb 0 0 10

I i 75-lb 0 0 1

I 100-lb 0 0 1

Stopwatches 20 10 0

Being purchased as models for possible future use in procurement of

weights of local manufacture

25

~-

-~ ~- shy

~-

4rshy~~L~zu 1 - ~ A-

-~ - ~jj ~

~- k ~ ~

Helper and P Nubio National Power Corporationpreparing to make discharge measurement Tag marks of grass being tied to line Bantay River near Bokod Benguet Mountain Province March 26 1957

-- ~ 4

V

Helper holding meter in place suspended on a weight hanger while revolutions are counted oy hydrographer P Nubio E P Nbesamis is at extreme right March 26 1957

26

-p --shy

t-~-- - -

A ~

A~4 ~ 4

A -Y

- -

- - - -

gt~ ~ ~-

Z4z4a - ~z

- shy -~-~shy

4shy- --

I NPC discharge party on Bokod River at-Bokod BenguetMountain Province Helper and gagekeeper holding meter and 15-pound weight in position P Nubio on shore counting revolutions and recording notes March 26 1957

Ar 7

-~ I

0 I 15-pound weight used in discharge measurement work by the NPC hydrographer stationed at Ambuklao Dam March 26 1957

27

Recommendations

A sharp expansion in the stream gaging program of the Philippines

has occurred recently brought about not only by the ICAs economic and

technical aid program but also by the growing local demand for water

resources information It is inevitable that some organizational

changes would be required to accommodate such a sudden growth This

subject was discussed in conferences with Mr Saddam and Mr Regalado

and the following list of special objectives agreed upon They had a

number of these in mind or partly in effect already and were planning

to gradually adopt several others The items are listed here in order

to express my reasons for wanting to see them completely implemented

within the next two or three years They are as follows

A It is recommended that the district offices compute their own disshy

charge records and prepare them for publication for final review

in the central office in ranila

1 Additional engineers would be needed in each district office

and fewer engineers in the Manila office

2 At least the district hydrographer and preferably one other

engineer in addition should be trained in the office work in

Manila before the records were transferred to a district

3 Each engineer in a district office would be given a field area

which he would cover by a round of discharge measurements once

every 4 to 6 weeks each coverage taking about 2 weeks Betshy

ween trips he would do office work preferably on the same

stations that he covers in the field

28

4 Benefits of thissystem are believed to be as follows

a Records requested could be furnished more quickly to the

public especially to those in the district area

b This kind of a close tie between field and office work has

been found to greatly improve the quality of the records

the economy of operation and the performance and developshy

ment of the individual engineers

c The alternating of each person between field and office

work makes him (1) more competent in the field work and

also more competent in the office work than is possible

in segregated office and field groups and (2) permits

him to be home more of the time and lead a more normal

lifc thus increasing his morale and efficiency

5 Personnel arrangements recommended are

a Offer more rapid promotion to those who transfer like

from Manila to a field office or between field offices

b Encourage each man to transfer every few years with

faster promotions as an incentive It has been found

that this develops an engineers competence more rapidly

than if he stays in one office indefinitely Such ability

repays the government in added officiency and production

to an extent greater than its cost in extra salary

B Certain organization changes are recommended as follows

1 Appoint an Office Engineer a Field Engineer and (whenever

needed) a Construction Engineer They would be headquartered

__

V 29

2

~- ~

q

Ambuklao Dam on Agno River Generating capacity 75000 kw Powerplant is underground March 2557

7- t

-JI

Maria Cristina falls and power plant on Agus River River near Iligan Lanao Province Mindanao Present installed capacity 50000 kw May 1 1957

30

II I

Looking downstream at the Binga dam site on Agno River about 15 kilometers east of Baguio March 25 1957

Looking upstream at the Marikina dam site on Marikina River at Wawa near Montalban Rizal about 25 kilometers northeast of Manila April 5 1957

31

in the Manila office and act under the general supervision of

the head of the Section with the following responsibilities

to be included

a Office Engineer

(1) Be responsible for the discharge computations and

related office work in the Manila field district or

area

(2) Be responsible for review and final preparation for

publication of all records in the nation

(3) See that a progress chart of status-of-record compushy

tations is maintained in each district office and

that a summary statement concerning such progress is

sent to the central office at least quarterly

(4) Be responsible for research in office methods and

equipment (See footnote on next page)

b Field Engineer

(1) Act as first assistant to head of the Section of

Hydrography

(2) Be responsible for field operation vork throughout the

nation

(a) Make at least one annual field inspection in each

district

(b) Develop the system in every headquarters of keepshy

ing a running chronological chart of the discharge

measurements made at each gaging station or

32W

scheduled miscellaneous site A form in use in

Tacoma Washington has been found to be very conshy

venient for this purpose Such a chart gives the

supervisor a quick overall view of the status of

the field work and serves as a check at end of

the year to make sure all measurements have been

listed and counted

(3) Be responsible for the design of the stream gaging

network and the selection of sites for new gaging

stations

(4) Be responsible for research in field methods and

equipment

Construction Engineer

(1) Give general supervision and management to the conshy

struction program

(a) Obtain assignment of resident engineer or foreman

for each job

(b) See that the materials are made available Help

the foreman in every way possible in organizing

the job procuring emergency equipment or supplies

and making decisions about serious problems that

may arise on the job

If funds became available for considerable research it probably

would be better to appoint a special Research Engineer

33

~A

Cagayan River gaging station near Cagayan de OroMisamis Oriental Mindanao April 30 1957 Note how corrugated pipe recorder structure was bent by flood J C Regalado J J Ponco gagekeeper and G H Hargreaves in foreground

-

V

View of staff gage and control on Binakaan River at Tifigib near Pastrana Leyte Stream divided by a barand control excavated for unknown reason May 6 1957 J Regalado by the sign and G Hargreaves at right

Cable footbridge below Binga dam site Tree anchorage for cableway onformerly used by NPC in making Angat River above Ipo Damdischarge measurements P Nubio and March 13 1957E Abesamis of NPC on bridge March 25 1957

35

(c) Visit the major jobs occasionally to see that

they are proceding satisfactorily in all the

islands Make sure the stations are installed

according to instructions and plans An approved

sketch plan showing dimensions and elevations is

desirable for each construction job

(d) Prepare first draft of each new station description

(e) Prepare brief construction report including costs

A form in use at Tacoma Washington has been found

convenient for this purpose

C The following policies in regard to gagekeepers are recommended

1 Start a gradual change-over to paying each gagekeeper on basis

only of the hours he works plus a basic amount for taking the

responsibility This may result in increasing the pay of some

but it should reduce the pay of a much larger number

2 Convert most gagekeepers to two readings a day most of the time

with one or more additional readings during floods In some of

the drier parts of the Central Luzon area in cases where gages

are remote from habitation request only one reading a day

during the dry months such as from January through May inclushy

sive more than that are believed to cost more than they are

worth and are an open invitation to the reporting of estimated

readings

3 When a new recorder installation is at a barrio or bridge where

it appears unlikely to be vandalized try running the station

36

without hiring a gagekeeper If this system proves successful

discontinue the services of the gagekeepers at certain selected

recorders At all other recorders reduce the number of readshy

ings required to one per day and reduce their pay accordingly

If a gagekeeper prefers not to accept a lower monthly rate for

fewer readings it is suggested that he resign except in cases

where security of the station structures or right-of-way favors

may be involved

Proceed on the principle that a saving in public tax money from

the above reforms is more important than supporting gagekeepers

just because they depend on the income and need the money The

present dependence of a gagekeeper on his P300 or P360 a year

and the hardship he must undergo in adjusting to a lower rate

of pay for the job are not believed to be sufficient reasons

for continuing indefinitely to pay him more than necessary

However it is recommended that he be given 30 or 60 days

notice before a reduction in pay is placed in effect

D Vehicles

1 It is recommended that a gradual change-over be made from the

short-wheelbase open Jeep to the Jeep station wagon as a hydroshy

graphers car Benefits should be as follows

a The car can be locked leaving only the tires as attractive

to thieves

b The station wagon has more space As the hydrographers

became better equipped that space will be needed

37

Bamboo-and-grass shelters built and used by crew during construction of gaging station on Angat River above Ipo Dam March 13 1957

3

4

-Ti LP

Proposed site for new index-type gaging station selected on Baoas River near Mangatarem Pangasinan above all diversions by Regalado Romasanta dargreaves and Veatch April 15 1957 Photo by J S Romasanta

38

Taking Philippine Airlines plane at Legaspi Albayfor Manila on May 17 1957 Mount Mayon 7960 feet high in background

I

N 1 x

Y

I

Showing typical vehicle used on the reconnaissance and inspection trips over the Philippines

39

c For occasional errands or trips it will be feasible for

only oneman to take the car because he can lock the con

tents when the car is not attended

d It may possibly develop in some parts of the Philippines

that a hydrographer for a certain area will not need a

driver-helper and thereby a saving in funds can be made

However such a change should be made only on a trial

basis and is not recommended until conditions so warrant

and until the hydrographer involved is satisfied with the

change or else desires it

E Certain technical stream-gaging procedures are recommended to be

followed in the Philippine Islands hydrographic work at the average

gaging station by all agencies doing stream gaging as follows

1 Obtain a discharge measurement once every four to six weeks

throughout the year

2 Furnish the hydrographer with a print of the station descripshy

tion and of the rating curve and require him as a general rule

to compute and plot his discharge measurement in the field

3 Have the gage read both before and after each discharge measureshy

ment and the readings recorded on the field notes

4 Use a loose-leaf discharge-measurement note form or forms

containing a summary page patterned to some extent after the

forms in use by the USGS Bound notes make it too inconshy

venient or perhaps impossible for the office engineer to

examine the notes for a whole year when he analyzes a station

record

40

5 Gradually change to the use of ehameled steel gage plates

instead of painted gages because their initial cost is less

and they are more durable Plates graduated somewhat like

those of the US Geological Survey are believed much better

than those stocked by private companies While here I drew

up a suggested design for local manufacture which appealed

to the Hydrographic Section

6 Obtain levels at staff gages at least once a year especially

on the low section of gage Replace or repair each low secshy

tion soon after it becomes damaged or the markings become

indistinct

7 Continue as a general rule to use the 6-depth method with

the sub-surface method for deep swift water Obtain a comshy

plete cross section as soon as feasible after the high water

has subsided

8 Gradually change to the use of heavier sounding weights so

that the 6-depth method with soundings can be used at high

water in any event take soundings and velocities as far out

as practicable from each bank at flood stages then go across

deep part of channel with sub-surface method Check subshy

surface method coeficients whenever practicable by means of

vertical velocity curves Until such checks show otherwise

use a coefficient of 090

9 Compute discharge measurements by the mid-section method

This saves time (and money) and is at least as accurate as the

41

other method Request hydrographers to bear the method in mind

when selecting verticals near edges of channel or at breaks in

the cross section It is recommended that in the interests of

economy this change be made at an early date

10 Consider 20 as a desirable number of verticals in an average

stream cross section Continue to time the meter revolutions

for 40 to 60 seconds at each setting Someday if more accushy

racy is desired in hydrographic work in the Philippines it

would be appropriate to standardize on 30 verticals per measureshy

ment provided the 2-8 depth method were used and the gages

were read to fractions of a centimeter For the present it

seems consistent to take about 20 verticals when using the 6

method and with gages read only to the nearest centimeter

11 Use steel tag lines for wading measurements Paint bridge

rails and cables with markings sufficiently close together

that they can be used rapidly to determine stationing between

them When installing the paint marks use standard intervals

of either 1 meter 2 meters or 5 meters To avoid confusion

do not use intervals of 3 or 4 meters If measuring intervals

are to be 1 meter or less it is very convenient to have a

mark available every meter If intervals are between 1 and 5

meters use a mark every 2 meters A good system for making

the marks readily identifiable is to place 1 paint mark at

each basic interval like every 2 meters then put 2 marks every

10 meters 3 every 50 meters and 4 at 100 meters

42

use on12 Always tags the portion of the meter suspension line

that goes in the water The tags usually consist of small

pieces of colored cloth taped tightly to the line They

should be watched and checked occasionally against slippage

and error The tags should not be more than one meter apart

and should be spaced to give maximum convenience and speed in

measuring the discharge

13 As it may becoin feasible convert Type A current meters to

Type AA The more deeply recessed bearing of the Type AA

meter provides more durability of the pivot and bearing

because trapped air excludes most of the water and silt the

longer pivot results in a relatively lower center of gravity

of the bucke t wheel with respect to the point of bearing and

results in smoother performance

F Design of the stream gaging network

1 Everyone seem3 to agree with the objective of a network of

well-distributed long-term base stations for giving runoffshy

per-square-kilometer values representative of the general

area in which each station is located As rapidly as practishy

cable stations should be L d n the o ting netrk

and designated as base or index stations for permanent operashy

tion They should be the best stations both hydraulically

and as to equipment and should be free from upstream regushy

lation or diversion Where needed new base stations should

be installed as soon as they can be financed to appropriately

L11 out the network

43

2 In between such base stations it is desirable to sample smaller

basins with short-term records of various lengths which can be short term

correlated with the long records For this purpose thestashy

tion structures should be constructed so that they are as moveshy

able or salvageable as possiblej Often these movable stations

will be operated at or near specific project sites

3 It usually is more economical and satisfactory to gage a stream

at a highway crossing or other convenient place rather than

exactly at a project site later the data can be transferred

to the project site by means of drainage area proportions

checked by obtaining at the site e

two miscellaneous measurements or possibly in some cases a

whole year of record

4 A method for studying the existing network of stations to see

whether the intensity of coverage is satisfactory or not is to

plot correlations between the various station records prefershy

ably following the present methods of the USGS

5 It has been found advantageous to classify all gaging stations

that are in operation using categories somewhat like these

areal network base stations primary and secondary main stream

stations and water management stations This procedure is

helpful in planning how long various stations should be operated

Detailed information about station classification methods is

available from the U S Geological Survey for use as a guide

The Technical Training Program

Early plans

When this assignment was given to me it was anticipated that a

series of across-the-table discussions would be held with small groups

of hydrographers from the Philippine government bureaus engaging in

such work Detailed procedures would be discussed without formality

But when arrangements were initiated for such conferences I was inshy

formed that among those wanting to attend were many at the managerial

level as well as a number of representatives of agencies interested

more in water development projects than in resource investigations

These could not be turned down so it was necessary to revise the

agenda to include more of general interest

Later developments

In view of the wide experience and high rank of many prospective

attendants of the conference it did not seem appropriate to call it

a lecture series or school and the name Seminar On Water Resources

was decided upon The agenda is included in this report and will be

self-explanatory Registered attendance for each of the three weeks

was 68 72 and 70 persons respectively for a total of 210 The

setting for the Seminar can best be understood from the photographs

Conditions as a whole were good although the tape-recording of the

entire three weeks of proceedings and the need for a member to come

F M Veatch and Water Resources Seminar group week of April 8-12 1957 at Bureau of Public Highways conference building Manila

I y

rT

I

4

47

forward and use the microphone whenever he asked a question or made a

comment was somewhat of a dampener oh discussion When preparing the

agenda I assumed that few besides the hydrographers would attend the

sessions on technical details of stream gaging scheduled for Wednesday

to Friday yet the entire membership stayed through the full program

each week and so no small-group round-table discussions were practicable

It developed later that the language barrier was a little more

serious than first realized Also it was not evident at first that

many present did not know what a gaging station was One of the main

benefits gained from the field trip was to show them a typical station

along with some equipment Taken as a whole it is believed that the

Seminar was successful and worthwhile

The sending of trainees from the Hydrographic Section to the

United States by ICA is very effective in supplementing the technical

assistance rendered directly by American personnel in the Philippines

and it should be continued as long as possible

Acknowledgments

Announcements and invitations to attend the Seminar were sent to

numerous agencies and offices by the Hydrographic Section who also

made all arrangements such as for space registration loud speaker

system tape recordings and recess refreshments The Bureau of

Public Highways made their new conference building available and the

National Media Center furnished a slide projector screen and room

all of which were greatly appreciated The introductory talks by

48

several busy executives including Director J A Buendia and Messrs

A T Alano R R Lord P G Afable and D Rosell with Mr Tomas

Saddam acting as master of ceremonies contributed ideas and gave

each weeks session a good send-off

Publications

Copies of the following publications of the U S Geological

Survey (one by Bureau of Reclamation and one from ASCE) were disshyon

play at the Seminar at all times for inspection by the members Alshy

though they were requested not to take the publications away quite a

few copies gradually became missing

Irrigation Water Measurement Tables and Diagrams by U S

Bureau of Reclamation

ASCE Separate 413 - Backwater Effects of Open Channel

Constrictions

Stage-Fall Discharge Relation for Steady Flow in Prismatic

Channels Water-Supply Paper 1164

Topographic Characteristics of Drainage Basins W S P 968C

Weir Experiments Coefficients and Formulas WSP 200

Handbook for Hydrologists - Chapters 1 - 11

Chapter 1 -- Instructions for Flood Frequency Compilations

Chapter 2 -- ledian Discharge Computation Methods

Chapter 3 -- Instructions for Abstracting Topographic

Characteristics of Drainage Basins

i

-Imr- I

1 N

L

V10J~

C R Mirray explaining a ground water formula

Ii

17t

o

Water Resources Seminar group at gaging station on Marikina River near Montalban Rizal about an hours drive northeast of Manila April 12 1957

51

-- Channel Storage and Flood Routing

-- Extending Stream-flow Records

Chapter 6 -- Double Mass Curves

Chapter 7-A- Frequency Curves of Low Flows and Storage

Requirements

Chapter 8 -- Flood Frequency Analyses

Chapter 9 -- Small Stream Investigations

Chapter 10 - Hydrologic Definitions

Chapter 11 - Base-Flow Recession-Curves

Computation of Backwater at Open Channel Constrictions

Floods in Western Washington Frequency and Magnitude in

Relation to Drainage Basin Characteristics GS Circular 191

Floods in Georgia Frequency and Magnitude GS Circular 100

Stream-Gaging Procedure - A Manual Describing Methods and

Practice of the Geological Survey - WSP 888

Investigation of Methods and Equipment used in Stream Gaging

Part 2 Intakes For Gage Wells

Computation of Peak Discharge through Culverts

Computation of Backwater at Open-Channel Constrictions

Equipment for River Measurements Structures for Cableways

by Charles H Pierce

Computation of Peak Discharge at Contractions Circular 284

Care and Rating of Current Meters

Surface Water Supply o the United States 1950 Parts 1 - 14

52

In addition to the above publications a two-page single-spaced

memorandum entitled Plotting Flood Frequency Curves (Extracted from

U S Geological Survey publications) was prepared by me under date

of April 3 1957 and handed to each member of the Seminar each week

The program or agenda for the Seminar one copy of which was

given to each member follows on Pages 53 to 63 inclusive The

graphs on Page 63 were referred to during the talks

53

March 29 1957

AGENDA FOiR SEMINARZ ON WATER RESCURCES AND STAE4 GAGING

IN THE PHILIPPINES

PLACE Conference hoom 2nd Floor Bureau of Public Highways Building Second Street Port Area Manila

TIKE April 1-5 8-12 and 22-26 (same program each week)

CONDUCTED BY M1r i 1 Veatch District EngineerSurface WaterBranch Jater Aesources Division United States Geological Suver Thcoma ashington who is un three-month assignment with the ICA

Held in connoction with the Philippine Government-ICA water resources program

54

GENERAL PROGRAM MONDAY AND TUESDAY

honday morning 830

Opening remarks Mr Julian A Buendia Director Bureau of Fublic Works Mr R R Lord Chief Public Works Division ICA Mr G H Hargreaves Hydraulic Engineer ICA

Importance of water resources and their investigation

The hydrologic cycle Evaporation transpiration and precipitation Runoff

Daily discharge record and the hydrograph Storm runoff Base flow

Grou~nd Water Very brief description (this subject to be covered

iaore fully on Tuesday afternoon)

General characteristics of natural stream runoff in the Philippines Quantity

Adequacy Comparison with United States

Variations with time Day to day and year to year Long-term trends

Distributin by area General over the Philippine Islands Variations between nearby drainage basins

Effect of location elevation geology cover etc

Major uses of stream-flow data Many years of rccornds should be crnsidered Granting water r phts

Protect existing rights Prevent capital expenditures where water supply inadequate

Planning river basin developments including municipal supply irrigation pnwer flood control etc

Destping structures such as dams reservoirs dikes floodways canals pumping systems power plants bridges etc

Accuracy and extent of dat needed for minimizing underdesign or wasteful overdesign

Cost of water-supply data in relation to total cost of a project

Operating water projects Distribution of water on projects Operation of storage reservoirs and diversion dams

To make maximum use uf water supply Designing alterations or enlargements to existing projects

RECESS 1000 to 1015

55 -3-

Monday morning (Continued) 1015 aim

Management of the stream gaging program Foreseeing the needs for stream-flow records

Study population and industrial trends Keep inforned on water-development plans and

prgraIIs of all agencies Continuity of the records

Essential for wator-supply studies Regular financinp reouired

Annual appropriations a poundfccted by temporary econoidc or political conditions

Permanent type of financing needed Surcharge method License fee method

-Dissemination of the data Annual publication Occasional summary compilations Furnishing advance cupies of unpublished records Furnishing current data - daily weekly or munthly

wherever required Special water resources investigation agency desirable

Briefly dancribe United States organization Uniform tecnical standards Uniform ways of presenting data One series of publicatiens Distributial center for basic water data Genera l-coverage program requires close coordination

for economy of operation Personal requirements

Engineers Engir ring aids Computers Clerks

ADJOURN - 1145

Resume after lunch only if necessary for completing the above subjects

56

Tueday morning 830

Design of a comprehensive stream gjaging program General rrinciIlac

Represenkc tive runoff-type provinces should be sainpled with stations of various classes

Vary the intensity of coverage with probable intenshysity of water use

Follow tiie tcends variations with records fromand L sri etatiorns secondary

Correlate resultls one continually adjustnetwork Classification of ra-in stationa

Areal prinary and secondary viain strem priiary nd secondary Water-manmfciact stat-i ons Miscellanous dischaige mcasurements

Correlating the dat obttined in comprehensive program Logarithmic pajer Five years of lecord uscd What is a good corrclation

Analyses of data Flood frcouencjs

Annual serics Partial duration series

Low-flow frecuencies Low-flow duration hydrograph

Extending strewm-flow records Comparisons witi other gaging stations Rainfall-runoff correlations

Quality of water Temperature

Intermittent observations Recorders

Chemical gtuality Element -Dissolved solids

Suspended iaterial Time of cecurrence-floods Sampling

Methods Cost

RECESS - 1000 to 1015

57

- 5 -

Tuesday afternoon 130

Ground water (This subject conducted by Mr C R Murray) Occurrence

Water table Artesian Lakes

Movement Through the ground Into stream channels

Availability Geologic structure Aquifers Funing tests

Recharge Froa precipitation Artificial Froma induced lateral movement

Investigation Geology Springs Logs of dug and drilled wells Test wells

lecording Lanual

Quantitative studies Chemical quality analyses

Mincral ccontnt Sallt water intrusion

Drilling of wells for production use Ground water rirhts

Depletion of ground water reservoirs teyond rccharge capability

ADJOURN at 330

Geologist Ground Water Branch dater Resources Division U 6 Geological Survey who is on two-ywar assignment with ICA

58

PROGRAM ON STREMvi GAGING PROCEDURE WEDNESDAY TO FRIDAY

4ednesday morning 830

Establishing and constructing gaging stations Selection of site

Consider najor probable uses of the record Investigate extent of upstream diversion and

-egulation Utilize contour naps Obtain list of nmrjor water right applications

iydraulic conditicns Section control Shifting channel Overbank flow Dackwater

Accessibility Avoid too much expense Need to reach quickly to measure flash floods

Natural protection front flood damage Avoid excessively expensive construction conditions

Bed iock Quick sand Too-longintake pipes

For non-rccording gage choose site convenient to

one or more local gage readers

Survey of site Bank cross-prefile at gage Cross section at cable Plan

Right of way Oral pervrission ritten permission

Easement Land purchase

RECESS - 945 to 1000

- 7 - 59

Wednesday morning (Continued) 100)

Construction Select types and sizes of structures To fit purpose oi the record Plan later salva e (for secondary stations) For economy of operation (for example design cableway to

operat mesily) Adapt availabic standard plans to fit the site Keep costs to hclp in future estimating Make brief construction report for future assistance in

planninr sililar Jobs Prepare staLion descripLion

Road log distences etc for How to reach paragraph Descriptions of gages bench marks etc Dimensions cf structuis Gage datum elevations of portinent parts of structures

Operating and maintaining gaging stations Records of stage

Choice of dtum Arbitrcry local datum

Set gages so there will be no minus gage readings

Mean sea level datum May be used but has disadvantages

1hen later adjustments are made to level networks

Gages have to be reset or Equation must be published

Non-recording gages Types

Vertical staff Inclined staff

ire-weight Crest-stage gages

Refinement of graduations ake adequate for accuracy of record needed

Maintatling dat of gage Adequate number of local reference marks Take levels at least once a year

Work o- local gare reader Fy according to approx number of hours worked Do not roruire too many roadings for the

conditions Warm (with omphasis) against my guessed

readings Inform reader anv errors in reading will

show up in hydrogrq oic comtparisons Engineers obtain check readings whenever

possible Visit gage reader frequently a d show inshy

terest in his gage-height record Encourage reader to retain personal copy

ADJOURN at 1145

60

Thursday morning 800

Records of stage (continued) Recording gages

Select type of instrument and its scales to fit conditions at gaging station

Weekly or continuous recorder Recorder scales Range of stage Rate of change of stage Availability of someone to change weekly

chart Work of Cage inspector of keeper

Avoid resetting pen Repurt any trash or debris causing backwater

at gage Do not have a gage keeper unless needed

aintaining gage datum Check outside gae by levels annually Keep outside gage sections reset to datum

Standard reference gage Inside gage of soie sort preferable

Staff Float-tape Anchor type

Intake action Clean or flush pipes after floods Slot intakes Self-cleaning iitakes

For pipe gage wells For wells built into bridge piers

Draw-down (where excessive) Use bapfle or static tube

Elood marks at station Make record of well-defined high water

marks

AECESS - 945 to 1000

- 9 - 61

Thursday morning (Continudd) 1000

Discharge measuroments Current hmeters

Price Type A Type AA

Pygmpy Carc of inters

Sounding weights E-typc C-type

Lead Brono

Type of notebook Loose shects Loose-leaf book Bound booL

Measurement of depth aeding rod Tag-line nethod Vertical-nglc coofficients Sounding during floods

Ilacemont of mter Sub--surface method 2-depth n cthod 6-de-pth icthod 2- imetY od

Number of verticals Velocity -urgcs

Miscellaneous f-ctors Effect of bridge piers Horizontal angle of current Insufficient weight on current water

1Mean gage hoitht for a discharge measurement Special methods of (Itermining flood discharge

Floats Slope-area method

Rating curv- etonsion method Arca and velocity curves Loparithmic plottig

Contrqctd-opening mothod Flow ovcr dams

Report on condition of control Carry station description and rating curve in field

Ubtain another me asurement if needed If first indicates large shift If new station and stagc advantagoous for

defining blank part of rating curve

ADJOUffN - 1145 AI

Resumne atfter lunch only if necessary for comploting the above subjects

62

- 10 -

Friday morning S00

A few remarks about office methods Rating curves

Log-log paper Upward extonsions Dowmward extensions

Rectangular plotting Computing recorder charts

M-ark index correction and time correction for each inspection reading

Break midnight lines at raph Never oblitertte or mark over the original trace Nake office markings on chart distinctive from

those mad( At the gage Use of colored pencils by computer and checker is one good wa)y

Daily discharge record Flot hydrograph Compare over light box with other stations

This method preferable to plotting several station records on same sheet

Concluding discussions

RECESS - 945 to 1000

Projection of gaging station equipment Lnd scenic slides taken in the United States and Canada

ADJOURN - 1145

Field trip Cars will be available at the conference building to

take members to the raging station on arikina iRivei at ontalban about an hours drive from Manila where a brief demonstration of certain field equipment will be given

Return to noL later thanoanila 500 FL

---

- Ishy4 ~7L~

0F OllY LISCIiRE 4- 1 -shy

__L TaI- er A6v-a cca

- O 1 B -- 2r 2 ZZ 23 24 2 c 26 7 8 2717x I 2

_~ I 027 _d- 1 2 shy

7 -

n_ a t-i IZ

- _______________ Pnu~ OAgvhshy

-~ ~-r- 1 - V-shy- i-shytvkty--- in--a-- -~ ~Z2m7~ ~

- ~ ~-~-----~- V 1~5~ LTLL2P7o -4----4 1 -- I -- I I _ __ --- -- -- - - L - - I ----

~- ~y~-~ 64 4

N

A il

Seminar members observing demonshystrat-n of measurshying e -pment by F M Veatch at Marikina River gaging station April 12 1957

I

Water Resources Seminar members observing working model of proppsed Binga Dam at the hydraulics laboratory of University of the Philippines April 12 1957

65

Current meter rating flume mechanism Y 22 1957

Current meter rating flume mechanism May 22 1957

66

Current Meter Rating Station

The new current meter rating station at the University of the

Philippines (see photographs) was not quite ready for use before I

left the country The mechanism and instruments were manufactured

in Germanyobtained thru ICA-NEC procurement for the Water Resources

Program of the Department of Public Works and have been installed by

Professor Alberto Villares and his hydraulics laboratory staff under

Dean C A Ortigas of the College of Engineering with some guidance

by Professor Edward L Ericksen of the University of Michigan who is

a civil engineer on detail here with the Stanford Group Professor

Villares spent 18 months in the hydraulics laboratory of the Univershy

sity of Iowa

There is every evidence that this rating flume will with expeshy

rience do work accurate enough not only for determining differences

in ratings between current meters but also for preparing absolute or

independent ratings This can be reported on more fully at some

later date by Messrs Hargreaves and Snell

The Central Luzon Region Program

The Water Resources Development Committee is preparing a recomshy

mended plan for the expedited multiple-purpose development of the

water resources of the Central Luzon region The area contains oneshy

sixteenth of the land surface and one-fourth of the population of the

Philippines and is termed the rice granary of the nation It is to

be used as an example or experiment in water and land development

67

The Committee has requested member agencies to submit estimates

of the minimum amount of additional basic data needed for making a

useful report and for proceeding with development projects Such

estimates are to include mapping soil surveys dam and reservoir site

surveys water resources surveys and other items A preliminary

report is to be prepared soon summarizing the existing information

pointing out the need for additional dataand submitting estimates

of cost for the further investigations needed An outline for the

final report has been prepared and distributed so it will be availashy

ble as a guide and funds for the first years efforts are being

sought for fiscal year 1958 It appears reasonable that the report

on a comprehensive plan could be submitted to the President and

Congress of the Philippines in about five years

With the assistance of Mr Hargreaves I have prepared estimates

for a surface water measurement program to complement the existing

program It is designed to fill the worst gaps in the present netshy

work Details are subject to change as more reconnaissance informashy

tion becomes available as only five days were spent covering the area

by automobile Unit costs were provided by the Hydrographic Section

and they include cost of preparation of the records for publication

Estimates were submitted as given below They were supported by a

detailed list of stream names and locations which included desigshy

nations as to the primary purpose or type of each proposed new gaging

station and whether a recording or non-recording gage was recommended

It is available for reference in both the ydrographic Section and

ICA offices

68

New gaging stations

1 Daily discharge type

Installation (including cableways where needed)

Recording ------- 7 Pl650 11550

Non-recording --- 4 950 3800 15350

Operation 1st year -11 660 7260 P22610

2 High water type (flood records)

Installation

Gages (nonshy

recording) ----- 4 150 600

Measuring equipment 800 1400

Operation 1st year - 4 300 1200 2600

Total for new gaging stations ------------- 25210

Miscellaneous discharge measurements

1 4 or 5 during dry season Nov - April

4 sites x 5 per site = 20 30 ---------------- 600

2 1 or 2 during low part of year March and April

37 sites x l per site = 55 k30 ------------- 1650

Total for miscellaneous measurements ------ 2250

Total -------------- -2746o

69

Rainfall And Evaporation Stations

Existing network

A map examination of the existing network of rain gages was made

and a surprisingly large number were found to be in operation -- 2

recording and 115 manual stations or a total of 117 They are beshy

lieved to be fairly adequate in number and are well distributed

areally over the Philippines but like in the United States are conshy

fined largely to the lower altitudes where the agricultural and urban

population live In addition to these records are available for

various lengths of time from about 8 discontinued Weather Bureau

stations and from more than 300 haciendas reforestaion stations

and provincial rnrseries

Additional gages

The Weather Bureau and the Bureau of Public Works are cooperating

in the installation of some new rainfall stations at higher altitudes

part of which will utilize new instruments purchased with ICA aid

funds Some of the instruments will be installed at existing nonshy

recording stations Forty new installations are proposed for 1958

fiscal year It is now recognized that rainfall station coverage at

higher altitudes is needed in order to furnish records that can be

correlated with the long-term valley records and also with the gaging

station discharge records D

70

Weather station maintained by Bureau of Public WorksIrrigation Division near Tuguegarao Cagayan From left to right N Ciriaco District Hydrographer drivershyhelper observer J G Garcia hydrographer J C Regalado and G H Hargreaves May 13 1957

Weather station at Pototan Iloilo Panay A Lacuestadistrict bydro-rapher standing May 5 1957

71

Group luncheon at Tacloban Leyte typical of the hospitality received by us during inspection tour of the Philippines From left to right M Rico irrig distr engr G Hargreaves G Araos E N Salazar P Formilleza L Abella S Velasco JCRegalado V H Sydiongoo distr hydrographer I M Ortega Oscar de Venecia and N Oliver May 7 1957

ICA Public Works Division March 1957 From left to right C R Murray A A Ketchum asat Div head J B Delaney I J Silverstone Sofia Halili 0 H Hosmer R R Lord Div head B B Hill Betty Valdez G H Hargreaves J L Brenden FM Veatch

72

Evaporation stations

Fifteen double-pan (one open and one partially shaded) evaporation

stations with rainfall temperature wind and humidity instruments as

auxiliary are being operated in the Philippines and ten more are to

follow next year They are well distributed over the islands and

should furnish data of great value for reservoir design Thq reccrds

will be publish3d

Publication of rainfall data

All rainfall reccrds are published annually by the Weather Bureau

whose 1954 volume is the latest one printed The 1955 issue should be

released soon One excellent source of information for anyone studyshy

ing rainfall data in the Philippines is the publication The Distrishy

bution of Rainfall In The Philippines by Eugenio B Manalo Chief

Climatological Division Weather Bureau Manila This contains

valuable descriptive material tables of monthly and annual values

and mean monthly and annual isohyets in inches An inspection or

study of the monthly isohyetal maps shows clearly how storm patterns

change with the seasons in certain parts of the Philippines and that

73

in other areas the rain is almost evenly distributed throughout the

year The long dry season of Manila and the central Luzon plains is

graphically portrayed by the isohyets Mr Manalos publication

should be of great benefit to government agencies and private parties

or individuals in connection with agricultural and business activities

over the islands It is presumed that the isohyets will warrant some

revision after another 5 or 10 years as more records especially those

at higher altitudes become available

Sediment Measurement Stations

Practically no silt-sampling has been done in the Philippines

to date and no extensive program is believed possible because of the

lack of funds For the present it is recommended that every governshy

ment field hydrographer be equipped with a thermomater and a turbidity

stick and required to report a spot water temperature and turbidity

reading at time of each discharge measurement Thus without extra

cost a large amount of data can be accumulated which after several

years should make it possible to determine what streams are the

siltiest and where more detailed studies might be needed Whenever a

reservoir project reaches the intensive-investigation stage including

dam-site drilling detailed topography etc it is recommended that

a complete sediment sampling station be operated there for at least

one full flood season before the project feasibility report is

completed

74

Statement Before Water Resources Development Committee

On March 20 1957 I presented the following statement regarding

the streamflow measurement program in the Philippines

The Philippine Republic is blessed with an excellent supply of

water of good quality but much of it is wasted to the sea during the

rainy season The development of this resource is vitally important

to the nation and it involves the storing of flood waters for dryshy

season release Where investments are to be made for construction of

dams etc in the development of irrigation power production and

flood control large sums can easily be wasted through overdesign or

underdesign if enough engineering data are not available Conflicting

or competing uses for the water supplies will gradually develop in

your country the same as they have in the United States If water

rights are to be granted fairly with due regard for all prior users

many years of basic data are necessary so that the long-term water

supply can be estimated For this purpose a good network of stream

gaging records and ground water levels must be secured One would

not attempt to manage the money in a bank without bookkeeping and it

is just as important to have an accounting system when managing water

The sound economical procedure is to base all project designs on as

complete engineering information as can be obtained

The ICA is attempting to assist the Philippine Government in

planning the orderly development of its water resources and we are

concerned that too many structures may be built before accurate

9i

hydrologic data are available for their design For this reason we

strongly urge you to improve the basic data gathering program at the

earliest possible date as follows

(1) Review and publish the stream-flow records that have been

obtained since the war

(2) Finance an expanded program of stream-flow measurement and

ground water study

The Bureau of Public Works has prepared preliminary estimates of

the funds needed for bringing publication of basic data up to date and

for expanding the wiater resources investigation program The attached

copies of estimates are of course provisional and subject to revision

but it is suggested that they be placed in the files of this Committee

for future reference The figure of P56oooo for publication is a

fairly firm figure It is suggested that the Committee take immeshy

diate action to further the procurement of these funds

The procurement of water resources data is a specialized field

requiring engineers and other technical men with a high degree of

education Years must be spent in training them in such special

work The men must endure rigorous physical work corbatting the

elements and using resourcefulness and judgment It is very uneconoshy

mical and unsatisfactory to have a technical organization of that kind

subject to occasional and unpredictable severe cuts in appropriations

It is even more unsatisfactory to have the time sequence of basic

water data collection interrupted and valuable records lost forever

ILLUSTRATIONS page

27 Footbridge below Binga dam site Agno R March 25 34

28 Tree anchorage for cable Angat R above Ipo Dam

March 13 34

29 Construction shelters at gaging station on Angat R

above Ipo Dam March 13 37

30 Proposed new base gaging station site on Baoas R near

Mangatarem Pangasinan Photo by J S Romasanta

April 15 37

31 Airport at Legaspi Albay May 17 38

32 Jeep and reconnaissance party April 15 38

33 F M Veatch and Seminar group April 9

Photo by E H Capistrano 5

34 F M Veatch and Seminar group April 9

Photo by E H Capistrano

35 C R Murrb and Seminar group April 9 Photo

by E H Capistrano 9

36 Seminar group r-Marikina R gaging station taken

by E H Capistrano from cable car April 12 0

37 Typical discharge hydrograph showing base flow

Manila rainfall 1365 to date 63

38 Demonstration of measuring equipment Seminar

April 12 64

39 Seminar group observing Binga dam model April 12 64

ILLUSTRATIONS Page

40 Looking north at meter rating flume U of P May 22 65

41 Looking south at meter rating flume U of P May 22 65

42 Weather station near Tuguegarao Cagayan May 13 70

43 Weather station at Pototan Iloilo Panay May 5 70

44 Luncheon group at Tacloban Leyte May 7 71

45 ICA Public Works Division personnel March 1957 71

REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON SURFACE WATER RESOURCES INVESTIGATIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES

by

Fred M Veatch

Introduction

Purpose of the detail (1) To assist the ICA and the Philippine

government in determining principles to be followed in laying out a

suitable long-range stream gaging program for the nation (2) To

recommend a specific surface water investigation program for the

Luzon area (3) To hold technical training conferences wiLh Philipshy

pine government personnel in the site selection construction and

field operation of gaging stations (4) To make general recommendations

concerning the precipitation gage network (5) To comment on the posshy

sible need for quality of water investigations in the Philippines and

(6) To comment on the new current meter rating flume being constructed

in Manila

Preparation Orientation or briefing conferences were held with

me in Washington D C January 22-25 1957 by officials of the Geoloshy

gical Survey and the ICA particularly Thomas E Eakin Chief of Overseas

Programs for the Survey and J V B Wells Chief of Surface Water

Division and Malcolm H Jones C L Orrben and E T Hagberg of ICA

Additional briefing was received in Manila

Acknowledgments The carrying out of my assignment in a satisfactory

manner was greatly facilitated in the Philippines by the cooperation and

2

assistance of Mr Russell R Lord Chief of Public Works Division of

ICA and by menmbers of his staff especially Mr George H Hargreaves

Chief Advisor Water Resources Program and by the Philippine Governshy

ment officials with whom I worked most closely including Mr Tomas

Saddam Chief of Hydrographic Section of the Bureau of Public Works

and Mr Jose C Regalado of his staff Mr Alex Delefia of the River

Control Section Messrs I Santos and E P Abesamis of the National

Power Corporation and E B Manalo of the Weather Bureau

Acknowledgment is also made to Messrs R E 01tman and J J

Ligner of the Training Section Surface Water Branch Washington

D C for their cooperation in sending numerous publications needed

at the Seminar and elsewhere in the Philippines and for their sugshy

gestions in regard to training

3

The Stream Gaging Program In The Philippines

History

The Hydrographic Section of the Irrigation Division Department

of Public Works and Communications (formerly the Department of Commerce

and Communications) has been the major stream gaging agency in the

Philippines since the work was started in 1908 265 gaging stations

in 40 of the 49 provinces were operated for short periods of time between

1908 and 1922 mostly in 1910-12 and 1919-22 All daily gage-height and

discharge records collected by that agency between January 1 1923 and

June 1944 became destroyed by Lire during World War II However the

results of numerous discharge measurements made from 1939 to 1942 were

saved for several gaging stations in the Bicol region of southern Luzon

Stream gaging by the Hydrographic Section was resumed on August 19 1945

on the Aringay River near Tubao La Union followed gradually by other

stations as the Liberation progressed

Records for 1908 to 1922 were published in 1923 in four volumes-as

Water Supply Bulletin No 1 Surface Water Supply of the Philippine

Islands which included the results of all discharge measurements as

well as computed daily discharges in second-liters The calendar year

is used rather than a water year The Extremes paragraphs do not

include any stage records the only gage heights published being those

contained in the lists of discharge measurements

k

Forty-six of the gaging stations operated during the 1908-22

period were re-established after World War II at sites where the records

are considered comparable -- that is where the drainage area does not

differ by more than five per cent The longest continuous records of

discharge not affected by diversion or regulation that I have been able

to find in the Philippines for the postwar period are for the Maasim

River near San Rafael Bulacan Luzon October 5 1945 to date and for

the Aringay River near Tubao La Union from August 19 1945 to date

Available maps are not very satisfactory for locating sites of former

gaging stations because the names of many of the barrios and towns are

different on present maps than they were when the stations were first

operated and described

Considerable stream gaging has also been done by the National

Power Corporation and some river stage records have been obtained by

the River Control and Drainage Section Irrigation Division These are

summarized in the tabulation on Page 6 In addition miscelshynumerous

laneous discharge measurements have been obtained by several agencies

Daily discharge records are available in the files of the National

Power Corporation for eight pre-war gaging stations that were operated

for varying periods between 1923 and 1943 by the Bureau of Public Works

One of these on Barit River at Santiago Iriga Camarines Sur was

operated from 1923 to 1940 The original forms for all eight stations

became destroyed during the war but a set of prints was later discovered

by the National Power Corporation in some hydroelectrical project files

that were saved The NPC re-established the Barit River station at

the same site in 1950

5

Marikina R at Montalban Rizal Province with Stevens FM 30-day recorder April 5 1957

TYPICAL NEW GAGING STATION STRUCTURES CONSTRUCTED AS A RESULT CF THE ICA PROGRAM

III I I

I I I

~iz

7~il

2~-

Pampanga River at Atate Nueva Ecija Stevens FM recorder J C Regalado driver helper and L Borbolla in foreground April 14 1957

47~I

-4

4

iuJi rf if poundflLLi

77

Pre-war frame shelter and 36 corr pipe Frame shelter over new 36 corrwell with Gurley weekly recorder Pampanga

J C Regalado B Ramos and E M Veatch pipe well Pampanga River near standing Taken by G H Hargreaves Arayat Pampanga March 1 1957 March 1 1957

Status of post-war computations and publication

Daily discharge computations of the Hydrographic Section tbr 1944

to 1954 are practically coplete those for 1955 are about 40 per deb4t

complete and for 1956 about 15 per cent Office work has been delayed

considerably because of the heavy constructionfprogran which started

in 1956 using supplies and instruments furnished by the ICA All office

computations are made in the Manila office No discharge records have

been published since those of 1908-22 but steps are being taken as

explained later in this report to bring publication up to date It is

planned that the records which have been compuhed for the years 1944 to

1956 will be reviewed before their final preparation for publication

to make sure their standards of accuracy are reasonably consistent

with the slightly higher standards proposed to be instituted as a

result of recommendations made in this report About 1500 stationshy

years of stream-flow recordsless than 10 per cent of which are from

agencies other than the Hydrographic Section are proposed to be comshy

piled and printed in a single-volume publication of monthly and annual

data Tables of monthly minimum discharge are to be included

Organization and cooperation

The Hydrographic Section customarily assigns a district hydrographer

and his assistants as resident at each irrigation district office that

is situated a long distance from Manila Their headquarters are as

follows

District Province Town

Northern Luzon Isabela San Mateo

Bicol Region Luzon Camarines Sur Naga

Eastern Visayas Leyte Tacloban

Western Visayas Iloilo Iloilo

Mindanao Davao Davao

This district is presently being operated by hydrographers from

Manila the same as for the central part of Luzon

The above field hydrographers are each assigned a Jeep and a drivershy

helper Hydrographers pay scales range between about Y2400 and P4200

per annum and in addition they are granted a subsistence allowance of

Y2OO per unit or Y800 a day Driver-helpers receive an average pay

of P5 per day plus a subsistence allowance of P200 per day (which has

been reduced administratively from P450 a day because of lack of funds)

The field personnel send or deliver all basic records to Manila

where they are processed computed and filed Most of the office work

is done by office personnel with the field men doing but little of the

office work

9

New timber recorder structure including plank intake with Stevens A-35 recorder Pinagcanauan de Tuguegarao River near Tuguegarao Cagayan Jose G Garcia assistant hydrographer and Norberto Ciriaco District Hydrographer on walkway May 14 1957

Staff gage on Jalaur River at Passi Iloilo From left to right 2 boys A Lacuesta Distr HydrogrLher J CorderoIrrig Distr Engr G Hargreaves J Regalado gagekeeper (kneeling) and onlooker May 8 1957

I

--- S

F National Power Corporation staff gage on Angat River above Ipo Dam now beingreplaced by a Bureau of Public Works recorder installation March 13 1957

O~

~A F~ ~~ shy- ~

~

- --

I ------ ~

A -~ 1

~ -- gt I~-

5 shy

- ~- ~ U

amp~~ -

2r~ ~k- ~ ~

National Power Cororation painted staff gage Bantay River near Bokod BenguetMountain Province Hydrographers helperstanding March 26 1957 Note lower markings faded

11

Whether any other changes are made or not it is the expressed

plan of the Hydrographic Section to have the District-Hydrographer

who is in charge of the Northern Mindanao District headquartered at

Cagayan de Oro

A considerable portion of the pay of district hydrographers and

their staffs comes directly from the Irrigation Section district

office at which they are headquartered rather than through the

Hydrographic Section This has had the effect of limiting their

efforts somewhat to project work rather than to general or all-purpose

investigations

Some of the other agencies particularly the National Power

Corporation obtain the cooperation of the Hydrographic Section in

helping operate certain gaging stations where a duplication of travel

can thus be avoided However the discharge measurements so made by

the Hydrographic Section are turned over to the NPC who make their

own computations of daily discharge The latter also sometimes pays

directly the salaries of certain gagekeepers Usually this cooperashy

tion does not involve an exchange of funds but some change in that

situation is recommended as explained later in this report

All agencies make their daily discharge records available to the

Hydrographic Section upon request and the plan is to have the later

agency include all such records in their publications No reproduction

machine is available in any of the offices and all copies of records

must be made individually in typing or longhand A machine is under

order by the Hydrographic Section

-fiUMBER OI~ GAGIiG~STATIONS-eP-ERATED IN-PIILIPPINES -

CALENDAR YEAR

YEA HYOROGRAPHIC

STAGE NATIONAL

SECTION PO R0 P

RIVEl CONTROL SECTON

TOT AL

DISCHARGE NATIONAL

HYDROGRAPHIC SECTION ORHYTGRPI SECTION POR

TOTAL TOA

RECORDING NON-REC TOTAL NON-REC NON-REC RECORDING NON-REC TOTAL

1908-1922 265 265 265

1923-1944 3 3 9 12

1945 6 6 6 15 15 2 17

1946 2 12 14 14 28 28 4 32

1947 3 11 14 14 29 29 4 33

1948 3 18 21 5 26 45 45 5 50

1949 3 13 16 6 5 27 74 74 15 89

1950 3 9 12 10 4 26 91 91 20 111

1951 3 15 18 10 4 34 103 103 17 120

1952 3 13 16 10 4 30 111 111 17 128 1953 3 17 20 11 17 48 1 96 97 23 120

1954 4 18 22 11 26 49 1 145 146 22 168

1955 4 18 22 13 19 54 1 207 208 27 235

1956 6 12 15 1 25 52 40 189 26 5

13

Various agencies have submitted lists of proposed gaging stations

which they would like to have installed to provide data for their

projects It is apparent that this work will be well coordinated in

the future and that the other agencies will come to rely more and

more on the Hydrographic Section for most of their basic stream-flow

records But they probably will continue to have their own personnel

make certain types of hydrographic investigations for the detailed

study of specific projects such as river profiles tailwater rating

curves etc

Financing

The main difficulty in regard to financing has been lack of

stability and continuity to the program and insufficient generalshy

fund money to permit the establishment of an all-purpose gaging proshy

gram In 1956 and 1957 the Hydrographic Section rec3ived P120000

(less than half of their total funds) for such general use with all

other monies either from counterpart funds (explained below) in theor

form of contributions from other agencies to cover certain gaging

expenses Another difficulty has been the lack of enough funds to

properly carry out the sudden large construction program generated by

the new ICA-furnished materials and instruments Most of the regular

hydrographic force has been assigned to construction during the last

twelve months or so because separate construction foremen or substitute

hydrographers could not be hired As a result the regular field

operation of gaging stations has suffered considerable neglect This

- - -

14

wuld not have been necessary if the Hydrographic Sections funds had

been flexible and appropriated on basis of a performance budget As

it is the Section must adhere to line items which spell out exactly

how all money is to be spent

The financing of an expanded 1958 program now appears to be

progressing satisfactorily largely from the counterpart monies

This fund consists of pesos allocated by the Philippine government

in an amount equivalent to the dollar value of imports furnished by

the ICA It is administered by the National Economic Council with

allocations subject to approval of the ICA on budget recommendations

received from Philippine government agencies In the case of water

resources programs they are assisted by recommendations of the Water

Resources Development Committee an NEC administratively appointed

body composed of representatives of ten agencies interested or inshy

volved in water development A rougn breakdown of the Hydrographic

Sections budget proposed for the fiscal year starting July 1 1957

is as follows

General Fund Pesos

Annual appropriation - ------------ 120000

Counterpart Funds

For bringing up to date the publication of

annual records plus a compilation - - - - 56000

For an expanded program of surface-water

investigations----------- - 500000

TOTAL - - - - - - 676000

The total funds available in 1955 and 1956 fiscal years were 180000

and 280000 respectively

It

a 7~

IC

U

i

Staff gage out of water Labangan River at Bagbag Calumpit Bulacan March 1 1957

7lt 2

I

fr

Gagekeeper and staff Jalaur River at Calinog Iloilo He read 10 centimeters low today because markings on lower part of gage were illegible

I-J May 8 1957

16 8

hational Power Corp staff gage painted on streamward side of cliff Lower markings gone and gagekeeper determines gage heights three times a day by wading to gage and measuring down with rule as shown in this picture Bokod R at Boiod Benguet Mountain Province March 26 1957

Bureau of Public Works staff gage station Gagekeeper has made readingsby measuring down from a nail since this section of gage was washed out by a flood Madlum River near Sibul Springs Bulacan April 25 1957

17

The only difficulty with counterpart financing is that it is

temporary and could conceivably leave the program stranded in a few

years when ICA aid is discontinued The necessity is recognized for

gradually obtaining regular Congressional appropriations to take the

place of counterpart funds An effort will also be made to have a

performance type of budget accepted because line items make the

program inflexible and prevent the best management and economy

It is recommended that other agencies desiring for their projects

certain stream flow records which cannot be financed from the regular

budget of the Hydrographic Section transfer funds annually (either in

advance or on a reimbursement basis) to the Hydrographic Section to

pay the extra costs required for the fulfilment of their requests

Design of the stream gaging program

As mentioned above the fiscal arrangements prevailing up to this

time have resulted in an almost total emphasis on project-type gaging

stations in the Philippines However I believe everyone is now in

agreement with the desirability or need for a nation-wide network of

index or runoff-per-square-kilometer type of stations which will sample

various runoff provinces such as those with different exposures to storms

and having different topography altitude geology type of land cover

etc The intensity of the network of stations in different regions

would vary depending upon the apparent future economic value or worth

of the water in each area This will be discussed in more detail in

the recommendations

18

In order to look over the existing program observe something of

the technical methods in use and see a variety of runoff and economic

types of areas in the islands to gain an idea of the type of stream

gaging network needed I have visited several regions accompanied most

of the time by Mr George Hargreaves It has been very helpful to me

to have him take such an interest in the detailed objectives of ry

assignment and I am sure it will facilitate Mrs Snellas work a great

deal to have available for consultation and guidance Mr Hargreaves

wide experience in water resources development and investigations

We were accompanied by Mr J C Regalado of the ydrographic Section

who made most of the advance contacts with field offices in connecshy

tion with our trips We usually travelled to central points by Philshy

ippine Air Lines and were then driven to nearby areas by field officials

of the Hydrographic Section and other agencies The hospitality and

cooperation of everyone toward us was exceptional and much appreciated

Besides a fairly detailed coverage of the Central Luzon area where an

intensified program is proposed our inspections included Northern

Luzon Southern Luzon (the Bicol region) Leyte Panay and several

parts of Mindanao In addition we made a special effort to observe

the country all along the routes of airplane flights taken and that

coupled with airplane stops made on other islands gave us a fairly

comprehensive view of the geography of the Philippines It is upon

this that my recommendations concerning the design of a stream gaging

program are based

19

Bquipment and technical methods-

The stream gaging equipment and methods used by the Hydrographic

Section since 1908 have been patterned mainly after those of the US

Geological Survey as described in the 1904 publication H4ydrographic

Manual Thus it appears likely that the methods and accuracy stanshy

dards have changed but little since the Philippine program was started

Stream gaging tecniques used by the other agencies are similar but

they have not had the advantage of some of the new ICA-furnished equipshy

ment This is expected to be remedied in the aid allocations for fiscal

year 1958

Although some use has been made of the 2-8 method of measuring

discharge present practice is limited almost entirely to the 6method

for low and medium stages and the sub-surface method for high stages

for the latter the meter is suspended over a 15-E weight and set 03

meter below the surface with a coefficient of 0915 applied

The number of verticals or measuring points taken in the cross

section usually is between 8 and 15 No bridge cranes or suspension

reels of any kind have been available all discharge work other than

with wading rod having been done by hand line All this is about to

be changed with the recent arrival of the first ICA-furnished sounding

reels weights and tag lines purchased from 1956 FY funds

Staff gages are read to the nearest centimeter (about 0033 foot)

Most of the gages would be difficult to read to any closer limit alshy

though a few stations have Leupold Stevens enameled gages with levelshy

rod type markings

20

The hydrographer records his discharge measurement notes in a

small bound pocket-size book which he carries until it is full After

each measurement is computed in the field a complete copy of the notes

is made on a card and mailed to the Manila office I am informed

that the bound notebooks are practically never lost or dropped in

the water With the increased amount of flood measuring expected to

be done in the future that situation might change

Rating curves are drawn to average large groups of discharge

measurements Large rectangular-scale cross section sheets are used

Percentage differences of the measured values with respect to the

rating table are not computed A minimum of use is made of Stoutshy

method shifts

The water-stage recorders furnished to date by the ICA have been

manufactured with time scales of either 03 inch per day (the FM

model) or 48 inches per day (the A-35 model) The former scale is

too small for satisfactory use in most stream gaging and the latter

is too large Thirty pairs of time scale gears have been ordered for

converting the A-35s from 48 to 24 inches per day Upon inquiry at

the factory it was learned that no conversion of the FM recorders is

possible An exchange of 25 of them is being made with the ground

water program for an equivalent value in A-35 recordero but the

remaining 65 will be used at the surface water stations They are

very satisfactory on lakes or spring-fed streams or large streams

whose fluctuations are not too sudden

21

Ipo dam on Angat River which diverts water to supply City of Manila and surrounding area March 13 1957 Reservoir is traversed by boat in reaching the gaging station upstream

Ready to leave Ipo Dam for gaging station 6 kilqmeters upstream B Ramos and J Regalado in oanca March 13 1957

4 ~ s~

B Ramos making discharge measurement by wading on Angat River above Ipo DamMarch 13 1957 Spacings between verticals were obtained from cable makings byline hanging from cable car

23

At non-recording gages it has been the custom to hire gagekeepers

at uniform or statutory rates of 025 or P30 per month (not related

to the distance traversed in going to the gage) to obtain readings

three times a day The pay has been the same even where the gage is

located several kilometers away from the gagekeepers home The system

has certain disadvantages which may affect the accuracy of the records

At some stations the pay is too high while at others it is too low

Three readings a day are not necessary most of the time for adequately

developing the hydrograph especially during the dry season and a

request for obviously unnecessary readings seems to put too severe a

test upon human nature It is practically an open invitation to a

certain amount of faking I doubt that it should be held against a

gagekeeper to put down some estimated readings under those circumstances

any more than it would be to blame children for taking candy or cookies

from a forbidden plate left openly in their midst The question then

becomes - what readings can be relied upon and what cannbt I sincerely

believe that a more accurate daily discharge record can be prepared in

the office from a few completely reliable gage readinrs per week by

means of hydrographic comparisons with recording-gage records from

nearby stations and with less expense than can be produced by proshy

cessing comparing and weeding out questionable parts from a complete

(on paper) record of three readings a day A gagekeepers habit

developed during the dry season of not going to the gage when it is

inconvenient or he doesnt feel like it is bound to crop up during

the high water season as well with the result that all his readings

24

must be looked at critically and considered reliAble only after

unusually extensive comparisons are made with weather records and

other stations

In regard to specialized stream gaging equipment listed below

are the amounts purchased by the ICA up to the present time

Ordered from Ordered from Being FY 1955 PPA 1956 PPA ordered Delivered in Delivered in from 1957

May 1956 May 1957 PPA

Canfield reels 0 6 8

Type A reels 0 6 2

Canfield tag lines 0 15 0

A-35 recorders 20 10 25

FM recorders 65 25 0

Enameled gage secs 400 600 200

Currer meter outfits inc ding rod headphonehanuline and 15-pound weight 11 10 0

Pygmy meters 0 0 10

Bridge cranes 0 3 0

Sounding wts 30-lb 0 0 10

50-lb 0 0 10

I i 75-lb 0 0 1

I 100-lb 0 0 1

Stopwatches 20 10 0

Being purchased as models for possible future use in procurement of

weights of local manufacture

25

~-

-~ ~- shy

~-

4rshy~~L~zu 1 - ~ A-

-~ - ~jj ~

~- k ~ ~

Helper and P Nubio National Power Corporationpreparing to make discharge measurement Tag marks of grass being tied to line Bantay River near Bokod Benguet Mountain Province March 26 1957

-- ~ 4

V

Helper holding meter in place suspended on a weight hanger while revolutions are counted oy hydrographer P Nubio E P Nbesamis is at extreme right March 26 1957

26

-p --shy

t-~-- - -

A ~

A~4 ~ 4

A -Y

- -

- - - -

gt~ ~ ~-

Z4z4a - ~z

- shy -~-~shy

4shy- --

I NPC discharge party on Bokod River at-Bokod BenguetMountain Province Helper and gagekeeper holding meter and 15-pound weight in position P Nubio on shore counting revolutions and recording notes March 26 1957

Ar 7

-~ I

0 I 15-pound weight used in discharge measurement work by the NPC hydrographer stationed at Ambuklao Dam March 26 1957

27

Recommendations

A sharp expansion in the stream gaging program of the Philippines

has occurred recently brought about not only by the ICAs economic and

technical aid program but also by the growing local demand for water

resources information It is inevitable that some organizational

changes would be required to accommodate such a sudden growth This

subject was discussed in conferences with Mr Saddam and Mr Regalado

and the following list of special objectives agreed upon They had a

number of these in mind or partly in effect already and were planning

to gradually adopt several others The items are listed here in order

to express my reasons for wanting to see them completely implemented

within the next two or three years They are as follows

A It is recommended that the district offices compute their own disshy

charge records and prepare them for publication for final review

in the central office in ranila

1 Additional engineers would be needed in each district office

and fewer engineers in the Manila office

2 At least the district hydrographer and preferably one other

engineer in addition should be trained in the office work in

Manila before the records were transferred to a district

3 Each engineer in a district office would be given a field area

which he would cover by a round of discharge measurements once

every 4 to 6 weeks each coverage taking about 2 weeks Betshy

ween trips he would do office work preferably on the same

stations that he covers in the field

28

4 Benefits of thissystem are believed to be as follows

a Records requested could be furnished more quickly to the

public especially to those in the district area

b This kind of a close tie between field and office work has

been found to greatly improve the quality of the records

the economy of operation and the performance and developshy

ment of the individual engineers

c The alternating of each person between field and office

work makes him (1) more competent in the field work and

also more competent in the office work than is possible

in segregated office and field groups and (2) permits

him to be home more of the time and lead a more normal

lifc thus increasing his morale and efficiency

5 Personnel arrangements recommended are

a Offer more rapid promotion to those who transfer like

from Manila to a field office or between field offices

b Encourage each man to transfer every few years with

faster promotions as an incentive It has been found

that this develops an engineers competence more rapidly

than if he stays in one office indefinitely Such ability

repays the government in added officiency and production

to an extent greater than its cost in extra salary

B Certain organization changes are recommended as follows

1 Appoint an Office Engineer a Field Engineer and (whenever

needed) a Construction Engineer They would be headquartered

__

V 29

2

~- ~

q

Ambuklao Dam on Agno River Generating capacity 75000 kw Powerplant is underground March 2557

7- t

-JI

Maria Cristina falls and power plant on Agus River River near Iligan Lanao Province Mindanao Present installed capacity 50000 kw May 1 1957

30

II I

Looking downstream at the Binga dam site on Agno River about 15 kilometers east of Baguio March 25 1957

Looking upstream at the Marikina dam site on Marikina River at Wawa near Montalban Rizal about 25 kilometers northeast of Manila April 5 1957

31

in the Manila office and act under the general supervision of

the head of the Section with the following responsibilities

to be included

a Office Engineer

(1) Be responsible for the discharge computations and

related office work in the Manila field district or

area

(2) Be responsible for review and final preparation for

publication of all records in the nation

(3) See that a progress chart of status-of-record compushy

tations is maintained in each district office and

that a summary statement concerning such progress is

sent to the central office at least quarterly

(4) Be responsible for research in office methods and

equipment (See footnote on next page)

b Field Engineer

(1) Act as first assistant to head of the Section of

Hydrography

(2) Be responsible for field operation vork throughout the

nation

(a) Make at least one annual field inspection in each

district

(b) Develop the system in every headquarters of keepshy

ing a running chronological chart of the discharge

measurements made at each gaging station or

32W

scheduled miscellaneous site A form in use in

Tacoma Washington has been found to be very conshy

venient for this purpose Such a chart gives the

supervisor a quick overall view of the status of

the field work and serves as a check at end of

the year to make sure all measurements have been

listed and counted

(3) Be responsible for the design of the stream gaging

network and the selection of sites for new gaging

stations

(4) Be responsible for research in field methods and

equipment

Construction Engineer

(1) Give general supervision and management to the conshy

struction program

(a) Obtain assignment of resident engineer or foreman

for each job

(b) See that the materials are made available Help

the foreman in every way possible in organizing

the job procuring emergency equipment or supplies

and making decisions about serious problems that

may arise on the job

If funds became available for considerable research it probably

would be better to appoint a special Research Engineer

33

~A

Cagayan River gaging station near Cagayan de OroMisamis Oriental Mindanao April 30 1957 Note how corrugated pipe recorder structure was bent by flood J C Regalado J J Ponco gagekeeper and G H Hargreaves in foreground

-

V

View of staff gage and control on Binakaan River at Tifigib near Pastrana Leyte Stream divided by a barand control excavated for unknown reason May 6 1957 J Regalado by the sign and G Hargreaves at right

Cable footbridge below Binga dam site Tree anchorage for cableway onformerly used by NPC in making Angat River above Ipo Damdischarge measurements P Nubio and March 13 1957E Abesamis of NPC on bridge March 25 1957

35

(c) Visit the major jobs occasionally to see that

they are proceding satisfactorily in all the

islands Make sure the stations are installed

according to instructions and plans An approved

sketch plan showing dimensions and elevations is

desirable for each construction job

(d) Prepare first draft of each new station description

(e) Prepare brief construction report including costs

A form in use at Tacoma Washington has been found

convenient for this purpose

C The following policies in regard to gagekeepers are recommended

1 Start a gradual change-over to paying each gagekeeper on basis

only of the hours he works plus a basic amount for taking the

responsibility This may result in increasing the pay of some

but it should reduce the pay of a much larger number

2 Convert most gagekeepers to two readings a day most of the time

with one or more additional readings during floods In some of

the drier parts of the Central Luzon area in cases where gages

are remote from habitation request only one reading a day

during the dry months such as from January through May inclushy

sive more than that are believed to cost more than they are

worth and are an open invitation to the reporting of estimated

readings

3 When a new recorder installation is at a barrio or bridge where

it appears unlikely to be vandalized try running the station

36

without hiring a gagekeeper If this system proves successful

discontinue the services of the gagekeepers at certain selected

recorders At all other recorders reduce the number of readshy

ings required to one per day and reduce their pay accordingly

If a gagekeeper prefers not to accept a lower monthly rate for

fewer readings it is suggested that he resign except in cases

where security of the station structures or right-of-way favors

may be involved

Proceed on the principle that a saving in public tax money from

the above reforms is more important than supporting gagekeepers

just because they depend on the income and need the money The

present dependence of a gagekeeper on his P300 or P360 a year

and the hardship he must undergo in adjusting to a lower rate

of pay for the job are not believed to be sufficient reasons

for continuing indefinitely to pay him more than necessary

However it is recommended that he be given 30 or 60 days

notice before a reduction in pay is placed in effect

D Vehicles

1 It is recommended that a gradual change-over be made from the

short-wheelbase open Jeep to the Jeep station wagon as a hydroshy

graphers car Benefits should be as follows

a The car can be locked leaving only the tires as attractive

to thieves

b The station wagon has more space As the hydrographers

became better equipped that space will be needed

37

Bamboo-and-grass shelters built and used by crew during construction of gaging station on Angat River above Ipo Dam March 13 1957

3

4

-Ti LP

Proposed site for new index-type gaging station selected on Baoas River near Mangatarem Pangasinan above all diversions by Regalado Romasanta dargreaves and Veatch April 15 1957 Photo by J S Romasanta

38

Taking Philippine Airlines plane at Legaspi Albayfor Manila on May 17 1957 Mount Mayon 7960 feet high in background

I

N 1 x

Y

I

Showing typical vehicle used on the reconnaissance and inspection trips over the Philippines

39

c For occasional errands or trips it will be feasible for

only oneman to take the car because he can lock the con

tents when the car is not attended

d It may possibly develop in some parts of the Philippines

that a hydrographer for a certain area will not need a

driver-helper and thereby a saving in funds can be made

However such a change should be made only on a trial

basis and is not recommended until conditions so warrant

and until the hydrographer involved is satisfied with the

change or else desires it

E Certain technical stream-gaging procedures are recommended to be

followed in the Philippine Islands hydrographic work at the average

gaging station by all agencies doing stream gaging as follows

1 Obtain a discharge measurement once every four to six weeks

throughout the year

2 Furnish the hydrographer with a print of the station descripshy

tion and of the rating curve and require him as a general rule

to compute and plot his discharge measurement in the field

3 Have the gage read both before and after each discharge measureshy

ment and the readings recorded on the field notes

4 Use a loose-leaf discharge-measurement note form or forms

containing a summary page patterned to some extent after the

forms in use by the USGS Bound notes make it too inconshy

venient or perhaps impossible for the office engineer to

examine the notes for a whole year when he analyzes a station

record

40

5 Gradually change to the use of ehameled steel gage plates

instead of painted gages because their initial cost is less

and they are more durable Plates graduated somewhat like

those of the US Geological Survey are believed much better

than those stocked by private companies While here I drew

up a suggested design for local manufacture which appealed

to the Hydrographic Section

6 Obtain levels at staff gages at least once a year especially

on the low section of gage Replace or repair each low secshy

tion soon after it becomes damaged or the markings become

indistinct

7 Continue as a general rule to use the 6-depth method with

the sub-surface method for deep swift water Obtain a comshy

plete cross section as soon as feasible after the high water

has subsided

8 Gradually change to the use of heavier sounding weights so

that the 6-depth method with soundings can be used at high

water in any event take soundings and velocities as far out

as practicable from each bank at flood stages then go across

deep part of channel with sub-surface method Check subshy

surface method coeficients whenever practicable by means of

vertical velocity curves Until such checks show otherwise

use a coefficient of 090

9 Compute discharge measurements by the mid-section method

This saves time (and money) and is at least as accurate as the

41

other method Request hydrographers to bear the method in mind

when selecting verticals near edges of channel or at breaks in

the cross section It is recommended that in the interests of

economy this change be made at an early date

10 Consider 20 as a desirable number of verticals in an average

stream cross section Continue to time the meter revolutions

for 40 to 60 seconds at each setting Someday if more accushy

racy is desired in hydrographic work in the Philippines it

would be appropriate to standardize on 30 verticals per measureshy

ment provided the 2-8 depth method were used and the gages

were read to fractions of a centimeter For the present it

seems consistent to take about 20 verticals when using the 6

method and with gages read only to the nearest centimeter

11 Use steel tag lines for wading measurements Paint bridge

rails and cables with markings sufficiently close together

that they can be used rapidly to determine stationing between

them When installing the paint marks use standard intervals

of either 1 meter 2 meters or 5 meters To avoid confusion

do not use intervals of 3 or 4 meters If measuring intervals

are to be 1 meter or less it is very convenient to have a

mark available every meter If intervals are between 1 and 5

meters use a mark every 2 meters A good system for making

the marks readily identifiable is to place 1 paint mark at

each basic interval like every 2 meters then put 2 marks every

10 meters 3 every 50 meters and 4 at 100 meters

42

use on12 Always tags the portion of the meter suspension line

that goes in the water The tags usually consist of small

pieces of colored cloth taped tightly to the line They

should be watched and checked occasionally against slippage

and error The tags should not be more than one meter apart

and should be spaced to give maximum convenience and speed in

measuring the discharge

13 As it may becoin feasible convert Type A current meters to

Type AA The more deeply recessed bearing of the Type AA

meter provides more durability of the pivot and bearing

because trapped air excludes most of the water and silt the

longer pivot results in a relatively lower center of gravity

of the bucke t wheel with respect to the point of bearing and

results in smoother performance

F Design of the stream gaging network

1 Everyone seem3 to agree with the objective of a network of

well-distributed long-term base stations for giving runoffshy

per-square-kilometer values representative of the general

area in which each station is located As rapidly as practishy

cable stations should be L d n the o ting netrk

and designated as base or index stations for permanent operashy

tion They should be the best stations both hydraulically

and as to equipment and should be free from upstream regushy

lation or diversion Where needed new base stations should

be installed as soon as they can be financed to appropriately

L11 out the network

43

2 In between such base stations it is desirable to sample smaller

basins with short-term records of various lengths which can be short term

correlated with the long records For this purpose thestashy

tion structures should be constructed so that they are as moveshy

able or salvageable as possiblej Often these movable stations

will be operated at or near specific project sites

3 It usually is more economical and satisfactory to gage a stream

at a highway crossing or other convenient place rather than

exactly at a project site later the data can be transferred

to the project site by means of drainage area proportions

checked by obtaining at the site e

two miscellaneous measurements or possibly in some cases a

whole year of record

4 A method for studying the existing network of stations to see

whether the intensity of coverage is satisfactory or not is to

plot correlations between the various station records prefershy

ably following the present methods of the USGS

5 It has been found advantageous to classify all gaging stations

that are in operation using categories somewhat like these

areal network base stations primary and secondary main stream

stations and water management stations This procedure is

helpful in planning how long various stations should be operated

Detailed information about station classification methods is

available from the U S Geological Survey for use as a guide

The Technical Training Program

Early plans

When this assignment was given to me it was anticipated that a

series of across-the-table discussions would be held with small groups

of hydrographers from the Philippine government bureaus engaging in

such work Detailed procedures would be discussed without formality

But when arrangements were initiated for such conferences I was inshy

formed that among those wanting to attend were many at the managerial

level as well as a number of representatives of agencies interested

more in water development projects than in resource investigations

These could not be turned down so it was necessary to revise the

agenda to include more of general interest

Later developments

In view of the wide experience and high rank of many prospective

attendants of the conference it did not seem appropriate to call it

a lecture series or school and the name Seminar On Water Resources

was decided upon The agenda is included in this report and will be

self-explanatory Registered attendance for each of the three weeks

was 68 72 and 70 persons respectively for a total of 210 The

setting for the Seminar can best be understood from the photographs

Conditions as a whole were good although the tape-recording of the

entire three weeks of proceedings and the need for a member to come

F M Veatch and Water Resources Seminar group week of April 8-12 1957 at Bureau of Public Highways conference building Manila

I y

rT

I

4

47

forward and use the microphone whenever he asked a question or made a

comment was somewhat of a dampener oh discussion When preparing the

agenda I assumed that few besides the hydrographers would attend the

sessions on technical details of stream gaging scheduled for Wednesday

to Friday yet the entire membership stayed through the full program

each week and so no small-group round-table discussions were practicable

It developed later that the language barrier was a little more

serious than first realized Also it was not evident at first that

many present did not know what a gaging station was One of the main

benefits gained from the field trip was to show them a typical station

along with some equipment Taken as a whole it is believed that the

Seminar was successful and worthwhile

The sending of trainees from the Hydrographic Section to the

United States by ICA is very effective in supplementing the technical

assistance rendered directly by American personnel in the Philippines

and it should be continued as long as possible

Acknowledgments

Announcements and invitations to attend the Seminar were sent to

numerous agencies and offices by the Hydrographic Section who also

made all arrangements such as for space registration loud speaker

system tape recordings and recess refreshments The Bureau of

Public Highways made their new conference building available and the

National Media Center furnished a slide projector screen and room

all of which were greatly appreciated The introductory talks by

48

several busy executives including Director J A Buendia and Messrs

A T Alano R R Lord P G Afable and D Rosell with Mr Tomas

Saddam acting as master of ceremonies contributed ideas and gave

each weeks session a good send-off

Publications

Copies of the following publications of the U S Geological

Survey (one by Bureau of Reclamation and one from ASCE) were disshyon

play at the Seminar at all times for inspection by the members Alshy

though they were requested not to take the publications away quite a

few copies gradually became missing

Irrigation Water Measurement Tables and Diagrams by U S

Bureau of Reclamation

ASCE Separate 413 - Backwater Effects of Open Channel

Constrictions

Stage-Fall Discharge Relation for Steady Flow in Prismatic

Channels Water-Supply Paper 1164

Topographic Characteristics of Drainage Basins W S P 968C

Weir Experiments Coefficients and Formulas WSP 200

Handbook for Hydrologists - Chapters 1 - 11

Chapter 1 -- Instructions for Flood Frequency Compilations

Chapter 2 -- ledian Discharge Computation Methods

Chapter 3 -- Instructions for Abstracting Topographic

Characteristics of Drainage Basins

i

-Imr- I

1 N

L

V10J~

C R Mirray explaining a ground water formula

Ii

17t

o

Water Resources Seminar group at gaging station on Marikina River near Montalban Rizal about an hours drive northeast of Manila April 12 1957

51

-- Channel Storage and Flood Routing

-- Extending Stream-flow Records

Chapter 6 -- Double Mass Curves

Chapter 7-A- Frequency Curves of Low Flows and Storage

Requirements

Chapter 8 -- Flood Frequency Analyses

Chapter 9 -- Small Stream Investigations

Chapter 10 - Hydrologic Definitions

Chapter 11 - Base-Flow Recession-Curves

Computation of Backwater at Open Channel Constrictions

Floods in Western Washington Frequency and Magnitude in

Relation to Drainage Basin Characteristics GS Circular 191

Floods in Georgia Frequency and Magnitude GS Circular 100

Stream-Gaging Procedure - A Manual Describing Methods and

Practice of the Geological Survey - WSP 888

Investigation of Methods and Equipment used in Stream Gaging

Part 2 Intakes For Gage Wells

Computation of Peak Discharge through Culverts

Computation of Backwater at Open-Channel Constrictions

Equipment for River Measurements Structures for Cableways

by Charles H Pierce

Computation of Peak Discharge at Contractions Circular 284

Care and Rating of Current Meters

Surface Water Supply o the United States 1950 Parts 1 - 14

52

In addition to the above publications a two-page single-spaced

memorandum entitled Plotting Flood Frequency Curves (Extracted from

U S Geological Survey publications) was prepared by me under date

of April 3 1957 and handed to each member of the Seminar each week

The program or agenda for the Seminar one copy of which was

given to each member follows on Pages 53 to 63 inclusive The

graphs on Page 63 were referred to during the talks

53

March 29 1957

AGENDA FOiR SEMINARZ ON WATER RESCURCES AND STAE4 GAGING

IN THE PHILIPPINES

PLACE Conference hoom 2nd Floor Bureau of Public Highways Building Second Street Port Area Manila

TIKE April 1-5 8-12 and 22-26 (same program each week)

CONDUCTED BY M1r i 1 Veatch District EngineerSurface WaterBranch Jater Aesources Division United States Geological Suver Thcoma ashington who is un three-month assignment with the ICA

Held in connoction with the Philippine Government-ICA water resources program

54

GENERAL PROGRAM MONDAY AND TUESDAY

honday morning 830

Opening remarks Mr Julian A Buendia Director Bureau of Fublic Works Mr R R Lord Chief Public Works Division ICA Mr G H Hargreaves Hydraulic Engineer ICA

Importance of water resources and their investigation

The hydrologic cycle Evaporation transpiration and precipitation Runoff

Daily discharge record and the hydrograph Storm runoff Base flow

Grou~nd Water Very brief description (this subject to be covered

iaore fully on Tuesday afternoon)

General characteristics of natural stream runoff in the Philippines Quantity

Adequacy Comparison with United States

Variations with time Day to day and year to year Long-term trends

Distributin by area General over the Philippine Islands Variations between nearby drainage basins

Effect of location elevation geology cover etc

Major uses of stream-flow data Many years of rccornds should be crnsidered Granting water r phts

Protect existing rights Prevent capital expenditures where water supply inadequate

Planning river basin developments including municipal supply irrigation pnwer flood control etc

Destping structures such as dams reservoirs dikes floodways canals pumping systems power plants bridges etc

Accuracy and extent of dat needed for minimizing underdesign or wasteful overdesign

Cost of water-supply data in relation to total cost of a project

Operating water projects Distribution of water on projects Operation of storage reservoirs and diversion dams

To make maximum use uf water supply Designing alterations or enlargements to existing projects

RECESS 1000 to 1015

55 -3-

Monday morning (Continued) 1015 aim

Management of the stream gaging program Foreseeing the needs for stream-flow records

Study population and industrial trends Keep inforned on water-development plans and

prgraIIs of all agencies Continuity of the records

Essential for wator-supply studies Regular financinp reouired

Annual appropriations a poundfccted by temporary econoidc or political conditions

Permanent type of financing needed Surcharge method License fee method

-Dissemination of the data Annual publication Occasional summary compilations Furnishing advance cupies of unpublished records Furnishing current data - daily weekly or munthly

wherever required Special water resources investigation agency desirable

Briefly dancribe United States organization Uniform tecnical standards Uniform ways of presenting data One series of publicatiens Distributial center for basic water data Genera l-coverage program requires close coordination

for economy of operation Personal requirements

Engineers Engir ring aids Computers Clerks

ADJOURN - 1145

Resume after lunch only if necessary for completing the above subjects

56

Tueday morning 830

Design of a comprehensive stream gjaging program General rrinciIlac

Represenkc tive runoff-type provinces should be sainpled with stations of various classes

Vary the intensity of coverage with probable intenshysity of water use

Follow tiie tcends variations with records fromand L sri etatiorns secondary

Correlate resultls one continually adjustnetwork Classification of ra-in stationa

Areal prinary and secondary viain strem priiary nd secondary Water-manmfciact stat-i ons Miscellanous dischaige mcasurements

Correlating the dat obttined in comprehensive program Logarithmic pajer Five years of lecord uscd What is a good corrclation

Analyses of data Flood frcouencjs

Annual serics Partial duration series

Low-flow frecuencies Low-flow duration hydrograph

Extending strewm-flow records Comparisons witi other gaging stations Rainfall-runoff correlations

Quality of water Temperature

Intermittent observations Recorders

Chemical gtuality Element -Dissolved solids

Suspended iaterial Time of cecurrence-floods Sampling

Methods Cost

RECESS - 1000 to 1015

57

- 5 -

Tuesday afternoon 130

Ground water (This subject conducted by Mr C R Murray) Occurrence

Water table Artesian Lakes

Movement Through the ground Into stream channels

Availability Geologic structure Aquifers Funing tests

Recharge Froa precipitation Artificial Froma induced lateral movement

Investigation Geology Springs Logs of dug and drilled wells Test wells

lecording Lanual

Quantitative studies Chemical quality analyses

Mincral ccontnt Sallt water intrusion

Drilling of wells for production use Ground water rirhts

Depletion of ground water reservoirs teyond rccharge capability

ADJOURN at 330

Geologist Ground Water Branch dater Resources Division U 6 Geological Survey who is on two-ywar assignment with ICA

58

PROGRAM ON STREMvi GAGING PROCEDURE WEDNESDAY TO FRIDAY

4ednesday morning 830

Establishing and constructing gaging stations Selection of site

Consider najor probable uses of the record Investigate extent of upstream diversion and

-egulation Utilize contour naps Obtain list of nmrjor water right applications

iydraulic conditicns Section control Shifting channel Overbank flow Dackwater

Accessibility Avoid too much expense Need to reach quickly to measure flash floods

Natural protection front flood damage Avoid excessively expensive construction conditions

Bed iock Quick sand Too-longintake pipes

For non-rccording gage choose site convenient to

one or more local gage readers

Survey of site Bank cross-prefile at gage Cross section at cable Plan

Right of way Oral pervrission ritten permission

Easement Land purchase

RECESS - 945 to 1000

- 7 - 59

Wednesday morning (Continued) 100)

Construction Select types and sizes of structures To fit purpose oi the record Plan later salva e (for secondary stations) For economy of operation (for example design cableway to

operat mesily) Adapt availabic standard plans to fit the site Keep costs to hclp in future estimating Make brief construction report for future assistance in

planninr sililar Jobs Prepare staLion descripLion

Road log distences etc for How to reach paragraph Descriptions of gages bench marks etc Dimensions cf structuis Gage datum elevations of portinent parts of structures

Operating and maintaining gaging stations Records of stage

Choice of dtum Arbitrcry local datum

Set gages so there will be no minus gage readings

Mean sea level datum May be used but has disadvantages

1hen later adjustments are made to level networks

Gages have to be reset or Equation must be published

Non-recording gages Types

Vertical staff Inclined staff

ire-weight Crest-stage gages

Refinement of graduations ake adequate for accuracy of record needed

Maintatling dat of gage Adequate number of local reference marks Take levels at least once a year

Work o- local gare reader Fy according to approx number of hours worked Do not roruire too many roadings for the

conditions Warm (with omphasis) against my guessed

readings Inform reader anv errors in reading will

show up in hydrogrq oic comtparisons Engineers obtain check readings whenever

possible Visit gage reader frequently a d show inshy

terest in his gage-height record Encourage reader to retain personal copy

ADJOURN at 1145

60

Thursday morning 800

Records of stage (continued) Recording gages

Select type of instrument and its scales to fit conditions at gaging station

Weekly or continuous recorder Recorder scales Range of stage Rate of change of stage Availability of someone to change weekly

chart Work of Cage inspector of keeper

Avoid resetting pen Repurt any trash or debris causing backwater

at gage Do not have a gage keeper unless needed

aintaining gage datum Check outside gae by levels annually Keep outside gage sections reset to datum

Standard reference gage Inside gage of soie sort preferable

Staff Float-tape Anchor type

Intake action Clean or flush pipes after floods Slot intakes Self-cleaning iitakes

For pipe gage wells For wells built into bridge piers

Draw-down (where excessive) Use bapfle or static tube

Elood marks at station Make record of well-defined high water

marks

AECESS - 945 to 1000

- 9 - 61

Thursday morning (Continudd) 1000

Discharge measuroments Current hmeters

Price Type A Type AA

Pygmpy Carc of inters

Sounding weights E-typc C-type

Lead Brono

Type of notebook Loose shects Loose-leaf book Bound booL

Measurement of depth aeding rod Tag-line nethod Vertical-nglc coofficients Sounding during floods

Ilacemont of mter Sub--surface method 2-depth n cthod 6-de-pth icthod 2- imetY od

Number of verticals Velocity -urgcs

Miscellaneous f-ctors Effect of bridge piers Horizontal angle of current Insufficient weight on current water

1Mean gage hoitht for a discharge measurement Special methods of (Itermining flood discharge

Floats Slope-area method

Rating curv- etonsion method Arca and velocity curves Loparithmic plottig

Contrqctd-opening mothod Flow ovcr dams

Report on condition of control Carry station description and rating curve in field

Ubtain another me asurement if needed If first indicates large shift If new station and stagc advantagoous for

defining blank part of rating curve

ADJOUffN - 1145 AI

Resumne atfter lunch only if necessary for comploting the above subjects

62

- 10 -

Friday morning S00

A few remarks about office methods Rating curves

Log-log paper Upward extonsions Dowmward extensions

Rectangular plotting Computing recorder charts

M-ark index correction and time correction for each inspection reading

Break midnight lines at raph Never oblitertte or mark over the original trace Nake office markings on chart distinctive from

those mad( At the gage Use of colored pencils by computer and checker is one good wa)y

Daily discharge record Flot hydrograph Compare over light box with other stations

This method preferable to plotting several station records on same sheet

Concluding discussions

RECESS - 945 to 1000

Projection of gaging station equipment Lnd scenic slides taken in the United States and Canada

ADJOURN - 1145

Field trip Cars will be available at the conference building to

take members to the raging station on arikina iRivei at ontalban about an hours drive from Manila where a brief demonstration of certain field equipment will be given

Return to noL later thanoanila 500 FL

---

- Ishy4 ~7L~

0F OllY LISCIiRE 4- 1 -shy

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_~ I 027 _d- 1 2 shy

7 -

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- _______________ Pnu~ OAgvhshy

-~ ~-r- 1 - V-shy- i-shytvkty--- in--a-- -~ ~Z2m7~ ~

- ~ ~-~-----~- V 1~5~ LTLL2P7o -4----4 1 -- I -- I I _ __ --- -- -- - - L - - I ----

~- ~y~-~ 64 4

N

A il

Seminar members observing demonshystrat-n of measurshying e -pment by F M Veatch at Marikina River gaging station April 12 1957

I

Water Resources Seminar members observing working model of proppsed Binga Dam at the hydraulics laboratory of University of the Philippines April 12 1957

65

Current meter rating flume mechanism Y 22 1957

Current meter rating flume mechanism May 22 1957

66

Current Meter Rating Station

The new current meter rating station at the University of the

Philippines (see photographs) was not quite ready for use before I

left the country The mechanism and instruments were manufactured

in Germanyobtained thru ICA-NEC procurement for the Water Resources

Program of the Department of Public Works and have been installed by

Professor Alberto Villares and his hydraulics laboratory staff under

Dean C A Ortigas of the College of Engineering with some guidance

by Professor Edward L Ericksen of the University of Michigan who is

a civil engineer on detail here with the Stanford Group Professor

Villares spent 18 months in the hydraulics laboratory of the Univershy

sity of Iowa

There is every evidence that this rating flume will with expeshy

rience do work accurate enough not only for determining differences

in ratings between current meters but also for preparing absolute or

independent ratings This can be reported on more fully at some

later date by Messrs Hargreaves and Snell

The Central Luzon Region Program

The Water Resources Development Committee is preparing a recomshy

mended plan for the expedited multiple-purpose development of the

water resources of the Central Luzon region The area contains oneshy

sixteenth of the land surface and one-fourth of the population of the

Philippines and is termed the rice granary of the nation It is to

be used as an example or experiment in water and land development

67

The Committee has requested member agencies to submit estimates

of the minimum amount of additional basic data needed for making a

useful report and for proceeding with development projects Such

estimates are to include mapping soil surveys dam and reservoir site

surveys water resources surveys and other items A preliminary

report is to be prepared soon summarizing the existing information

pointing out the need for additional dataand submitting estimates

of cost for the further investigations needed An outline for the

final report has been prepared and distributed so it will be availashy

ble as a guide and funds for the first years efforts are being

sought for fiscal year 1958 It appears reasonable that the report

on a comprehensive plan could be submitted to the President and

Congress of the Philippines in about five years

With the assistance of Mr Hargreaves I have prepared estimates

for a surface water measurement program to complement the existing

program It is designed to fill the worst gaps in the present netshy

work Details are subject to change as more reconnaissance informashy

tion becomes available as only five days were spent covering the area

by automobile Unit costs were provided by the Hydrographic Section

and they include cost of preparation of the records for publication

Estimates were submitted as given below They were supported by a

detailed list of stream names and locations which included desigshy

nations as to the primary purpose or type of each proposed new gaging

station and whether a recording or non-recording gage was recommended

It is available for reference in both the ydrographic Section and

ICA offices

68

New gaging stations

1 Daily discharge type

Installation (including cableways where needed)

Recording ------- 7 Pl650 11550

Non-recording --- 4 950 3800 15350

Operation 1st year -11 660 7260 P22610

2 High water type (flood records)

Installation

Gages (nonshy

recording) ----- 4 150 600

Measuring equipment 800 1400

Operation 1st year - 4 300 1200 2600

Total for new gaging stations ------------- 25210

Miscellaneous discharge measurements

1 4 or 5 during dry season Nov - April

4 sites x 5 per site = 20 30 ---------------- 600

2 1 or 2 during low part of year March and April

37 sites x l per site = 55 k30 ------------- 1650

Total for miscellaneous measurements ------ 2250

Total -------------- -2746o

69

Rainfall And Evaporation Stations

Existing network

A map examination of the existing network of rain gages was made

and a surprisingly large number were found to be in operation -- 2

recording and 115 manual stations or a total of 117 They are beshy

lieved to be fairly adequate in number and are well distributed

areally over the Philippines but like in the United States are conshy

fined largely to the lower altitudes where the agricultural and urban

population live In addition to these records are available for

various lengths of time from about 8 discontinued Weather Bureau

stations and from more than 300 haciendas reforestaion stations

and provincial rnrseries

Additional gages

The Weather Bureau and the Bureau of Public Works are cooperating

in the installation of some new rainfall stations at higher altitudes

part of which will utilize new instruments purchased with ICA aid

funds Some of the instruments will be installed at existing nonshy

recording stations Forty new installations are proposed for 1958

fiscal year It is now recognized that rainfall station coverage at

higher altitudes is needed in order to furnish records that can be

correlated with the long-term valley records and also with the gaging

station discharge records D

70

Weather station maintained by Bureau of Public WorksIrrigation Division near Tuguegarao Cagayan From left to right N Ciriaco District Hydrographer drivershyhelper observer J G Garcia hydrographer J C Regalado and G H Hargreaves May 13 1957

Weather station at Pototan Iloilo Panay A Lacuestadistrict bydro-rapher standing May 5 1957

71

Group luncheon at Tacloban Leyte typical of the hospitality received by us during inspection tour of the Philippines From left to right M Rico irrig distr engr G Hargreaves G Araos E N Salazar P Formilleza L Abella S Velasco JCRegalado V H Sydiongoo distr hydrographer I M Ortega Oscar de Venecia and N Oliver May 7 1957

ICA Public Works Division March 1957 From left to right C R Murray A A Ketchum asat Div head J B Delaney I J Silverstone Sofia Halili 0 H Hosmer R R Lord Div head B B Hill Betty Valdez G H Hargreaves J L Brenden FM Veatch

72

Evaporation stations

Fifteen double-pan (one open and one partially shaded) evaporation

stations with rainfall temperature wind and humidity instruments as

auxiliary are being operated in the Philippines and ten more are to

follow next year They are well distributed over the islands and

should furnish data of great value for reservoir design Thq reccrds

will be publish3d

Publication of rainfall data

All rainfall reccrds are published annually by the Weather Bureau

whose 1954 volume is the latest one printed The 1955 issue should be

released soon One excellent source of information for anyone studyshy

ing rainfall data in the Philippines is the publication The Distrishy

bution of Rainfall In The Philippines by Eugenio B Manalo Chief

Climatological Division Weather Bureau Manila This contains

valuable descriptive material tables of monthly and annual values

and mean monthly and annual isohyets in inches An inspection or

study of the monthly isohyetal maps shows clearly how storm patterns

change with the seasons in certain parts of the Philippines and that

73

in other areas the rain is almost evenly distributed throughout the

year The long dry season of Manila and the central Luzon plains is

graphically portrayed by the isohyets Mr Manalos publication

should be of great benefit to government agencies and private parties

or individuals in connection with agricultural and business activities

over the islands It is presumed that the isohyets will warrant some

revision after another 5 or 10 years as more records especially those

at higher altitudes become available

Sediment Measurement Stations

Practically no silt-sampling has been done in the Philippines

to date and no extensive program is believed possible because of the

lack of funds For the present it is recommended that every governshy

ment field hydrographer be equipped with a thermomater and a turbidity

stick and required to report a spot water temperature and turbidity

reading at time of each discharge measurement Thus without extra

cost a large amount of data can be accumulated which after several

years should make it possible to determine what streams are the

siltiest and where more detailed studies might be needed Whenever a

reservoir project reaches the intensive-investigation stage including

dam-site drilling detailed topography etc it is recommended that

a complete sediment sampling station be operated there for at least

one full flood season before the project feasibility report is

completed

74

Statement Before Water Resources Development Committee

On March 20 1957 I presented the following statement regarding

the streamflow measurement program in the Philippines

The Philippine Republic is blessed with an excellent supply of

water of good quality but much of it is wasted to the sea during the

rainy season The development of this resource is vitally important

to the nation and it involves the storing of flood waters for dryshy

season release Where investments are to be made for construction of

dams etc in the development of irrigation power production and

flood control large sums can easily be wasted through overdesign or

underdesign if enough engineering data are not available Conflicting

or competing uses for the water supplies will gradually develop in

your country the same as they have in the United States If water

rights are to be granted fairly with due regard for all prior users

many years of basic data are necessary so that the long-term water

supply can be estimated For this purpose a good network of stream

gaging records and ground water levels must be secured One would

not attempt to manage the money in a bank without bookkeeping and it

is just as important to have an accounting system when managing water

The sound economical procedure is to base all project designs on as

complete engineering information as can be obtained

The ICA is attempting to assist the Philippine Government in

planning the orderly development of its water resources and we are

concerned that too many structures may be built before accurate

9i

hydrologic data are available for their design For this reason we

strongly urge you to improve the basic data gathering program at the

earliest possible date as follows

(1) Review and publish the stream-flow records that have been

obtained since the war

(2) Finance an expanded program of stream-flow measurement and

ground water study

The Bureau of Public Works has prepared preliminary estimates of

the funds needed for bringing publication of basic data up to date and

for expanding the wiater resources investigation program The attached

copies of estimates are of course provisional and subject to revision

but it is suggested that they be placed in the files of this Committee

for future reference The figure of P56oooo for publication is a

fairly firm figure It is suggested that the Committee take immeshy

diate action to further the procurement of these funds

The procurement of water resources data is a specialized field

requiring engineers and other technical men with a high degree of

education Years must be spent in training them in such special

work The men must endure rigorous physical work corbatting the

elements and using resourcefulness and judgment It is very uneconoshy

mical and unsatisfactory to have a technical organization of that kind

subject to occasional and unpredictable severe cuts in appropriations

It is even more unsatisfactory to have the time sequence of basic

water data collection interrupted and valuable records lost forever

ILLUSTRATIONS Page

40 Looking north at meter rating flume U of P May 22 65

41 Looking south at meter rating flume U of P May 22 65

42 Weather station near Tuguegarao Cagayan May 13 70

43 Weather station at Pototan Iloilo Panay May 5 70

44 Luncheon group at Tacloban Leyte May 7 71

45 ICA Public Works Division personnel March 1957 71

REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON SURFACE WATER RESOURCES INVESTIGATIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES

by

Fred M Veatch

Introduction

Purpose of the detail (1) To assist the ICA and the Philippine

government in determining principles to be followed in laying out a

suitable long-range stream gaging program for the nation (2) To

recommend a specific surface water investigation program for the

Luzon area (3) To hold technical training conferences wiLh Philipshy

pine government personnel in the site selection construction and

field operation of gaging stations (4) To make general recommendations

concerning the precipitation gage network (5) To comment on the posshy

sible need for quality of water investigations in the Philippines and

(6) To comment on the new current meter rating flume being constructed

in Manila

Preparation Orientation or briefing conferences were held with

me in Washington D C January 22-25 1957 by officials of the Geoloshy

gical Survey and the ICA particularly Thomas E Eakin Chief of Overseas

Programs for the Survey and J V B Wells Chief of Surface Water

Division and Malcolm H Jones C L Orrben and E T Hagberg of ICA

Additional briefing was received in Manila

Acknowledgments The carrying out of my assignment in a satisfactory

manner was greatly facilitated in the Philippines by the cooperation and

2

assistance of Mr Russell R Lord Chief of Public Works Division of

ICA and by menmbers of his staff especially Mr George H Hargreaves

Chief Advisor Water Resources Program and by the Philippine Governshy

ment officials with whom I worked most closely including Mr Tomas

Saddam Chief of Hydrographic Section of the Bureau of Public Works

and Mr Jose C Regalado of his staff Mr Alex Delefia of the River

Control Section Messrs I Santos and E P Abesamis of the National

Power Corporation and E B Manalo of the Weather Bureau

Acknowledgment is also made to Messrs R E 01tman and J J

Ligner of the Training Section Surface Water Branch Washington

D C for their cooperation in sending numerous publications needed

at the Seminar and elsewhere in the Philippines and for their sugshy

gestions in regard to training

3

The Stream Gaging Program In The Philippines

History

The Hydrographic Section of the Irrigation Division Department

of Public Works and Communications (formerly the Department of Commerce

and Communications) has been the major stream gaging agency in the

Philippines since the work was started in 1908 265 gaging stations

in 40 of the 49 provinces were operated for short periods of time between

1908 and 1922 mostly in 1910-12 and 1919-22 All daily gage-height and

discharge records collected by that agency between January 1 1923 and

June 1944 became destroyed by Lire during World War II However the

results of numerous discharge measurements made from 1939 to 1942 were

saved for several gaging stations in the Bicol region of southern Luzon

Stream gaging by the Hydrographic Section was resumed on August 19 1945

on the Aringay River near Tubao La Union followed gradually by other

stations as the Liberation progressed

Records for 1908 to 1922 were published in 1923 in four volumes-as

Water Supply Bulletin No 1 Surface Water Supply of the Philippine

Islands which included the results of all discharge measurements as

well as computed daily discharges in second-liters The calendar year

is used rather than a water year The Extremes paragraphs do not

include any stage records the only gage heights published being those

contained in the lists of discharge measurements

k

Forty-six of the gaging stations operated during the 1908-22

period were re-established after World War II at sites where the records

are considered comparable -- that is where the drainage area does not

differ by more than five per cent The longest continuous records of

discharge not affected by diversion or regulation that I have been able

to find in the Philippines for the postwar period are for the Maasim

River near San Rafael Bulacan Luzon October 5 1945 to date and for

the Aringay River near Tubao La Union from August 19 1945 to date

Available maps are not very satisfactory for locating sites of former

gaging stations because the names of many of the barrios and towns are

different on present maps than they were when the stations were first

operated and described

Considerable stream gaging has also been done by the National

Power Corporation and some river stage records have been obtained by

the River Control and Drainage Section Irrigation Division These are

summarized in the tabulation on Page 6 In addition miscelshynumerous

laneous discharge measurements have been obtained by several agencies

Daily discharge records are available in the files of the National

Power Corporation for eight pre-war gaging stations that were operated

for varying periods between 1923 and 1943 by the Bureau of Public Works

One of these on Barit River at Santiago Iriga Camarines Sur was

operated from 1923 to 1940 The original forms for all eight stations

became destroyed during the war but a set of prints was later discovered

by the National Power Corporation in some hydroelectrical project files

that were saved The NPC re-established the Barit River station at

the same site in 1950

5

Marikina R at Montalban Rizal Province with Stevens FM 30-day recorder April 5 1957

TYPICAL NEW GAGING STATION STRUCTURES CONSTRUCTED AS A RESULT CF THE ICA PROGRAM

III I I

I I I

~iz

7~il

2~-

Pampanga River at Atate Nueva Ecija Stevens FM recorder J C Regalado driver helper and L Borbolla in foreground April 14 1957

47~I

-4

4

iuJi rf if poundflLLi

77

Pre-war frame shelter and 36 corr pipe Frame shelter over new 36 corrwell with Gurley weekly recorder Pampanga

J C Regalado B Ramos and E M Veatch pipe well Pampanga River near standing Taken by G H Hargreaves Arayat Pampanga March 1 1957 March 1 1957

Status of post-war computations and publication

Daily discharge computations of the Hydrographic Section tbr 1944

to 1954 are practically coplete those for 1955 are about 40 per deb4t

complete and for 1956 about 15 per cent Office work has been delayed

considerably because of the heavy constructionfprogran which started

in 1956 using supplies and instruments furnished by the ICA All office

computations are made in the Manila office No discharge records have

been published since those of 1908-22 but steps are being taken as

explained later in this report to bring publication up to date It is

planned that the records which have been compuhed for the years 1944 to

1956 will be reviewed before their final preparation for publication

to make sure their standards of accuracy are reasonably consistent

with the slightly higher standards proposed to be instituted as a

result of recommendations made in this report About 1500 stationshy

years of stream-flow recordsless than 10 per cent of which are from

agencies other than the Hydrographic Section are proposed to be comshy

piled and printed in a single-volume publication of monthly and annual

data Tables of monthly minimum discharge are to be included

Organization and cooperation

The Hydrographic Section customarily assigns a district hydrographer

and his assistants as resident at each irrigation district office that

is situated a long distance from Manila Their headquarters are as

follows

District Province Town

Northern Luzon Isabela San Mateo

Bicol Region Luzon Camarines Sur Naga

Eastern Visayas Leyte Tacloban

Western Visayas Iloilo Iloilo

Mindanao Davao Davao

This district is presently being operated by hydrographers from

Manila the same as for the central part of Luzon

The above field hydrographers are each assigned a Jeep and a drivershy

helper Hydrographers pay scales range between about Y2400 and P4200

per annum and in addition they are granted a subsistence allowance of

Y2OO per unit or Y800 a day Driver-helpers receive an average pay

of P5 per day plus a subsistence allowance of P200 per day (which has

been reduced administratively from P450 a day because of lack of funds)

The field personnel send or deliver all basic records to Manila

where they are processed computed and filed Most of the office work

is done by office personnel with the field men doing but little of the

office work

9

New timber recorder structure including plank intake with Stevens A-35 recorder Pinagcanauan de Tuguegarao River near Tuguegarao Cagayan Jose G Garcia assistant hydrographer and Norberto Ciriaco District Hydrographer on walkway May 14 1957

Staff gage on Jalaur River at Passi Iloilo From left to right 2 boys A Lacuesta Distr HydrogrLher J CorderoIrrig Distr Engr G Hargreaves J Regalado gagekeeper (kneeling) and onlooker May 8 1957

I

--- S

F National Power Corporation staff gage on Angat River above Ipo Dam now beingreplaced by a Bureau of Public Works recorder installation March 13 1957

O~

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~ -- gt I~-

5 shy

- ~- ~ U

amp~~ -

2r~ ~k- ~ ~

National Power Cororation painted staff gage Bantay River near Bokod BenguetMountain Province Hydrographers helperstanding March 26 1957 Note lower markings faded

11

Whether any other changes are made or not it is the expressed

plan of the Hydrographic Section to have the District-Hydrographer

who is in charge of the Northern Mindanao District headquartered at

Cagayan de Oro

A considerable portion of the pay of district hydrographers and

their staffs comes directly from the Irrigation Section district

office at which they are headquartered rather than through the

Hydrographic Section This has had the effect of limiting their

efforts somewhat to project work rather than to general or all-purpose

investigations

Some of the other agencies particularly the National Power

Corporation obtain the cooperation of the Hydrographic Section in

helping operate certain gaging stations where a duplication of travel

can thus be avoided However the discharge measurements so made by

the Hydrographic Section are turned over to the NPC who make their

own computations of daily discharge The latter also sometimes pays

directly the salaries of certain gagekeepers Usually this cooperashy

tion does not involve an exchange of funds but some change in that

situation is recommended as explained later in this report

All agencies make their daily discharge records available to the

Hydrographic Section upon request and the plan is to have the later

agency include all such records in their publications No reproduction

machine is available in any of the offices and all copies of records

must be made individually in typing or longhand A machine is under

order by the Hydrographic Section

-fiUMBER OI~ GAGIiG~STATIONS-eP-ERATED IN-PIILIPPINES -

CALENDAR YEAR

YEA HYOROGRAPHIC

STAGE NATIONAL

SECTION PO R0 P

RIVEl CONTROL SECTON

TOT AL

DISCHARGE NATIONAL

HYDROGRAPHIC SECTION ORHYTGRPI SECTION POR

TOTAL TOA

RECORDING NON-REC TOTAL NON-REC NON-REC RECORDING NON-REC TOTAL

1908-1922 265 265 265

1923-1944 3 3 9 12

1945 6 6 6 15 15 2 17

1946 2 12 14 14 28 28 4 32

1947 3 11 14 14 29 29 4 33

1948 3 18 21 5 26 45 45 5 50

1949 3 13 16 6 5 27 74 74 15 89

1950 3 9 12 10 4 26 91 91 20 111

1951 3 15 18 10 4 34 103 103 17 120

1952 3 13 16 10 4 30 111 111 17 128 1953 3 17 20 11 17 48 1 96 97 23 120

1954 4 18 22 11 26 49 1 145 146 22 168

1955 4 18 22 13 19 54 1 207 208 27 235

1956 6 12 15 1 25 52 40 189 26 5

13

Various agencies have submitted lists of proposed gaging stations

which they would like to have installed to provide data for their

projects It is apparent that this work will be well coordinated in

the future and that the other agencies will come to rely more and

more on the Hydrographic Section for most of their basic stream-flow

records But they probably will continue to have their own personnel

make certain types of hydrographic investigations for the detailed

study of specific projects such as river profiles tailwater rating

curves etc

Financing

The main difficulty in regard to financing has been lack of

stability and continuity to the program and insufficient generalshy

fund money to permit the establishment of an all-purpose gaging proshy

gram In 1956 and 1957 the Hydrographic Section rec3ived P120000

(less than half of their total funds) for such general use with all

other monies either from counterpart funds (explained below) in theor

form of contributions from other agencies to cover certain gaging

expenses Another difficulty has been the lack of enough funds to

properly carry out the sudden large construction program generated by

the new ICA-furnished materials and instruments Most of the regular

hydrographic force has been assigned to construction during the last

twelve months or so because separate construction foremen or substitute

hydrographers could not be hired As a result the regular field

operation of gaging stations has suffered considerable neglect This

- - -

14

wuld not have been necessary if the Hydrographic Sections funds had

been flexible and appropriated on basis of a performance budget As

it is the Section must adhere to line items which spell out exactly

how all money is to be spent

The financing of an expanded 1958 program now appears to be

progressing satisfactorily largely from the counterpart monies

This fund consists of pesos allocated by the Philippine government

in an amount equivalent to the dollar value of imports furnished by

the ICA It is administered by the National Economic Council with

allocations subject to approval of the ICA on budget recommendations

received from Philippine government agencies In the case of water

resources programs they are assisted by recommendations of the Water

Resources Development Committee an NEC administratively appointed

body composed of representatives of ten agencies interested or inshy

volved in water development A rougn breakdown of the Hydrographic

Sections budget proposed for the fiscal year starting July 1 1957

is as follows

General Fund Pesos

Annual appropriation - ------------ 120000

Counterpart Funds

For bringing up to date the publication of

annual records plus a compilation - - - - 56000

For an expanded program of surface-water

investigations----------- - 500000

TOTAL - - - - - - 676000

The total funds available in 1955 and 1956 fiscal years were 180000

and 280000 respectively

It

a 7~

IC

U

i

Staff gage out of water Labangan River at Bagbag Calumpit Bulacan March 1 1957

7lt 2

I

fr

Gagekeeper and staff Jalaur River at Calinog Iloilo He read 10 centimeters low today because markings on lower part of gage were illegible

I-J May 8 1957

16 8

hational Power Corp staff gage painted on streamward side of cliff Lower markings gone and gagekeeper determines gage heights three times a day by wading to gage and measuring down with rule as shown in this picture Bokod R at Boiod Benguet Mountain Province March 26 1957

Bureau of Public Works staff gage station Gagekeeper has made readingsby measuring down from a nail since this section of gage was washed out by a flood Madlum River near Sibul Springs Bulacan April 25 1957

17

The only difficulty with counterpart financing is that it is

temporary and could conceivably leave the program stranded in a few

years when ICA aid is discontinued The necessity is recognized for

gradually obtaining regular Congressional appropriations to take the

place of counterpart funds An effort will also be made to have a

performance type of budget accepted because line items make the

program inflexible and prevent the best management and economy

It is recommended that other agencies desiring for their projects

certain stream flow records which cannot be financed from the regular

budget of the Hydrographic Section transfer funds annually (either in

advance or on a reimbursement basis) to the Hydrographic Section to

pay the extra costs required for the fulfilment of their requests

Design of the stream gaging program

As mentioned above the fiscal arrangements prevailing up to this

time have resulted in an almost total emphasis on project-type gaging

stations in the Philippines However I believe everyone is now in

agreement with the desirability or need for a nation-wide network of

index or runoff-per-square-kilometer type of stations which will sample

various runoff provinces such as those with different exposures to storms

and having different topography altitude geology type of land cover

etc The intensity of the network of stations in different regions

would vary depending upon the apparent future economic value or worth

of the water in each area This will be discussed in more detail in

the recommendations

18

In order to look over the existing program observe something of

the technical methods in use and see a variety of runoff and economic

types of areas in the islands to gain an idea of the type of stream

gaging network needed I have visited several regions accompanied most

of the time by Mr George Hargreaves It has been very helpful to me

to have him take such an interest in the detailed objectives of ry

assignment and I am sure it will facilitate Mrs Snellas work a great

deal to have available for consultation and guidance Mr Hargreaves

wide experience in water resources development and investigations

We were accompanied by Mr J C Regalado of the ydrographic Section

who made most of the advance contacts with field offices in connecshy

tion with our trips We usually travelled to central points by Philshy

ippine Air Lines and were then driven to nearby areas by field officials

of the Hydrographic Section and other agencies The hospitality and

cooperation of everyone toward us was exceptional and much appreciated

Besides a fairly detailed coverage of the Central Luzon area where an

intensified program is proposed our inspections included Northern

Luzon Southern Luzon (the Bicol region) Leyte Panay and several

parts of Mindanao In addition we made a special effort to observe

the country all along the routes of airplane flights taken and that

coupled with airplane stops made on other islands gave us a fairly

comprehensive view of the geography of the Philippines It is upon

this that my recommendations concerning the design of a stream gaging

program are based

19

Bquipment and technical methods-

The stream gaging equipment and methods used by the Hydrographic

Section since 1908 have been patterned mainly after those of the US

Geological Survey as described in the 1904 publication H4ydrographic

Manual Thus it appears likely that the methods and accuracy stanshy

dards have changed but little since the Philippine program was started

Stream gaging tecniques used by the other agencies are similar but

they have not had the advantage of some of the new ICA-furnished equipshy

ment This is expected to be remedied in the aid allocations for fiscal

year 1958

Although some use has been made of the 2-8 method of measuring

discharge present practice is limited almost entirely to the 6method

for low and medium stages and the sub-surface method for high stages

for the latter the meter is suspended over a 15-E weight and set 03

meter below the surface with a coefficient of 0915 applied

The number of verticals or measuring points taken in the cross

section usually is between 8 and 15 No bridge cranes or suspension

reels of any kind have been available all discharge work other than

with wading rod having been done by hand line All this is about to

be changed with the recent arrival of the first ICA-furnished sounding

reels weights and tag lines purchased from 1956 FY funds

Staff gages are read to the nearest centimeter (about 0033 foot)

Most of the gages would be difficult to read to any closer limit alshy

though a few stations have Leupold Stevens enameled gages with levelshy

rod type markings

20

The hydrographer records his discharge measurement notes in a

small bound pocket-size book which he carries until it is full After

each measurement is computed in the field a complete copy of the notes

is made on a card and mailed to the Manila office I am informed

that the bound notebooks are practically never lost or dropped in

the water With the increased amount of flood measuring expected to

be done in the future that situation might change

Rating curves are drawn to average large groups of discharge

measurements Large rectangular-scale cross section sheets are used

Percentage differences of the measured values with respect to the

rating table are not computed A minimum of use is made of Stoutshy

method shifts

The water-stage recorders furnished to date by the ICA have been

manufactured with time scales of either 03 inch per day (the FM

model) or 48 inches per day (the A-35 model) The former scale is

too small for satisfactory use in most stream gaging and the latter

is too large Thirty pairs of time scale gears have been ordered for

converting the A-35s from 48 to 24 inches per day Upon inquiry at

the factory it was learned that no conversion of the FM recorders is

possible An exchange of 25 of them is being made with the ground

water program for an equivalent value in A-35 recordero but the

remaining 65 will be used at the surface water stations They are

very satisfactory on lakes or spring-fed streams or large streams

whose fluctuations are not too sudden

21

Ipo dam on Angat River which diverts water to supply City of Manila and surrounding area March 13 1957 Reservoir is traversed by boat in reaching the gaging station upstream

Ready to leave Ipo Dam for gaging station 6 kilqmeters upstream B Ramos and J Regalado in oanca March 13 1957

4 ~ s~

B Ramos making discharge measurement by wading on Angat River above Ipo DamMarch 13 1957 Spacings between verticals were obtained from cable makings byline hanging from cable car

23

At non-recording gages it has been the custom to hire gagekeepers

at uniform or statutory rates of 025 or P30 per month (not related

to the distance traversed in going to the gage) to obtain readings

three times a day The pay has been the same even where the gage is

located several kilometers away from the gagekeepers home The system

has certain disadvantages which may affect the accuracy of the records

At some stations the pay is too high while at others it is too low

Three readings a day are not necessary most of the time for adequately

developing the hydrograph especially during the dry season and a

request for obviously unnecessary readings seems to put too severe a

test upon human nature It is practically an open invitation to a

certain amount of faking I doubt that it should be held against a

gagekeeper to put down some estimated readings under those circumstances

any more than it would be to blame children for taking candy or cookies

from a forbidden plate left openly in their midst The question then

becomes - what readings can be relied upon and what cannbt I sincerely

believe that a more accurate daily discharge record can be prepared in

the office from a few completely reliable gage readinrs per week by

means of hydrographic comparisons with recording-gage records from

nearby stations and with less expense than can be produced by proshy

cessing comparing and weeding out questionable parts from a complete

(on paper) record of three readings a day A gagekeepers habit

developed during the dry season of not going to the gage when it is

inconvenient or he doesnt feel like it is bound to crop up during

the high water season as well with the result that all his readings

24

must be looked at critically and considered reliAble only after

unusually extensive comparisons are made with weather records and

other stations

In regard to specialized stream gaging equipment listed below

are the amounts purchased by the ICA up to the present time

Ordered from Ordered from Being FY 1955 PPA 1956 PPA ordered Delivered in Delivered in from 1957

May 1956 May 1957 PPA

Canfield reels 0 6 8

Type A reels 0 6 2

Canfield tag lines 0 15 0

A-35 recorders 20 10 25

FM recorders 65 25 0

Enameled gage secs 400 600 200

Currer meter outfits inc ding rod headphonehanuline and 15-pound weight 11 10 0

Pygmy meters 0 0 10

Bridge cranes 0 3 0

Sounding wts 30-lb 0 0 10

50-lb 0 0 10

I i 75-lb 0 0 1

I 100-lb 0 0 1

Stopwatches 20 10 0

Being purchased as models for possible future use in procurement of

weights of local manufacture

25

~-

-~ ~- shy

~-

4rshy~~L~zu 1 - ~ A-

-~ - ~jj ~

~- k ~ ~

Helper and P Nubio National Power Corporationpreparing to make discharge measurement Tag marks of grass being tied to line Bantay River near Bokod Benguet Mountain Province March 26 1957

-- ~ 4

V

Helper holding meter in place suspended on a weight hanger while revolutions are counted oy hydrographer P Nubio E P Nbesamis is at extreme right March 26 1957

26

-p --shy

t-~-- - -

A ~

A~4 ~ 4

A -Y

- -

- - - -

gt~ ~ ~-

Z4z4a - ~z

- shy -~-~shy

4shy- --

I NPC discharge party on Bokod River at-Bokod BenguetMountain Province Helper and gagekeeper holding meter and 15-pound weight in position P Nubio on shore counting revolutions and recording notes March 26 1957

Ar 7

-~ I

0 I 15-pound weight used in discharge measurement work by the NPC hydrographer stationed at Ambuklao Dam March 26 1957

27

Recommendations

A sharp expansion in the stream gaging program of the Philippines

has occurred recently brought about not only by the ICAs economic and

technical aid program but also by the growing local demand for water

resources information It is inevitable that some organizational

changes would be required to accommodate such a sudden growth This

subject was discussed in conferences with Mr Saddam and Mr Regalado

and the following list of special objectives agreed upon They had a

number of these in mind or partly in effect already and were planning

to gradually adopt several others The items are listed here in order

to express my reasons for wanting to see them completely implemented

within the next two or three years They are as follows

A It is recommended that the district offices compute their own disshy

charge records and prepare them for publication for final review

in the central office in ranila

1 Additional engineers would be needed in each district office

and fewer engineers in the Manila office

2 At least the district hydrographer and preferably one other

engineer in addition should be trained in the office work in

Manila before the records were transferred to a district

3 Each engineer in a district office would be given a field area

which he would cover by a round of discharge measurements once

every 4 to 6 weeks each coverage taking about 2 weeks Betshy

ween trips he would do office work preferably on the same

stations that he covers in the field

28

4 Benefits of thissystem are believed to be as follows

a Records requested could be furnished more quickly to the

public especially to those in the district area

b This kind of a close tie between field and office work has

been found to greatly improve the quality of the records

the economy of operation and the performance and developshy

ment of the individual engineers

c The alternating of each person between field and office

work makes him (1) more competent in the field work and

also more competent in the office work than is possible

in segregated office and field groups and (2) permits

him to be home more of the time and lead a more normal

lifc thus increasing his morale and efficiency

5 Personnel arrangements recommended are

a Offer more rapid promotion to those who transfer like

from Manila to a field office or between field offices

b Encourage each man to transfer every few years with

faster promotions as an incentive It has been found

that this develops an engineers competence more rapidly

than if he stays in one office indefinitely Such ability

repays the government in added officiency and production

to an extent greater than its cost in extra salary

B Certain organization changes are recommended as follows

1 Appoint an Office Engineer a Field Engineer and (whenever

needed) a Construction Engineer They would be headquartered

__

V 29

2

~- ~

q

Ambuklao Dam on Agno River Generating capacity 75000 kw Powerplant is underground March 2557

7- t

-JI

Maria Cristina falls and power plant on Agus River River near Iligan Lanao Province Mindanao Present installed capacity 50000 kw May 1 1957

30

II I

Looking downstream at the Binga dam site on Agno River about 15 kilometers east of Baguio March 25 1957

Looking upstream at the Marikina dam site on Marikina River at Wawa near Montalban Rizal about 25 kilometers northeast of Manila April 5 1957

31

in the Manila office and act under the general supervision of

the head of the Section with the following responsibilities

to be included

a Office Engineer

(1) Be responsible for the discharge computations and

related office work in the Manila field district or

area

(2) Be responsible for review and final preparation for

publication of all records in the nation

(3) See that a progress chart of status-of-record compushy

tations is maintained in each district office and

that a summary statement concerning such progress is

sent to the central office at least quarterly

(4) Be responsible for research in office methods and

equipment (See footnote on next page)

b Field Engineer

(1) Act as first assistant to head of the Section of

Hydrography

(2) Be responsible for field operation vork throughout the

nation

(a) Make at least one annual field inspection in each

district

(b) Develop the system in every headquarters of keepshy

ing a running chronological chart of the discharge

measurements made at each gaging station or

32W

scheduled miscellaneous site A form in use in

Tacoma Washington has been found to be very conshy

venient for this purpose Such a chart gives the

supervisor a quick overall view of the status of

the field work and serves as a check at end of

the year to make sure all measurements have been

listed and counted

(3) Be responsible for the design of the stream gaging

network and the selection of sites for new gaging

stations

(4) Be responsible for research in field methods and

equipment

Construction Engineer

(1) Give general supervision and management to the conshy

struction program

(a) Obtain assignment of resident engineer or foreman

for each job

(b) See that the materials are made available Help

the foreman in every way possible in organizing

the job procuring emergency equipment or supplies

and making decisions about serious problems that

may arise on the job

If funds became available for considerable research it probably

would be better to appoint a special Research Engineer

33

~A

Cagayan River gaging station near Cagayan de OroMisamis Oriental Mindanao April 30 1957 Note how corrugated pipe recorder structure was bent by flood J C Regalado J J Ponco gagekeeper and G H Hargreaves in foreground

-

V

View of staff gage and control on Binakaan River at Tifigib near Pastrana Leyte Stream divided by a barand control excavated for unknown reason May 6 1957 J Regalado by the sign and G Hargreaves at right

Cable footbridge below Binga dam site Tree anchorage for cableway onformerly used by NPC in making Angat River above Ipo Damdischarge measurements P Nubio and March 13 1957E Abesamis of NPC on bridge March 25 1957

35

(c) Visit the major jobs occasionally to see that

they are proceding satisfactorily in all the

islands Make sure the stations are installed

according to instructions and plans An approved

sketch plan showing dimensions and elevations is

desirable for each construction job

(d) Prepare first draft of each new station description

(e) Prepare brief construction report including costs

A form in use at Tacoma Washington has been found

convenient for this purpose

C The following policies in regard to gagekeepers are recommended

1 Start a gradual change-over to paying each gagekeeper on basis

only of the hours he works plus a basic amount for taking the

responsibility This may result in increasing the pay of some

but it should reduce the pay of a much larger number

2 Convert most gagekeepers to two readings a day most of the time

with one or more additional readings during floods In some of

the drier parts of the Central Luzon area in cases where gages

are remote from habitation request only one reading a day

during the dry months such as from January through May inclushy

sive more than that are believed to cost more than they are

worth and are an open invitation to the reporting of estimated

readings

3 When a new recorder installation is at a barrio or bridge where

it appears unlikely to be vandalized try running the station

36

without hiring a gagekeeper If this system proves successful

discontinue the services of the gagekeepers at certain selected

recorders At all other recorders reduce the number of readshy

ings required to one per day and reduce their pay accordingly

If a gagekeeper prefers not to accept a lower monthly rate for

fewer readings it is suggested that he resign except in cases

where security of the station structures or right-of-way favors

may be involved

Proceed on the principle that a saving in public tax money from

the above reforms is more important than supporting gagekeepers

just because they depend on the income and need the money The

present dependence of a gagekeeper on his P300 or P360 a year

and the hardship he must undergo in adjusting to a lower rate

of pay for the job are not believed to be sufficient reasons

for continuing indefinitely to pay him more than necessary

However it is recommended that he be given 30 or 60 days

notice before a reduction in pay is placed in effect

D Vehicles

1 It is recommended that a gradual change-over be made from the

short-wheelbase open Jeep to the Jeep station wagon as a hydroshy

graphers car Benefits should be as follows

a The car can be locked leaving only the tires as attractive

to thieves

b The station wagon has more space As the hydrographers

became better equipped that space will be needed

37

Bamboo-and-grass shelters built and used by crew during construction of gaging station on Angat River above Ipo Dam March 13 1957

3

4

-Ti LP

Proposed site for new index-type gaging station selected on Baoas River near Mangatarem Pangasinan above all diversions by Regalado Romasanta dargreaves and Veatch April 15 1957 Photo by J S Romasanta

38

Taking Philippine Airlines plane at Legaspi Albayfor Manila on May 17 1957 Mount Mayon 7960 feet high in background

I

N 1 x

Y

I

Showing typical vehicle used on the reconnaissance and inspection trips over the Philippines

39

c For occasional errands or trips it will be feasible for

only oneman to take the car because he can lock the con

tents when the car is not attended

d It may possibly develop in some parts of the Philippines

that a hydrographer for a certain area will not need a

driver-helper and thereby a saving in funds can be made

However such a change should be made only on a trial

basis and is not recommended until conditions so warrant

and until the hydrographer involved is satisfied with the

change or else desires it

E Certain technical stream-gaging procedures are recommended to be

followed in the Philippine Islands hydrographic work at the average

gaging station by all agencies doing stream gaging as follows

1 Obtain a discharge measurement once every four to six weeks

throughout the year

2 Furnish the hydrographer with a print of the station descripshy

tion and of the rating curve and require him as a general rule

to compute and plot his discharge measurement in the field

3 Have the gage read both before and after each discharge measureshy

ment and the readings recorded on the field notes

4 Use a loose-leaf discharge-measurement note form or forms

containing a summary page patterned to some extent after the

forms in use by the USGS Bound notes make it too inconshy

venient or perhaps impossible for the office engineer to

examine the notes for a whole year when he analyzes a station

record

40

5 Gradually change to the use of ehameled steel gage plates

instead of painted gages because their initial cost is less

and they are more durable Plates graduated somewhat like

those of the US Geological Survey are believed much better

than those stocked by private companies While here I drew

up a suggested design for local manufacture which appealed

to the Hydrographic Section

6 Obtain levels at staff gages at least once a year especially

on the low section of gage Replace or repair each low secshy

tion soon after it becomes damaged or the markings become

indistinct

7 Continue as a general rule to use the 6-depth method with

the sub-surface method for deep swift water Obtain a comshy

plete cross section as soon as feasible after the high water

has subsided

8 Gradually change to the use of heavier sounding weights so

that the 6-depth method with soundings can be used at high

water in any event take soundings and velocities as far out

as practicable from each bank at flood stages then go across

deep part of channel with sub-surface method Check subshy

surface method coeficients whenever practicable by means of

vertical velocity curves Until such checks show otherwise

use a coefficient of 090

9 Compute discharge measurements by the mid-section method

This saves time (and money) and is at least as accurate as the

41

other method Request hydrographers to bear the method in mind

when selecting verticals near edges of channel or at breaks in

the cross section It is recommended that in the interests of

economy this change be made at an early date

10 Consider 20 as a desirable number of verticals in an average

stream cross section Continue to time the meter revolutions

for 40 to 60 seconds at each setting Someday if more accushy

racy is desired in hydrographic work in the Philippines it

would be appropriate to standardize on 30 verticals per measureshy

ment provided the 2-8 depth method were used and the gages

were read to fractions of a centimeter For the present it

seems consistent to take about 20 verticals when using the 6

method and with gages read only to the nearest centimeter

11 Use steel tag lines for wading measurements Paint bridge

rails and cables with markings sufficiently close together

that they can be used rapidly to determine stationing between

them When installing the paint marks use standard intervals

of either 1 meter 2 meters or 5 meters To avoid confusion

do not use intervals of 3 or 4 meters If measuring intervals

are to be 1 meter or less it is very convenient to have a

mark available every meter If intervals are between 1 and 5

meters use a mark every 2 meters A good system for making

the marks readily identifiable is to place 1 paint mark at

each basic interval like every 2 meters then put 2 marks every

10 meters 3 every 50 meters and 4 at 100 meters

42

use on12 Always tags the portion of the meter suspension line

that goes in the water The tags usually consist of small

pieces of colored cloth taped tightly to the line They

should be watched and checked occasionally against slippage

and error The tags should not be more than one meter apart

and should be spaced to give maximum convenience and speed in

measuring the discharge

13 As it may becoin feasible convert Type A current meters to

Type AA The more deeply recessed bearing of the Type AA

meter provides more durability of the pivot and bearing

because trapped air excludes most of the water and silt the

longer pivot results in a relatively lower center of gravity

of the bucke t wheel with respect to the point of bearing and

results in smoother performance

F Design of the stream gaging network

1 Everyone seem3 to agree with the objective of a network of

well-distributed long-term base stations for giving runoffshy

per-square-kilometer values representative of the general

area in which each station is located As rapidly as practishy

cable stations should be L d n the o ting netrk

and designated as base or index stations for permanent operashy

tion They should be the best stations both hydraulically

and as to equipment and should be free from upstream regushy

lation or diversion Where needed new base stations should

be installed as soon as they can be financed to appropriately

L11 out the network

43

2 In between such base stations it is desirable to sample smaller

basins with short-term records of various lengths which can be short term

correlated with the long records For this purpose thestashy

tion structures should be constructed so that they are as moveshy

able or salvageable as possiblej Often these movable stations

will be operated at or near specific project sites

3 It usually is more economical and satisfactory to gage a stream

at a highway crossing or other convenient place rather than

exactly at a project site later the data can be transferred

to the project site by means of drainage area proportions

checked by obtaining at the site e

two miscellaneous measurements or possibly in some cases a

whole year of record

4 A method for studying the existing network of stations to see

whether the intensity of coverage is satisfactory or not is to

plot correlations between the various station records prefershy

ably following the present methods of the USGS

5 It has been found advantageous to classify all gaging stations

that are in operation using categories somewhat like these

areal network base stations primary and secondary main stream

stations and water management stations This procedure is

helpful in planning how long various stations should be operated

Detailed information about station classification methods is

available from the U S Geological Survey for use as a guide

The Technical Training Program

Early plans

When this assignment was given to me it was anticipated that a

series of across-the-table discussions would be held with small groups

of hydrographers from the Philippine government bureaus engaging in

such work Detailed procedures would be discussed without formality

But when arrangements were initiated for such conferences I was inshy

formed that among those wanting to attend were many at the managerial

level as well as a number of representatives of agencies interested

more in water development projects than in resource investigations

These could not be turned down so it was necessary to revise the

agenda to include more of general interest

Later developments

In view of the wide experience and high rank of many prospective

attendants of the conference it did not seem appropriate to call it

a lecture series or school and the name Seminar On Water Resources

was decided upon The agenda is included in this report and will be

self-explanatory Registered attendance for each of the three weeks

was 68 72 and 70 persons respectively for a total of 210 The

setting for the Seminar can best be understood from the photographs

Conditions as a whole were good although the tape-recording of the

entire three weeks of proceedings and the need for a member to come

F M Veatch and Water Resources Seminar group week of April 8-12 1957 at Bureau of Public Highways conference building Manila

I y

rT

I

4

47

forward and use the microphone whenever he asked a question or made a

comment was somewhat of a dampener oh discussion When preparing the

agenda I assumed that few besides the hydrographers would attend the

sessions on technical details of stream gaging scheduled for Wednesday

to Friday yet the entire membership stayed through the full program

each week and so no small-group round-table discussions were practicable

It developed later that the language barrier was a little more

serious than first realized Also it was not evident at first that

many present did not know what a gaging station was One of the main

benefits gained from the field trip was to show them a typical station

along with some equipment Taken as a whole it is believed that the

Seminar was successful and worthwhile

The sending of trainees from the Hydrographic Section to the

United States by ICA is very effective in supplementing the technical

assistance rendered directly by American personnel in the Philippines

and it should be continued as long as possible

Acknowledgments

Announcements and invitations to attend the Seminar were sent to

numerous agencies and offices by the Hydrographic Section who also

made all arrangements such as for space registration loud speaker

system tape recordings and recess refreshments The Bureau of

Public Highways made their new conference building available and the

National Media Center furnished a slide projector screen and room

all of which were greatly appreciated The introductory talks by

48

several busy executives including Director J A Buendia and Messrs

A T Alano R R Lord P G Afable and D Rosell with Mr Tomas

Saddam acting as master of ceremonies contributed ideas and gave

each weeks session a good send-off

Publications

Copies of the following publications of the U S Geological

Survey (one by Bureau of Reclamation and one from ASCE) were disshyon

play at the Seminar at all times for inspection by the members Alshy

though they were requested not to take the publications away quite a

few copies gradually became missing

Irrigation Water Measurement Tables and Diagrams by U S

Bureau of Reclamation

ASCE Separate 413 - Backwater Effects of Open Channel

Constrictions

Stage-Fall Discharge Relation for Steady Flow in Prismatic

Channels Water-Supply Paper 1164

Topographic Characteristics of Drainage Basins W S P 968C

Weir Experiments Coefficients and Formulas WSP 200

Handbook for Hydrologists - Chapters 1 - 11

Chapter 1 -- Instructions for Flood Frequency Compilations

Chapter 2 -- ledian Discharge Computation Methods

Chapter 3 -- Instructions for Abstracting Topographic

Characteristics of Drainage Basins

i

-Imr- I

1 N

L

V10J~

C R Mirray explaining a ground water formula

Ii

17t

o

Water Resources Seminar group at gaging station on Marikina River near Montalban Rizal about an hours drive northeast of Manila April 12 1957

51

-- Channel Storage and Flood Routing

-- Extending Stream-flow Records

Chapter 6 -- Double Mass Curves

Chapter 7-A- Frequency Curves of Low Flows and Storage

Requirements

Chapter 8 -- Flood Frequency Analyses

Chapter 9 -- Small Stream Investigations

Chapter 10 - Hydrologic Definitions

Chapter 11 - Base-Flow Recession-Curves

Computation of Backwater at Open Channel Constrictions

Floods in Western Washington Frequency and Magnitude in

Relation to Drainage Basin Characteristics GS Circular 191

Floods in Georgia Frequency and Magnitude GS Circular 100

Stream-Gaging Procedure - A Manual Describing Methods and

Practice of the Geological Survey - WSP 888

Investigation of Methods and Equipment used in Stream Gaging

Part 2 Intakes For Gage Wells

Computation of Peak Discharge through Culverts

Computation of Backwater at Open-Channel Constrictions

Equipment for River Measurements Structures for Cableways

by Charles H Pierce

Computation of Peak Discharge at Contractions Circular 284

Care and Rating of Current Meters

Surface Water Supply o the United States 1950 Parts 1 - 14

52

In addition to the above publications a two-page single-spaced

memorandum entitled Plotting Flood Frequency Curves (Extracted from

U S Geological Survey publications) was prepared by me under date

of April 3 1957 and handed to each member of the Seminar each week

The program or agenda for the Seminar one copy of which was

given to each member follows on Pages 53 to 63 inclusive The

graphs on Page 63 were referred to during the talks

53

March 29 1957

AGENDA FOiR SEMINARZ ON WATER RESCURCES AND STAE4 GAGING

IN THE PHILIPPINES

PLACE Conference hoom 2nd Floor Bureau of Public Highways Building Second Street Port Area Manila

TIKE April 1-5 8-12 and 22-26 (same program each week)

CONDUCTED BY M1r i 1 Veatch District EngineerSurface WaterBranch Jater Aesources Division United States Geological Suver Thcoma ashington who is un three-month assignment with the ICA

Held in connoction with the Philippine Government-ICA water resources program

54

GENERAL PROGRAM MONDAY AND TUESDAY

honday morning 830

Opening remarks Mr Julian A Buendia Director Bureau of Fublic Works Mr R R Lord Chief Public Works Division ICA Mr G H Hargreaves Hydraulic Engineer ICA

Importance of water resources and their investigation

The hydrologic cycle Evaporation transpiration and precipitation Runoff

Daily discharge record and the hydrograph Storm runoff Base flow

Grou~nd Water Very brief description (this subject to be covered

iaore fully on Tuesday afternoon)

General characteristics of natural stream runoff in the Philippines Quantity

Adequacy Comparison with United States

Variations with time Day to day and year to year Long-term trends

Distributin by area General over the Philippine Islands Variations between nearby drainage basins

Effect of location elevation geology cover etc

Major uses of stream-flow data Many years of rccornds should be crnsidered Granting water r phts

Protect existing rights Prevent capital expenditures where water supply inadequate

Planning river basin developments including municipal supply irrigation pnwer flood control etc

Destping structures such as dams reservoirs dikes floodways canals pumping systems power plants bridges etc

Accuracy and extent of dat needed for minimizing underdesign or wasteful overdesign

Cost of water-supply data in relation to total cost of a project

Operating water projects Distribution of water on projects Operation of storage reservoirs and diversion dams

To make maximum use uf water supply Designing alterations or enlargements to existing projects

RECESS 1000 to 1015

55 -3-

Monday morning (Continued) 1015 aim

Management of the stream gaging program Foreseeing the needs for stream-flow records

Study population and industrial trends Keep inforned on water-development plans and

prgraIIs of all agencies Continuity of the records

Essential for wator-supply studies Regular financinp reouired

Annual appropriations a poundfccted by temporary econoidc or political conditions

Permanent type of financing needed Surcharge method License fee method

-Dissemination of the data Annual publication Occasional summary compilations Furnishing advance cupies of unpublished records Furnishing current data - daily weekly or munthly

wherever required Special water resources investigation agency desirable

Briefly dancribe United States organization Uniform tecnical standards Uniform ways of presenting data One series of publicatiens Distributial center for basic water data Genera l-coverage program requires close coordination

for economy of operation Personal requirements

Engineers Engir ring aids Computers Clerks

ADJOURN - 1145

Resume after lunch only if necessary for completing the above subjects

56

Tueday morning 830

Design of a comprehensive stream gjaging program General rrinciIlac

Represenkc tive runoff-type provinces should be sainpled with stations of various classes

Vary the intensity of coverage with probable intenshysity of water use

Follow tiie tcends variations with records fromand L sri etatiorns secondary

Correlate resultls one continually adjustnetwork Classification of ra-in stationa

Areal prinary and secondary viain strem priiary nd secondary Water-manmfciact stat-i ons Miscellanous dischaige mcasurements

Correlating the dat obttined in comprehensive program Logarithmic pajer Five years of lecord uscd What is a good corrclation

Analyses of data Flood frcouencjs

Annual serics Partial duration series

Low-flow frecuencies Low-flow duration hydrograph

Extending strewm-flow records Comparisons witi other gaging stations Rainfall-runoff correlations

Quality of water Temperature

Intermittent observations Recorders

Chemical gtuality Element -Dissolved solids

Suspended iaterial Time of cecurrence-floods Sampling

Methods Cost

RECESS - 1000 to 1015

57

- 5 -

Tuesday afternoon 130

Ground water (This subject conducted by Mr C R Murray) Occurrence

Water table Artesian Lakes

Movement Through the ground Into stream channels

Availability Geologic structure Aquifers Funing tests

Recharge Froa precipitation Artificial Froma induced lateral movement

Investigation Geology Springs Logs of dug and drilled wells Test wells

lecording Lanual

Quantitative studies Chemical quality analyses

Mincral ccontnt Sallt water intrusion

Drilling of wells for production use Ground water rirhts

Depletion of ground water reservoirs teyond rccharge capability

ADJOURN at 330

Geologist Ground Water Branch dater Resources Division U 6 Geological Survey who is on two-ywar assignment with ICA

58

PROGRAM ON STREMvi GAGING PROCEDURE WEDNESDAY TO FRIDAY

4ednesday morning 830

Establishing and constructing gaging stations Selection of site

Consider najor probable uses of the record Investigate extent of upstream diversion and

-egulation Utilize contour naps Obtain list of nmrjor water right applications

iydraulic conditicns Section control Shifting channel Overbank flow Dackwater

Accessibility Avoid too much expense Need to reach quickly to measure flash floods

Natural protection front flood damage Avoid excessively expensive construction conditions

Bed iock Quick sand Too-longintake pipes

For non-rccording gage choose site convenient to

one or more local gage readers

Survey of site Bank cross-prefile at gage Cross section at cable Plan

Right of way Oral pervrission ritten permission

Easement Land purchase

RECESS - 945 to 1000

- 7 - 59

Wednesday morning (Continued) 100)

Construction Select types and sizes of structures To fit purpose oi the record Plan later salva e (for secondary stations) For economy of operation (for example design cableway to

operat mesily) Adapt availabic standard plans to fit the site Keep costs to hclp in future estimating Make brief construction report for future assistance in

planninr sililar Jobs Prepare staLion descripLion

Road log distences etc for How to reach paragraph Descriptions of gages bench marks etc Dimensions cf structuis Gage datum elevations of portinent parts of structures

Operating and maintaining gaging stations Records of stage

Choice of dtum Arbitrcry local datum

Set gages so there will be no minus gage readings

Mean sea level datum May be used but has disadvantages

1hen later adjustments are made to level networks

Gages have to be reset or Equation must be published

Non-recording gages Types

Vertical staff Inclined staff

ire-weight Crest-stage gages

Refinement of graduations ake adequate for accuracy of record needed

Maintatling dat of gage Adequate number of local reference marks Take levels at least once a year

Work o- local gare reader Fy according to approx number of hours worked Do not roruire too many roadings for the

conditions Warm (with omphasis) against my guessed

readings Inform reader anv errors in reading will

show up in hydrogrq oic comtparisons Engineers obtain check readings whenever

possible Visit gage reader frequently a d show inshy

terest in his gage-height record Encourage reader to retain personal copy

ADJOURN at 1145

60

Thursday morning 800

Records of stage (continued) Recording gages

Select type of instrument and its scales to fit conditions at gaging station

Weekly or continuous recorder Recorder scales Range of stage Rate of change of stage Availability of someone to change weekly

chart Work of Cage inspector of keeper

Avoid resetting pen Repurt any trash or debris causing backwater

at gage Do not have a gage keeper unless needed

aintaining gage datum Check outside gae by levels annually Keep outside gage sections reset to datum

Standard reference gage Inside gage of soie sort preferable

Staff Float-tape Anchor type

Intake action Clean or flush pipes after floods Slot intakes Self-cleaning iitakes

For pipe gage wells For wells built into bridge piers

Draw-down (where excessive) Use bapfle or static tube

Elood marks at station Make record of well-defined high water

marks

AECESS - 945 to 1000

- 9 - 61

Thursday morning (Continudd) 1000

Discharge measuroments Current hmeters

Price Type A Type AA

Pygmpy Carc of inters

Sounding weights E-typc C-type

Lead Brono

Type of notebook Loose shects Loose-leaf book Bound booL

Measurement of depth aeding rod Tag-line nethod Vertical-nglc coofficients Sounding during floods

Ilacemont of mter Sub--surface method 2-depth n cthod 6-de-pth icthod 2- imetY od

Number of verticals Velocity -urgcs

Miscellaneous f-ctors Effect of bridge piers Horizontal angle of current Insufficient weight on current water

1Mean gage hoitht for a discharge measurement Special methods of (Itermining flood discharge

Floats Slope-area method

Rating curv- etonsion method Arca and velocity curves Loparithmic plottig

Contrqctd-opening mothod Flow ovcr dams

Report on condition of control Carry station description and rating curve in field

Ubtain another me asurement if needed If first indicates large shift If new station and stagc advantagoous for

defining blank part of rating curve

ADJOUffN - 1145 AI

Resumne atfter lunch only if necessary for comploting the above subjects

62

- 10 -

Friday morning S00

A few remarks about office methods Rating curves

Log-log paper Upward extonsions Dowmward extensions

Rectangular plotting Computing recorder charts

M-ark index correction and time correction for each inspection reading

Break midnight lines at raph Never oblitertte or mark over the original trace Nake office markings on chart distinctive from

those mad( At the gage Use of colored pencils by computer and checker is one good wa)y

Daily discharge record Flot hydrograph Compare over light box with other stations

This method preferable to plotting several station records on same sheet

Concluding discussions

RECESS - 945 to 1000

Projection of gaging station equipment Lnd scenic slides taken in the United States and Canada

ADJOURN - 1145

Field trip Cars will be available at the conference building to

take members to the raging station on arikina iRivei at ontalban about an hours drive from Manila where a brief demonstration of certain field equipment will be given

Return to noL later thanoanila 500 FL

---

- Ishy4 ~7L~

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_~ I 027 _d- 1 2 shy

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- _______________ Pnu~ OAgvhshy

-~ ~-r- 1 - V-shy- i-shytvkty--- in--a-- -~ ~Z2m7~ ~

- ~ ~-~-----~- V 1~5~ LTLL2P7o -4----4 1 -- I -- I I _ __ --- -- -- - - L - - I ----

~- ~y~-~ 64 4

N

A il

Seminar members observing demonshystrat-n of measurshying e -pment by F M Veatch at Marikina River gaging station April 12 1957

I

Water Resources Seminar members observing working model of proppsed Binga Dam at the hydraulics laboratory of University of the Philippines April 12 1957

65

Current meter rating flume mechanism Y 22 1957

Current meter rating flume mechanism May 22 1957

66

Current Meter Rating Station

The new current meter rating station at the University of the

Philippines (see photographs) was not quite ready for use before I

left the country The mechanism and instruments were manufactured

in Germanyobtained thru ICA-NEC procurement for the Water Resources

Program of the Department of Public Works and have been installed by

Professor Alberto Villares and his hydraulics laboratory staff under

Dean C A Ortigas of the College of Engineering with some guidance

by Professor Edward L Ericksen of the University of Michigan who is

a civil engineer on detail here with the Stanford Group Professor

Villares spent 18 months in the hydraulics laboratory of the Univershy

sity of Iowa

There is every evidence that this rating flume will with expeshy

rience do work accurate enough not only for determining differences

in ratings between current meters but also for preparing absolute or

independent ratings This can be reported on more fully at some

later date by Messrs Hargreaves and Snell

The Central Luzon Region Program

The Water Resources Development Committee is preparing a recomshy

mended plan for the expedited multiple-purpose development of the

water resources of the Central Luzon region The area contains oneshy

sixteenth of the land surface and one-fourth of the population of the

Philippines and is termed the rice granary of the nation It is to

be used as an example or experiment in water and land development

67

The Committee has requested member agencies to submit estimates

of the minimum amount of additional basic data needed for making a

useful report and for proceeding with development projects Such

estimates are to include mapping soil surveys dam and reservoir site

surveys water resources surveys and other items A preliminary

report is to be prepared soon summarizing the existing information

pointing out the need for additional dataand submitting estimates

of cost for the further investigations needed An outline for the

final report has been prepared and distributed so it will be availashy

ble as a guide and funds for the first years efforts are being

sought for fiscal year 1958 It appears reasonable that the report

on a comprehensive plan could be submitted to the President and

Congress of the Philippines in about five years

With the assistance of Mr Hargreaves I have prepared estimates

for a surface water measurement program to complement the existing

program It is designed to fill the worst gaps in the present netshy

work Details are subject to change as more reconnaissance informashy

tion becomes available as only five days were spent covering the area

by automobile Unit costs were provided by the Hydrographic Section

and they include cost of preparation of the records for publication

Estimates were submitted as given below They were supported by a

detailed list of stream names and locations which included desigshy

nations as to the primary purpose or type of each proposed new gaging

station and whether a recording or non-recording gage was recommended

It is available for reference in both the ydrographic Section and

ICA offices

68

New gaging stations

1 Daily discharge type

Installation (including cableways where needed)

Recording ------- 7 Pl650 11550

Non-recording --- 4 950 3800 15350

Operation 1st year -11 660 7260 P22610

2 High water type (flood records)

Installation

Gages (nonshy

recording) ----- 4 150 600

Measuring equipment 800 1400

Operation 1st year - 4 300 1200 2600

Total for new gaging stations ------------- 25210

Miscellaneous discharge measurements

1 4 or 5 during dry season Nov - April

4 sites x 5 per site = 20 30 ---------------- 600

2 1 or 2 during low part of year March and April

37 sites x l per site = 55 k30 ------------- 1650

Total for miscellaneous measurements ------ 2250

Total -------------- -2746o

69

Rainfall And Evaporation Stations

Existing network

A map examination of the existing network of rain gages was made

and a surprisingly large number were found to be in operation -- 2

recording and 115 manual stations or a total of 117 They are beshy

lieved to be fairly adequate in number and are well distributed

areally over the Philippines but like in the United States are conshy

fined largely to the lower altitudes where the agricultural and urban

population live In addition to these records are available for

various lengths of time from about 8 discontinued Weather Bureau

stations and from more than 300 haciendas reforestaion stations

and provincial rnrseries

Additional gages

The Weather Bureau and the Bureau of Public Works are cooperating

in the installation of some new rainfall stations at higher altitudes

part of which will utilize new instruments purchased with ICA aid

funds Some of the instruments will be installed at existing nonshy

recording stations Forty new installations are proposed for 1958

fiscal year It is now recognized that rainfall station coverage at

higher altitudes is needed in order to furnish records that can be

correlated with the long-term valley records and also with the gaging

station discharge records D

70

Weather station maintained by Bureau of Public WorksIrrigation Division near Tuguegarao Cagayan From left to right N Ciriaco District Hydrographer drivershyhelper observer J G Garcia hydrographer J C Regalado and G H Hargreaves May 13 1957

Weather station at Pototan Iloilo Panay A Lacuestadistrict bydro-rapher standing May 5 1957

71

Group luncheon at Tacloban Leyte typical of the hospitality received by us during inspection tour of the Philippines From left to right M Rico irrig distr engr G Hargreaves G Araos E N Salazar P Formilleza L Abella S Velasco JCRegalado V H Sydiongoo distr hydrographer I M Ortega Oscar de Venecia and N Oliver May 7 1957

ICA Public Works Division March 1957 From left to right C R Murray A A Ketchum asat Div head J B Delaney I J Silverstone Sofia Halili 0 H Hosmer R R Lord Div head B B Hill Betty Valdez G H Hargreaves J L Brenden FM Veatch

72

Evaporation stations

Fifteen double-pan (one open and one partially shaded) evaporation

stations with rainfall temperature wind and humidity instruments as

auxiliary are being operated in the Philippines and ten more are to

follow next year They are well distributed over the islands and

should furnish data of great value for reservoir design Thq reccrds

will be publish3d

Publication of rainfall data

All rainfall reccrds are published annually by the Weather Bureau

whose 1954 volume is the latest one printed The 1955 issue should be

released soon One excellent source of information for anyone studyshy

ing rainfall data in the Philippines is the publication The Distrishy

bution of Rainfall In The Philippines by Eugenio B Manalo Chief

Climatological Division Weather Bureau Manila This contains

valuable descriptive material tables of monthly and annual values

and mean monthly and annual isohyets in inches An inspection or

study of the monthly isohyetal maps shows clearly how storm patterns

change with the seasons in certain parts of the Philippines and that

73

in other areas the rain is almost evenly distributed throughout the

year The long dry season of Manila and the central Luzon plains is

graphically portrayed by the isohyets Mr Manalos publication

should be of great benefit to government agencies and private parties

or individuals in connection with agricultural and business activities

over the islands It is presumed that the isohyets will warrant some

revision after another 5 or 10 years as more records especially those

at higher altitudes become available

Sediment Measurement Stations

Practically no silt-sampling has been done in the Philippines

to date and no extensive program is believed possible because of the

lack of funds For the present it is recommended that every governshy

ment field hydrographer be equipped with a thermomater and a turbidity

stick and required to report a spot water temperature and turbidity

reading at time of each discharge measurement Thus without extra

cost a large amount of data can be accumulated which after several

years should make it possible to determine what streams are the

siltiest and where more detailed studies might be needed Whenever a

reservoir project reaches the intensive-investigation stage including

dam-site drilling detailed topography etc it is recommended that

a complete sediment sampling station be operated there for at least

one full flood season before the project feasibility report is

completed

74

Statement Before Water Resources Development Committee

On March 20 1957 I presented the following statement regarding

the streamflow measurement program in the Philippines

The Philippine Republic is blessed with an excellent supply of

water of good quality but much of it is wasted to the sea during the

rainy season The development of this resource is vitally important

to the nation and it involves the storing of flood waters for dryshy

season release Where investments are to be made for construction of

dams etc in the development of irrigation power production and

flood control large sums can easily be wasted through overdesign or

underdesign if enough engineering data are not available Conflicting

or competing uses for the water supplies will gradually develop in

your country the same as they have in the United States If water

rights are to be granted fairly with due regard for all prior users

many years of basic data are necessary so that the long-term water

supply can be estimated For this purpose a good network of stream

gaging records and ground water levels must be secured One would

not attempt to manage the money in a bank without bookkeeping and it

is just as important to have an accounting system when managing water

The sound economical procedure is to base all project designs on as

complete engineering information as can be obtained

The ICA is attempting to assist the Philippine Government in

planning the orderly development of its water resources and we are

concerned that too many structures may be built before accurate

9i

hydrologic data are available for their design For this reason we

strongly urge you to improve the basic data gathering program at the

earliest possible date as follows

(1) Review and publish the stream-flow records that have been

obtained since the war

(2) Finance an expanded program of stream-flow measurement and

ground water study

The Bureau of Public Works has prepared preliminary estimates of

the funds needed for bringing publication of basic data up to date and

for expanding the wiater resources investigation program The attached

copies of estimates are of course provisional and subject to revision

but it is suggested that they be placed in the files of this Committee

for future reference The figure of P56oooo for publication is a

fairly firm figure It is suggested that the Committee take immeshy

diate action to further the procurement of these funds

The procurement of water resources data is a specialized field

requiring engineers and other technical men with a high degree of

education Years must be spent in training them in such special

work The men must endure rigorous physical work corbatting the

elements and using resourcefulness and judgment It is very uneconoshy

mical and unsatisfactory to have a technical organization of that kind

subject to occasional and unpredictable severe cuts in appropriations

It is even more unsatisfactory to have the time sequence of basic

water data collection interrupted and valuable records lost forever

REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON SURFACE WATER RESOURCES INVESTIGATIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES

by

Fred M Veatch

Introduction

Purpose of the detail (1) To assist the ICA and the Philippine

government in determining principles to be followed in laying out a

suitable long-range stream gaging program for the nation (2) To

recommend a specific surface water investigation program for the

Luzon area (3) To hold technical training conferences wiLh Philipshy

pine government personnel in the site selection construction and

field operation of gaging stations (4) To make general recommendations

concerning the precipitation gage network (5) To comment on the posshy

sible need for quality of water investigations in the Philippines and

(6) To comment on the new current meter rating flume being constructed

in Manila

Preparation Orientation or briefing conferences were held with

me in Washington D C January 22-25 1957 by officials of the Geoloshy

gical Survey and the ICA particularly Thomas E Eakin Chief of Overseas

Programs for the Survey and J V B Wells Chief of Surface Water

Division and Malcolm H Jones C L Orrben and E T Hagberg of ICA

Additional briefing was received in Manila

Acknowledgments The carrying out of my assignment in a satisfactory

manner was greatly facilitated in the Philippines by the cooperation and

2

assistance of Mr Russell R Lord Chief of Public Works Division of

ICA and by menmbers of his staff especially Mr George H Hargreaves

Chief Advisor Water Resources Program and by the Philippine Governshy

ment officials with whom I worked most closely including Mr Tomas

Saddam Chief of Hydrographic Section of the Bureau of Public Works

and Mr Jose C Regalado of his staff Mr Alex Delefia of the River

Control Section Messrs I Santos and E P Abesamis of the National

Power Corporation and E B Manalo of the Weather Bureau

Acknowledgment is also made to Messrs R E 01tman and J J

Ligner of the Training Section Surface Water Branch Washington

D C for their cooperation in sending numerous publications needed

at the Seminar and elsewhere in the Philippines and for their sugshy

gestions in regard to training

3

The Stream Gaging Program In The Philippines

History

The Hydrographic Section of the Irrigation Division Department

of Public Works and Communications (formerly the Department of Commerce

and Communications) has been the major stream gaging agency in the

Philippines since the work was started in 1908 265 gaging stations

in 40 of the 49 provinces were operated for short periods of time between

1908 and 1922 mostly in 1910-12 and 1919-22 All daily gage-height and

discharge records collected by that agency between January 1 1923 and

June 1944 became destroyed by Lire during World War II However the

results of numerous discharge measurements made from 1939 to 1942 were

saved for several gaging stations in the Bicol region of southern Luzon

Stream gaging by the Hydrographic Section was resumed on August 19 1945

on the Aringay River near Tubao La Union followed gradually by other

stations as the Liberation progressed

Records for 1908 to 1922 were published in 1923 in four volumes-as

Water Supply Bulletin No 1 Surface Water Supply of the Philippine

Islands which included the results of all discharge measurements as

well as computed daily discharges in second-liters The calendar year

is used rather than a water year The Extremes paragraphs do not

include any stage records the only gage heights published being those

contained in the lists of discharge measurements

k

Forty-six of the gaging stations operated during the 1908-22

period were re-established after World War II at sites where the records

are considered comparable -- that is where the drainage area does not

differ by more than five per cent The longest continuous records of

discharge not affected by diversion or regulation that I have been able

to find in the Philippines for the postwar period are for the Maasim

River near San Rafael Bulacan Luzon October 5 1945 to date and for

the Aringay River near Tubao La Union from August 19 1945 to date

Available maps are not very satisfactory for locating sites of former

gaging stations because the names of many of the barrios and towns are

different on present maps than they were when the stations were first

operated and described

Considerable stream gaging has also been done by the National

Power Corporation and some river stage records have been obtained by

the River Control and Drainage Section Irrigation Division These are

summarized in the tabulation on Page 6 In addition miscelshynumerous

laneous discharge measurements have been obtained by several agencies

Daily discharge records are available in the files of the National

Power Corporation for eight pre-war gaging stations that were operated

for varying periods between 1923 and 1943 by the Bureau of Public Works

One of these on Barit River at Santiago Iriga Camarines Sur was

operated from 1923 to 1940 The original forms for all eight stations

became destroyed during the war but a set of prints was later discovered

by the National Power Corporation in some hydroelectrical project files

that were saved The NPC re-established the Barit River station at

the same site in 1950

5

Marikina R at Montalban Rizal Province with Stevens FM 30-day recorder April 5 1957

TYPICAL NEW GAGING STATION STRUCTURES CONSTRUCTED AS A RESULT CF THE ICA PROGRAM

III I I

I I I

~iz

7~il

2~-

Pampanga River at Atate Nueva Ecija Stevens FM recorder J C Regalado driver helper and L Borbolla in foreground April 14 1957

47~I

-4

4

iuJi rf if poundflLLi

77

Pre-war frame shelter and 36 corr pipe Frame shelter over new 36 corrwell with Gurley weekly recorder Pampanga

J C Regalado B Ramos and E M Veatch pipe well Pampanga River near standing Taken by G H Hargreaves Arayat Pampanga March 1 1957 March 1 1957

Status of post-war computations and publication

Daily discharge computations of the Hydrographic Section tbr 1944

to 1954 are practically coplete those for 1955 are about 40 per deb4t

complete and for 1956 about 15 per cent Office work has been delayed

considerably because of the heavy constructionfprogran which started

in 1956 using supplies and instruments furnished by the ICA All office

computations are made in the Manila office No discharge records have

been published since those of 1908-22 but steps are being taken as

explained later in this report to bring publication up to date It is

planned that the records which have been compuhed for the years 1944 to

1956 will be reviewed before their final preparation for publication

to make sure their standards of accuracy are reasonably consistent

with the slightly higher standards proposed to be instituted as a

result of recommendations made in this report About 1500 stationshy

years of stream-flow recordsless than 10 per cent of which are from

agencies other than the Hydrographic Section are proposed to be comshy

piled and printed in a single-volume publication of monthly and annual

data Tables of monthly minimum discharge are to be included

Organization and cooperation

The Hydrographic Section customarily assigns a district hydrographer

and his assistants as resident at each irrigation district office that

is situated a long distance from Manila Their headquarters are as

follows

District Province Town

Northern Luzon Isabela San Mateo

Bicol Region Luzon Camarines Sur Naga

Eastern Visayas Leyte Tacloban

Western Visayas Iloilo Iloilo

Mindanao Davao Davao

This district is presently being operated by hydrographers from

Manila the same as for the central part of Luzon

The above field hydrographers are each assigned a Jeep and a drivershy

helper Hydrographers pay scales range between about Y2400 and P4200

per annum and in addition they are granted a subsistence allowance of

Y2OO per unit or Y800 a day Driver-helpers receive an average pay

of P5 per day plus a subsistence allowance of P200 per day (which has

been reduced administratively from P450 a day because of lack of funds)

The field personnel send or deliver all basic records to Manila

where they are processed computed and filed Most of the office work

is done by office personnel with the field men doing but little of the

office work

9

New timber recorder structure including plank intake with Stevens A-35 recorder Pinagcanauan de Tuguegarao River near Tuguegarao Cagayan Jose G Garcia assistant hydrographer and Norberto Ciriaco District Hydrographer on walkway May 14 1957

Staff gage on Jalaur River at Passi Iloilo From left to right 2 boys A Lacuesta Distr HydrogrLher J CorderoIrrig Distr Engr G Hargreaves J Regalado gagekeeper (kneeling) and onlooker May 8 1957

I

--- S

F National Power Corporation staff gage on Angat River above Ipo Dam now beingreplaced by a Bureau of Public Works recorder installation March 13 1957

O~

~A F~ ~~ shy- ~

~

- --

I ------ ~

A -~ 1

~ -- gt I~-

5 shy

- ~- ~ U

amp~~ -

2r~ ~k- ~ ~

National Power Cororation painted staff gage Bantay River near Bokod BenguetMountain Province Hydrographers helperstanding March 26 1957 Note lower markings faded

11

Whether any other changes are made or not it is the expressed

plan of the Hydrographic Section to have the District-Hydrographer

who is in charge of the Northern Mindanao District headquartered at

Cagayan de Oro

A considerable portion of the pay of district hydrographers and

their staffs comes directly from the Irrigation Section district

office at which they are headquartered rather than through the

Hydrographic Section This has had the effect of limiting their

efforts somewhat to project work rather than to general or all-purpose

investigations

Some of the other agencies particularly the National Power

Corporation obtain the cooperation of the Hydrographic Section in

helping operate certain gaging stations where a duplication of travel

can thus be avoided However the discharge measurements so made by

the Hydrographic Section are turned over to the NPC who make their

own computations of daily discharge The latter also sometimes pays

directly the salaries of certain gagekeepers Usually this cooperashy

tion does not involve an exchange of funds but some change in that

situation is recommended as explained later in this report

All agencies make their daily discharge records available to the

Hydrographic Section upon request and the plan is to have the later

agency include all such records in their publications No reproduction

machine is available in any of the offices and all copies of records

must be made individually in typing or longhand A machine is under

order by the Hydrographic Section

-fiUMBER OI~ GAGIiG~STATIONS-eP-ERATED IN-PIILIPPINES -

CALENDAR YEAR

YEA HYOROGRAPHIC

STAGE NATIONAL

SECTION PO R0 P

RIVEl CONTROL SECTON

TOT AL

DISCHARGE NATIONAL

HYDROGRAPHIC SECTION ORHYTGRPI SECTION POR

TOTAL TOA

RECORDING NON-REC TOTAL NON-REC NON-REC RECORDING NON-REC TOTAL

1908-1922 265 265 265

1923-1944 3 3 9 12

1945 6 6 6 15 15 2 17

1946 2 12 14 14 28 28 4 32

1947 3 11 14 14 29 29 4 33

1948 3 18 21 5 26 45 45 5 50

1949 3 13 16 6 5 27 74 74 15 89

1950 3 9 12 10 4 26 91 91 20 111

1951 3 15 18 10 4 34 103 103 17 120

1952 3 13 16 10 4 30 111 111 17 128 1953 3 17 20 11 17 48 1 96 97 23 120

1954 4 18 22 11 26 49 1 145 146 22 168

1955 4 18 22 13 19 54 1 207 208 27 235

1956 6 12 15 1 25 52 40 189 26 5

13

Various agencies have submitted lists of proposed gaging stations

which they would like to have installed to provide data for their

projects It is apparent that this work will be well coordinated in

the future and that the other agencies will come to rely more and

more on the Hydrographic Section for most of their basic stream-flow

records But they probably will continue to have their own personnel

make certain types of hydrographic investigations for the detailed

study of specific projects such as river profiles tailwater rating

curves etc

Financing

The main difficulty in regard to financing has been lack of

stability and continuity to the program and insufficient generalshy

fund money to permit the establishment of an all-purpose gaging proshy

gram In 1956 and 1957 the Hydrographic Section rec3ived P120000

(less than half of their total funds) for such general use with all

other monies either from counterpart funds (explained below) in theor

form of contributions from other agencies to cover certain gaging

expenses Another difficulty has been the lack of enough funds to

properly carry out the sudden large construction program generated by

the new ICA-furnished materials and instruments Most of the regular

hydrographic force has been assigned to construction during the last

twelve months or so because separate construction foremen or substitute

hydrographers could not be hired As a result the regular field

operation of gaging stations has suffered considerable neglect This

- - -

14

wuld not have been necessary if the Hydrographic Sections funds had

been flexible and appropriated on basis of a performance budget As

it is the Section must adhere to line items which spell out exactly

how all money is to be spent

The financing of an expanded 1958 program now appears to be

progressing satisfactorily largely from the counterpart monies

This fund consists of pesos allocated by the Philippine government

in an amount equivalent to the dollar value of imports furnished by

the ICA It is administered by the National Economic Council with

allocations subject to approval of the ICA on budget recommendations

received from Philippine government agencies In the case of water

resources programs they are assisted by recommendations of the Water

Resources Development Committee an NEC administratively appointed

body composed of representatives of ten agencies interested or inshy

volved in water development A rougn breakdown of the Hydrographic

Sections budget proposed for the fiscal year starting July 1 1957

is as follows

General Fund Pesos

Annual appropriation - ------------ 120000

Counterpart Funds

For bringing up to date the publication of

annual records plus a compilation - - - - 56000

For an expanded program of surface-water

investigations----------- - 500000

TOTAL - - - - - - 676000

The total funds available in 1955 and 1956 fiscal years were 180000

and 280000 respectively

It

a 7~

IC

U

i

Staff gage out of water Labangan River at Bagbag Calumpit Bulacan March 1 1957

7lt 2

I

fr

Gagekeeper and staff Jalaur River at Calinog Iloilo He read 10 centimeters low today because markings on lower part of gage were illegible

I-J May 8 1957

16 8

hational Power Corp staff gage painted on streamward side of cliff Lower markings gone and gagekeeper determines gage heights three times a day by wading to gage and measuring down with rule as shown in this picture Bokod R at Boiod Benguet Mountain Province March 26 1957

Bureau of Public Works staff gage station Gagekeeper has made readingsby measuring down from a nail since this section of gage was washed out by a flood Madlum River near Sibul Springs Bulacan April 25 1957

17

The only difficulty with counterpart financing is that it is

temporary and could conceivably leave the program stranded in a few

years when ICA aid is discontinued The necessity is recognized for

gradually obtaining regular Congressional appropriations to take the

place of counterpart funds An effort will also be made to have a

performance type of budget accepted because line items make the

program inflexible and prevent the best management and economy

It is recommended that other agencies desiring for their projects

certain stream flow records which cannot be financed from the regular

budget of the Hydrographic Section transfer funds annually (either in

advance or on a reimbursement basis) to the Hydrographic Section to

pay the extra costs required for the fulfilment of their requests

Design of the stream gaging program

As mentioned above the fiscal arrangements prevailing up to this

time have resulted in an almost total emphasis on project-type gaging

stations in the Philippines However I believe everyone is now in

agreement with the desirability or need for a nation-wide network of

index or runoff-per-square-kilometer type of stations which will sample

various runoff provinces such as those with different exposures to storms

and having different topography altitude geology type of land cover

etc The intensity of the network of stations in different regions

would vary depending upon the apparent future economic value or worth

of the water in each area This will be discussed in more detail in

the recommendations

18

In order to look over the existing program observe something of

the technical methods in use and see a variety of runoff and economic

types of areas in the islands to gain an idea of the type of stream

gaging network needed I have visited several regions accompanied most

of the time by Mr George Hargreaves It has been very helpful to me

to have him take such an interest in the detailed objectives of ry

assignment and I am sure it will facilitate Mrs Snellas work a great

deal to have available for consultation and guidance Mr Hargreaves

wide experience in water resources development and investigations

We were accompanied by Mr J C Regalado of the ydrographic Section

who made most of the advance contacts with field offices in connecshy

tion with our trips We usually travelled to central points by Philshy

ippine Air Lines and were then driven to nearby areas by field officials

of the Hydrographic Section and other agencies The hospitality and

cooperation of everyone toward us was exceptional and much appreciated

Besides a fairly detailed coverage of the Central Luzon area where an

intensified program is proposed our inspections included Northern

Luzon Southern Luzon (the Bicol region) Leyte Panay and several

parts of Mindanao In addition we made a special effort to observe

the country all along the routes of airplane flights taken and that

coupled with airplane stops made on other islands gave us a fairly

comprehensive view of the geography of the Philippines It is upon

this that my recommendations concerning the design of a stream gaging

program are based

19

Bquipment and technical methods-

The stream gaging equipment and methods used by the Hydrographic

Section since 1908 have been patterned mainly after those of the US

Geological Survey as described in the 1904 publication H4ydrographic

Manual Thus it appears likely that the methods and accuracy stanshy

dards have changed but little since the Philippine program was started

Stream gaging tecniques used by the other agencies are similar but

they have not had the advantage of some of the new ICA-furnished equipshy

ment This is expected to be remedied in the aid allocations for fiscal

year 1958

Although some use has been made of the 2-8 method of measuring

discharge present practice is limited almost entirely to the 6method

for low and medium stages and the sub-surface method for high stages

for the latter the meter is suspended over a 15-E weight and set 03

meter below the surface with a coefficient of 0915 applied

The number of verticals or measuring points taken in the cross

section usually is between 8 and 15 No bridge cranes or suspension

reels of any kind have been available all discharge work other than

with wading rod having been done by hand line All this is about to

be changed with the recent arrival of the first ICA-furnished sounding

reels weights and tag lines purchased from 1956 FY funds

Staff gages are read to the nearest centimeter (about 0033 foot)

Most of the gages would be difficult to read to any closer limit alshy

though a few stations have Leupold Stevens enameled gages with levelshy

rod type markings

20

The hydrographer records his discharge measurement notes in a

small bound pocket-size book which he carries until it is full After

each measurement is computed in the field a complete copy of the notes

is made on a card and mailed to the Manila office I am informed

that the bound notebooks are practically never lost or dropped in

the water With the increased amount of flood measuring expected to

be done in the future that situation might change

Rating curves are drawn to average large groups of discharge

measurements Large rectangular-scale cross section sheets are used

Percentage differences of the measured values with respect to the

rating table are not computed A minimum of use is made of Stoutshy

method shifts

The water-stage recorders furnished to date by the ICA have been

manufactured with time scales of either 03 inch per day (the FM

model) or 48 inches per day (the A-35 model) The former scale is

too small for satisfactory use in most stream gaging and the latter

is too large Thirty pairs of time scale gears have been ordered for

converting the A-35s from 48 to 24 inches per day Upon inquiry at

the factory it was learned that no conversion of the FM recorders is

possible An exchange of 25 of them is being made with the ground

water program for an equivalent value in A-35 recordero but the

remaining 65 will be used at the surface water stations They are

very satisfactory on lakes or spring-fed streams or large streams

whose fluctuations are not too sudden

21

Ipo dam on Angat River which diverts water to supply City of Manila and surrounding area March 13 1957 Reservoir is traversed by boat in reaching the gaging station upstream

Ready to leave Ipo Dam for gaging station 6 kilqmeters upstream B Ramos and J Regalado in oanca March 13 1957

4 ~ s~

B Ramos making discharge measurement by wading on Angat River above Ipo DamMarch 13 1957 Spacings between verticals were obtained from cable makings byline hanging from cable car

23

At non-recording gages it has been the custom to hire gagekeepers

at uniform or statutory rates of 025 or P30 per month (not related

to the distance traversed in going to the gage) to obtain readings

three times a day The pay has been the same even where the gage is

located several kilometers away from the gagekeepers home The system

has certain disadvantages which may affect the accuracy of the records

At some stations the pay is too high while at others it is too low

Three readings a day are not necessary most of the time for adequately

developing the hydrograph especially during the dry season and a

request for obviously unnecessary readings seems to put too severe a

test upon human nature It is practically an open invitation to a

certain amount of faking I doubt that it should be held against a

gagekeeper to put down some estimated readings under those circumstances

any more than it would be to blame children for taking candy or cookies

from a forbidden plate left openly in their midst The question then

becomes - what readings can be relied upon and what cannbt I sincerely

believe that a more accurate daily discharge record can be prepared in

the office from a few completely reliable gage readinrs per week by

means of hydrographic comparisons with recording-gage records from

nearby stations and with less expense than can be produced by proshy

cessing comparing and weeding out questionable parts from a complete

(on paper) record of three readings a day A gagekeepers habit

developed during the dry season of not going to the gage when it is

inconvenient or he doesnt feel like it is bound to crop up during

the high water season as well with the result that all his readings

24

must be looked at critically and considered reliAble only after

unusually extensive comparisons are made with weather records and

other stations

In regard to specialized stream gaging equipment listed below

are the amounts purchased by the ICA up to the present time

Ordered from Ordered from Being FY 1955 PPA 1956 PPA ordered Delivered in Delivered in from 1957

May 1956 May 1957 PPA

Canfield reels 0 6 8

Type A reels 0 6 2

Canfield tag lines 0 15 0

A-35 recorders 20 10 25

FM recorders 65 25 0

Enameled gage secs 400 600 200

Currer meter outfits inc ding rod headphonehanuline and 15-pound weight 11 10 0

Pygmy meters 0 0 10

Bridge cranes 0 3 0

Sounding wts 30-lb 0 0 10

50-lb 0 0 10

I i 75-lb 0 0 1

I 100-lb 0 0 1

Stopwatches 20 10 0

Being purchased as models for possible future use in procurement of

weights of local manufacture

25

~-

-~ ~- shy

~-

4rshy~~L~zu 1 - ~ A-

-~ - ~jj ~

~- k ~ ~

Helper and P Nubio National Power Corporationpreparing to make discharge measurement Tag marks of grass being tied to line Bantay River near Bokod Benguet Mountain Province March 26 1957

-- ~ 4

V

Helper holding meter in place suspended on a weight hanger while revolutions are counted oy hydrographer P Nubio E P Nbesamis is at extreme right March 26 1957

26

-p --shy

t-~-- - -

A ~

A~4 ~ 4

A -Y

- -

- - - -

gt~ ~ ~-

Z4z4a - ~z

- shy -~-~shy

4shy- --

I NPC discharge party on Bokod River at-Bokod BenguetMountain Province Helper and gagekeeper holding meter and 15-pound weight in position P Nubio on shore counting revolutions and recording notes March 26 1957

Ar 7

-~ I

0 I 15-pound weight used in discharge measurement work by the NPC hydrographer stationed at Ambuklao Dam March 26 1957

27

Recommendations

A sharp expansion in the stream gaging program of the Philippines

has occurred recently brought about not only by the ICAs economic and

technical aid program but also by the growing local demand for water

resources information It is inevitable that some organizational

changes would be required to accommodate such a sudden growth This

subject was discussed in conferences with Mr Saddam and Mr Regalado

and the following list of special objectives agreed upon They had a

number of these in mind or partly in effect already and were planning

to gradually adopt several others The items are listed here in order

to express my reasons for wanting to see them completely implemented

within the next two or three years They are as follows

A It is recommended that the district offices compute their own disshy

charge records and prepare them for publication for final review

in the central office in ranila

1 Additional engineers would be needed in each district office

and fewer engineers in the Manila office

2 At least the district hydrographer and preferably one other

engineer in addition should be trained in the office work in

Manila before the records were transferred to a district

3 Each engineer in a district office would be given a field area

which he would cover by a round of discharge measurements once

every 4 to 6 weeks each coverage taking about 2 weeks Betshy

ween trips he would do office work preferably on the same

stations that he covers in the field

28

4 Benefits of thissystem are believed to be as follows

a Records requested could be furnished more quickly to the

public especially to those in the district area

b This kind of a close tie between field and office work has

been found to greatly improve the quality of the records

the economy of operation and the performance and developshy

ment of the individual engineers

c The alternating of each person between field and office

work makes him (1) more competent in the field work and

also more competent in the office work than is possible

in segregated office and field groups and (2) permits

him to be home more of the time and lead a more normal

lifc thus increasing his morale and efficiency

5 Personnel arrangements recommended are

a Offer more rapid promotion to those who transfer like

from Manila to a field office or between field offices

b Encourage each man to transfer every few years with

faster promotions as an incentive It has been found

that this develops an engineers competence more rapidly

than if he stays in one office indefinitely Such ability

repays the government in added officiency and production

to an extent greater than its cost in extra salary

B Certain organization changes are recommended as follows

1 Appoint an Office Engineer a Field Engineer and (whenever

needed) a Construction Engineer They would be headquartered

__

V 29

2

~- ~

q

Ambuklao Dam on Agno River Generating capacity 75000 kw Powerplant is underground March 2557

7- t

-JI

Maria Cristina falls and power plant on Agus River River near Iligan Lanao Province Mindanao Present installed capacity 50000 kw May 1 1957

30

II I

Looking downstream at the Binga dam site on Agno River about 15 kilometers east of Baguio March 25 1957

Looking upstream at the Marikina dam site on Marikina River at Wawa near Montalban Rizal about 25 kilometers northeast of Manila April 5 1957

31

in the Manila office and act under the general supervision of

the head of the Section with the following responsibilities

to be included

a Office Engineer

(1) Be responsible for the discharge computations and

related office work in the Manila field district or

area

(2) Be responsible for review and final preparation for

publication of all records in the nation

(3) See that a progress chart of status-of-record compushy

tations is maintained in each district office and

that a summary statement concerning such progress is

sent to the central office at least quarterly

(4) Be responsible for research in office methods and

equipment (See footnote on next page)

b Field Engineer

(1) Act as first assistant to head of the Section of

Hydrography

(2) Be responsible for field operation vork throughout the

nation

(a) Make at least one annual field inspection in each

district

(b) Develop the system in every headquarters of keepshy

ing a running chronological chart of the discharge

measurements made at each gaging station or

32W

scheduled miscellaneous site A form in use in

Tacoma Washington has been found to be very conshy

venient for this purpose Such a chart gives the

supervisor a quick overall view of the status of

the field work and serves as a check at end of

the year to make sure all measurements have been

listed and counted

(3) Be responsible for the design of the stream gaging

network and the selection of sites for new gaging

stations

(4) Be responsible for research in field methods and

equipment

Construction Engineer

(1) Give general supervision and management to the conshy

struction program

(a) Obtain assignment of resident engineer or foreman

for each job

(b) See that the materials are made available Help

the foreman in every way possible in organizing

the job procuring emergency equipment or supplies

and making decisions about serious problems that

may arise on the job

If funds became available for considerable research it probably

would be better to appoint a special Research Engineer

33

~A

Cagayan River gaging station near Cagayan de OroMisamis Oriental Mindanao April 30 1957 Note how corrugated pipe recorder structure was bent by flood J C Regalado J J Ponco gagekeeper and G H Hargreaves in foreground

-

V

View of staff gage and control on Binakaan River at Tifigib near Pastrana Leyte Stream divided by a barand control excavated for unknown reason May 6 1957 J Regalado by the sign and G Hargreaves at right

Cable footbridge below Binga dam site Tree anchorage for cableway onformerly used by NPC in making Angat River above Ipo Damdischarge measurements P Nubio and March 13 1957E Abesamis of NPC on bridge March 25 1957

35

(c) Visit the major jobs occasionally to see that

they are proceding satisfactorily in all the

islands Make sure the stations are installed

according to instructions and plans An approved

sketch plan showing dimensions and elevations is

desirable for each construction job

(d) Prepare first draft of each new station description

(e) Prepare brief construction report including costs

A form in use at Tacoma Washington has been found

convenient for this purpose

C The following policies in regard to gagekeepers are recommended

1 Start a gradual change-over to paying each gagekeeper on basis

only of the hours he works plus a basic amount for taking the

responsibility This may result in increasing the pay of some

but it should reduce the pay of a much larger number

2 Convert most gagekeepers to two readings a day most of the time

with one or more additional readings during floods In some of

the drier parts of the Central Luzon area in cases where gages

are remote from habitation request only one reading a day

during the dry months such as from January through May inclushy

sive more than that are believed to cost more than they are

worth and are an open invitation to the reporting of estimated

readings

3 When a new recorder installation is at a barrio or bridge where

it appears unlikely to be vandalized try running the station

36

without hiring a gagekeeper If this system proves successful

discontinue the services of the gagekeepers at certain selected

recorders At all other recorders reduce the number of readshy

ings required to one per day and reduce their pay accordingly

If a gagekeeper prefers not to accept a lower monthly rate for

fewer readings it is suggested that he resign except in cases

where security of the station structures or right-of-way favors

may be involved

Proceed on the principle that a saving in public tax money from

the above reforms is more important than supporting gagekeepers

just because they depend on the income and need the money The

present dependence of a gagekeeper on his P300 or P360 a year

and the hardship he must undergo in adjusting to a lower rate

of pay for the job are not believed to be sufficient reasons

for continuing indefinitely to pay him more than necessary

However it is recommended that he be given 30 or 60 days

notice before a reduction in pay is placed in effect

D Vehicles

1 It is recommended that a gradual change-over be made from the

short-wheelbase open Jeep to the Jeep station wagon as a hydroshy

graphers car Benefits should be as follows

a The car can be locked leaving only the tires as attractive

to thieves

b The station wagon has more space As the hydrographers

became better equipped that space will be needed

37

Bamboo-and-grass shelters built and used by crew during construction of gaging station on Angat River above Ipo Dam March 13 1957

3

4

-Ti LP

Proposed site for new index-type gaging station selected on Baoas River near Mangatarem Pangasinan above all diversions by Regalado Romasanta dargreaves and Veatch April 15 1957 Photo by J S Romasanta

38

Taking Philippine Airlines plane at Legaspi Albayfor Manila on May 17 1957 Mount Mayon 7960 feet high in background

I

N 1 x

Y

I

Showing typical vehicle used on the reconnaissance and inspection trips over the Philippines

39

c For occasional errands or trips it will be feasible for

only oneman to take the car because he can lock the con

tents when the car is not attended

d It may possibly develop in some parts of the Philippines

that a hydrographer for a certain area will not need a

driver-helper and thereby a saving in funds can be made

However such a change should be made only on a trial

basis and is not recommended until conditions so warrant

and until the hydrographer involved is satisfied with the

change or else desires it

E Certain technical stream-gaging procedures are recommended to be

followed in the Philippine Islands hydrographic work at the average

gaging station by all agencies doing stream gaging as follows

1 Obtain a discharge measurement once every four to six weeks

throughout the year

2 Furnish the hydrographer with a print of the station descripshy

tion and of the rating curve and require him as a general rule

to compute and plot his discharge measurement in the field

3 Have the gage read both before and after each discharge measureshy

ment and the readings recorded on the field notes

4 Use a loose-leaf discharge-measurement note form or forms

containing a summary page patterned to some extent after the

forms in use by the USGS Bound notes make it too inconshy

venient or perhaps impossible for the office engineer to

examine the notes for a whole year when he analyzes a station

record

40

5 Gradually change to the use of ehameled steel gage plates

instead of painted gages because their initial cost is less

and they are more durable Plates graduated somewhat like

those of the US Geological Survey are believed much better

than those stocked by private companies While here I drew

up a suggested design for local manufacture which appealed

to the Hydrographic Section

6 Obtain levels at staff gages at least once a year especially

on the low section of gage Replace or repair each low secshy

tion soon after it becomes damaged or the markings become

indistinct

7 Continue as a general rule to use the 6-depth method with

the sub-surface method for deep swift water Obtain a comshy

plete cross section as soon as feasible after the high water

has subsided

8 Gradually change to the use of heavier sounding weights so

that the 6-depth method with soundings can be used at high

water in any event take soundings and velocities as far out

as practicable from each bank at flood stages then go across

deep part of channel with sub-surface method Check subshy

surface method coeficients whenever practicable by means of

vertical velocity curves Until such checks show otherwise

use a coefficient of 090

9 Compute discharge measurements by the mid-section method

This saves time (and money) and is at least as accurate as the

41

other method Request hydrographers to bear the method in mind

when selecting verticals near edges of channel or at breaks in

the cross section It is recommended that in the interests of

economy this change be made at an early date

10 Consider 20 as a desirable number of verticals in an average

stream cross section Continue to time the meter revolutions

for 40 to 60 seconds at each setting Someday if more accushy

racy is desired in hydrographic work in the Philippines it

would be appropriate to standardize on 30 verticals per measureshy

ment provided the 2-8 depth method were used and the gages

were read to fractions of a centimeter For the present it

seems consistent to take about 20 verticals when using the 6

method and with gages read only to the nearest centimeter

11 Use steel tag lines for wading measurements Paint bridge

rails and cables with markings sufficiently close together

that they can be used rapidly to determine stationing between

them When installing the paint marks use standard intervals

of either 1 meter 2 meters or 5 meters To avoid confusion

do not use intervals of 3 or 4 meters If measuring intervals

are to be 1 meter or less it is very convenient to have a

mark available every meter If intervals are between 1 and 5

meters use a mark every 2 meters A good system for making

the marks readily identifiable is to place 1 paint mark at

each basic interval like every 2 meters then put 2 marks every

10 meters 3 every 50 meters and 4 at 100 meters

42

use on12 Always tags the portion of the meter suspension line

that goes in the water The tags usually consist of small

pieces of colored cloth taped tightly to the line They

should be watched and checked occasionally against slippage

and error The tags should not be more than one meter apart

and should be spaced to give maximum convenience and speed in

measuring the discharge

13 As it may becoin feasible convert Type A current meters to

Type AA The more deeply recessed bearing of the Type AA

meter provides more durability of the pivot and bearing

because trapped air excludes most of the water and silt the

longer pivot results in a relatively lower center of gravity

of the bucke t wheel with respect to the point of bearing and

results in smoother performance

F Design of the stream gaging network

1 Everyone seem3 to agree with the objective of a network of

well-distributed long-term base stations for giving runoffshy

per-square-kilometer values representative of the general

area in which each station is located As rapidly as practishy

cable stations should be L d n the o ting netrk

and designated as base or index stations for permanent operashy

tion They should be the best stations both hydraulically

and as to equipment and should be free from upstream regushy

lation or diversion Where needed new base stations should

be installed as soon as they can be financed to appropriately

L11 out the network

43

2 In between such base stations it is desirable to sample smaller

basins with short-term records of various lengths which can be short term

correlated with the long records For this purpose thestashy

tion structures should be constructed so that they are as moveshy

able or salvageable as possiblej Often these movable stations

will be operated at or near specific project sites

3 It usually is more economical and satisfactory to gage a stream

at a highway crossing or other convenient place rather than

exactly at a project site later the data can be transferred

to the project site by means of drainage area proportions

checked by obtaining at the site e

two miscellaneous measurements or possibly in some cases a

whole year of record

4 A method for studying the existing network of stations to see

whether the intensity of coverage is satisfactory or not is to

plot correlations between the various station records prefershy

ably following the present methods of the USGS

5 It has been found advantageous to classify all gaging stations

that are in operation using categories somewhat like these

areal network base stations primary and secondary main stream

stations and water management stations This procedure is

helpful in planning how long various stations should be operated

Detailed information about station classification methods is

available from the U S Geological Survey for use as a guide

The Technical Training Program

Early plans

When this assignment was given to me it was anticipated that a

series of across-the-table discussions would be held with small groups

of hydrographers from the Philippine government bureaus engaging in

such work Detailed procedures would be discussed without formality

But when arrangements were initiated for such conferences I was inshy

formed that among those wanting to attend were many at the managerial

level as well as a number of representatives of agencies interested

more in water development projects than in resource investigations

These could not be turned down so it was necessary to revise the

agenda to include more of general interest

Later developments

In view of the wide experience and high rank of many prospective

attendants of the conference it did not seem appropriate to call it

a lecture series or school and the name Seminar On Water Resources

was decided upon The agenda is included in this report and will be

self-explanatory Registered attendance for each of the three weeks

was 68 72 and 70 persons respectively for a total of 210 The

setting for the Seminar can best be understood from the photographs

Conditions as a whole were good although the tape-recording of the

entire three weeks of proceedings and the need for a member to come

F M Veatch and Water Resources Seminar group week of April 8-12 1957 at Bureau of Public Highways conference building Manila

I y

rT

I

4

47

forward and use the microphone whenever he asked a question or made a

comment was somewhat of a dampener oh discussion When preparing the

agenda I assumed that few besides the hydrographers would attend the

sessions on technical details of stream gaging scheduled for Wednesday

to Friday yet the entire membership stayed through the full program

each week and so no small-group round-table discussions were practicable

It developed later that the language barrier was a little more

serious than first realized Also it was not evident at first that

many present did not know what a gaging station was One of the main

benefits gained from the field trip was to show them a typical station

along with some equipment Taken as a whole it is believed that the

Seminar was successful and worthwhile

The sending of trainees from the Hydrographic Section to the

United States by ICA is very effective in supplementing the technical

assistance rendered directly by American personnel in the Philippines

and it should be continued as long as possible

Acknowledgments

Announcements and invitations to attend the Seminar were sent to

numerous agencies and offices by the Hydrographic Section who also

made all arrangements such as for space registration loud speaker

system tape recordings and recess refreshments The Bureau of

Public Highways made their new conference building available and the

National Media Center furnished a slide projector screen and room

all of which were greatly appreciated The introductory talks by

48

several busy executives including Director J A Buendia and Messrs

A T Alano R R Lord P G Afable and D Rosell with Mr Tomas

Saddam acting as master of ceremonies contributed ideas and gave

each weeks session a good send-off

Publications

Copies of the following publications of the U S Geological

Survey (one by Bureau of Reclamation and one from ASCE) were disshyon

play at the Seminar at all times for inspection by the members Alshy

though they were requested not to take the publications away quite a

few copies gradually became missing

Irrigation Water Measurement Tables and Diagrams by U S

Bureau of Reclamation

ASCE Separate 413 - Backwater Effects of Open Channel

Constrictions

Stage-Fall Discharge Relation for Steady Flow in Prismatic

Channels Water-Supply Paper 1164

Topographic Characteristics of Drainage Basins W S P 968C

Weir Experiments Coefficients and Formulas WSP 200

Handbook for Hydrologists - Chapters 1 - 11

Chapter 1 -- Instructions for Flood Frequency Compilations

Chapter 2 -- ledian Discharge Computation Methods

Chapter 3 -- Instructions for Abstracting Topographic

Characteristics of Drainage Basins

i

-Imr- I

1 N

L

V10J~

C R Mirray explaining a ground water formula

Ii

17t

o

Water Resources Seminar group at gaging station on Marikina River near Montalban Rizal about an hours drive northeast of Manila April 12 1957

51

-- Channel Storage and Flood Routing

-- Extending Stream-flow Records

Chapter 6 -- Double Mass Curves

Chapter 7-A- Frequency Curves of Low Flows and Storage

Requirements

Chapter 8 -- Flood Frequency Analyses

Chapter 9 -- Small Stream Investigations

Chapter 10 - Hydrologic Definitions

Chapter 11 - Base-Flow Recession-Curves

Computation of Backwater at Open Channel Constrictions

Floods in Western Washington Frequency and Magnitude in

Relation to Drainage Basin Characteristics GS Circular 191

Floods in Georgia Frequency and Magnitude GS Circular 100

Stream-Gaging Procedure - A Manual Describing Methods and

Practice of the Geological Survey - WSP 888

Investigation of Methods and Equipment used in Stream Gaging

Part 2 Intakes For Gage Wells

Computation of Peak Discharge through Culverts

Computation of Backwater at Open-Channel Constrictions

Equipment for River Measurements Structures for Cableways

by Charles H Pierce

Computation of Peak Discharge at Contractions Circular 284

Care and Rating of Current Meters

Surface Water Supply o the United States 1950 Parts 1 - 14

52

In addition to the above publications a two-page single-spaced

memorandum entitled Plotting Flood Frequency Curves (Extracted from

U S Geological Survey publications) was prepared by me under date

of April 3 1957 and handed to each member of the Seminar each week

The program or agenda for the Seminar one copy of which was

given to each member follows on Pages 53 to 63 inclusive The

graphs on Page 63 were referred to during the talks

53

March 29 1957

AGENDA FOiR SEMINARZ ON WATER RESCURCES AND STAE4 GAGING

IN THE PHILIPPINES

PLACE Conference hoom 2nd Floor Bureau of Public Highways Building Second Street Port Area Manila

TIKE April 1-5 8-12 and 22-26 (same program each week)

CONDUCTED BY M1r i 1 Veatch District EngineerSurface WaterBranch Jater Aesources Division United States Geological Suver Thcoma ashington who is un three-month assignment with the ICA

Held in connoction with the Philippine Government-ICA water resources program

54

GENERAL PROGRAM MONDAY AND TUESDAY

honday morning 830

Opening remarks Mr Julian A Buendia Director Bureau of Fublic Works Mr R R Lord Chief Public Works Division ICA Mr G H Hargreaves Hydraulic Engineer ICA

Importance of water resources and their investigation

The hydrologic cycle Evaporation transpiration and precipitation Runoff

Daily discharge record and the hydrograph Storm runoff Base flow

Grou~nd Water Very brief description (this subject to be covered

iaore fully on Tuesday afternoon)

General characteristics of natural stream runoff in the Philippines Quantity

Adequacy Comparison with United States

Variations with time Day to day and year to year Long-term trends

Distributin by area General over the Philippine Islands Variations between nearby drainage basins

Effect of location elevation geology cover etc

Major uses of stream-flow data Many years of rccornds should be crnsidered Granting water r phts

Protect existing rights Prevent capital expenditures where water supply inadequate

Planning river basin developments including municipal supply irrigation pnwer flood control etc

Destping structures such as dams reservoirs dikes floodways canals pumping systems power plants bridges etc

Accuracy and extent of dat needed for minimizing underdesign or wasteful overdesign

Cost of water-supply data in relation to total cost of a project

Operating water projects Distribution of water on projects Operation of storage reservoirs and diversion dams

To make maximum use uf water supply Designing alterations or enlargements to existing projects

RECESS 1000 to 1015

55 -3-

Monday morning (Continued) 1015 aim

Management of the stream gaging program Foreseeing the needs for stream-flow records

Study population and industrial trends Keep inforned on water-development plans and

prgraIIs of all agencies Continuity of the records

Essential for wator-supply studies Regular financinp reouired

Annual appropriations a poundfccted by temporary econoidc or political conditions

Permanent type of financing needed Surcharge method License fee method

-Dissemination of the data Annual publication Occasional summary compilations Furnishing advance cupies of unpublished records Furnishing current data - daily weekly or munthly

wherever required Special water resources investigation agency desirable

Briefly dancribe United States organization Uniform tecnical standards Uniform ways of presenting data One series of publicatiens Distributial center for basic water data Genera l-coverage program requires close coordination

for economy of operation Personal requirements

Engineers Engir ring aids Computers Clerks

ADJOURN - 1145

Resume after lunch only if necessary for completing the above subjects

56

Tueday morning 830

Design of a comprehensive stream gjaging program General rrinciIlac

Represenkc tive runoff-type provinces should be sainpled with stations of various classes

Vary the intensity of coverage with probable intenshysity of water use

Follow tiie tcends variations with records fromand L sri etatiorns secondary

Correlate resultls one continually adjustnetwork Classification of ra-in stationa

Areal prinary and secondary viain strem priiary nd secondary Water-manmfciact stat-i ons Miscellanous dischaige mcasurements

Correlating the dat obttined in comprehensive program Logarithmic pajer Five years of lecord uscd What is a good corrclation

Analyses of data Flood frcouencjs

Annual serics Partial duration series

Low-flow frecuencies Low-flow duration hydrograph

Extending strewm-flow records Comparisons witi other gaging stations Rainfall-runoff correlations

Quality of water Temperature

Intermittent observations Recorders

Chemical gtuality Element -Dissolved solids

Suspended iaterial Time of cecurrence-floods Sampling

Methods Cost

RECESS - 1000 to 1015

57

- 5 -

Tuesday afternoon 130

Ground water (This subject conducted by Mr C R Murray) Occurrence

Water table Artesian Lakes

Movement Through the ground Into stream channels

Availability Geologic structure Aquifers Funing tests

Recharge Froa precipitation Artificial Froma induced lateral movement

Investigation Geology Springs Logs of dug and drilled wells Test wells

lecording Lanual

Quantitative studies Chemical quality analyses

Mincral ccontnt Sallt water intrusion

Drilling of wells for production use Ground water rirhts

Depletion of ground water reservoirs teyond rccharge capability

ADJOURN at 330

Geologist Ground Water Branch dater Resources Division U 6 Geological Survey who is on two-ywar assignment with ICA

58

PROGRAM ON STREMvi GAGING PROCEDURE WEDNESDAY TO FRIDAY

4ednesday morning 830

Establishing and constructing gaging stations Selection of site

Consider najor probable uses of the record Investigate extent of upstream diversion and

-egulation Utilize contour naps Obtain list of nmrjor water right applications

iydraulic conditicns Section control Shifting channel Overbank flow Dackwater

Accessibility Avoid too much expense Need to reach quickly to measure flash floods

Natural protection front flood damage Avoid excessively expensive construction conditions

Bed iock Quick sand Too-longintake pipes

For non-rccording gage choose site convenient to

one or more local gage readers

Survey of site Bank cross-prefile at gage Cross section at cable Plan

Right of way Oral pervrission ritten permission

Easement Land purchase

RECESS - 945 to 1000

- 7 - 59

Wednesday morning (Continued) 100)

Construction Select types and sizes of structures To fit purpose oi the record Plan later salva e (for secondary stations) For economy of operation (for example design cableway to

operat mesily) Adapt availabic standard plans to fit the site Keep costs to hclp in future estimating Make brief construction report for future assistance in

planninr sililar Jobs Prepare staLion descripLion

Road log distences etc for How to reach paragraph Descriptions of gages bench marks etc Dimensions cf structuis Gage datum elevations of portinent parts of structures

Operating and maintaining gaging stations Records of stage

Choice of dtum Arbitrcry local datum

Set gages so there will be no minus gage readings

Mean sea level datum May be used but has disadvantages

1hen later adjustments are made to level networks

Gages have to be reset or Equation must be published

Non-recording gages Types

Vertical staff Inclined staff

ire-weight Crest-stage gages

Refinement of graduations ake adequate for accuracy of record needed

Maintatling dat of gage Adequate number of local reference marks Take levels at least once a year

Work o- local gare reader Fy according to approx number of hours worked Do not roruire too many roadings for the

conditions Warm (with omphasis) against my guessed

readings Inform reader anv errors in reading will

show up in hydrogrq oic comtparisons Engineers obtain check readings whenever

possible Visit gage reader frequently a d show inshy

terest in his gage-height record Encourage reader to retain personal copy

ADJOURN at 1145

60

Thursday morning 800

Records of stage (continued) Recording gages

Select type of instrument and its scales to fit conditions at gaging station

Weekly or continuous recorder Recorder scales Range of stage Rate of change of stage Availability of someone to change weekly

chart Work of Cage inspector of keeper

Avoid resetting pen Repurt any trash or debris causing backwater

at gage Do not have a gage keeper unless needed

aintaining gage datum Check outside gae by levels annually Keep outside gage sections reset to datum

Standard reference gage Inside gage of soie sort preferable

Staff Float-tape Anchor type

Intake action Clean or flush pipes after floods Slot intakes Self-cleaning iitakes

For pipe gage wells For wells built into bridge piers

Draw-down (where excessive) Use bapfle or static tube

Elood marks at station Make record of well-defined high water

marks

AECESS - 945 to 1000

- 9 - 61

Thursday morning (Continudd) 1000

Discharge measuroments Current hmeters

Price Type A Type AA

Pygmpy Carc of inters

Sounding weights E-typc C-type

Lead Brono

Type of notebook Loose shects Loose-leaf book Bound booL

Measurement of depth aeding rod Tag-line nethod Vertical-nglc coofficients Sounding during floods

Ilacemont of mter Sub--surface method 2-depth n cthod 6-de-pth icthod 2- imetY od

Number of verticals Velocity -urgcs

Miscellaneous f-ctors Effect of bridge piers Horizontal angle of current Insufficient weight on current water

1Mean gage hoitht for a discharge measurement Special methods of (Itermining flood discharge

Floats Slope-area method

Rating curv- etonsion method Arca and velocity curves Loparithmic plottig

Contrqctd-opening mothod Flow ovcr dams

Report on condition of control Carry station description and rating curve in field

Ubtain another me asurement if needed If first indicates large shift If new station and stagc advantagoous for

defining blank part of rating curve

ADJOUffN - 1145 AI

Resumne atfter lunch only if necessary for comploting the above subjects

62

- 10 -

Friday morning S00

A few remarks about office methods Rating curves

Log-log paper Upward extonsions Dowmward extensions

Rectangular plotting Computing recorder charts

M-ark index correction and time correction for each inspection reading

Break midnight lines at raph Never oblitertte or mark over the original trace Nake office markings on chart distinctive from

those mad( At the gage Use of colored pencils by computer and checker is one good wa)y

Daily discharge record Flot hydrograph Compare over light box with other stations

This method preferable to plotting several station records on same sheet

Concluding discussions

RECESS - 945 to 1000

Projection of gaging station equipment Lnd scenic slides taken in the United States and Canada

ADJOURN - 1145

Field trip Cars will be available at the conference building to

take members to the raging station on arikina iRivei at ontalban about an hours drive from Manila where a brief demonstration of certain field equipment will be given

Return to noL later thanoanila 500 FL

---

- Ishy4 ~7L~

0F OllY LISCIiRE 4- 1 -shy

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- O 1 B -- 2r 2 ZZ 23 24 2 c 26 7 8 2717x I 2

_~ I 027 _d- 1 2 shy

7 -

n_ a t-i IZ

- _______________ Pnu~ OAgvhshy

-~ ~-r- 1 - V-shy- i-shytvkty--- in--a-- -~ ~Z2m7~ ~

- ~ ~-~-----~- V 1~5~ LTLL2P7o -4----4 1 -- I -- I I _ __ --- -- -- - - L - - I ----

~- ~y~-~ 64 4

N

A il

Seminar members observing demonshystrat-n of measurshying e -pment by F M Veatch at Marikina River gaging station April 12 1957

I

Water Resources Seminar members observing working model of proppsed Binga Dam at the hydraulics laboratory of University of the Philippines April 12 1957

65

Current meter rating flume mechanism Y 22 1957

Current meter rating flume mechanism May 22 1957

66

Current Meter Rating Station

The new current meter rating station at the University of the

Philippines (see photographs) was not quite ready for use before I

left the country The mechanism and instruments were manufactured

in Germanyobtained thru ICA-NEC procurement for the Water Resources

Program of the Department of Public Works and have been installed by

Professor Alberto Villares and his hydraulics laboratory staff under

Dean C A Ortigas of the College of Engineering with some guidance

by Professor Edward L Ericksen of the University of Michigan who is

a civil engineer on detail here with the Stanford Group Professor

Villares spent 18 months in the hydraulics laboratory of the Univershy

sity of Iowa

There is every evidence that this rating flume will with expeshy

rience do work accurate enough not only for determining differences

in ratings between current meters but also for preparing absolute or

independent ratings This can be reported on more fully at some

later date by Messrs Hargreaves and Snell

The Central Luzon Region Program

The Water Resources Development Committee is preparing a recomshy

mended plan for the expedited multiple-purpose development of the

water resources of the Central Luzon region The area contains oneshy

sixteenth of the land surface and one-fourth of the population of the

Philippines and is termed the rice granary of the nation It is to

be used as an example or experiment in water and land development

67

The Committee has requested member agencies to submit estimates

of the minimum amount of additional basic data needed for making a

useful report and for proceeding with development projects Such

estimates are to include mapping soil surveys dam and reservoir site

surveys water resources surveys and other items A preliminary

report is to be prepared soon summarizing the existing information

pointing out the need for additional dataand submitting estimates

of cost for the further investigations needed An outline for the

final report has been prepared and distributed so it will be availashy

ble as a guide and funds for the first years efforts are being

sought for fiscal year 1958 It appears reasonable that the report

on a comprehensive plan could be submitted to the President and

Congress of the Philippines in about five years

With the assistance of Mr Hargreaves I have prepared estimates

for a surface water measurement program to complement the existing

program It is designed to fill the worst gaps in the present netshy

work Details are subject to change as more reconnaissance informashy

tion becomes available as only five days were spent covering the area

by automobile Unit costs were provided by the Hydrographic Section

and they include cost of preparation of the records for publication

Estimates were submitted as given below They were supported by a

detailed list of stream names and locations which included desigshy

nations as to the primary purpose or type of each proposed new gaging

station and whether a recording or non-recording gage was recommended

It is available for reference in both the ydrographic Section and

ICA offices

68

New gaging stations

1 Daily discharge type

Installation (including cableways where needed)

Recording ------- 7 Pl650 11550

Non-recording --- 4 950 3800 15350

Operation 1st year -11 660 7260 P22610

2 High water type (flood records)

Installation

Gages (nonshy

recording) ----- 4 150 600

Measuring equipment 800 1400

Operation 1st year - 4 300 1200 2600

Total for new gaging stations ------------- 25210

Miscellaneous discharge measurements

1 4 or 5 during dry season Nov - April

4 sites x 5 per site = 20 30 ---------------- 600

2 1 or 2 during low part of year March and April

37 sites x l per site = 55 k30 ------------- 1650

Total for miscellaneous measurements ------ 2250

Total -------------- -2746o

69

Rainfall And Evaporation Stations

Existing network

A map examination of the existing network of rain gages was made

and a surprisingly large number were found to be in operation -- 2

recording and 115 manual stations or a total of 117 They are beshy

lieved to be fairly adequate in number and are well distributed

areally over the Philippines but like in the United States are conshy

fined largely to the lower altitudes where the agricultural and urban

population live In addition to these records are available for

various lengths of time from about 8 discontinued Weather Bureau

stations and from more than 300 haciendas reforestaion stations

and provincial rnrseries

Additional gages

The Weather Bureau and the Bureau of Public Works are cooperating

in the installation of some new rainfall stations at higher altitudes

part of which will utilize new instruments purchased with ICA aid

funds Some of the instruments will be installed at existing nonshy

recording stations Forty new installations are proposed for 1958

fiscal year It is now recognized that rainfall station coverage at

higher altitudes is needed in order to furnish records that can be

correlated with the long-term valley records and also with the gaging

station discharge records D

70

Weather station maintained by Bureau of Public WorksIrrigation Division near Tuguegarao Cagayan From left to right N Ciriaco District Hydrographer drivershyhelper observer J G Garcia hydrographer J C Regalado and G H Hargreaves May 13 1957

Weather station at Pototan Iloilo Panay A Lacuestadistrict bydro-rapher standing May 5 1957

71

Group luncheon at Tacloban Leyte typical of the hospitality received by us during inspection tour of the Philippines From left to right M Rico irrig distr engr G Hargreaves G Araos E N Salazar P Formilleza L Abella S Velasco JCRegalado V H Sydiongoo distr hydrographer I M Ortega Oscar de Venecia and N Oliver May 7 1957

ICA Public Works Division March 1957 From left to right C R Murray A A Ketchum asat Div head J B Delaney I J Silverstone Sofia Halili 0 H Hosmer R R Lord Div head B B Hill Betty Valdez G H Hargreaves J L Brenden FM Veatch

72

Evaporation stations

Fifteen double-pan (one open and one partially shaded) evaporation

stations with rainfall temperature wind and humidity instruments as

auxiliary are being operated in the Philippines and ten more are to

follow next year They are well distributed over the islands and

should furnish data of great value for reservoir design Thq reccrds

will be publish3d

Publication of rainfall data

All rainfall reccrds are published annually by the Weather Bureau

whose 1954 volume is the latest one printed The 1955 issue should be

released soon One excellent source of information for anyone studyshy

ing rainfall data in the Philippines is the publication The Distrishy

bution of Rainfall In The Philippines by Eugenio B Manalo Chief

Climatological Division Weather Bureau Manila This contains

valuable descriptive material tables of monthly and annual values

and mean monthly and annual isohyets in inches An inspection or

study of the monthly isohyetal maps shows clearly how storm patterns

change with the seasons in certain parts of the Philippines and that

73

in other areas the rain is almost evenly distributed throughout the

year The long dry season of Manila and the central Luzon plains is

graphically portrayed by the isohyets Mr Manalos publication

should be of great benefit to government agencies and private parties

or individuals in connection with agricultural and business activities

over the islands It is presumed that the isohyets will warrant some

revision after another 5 or 10 years as more records especially those

at higher altitudes become available

Sediment Measurement Stations

Practically no silt-sampling has been done in the Philippines

to date and no extensive program is believed possible because of the

lack of funds For the present it is recommended that every governshy

ment field hydrographer be equipped with a thermomater and a turbidity

stick and required to report a spot water temperature and turbidity

reading at time of each discharge measurement Thus without extra

cost a large amount of data can be accumulated which after several

years should make it possible to determine what streams are the

siltiest and where more detailed studies might be needed Whenever a

reservoir project reaches the intensive-investigation stage including

dam-site drilling detailed topography etc it is recommended that

a complete sediment sampling station be operated there for at least

one full flood season before the project feasibility report is

completed

74

Statement Before Water Resources Development Committee

On March 20 1957 I presented the following statement regarding

the streamflow measurement program in the Philippines

The Philippine Republic is blessed with an excellent supply of

water of good quality but much of it is wasted to the sea during the

rainy season The development of this resource is vitally important

to the nation and it involves the storing of flood waters for dryshy

season release Where investments are to be made for construction of

dams etc in the development of irrigation power production and

flood control large sums can easily be wasted through overdesign or

underdesign if enough engineering data are not available Conflicting

or competing uses for the water supplies will gradually develop in

your country the same as they have in the United States If water

rights are to be granted fairly with due regard for all prior users

many years of basic data are necessary so that the long-term water

supply can be estimated For this purpose a good network of stream

gaging records and ground water levels must be secured One would

not attempt to manage the money in a bank without bookkeeping and it

is just as important to have an accounting system when managing water

The sound economical procedure is to base all project designs on as

complete engineering information as can be obtained

The ICA is attempting to assist the Philippine Government in

planning the orderly development of its water resources and we are

concerned that too many structures may be built before accurate

9i

hydrologic data are available for their design For this reason we

strongly urge you to improve the basic data gathering program at the

earliest possible date as follows

(1) Review and publish the stream-flow records that have been

obtained since the war

(2) Finance an expanded program of stream-flow measurement and

ground water study

The Bureau of Public Works has prepared preliminary estimates of

the funds needed for bringing publication of basic data up to date and

for expanding the wiater resources investigation program The attached

copies of estimates are of course provisional and subject to revision

but it is suggested that they be placed in the files of this Committee

for future reference The figure of P56oooo for publication is a

fairly firm figure It is suggested that the Committee take immeshy

diate action to further the procurement of these funds

The procurement of water resources data is a specialized field

requiring engineers and other technical men with a high degree of

education Years must be spent in training them in such special

work The men must endure rigorous physical work corbatting the

elements and using resourcefulness and judgment It is very uneconoshy

mical and unsatisfactory to have a technical organization of that kind

subject to occasional and unpredictable severe cuts in appropriations

It is even more unsatisfactory to have the time sequence of basic

water data collection interrupted and valuable records lost forever

2

assistance of Mr Russell R Lord Chief of Public Works Division of

ICA and by menmbers of his staff especially Mr George H Hargreaves

Chief Advisor Water Resources Program and by the Philippine Governshy

ment officials with whom I worked most closely including Mr Tomas

Saddam Chief of Hydrographic Section of the Bureau of Public Works

and Mr Jose C Regalado of his staff Mr Alex Delefia of the River

Control Section Messrs I Santos and E P Abesamis of the National

Power Corporation and E B Manalo of the Weather Bureau

Acknowledgment is also made to Messrs R E 01tman and J J

Ligner of the Training Section Surface Water Branch Washington

D C for their cooperation in sending numerous publications needed

at the Seminar and elsewhere in the Philippines and for their sugshy

gestions in regard to training

3

The Stream Gaging Program In The Philippines

History

The Hydrographic Section of the Irrigation Division Department

of Public Works and Communications (formerly the Department of Commerce

and Communications) has been the major stream gaging agency in the

Philippines since the work was started in 1908 265 gaging stations

in 40 of the 49 provinces were operated for short periods of time between

1908 and 1922 mostly in 1910-12 and 1919-22 All daily gage-height and

discharge records collected by that agency between January 1 1923 and

June 1944 became destroyed by Lire during World War II However the

results of numerous discharge measurements made from 1939 to 1942 were

saved for several gaging stations in the Bicol region of southern Luzon

Stream gaging by the Hydrographic Section was resumed on August 19 1945

on the Aringay River near Tubao La Union followed gradually by other

stations as the Liberation progressed

Records for 1908 to 1922 were published in 1923 in four volumes-as

Water Supply Bulletin No 1 Surface Water Supply of the Philippine

Islands which included the results of all discharge measurements as

well as computed daily discharges in second-liters The calendar year

is used rather than a water year The Extremes paragraphs do not

include any stage records the only gage heights published being those

contained in the lists of discharge measurements

k

Forty-six of the gaging stations operated during the 1908-22

period were re-established after World War II at sites where the records

are considered comparable -- that is where the drainage area does not

differ by more than five per cent The longest continuous records of

discharge not affected by diversion or regulation that I have been able

to find in the Philippines for the postwar period are for the Maasim

River near San Rafael Bulacan Luzon October 5 1945 to date and for

the Aringay River near Tubao La Union from August 19 1945 to date

Available maps are not very satisfactory for locating sites of former

gaging stations because the names of many of the barrios and towns are

different on present maps than they were when the stations were first

operated and described

Considerable stream gaging has also been done by the National

Power Corporation and some river stage records have been obtained by

the River Control and Drainage Section Irrigation Division These are

summarized in the tabulation on Page 6 In addition miscelshynumerous

laneous discharge measurements have been obtained by several agencies

Daily discharge records are available in the files of the National

Power Corporation for eight pre-war gaging stations that were operated

for varying periods between 1923 and 1943 by the Bureau of Public Works

One of these on Barit River at Santiago Iriga Camarines Sur was

operated from 1923 to 1940 The original forms for all eight stations

became destroyed during the war but a set of prints was later discovered

by the National Power Corporation in some hydroelectrical project files

that were saved The NPC re-established the Barit River station at

the same site in 1950

5

Marikina R at Montalban Rizal Province with Stevens FM 30-day recorder April 5 1957

TYPICAL NEW GAGING STATION STRUCTURES CONSTRUCTED AS A RESULT CF THE ICA PROGRAM

III I I

I I I

~iz

7~il

2~-

Pampanga River at Atate Nueva Ecija Stevens FM recorder J C Regalado driver helper and L Borbolla in foreground April 14 1957

47~I

-4

4

iuJi rf if poundflLLi

77

Pre-war frame shelter and 36 corr pipe Frame shelter over new 36 corrwell with Gurley weekly recorder Pampanga

J C Regalado B Ramos and E M Veatch pipe well Pampanga River near standing Taken by G H Hargreaves Arayat Pampanga March 1 1957 March 1 1957

Status of post-war computations and publication

Daily discharge computations of the Hydrographic Section tbr 1944

to 1954 are practically coplete those for 1955 are about 40 per deb4t

complete and for 1956 about 15 per cent Office work has been delayed

considerably because of the heavy constructionfprogran which started

in 1956 using supplies and instruments furnished by the ICA All office

computations are made in the Manila office No discharge records have

been published since those of 1908-22 but steps are being taken as

explained later in this report to bring publication up to date It is

planned that the records which have been compuhed for the years 1944 to

1956 will be reviewed before their final preparation for publication

to make sure their standards of accuracy are reasonably consistent

with the slightly higher standards proposed to be instituted as a

result of recommendations made in this report About 1500 stationshy

years of stream-flow recordsless than 10 per cent of which are from

agencies other than the Hydrographic Section are proposed to be comshy

piled and printed in a single-volume publication of monthly and annual

data Tables of monthly minimum discharge are to be included

Organization and cooperation

The Hydrographic Section customarily assigns a district hydrographer

and his assistants as resident at each irrigation district office that

is situated a long distance from Manila Their headquarters are as

follows

District Province Town

Northern Luzon Isabela San Mateo

Bicol Region Luzon Camarines Sur Naga

Eastern Visayas Leyte Tacloban

Western Visayas Iloilo Iloilo

Mindanao Davao Davao

This district is presently being operated by hydrographers from

Manila the same as for the central part of Luzon

The above field hydrographers are each assigned a Jeep and a drivershy

helper Hydrographers pay scales range between about Y2400 and P4200

per annum and in addition they are granted a subsistence allowance of

Y2OO per unit or Y800 a day Driver-helpers receive an average pay

of P5 per day plus a subsistence allowance of P200 per day (which has

been reduced administratively from P450 a day because of lack of funds)

The field personnel send or deliver all basic records to Manila

where they are processed computed and filed Most of the office work

is done by office personnel with the field men doing but little of the

office work

9

New timber recorder structure including plank intake with Stevens A-35 recorder Pinagcanauan de Tuguegarao River near Tuguegarao Cagayan Jose G Garcia assistant hydrographer and Norberto Ciriaco District Hydrographer on walkway May 14 1957

Staff gage on Jalaur River at Passi Iloilo From left to right 2 boys A Lacuesta Distr HydrogrLher J CorderoIrrig Distr Engr G Hargreaves J Regalado gagekeeper (kneeling) and onlooker May 8 1957

I

--- S

F National Power Corporation staff gage on Angat River above Ipo Dam now beingreplaced by a Bureau of Public Works recorder installation March 13 1957

O~

~A F~ ~~ shy- ~

~

- --

I ------ ~

A -~ 1

~ -- gt I~-

5 shy

- ~- ~ U

amp~~ -

2r~ ~k- ~ ~

National Power Cororation painted staff gage Bantay River near Bokod BenguetMountain Province Hydrographers helperstanding March 26 1957 Note lower markings faded

11

Whether any other changes are made or not it is the expressed

plan of the Hydrographic Section to have the District-Hydrographer

who is in charge of the Northern Mindanao District headquartered at

Cagayan de Oro

A considerable portion of the pay of district hydrographers and

their staffs comes directly from the Irrigation Section district

office at which they are headquartered rather than through the

Hydrographic Section This has had the effect of limiting their

efforts somewhat to project work rather than to general or all-purpose

investigations

Some of the other agencies particularly the National Power

Corporation obtain the cooperation of the Hydrographic Section in

helping operate certain gaging stations where a duplication of travel

can thus be avoided However the discharge measurements so made by

the Hydrographic Section are turned over to the NPC who make their

own computations of daily discharge The latter also sometimes pays

directly the salaries of certain gagekeepers Usually this cooperashy

tion does not involve an exchange of funds but some change in that

situation is recommended as explained later in this report

All agencies make their daily discharge records available to the

Hydrographic Section upon request and the plan is to have the later

agency include all such records in their publications No reproduction

machine is available in any of the offices and all copies of records

must be made individually in typing or longhand A machine is under

order by the Hydrographic Section

-fiUMBER OI~ GAGIiG~STATIONS-eP-ERATED IN-PIILIPPINES -

CALENDAR YEAR

YEA HYOROGRAPHIC

STAGE NATIONAL

SECTION PO R0 P

RIVEl CONTROL SECTON

TOT AL

DISCHARGE NATIONAL

HYDROGRAPHIC SECTION ORHYTGRPI SECTION POR

TOTAL TOA

RECORDING NON-REC TOTAL NON-REC NON-REC RECORDING NON-REC TOTAL

1908-1922 265 265 265

1923-1944 3 3 9 12

1945 6 6 6 15 15 2 17

1946 2 12 14 14 28 28 4 32

1947 3 11 14 14 29 29 4 33

1948 3 18 21 5 26 45 45 5 50

1949 3 13 16 6 5 27 74 74 15 89

1950 3 9 12 10 4 26 91 91 20 111

1951 3 15 18 10 4 34 103 103 17 120

1952 3 13 16 10 4 30 111 111 17 128 1953 3 17 20 11 17 48 1 96 97 23 120

1954 4 18 22 11 26 49 1 145 146 22 168

1955 4 18 22 13 19 54 1 207 208 27 235

1956 6 12 15 1 25 52 40 189 26 5

13

Various agencies have submitted lists of proposed gaging stations

which they would like to have installed to provide data for their

projects It is apparent that this work will be well coordinated in

the future and that the other agencies will come to rely more and

more on the Hydrographic Section for most of their basic stream-flow

records But they probably will continue to have their own personnel

make certain types of hydrographic investigations for the detailed

study of specific projects such as river profiles tailwater rating

curves etc

Financing

The main difficulty in regard to financing has been lack of

stability and continuity to the program and insufficient generalshy

fund money to permit the establishment of an all-purpose gaging proshy

gram In 1956 and 1957 the Hydrographic Section rec3ived P120000

(less than half of their total funds) for such general use with all

other monies either from counterpart funds (explained below) in theor

form of contributions from other agencies to cover certain gaging

expenses Another difficulty has been the lack of enough funds to

properly carry out the sudden large construction program generated by

the new ICA-furnished materials and instruments Most of the regular

hydrographic force has been assigned to construction during the last

twelve months or so because separate construction foremen or substitute

hydrographers could not be hired As a result the regular field

operation of gaging stations has suffered considerable neglect This

- - -

14

wuld not have been necessary if the Hydrographic Sections funds had

been flexible and appropriated on basis of a performance budget As

it is the Section must adhere to line items which spell out exactly

how all money is to be spent

The financing of an expanded 1958 program now appears to be

progressing satisfactorily largely from the counterpart monies

This fund consists of pesos allocated by the Philippine government

in an amount equivalent to the dollar value of imports furnished by

the ICA It is administered by the National Economic Council with

allocations subject to approval of the ICA on budget recommendations

received from Philippine government agencies In the case of water

resources programs they are assisted by recommendations of the Water

Resources Development Committee an NEC administratively appointed

body composed of representatives of ten agencies interested or inshy

volved in water development A rougn breakdown of the Hydrographic

Sections budget proposed for the fiscal year starting July 1 1957

is as follows

General Fund Pesos

Annual appropriation - ------------ 120000

Counterpart Funds

For bringing up to date the publication of

annual records plus a compilation - - - - 56000

For an expanded program of surface-water

investigations----------- - 500000

TOTAL - - - - - - 676000

The total funds available in 1955 and 1956 fiscal years were 180000

and 280000 respectively

It

a 7~

IC

U

i

Staff gage out of water Labangan River at Bagbag Calumpit Bulacan March 1 1957

7lt 2

I

fr

Gagekeeper and staff Jalaur River at Calinog Iloilo He read 10 centimeters low today because markings on lower part of gage were illegible

I-J May 8 1957

16 8

hational Power Corp staff gage painted on streamward side of cliff Lower markings gone and gagekeeper determines gage heights three times a day by wading to gage and measuring down with rule as shown in this picture Bokod R at Boiod Benguet Mountain Province March 26 1957

Bureau of Public Works staff gage station Gagekeeper has made readingsby measuring down from a nail since this section of gage was washed out by a flood Madlum River near Sibul Springs Bulacan April 25 1957

17

The only difficulty with counterpart financing is that it is

temporary and could conceivably leave the program stranded in a few

years when ICA aid is discontinued The necessity is recognized for

gradually obtaining regular Congressional appropriations to take the

place of counterpart funds An effort will also be made to have a

performance type of budget accepted because line items make the

program inflexible and prevent the best management and economy

It is recommended that other agencies desiring for their projects

certain stream flow records which cannot be financed from the regular

budget of the Hydrographic Section transfer funds annually (either in

advance or on a reimbursement basis) to the Hydrographic Section to

pay the extra costs required for the fulfilment of their requests

Design of the stream gaging program

As mentioned above the fiscal arrangements prevailing up to this

time have resulted in an almost total emphasis on project-type gaging

stations in the Philippines However I believe everyone is now in

agreement with the desirability or need for a nation-wide network of

index or runoff-per-square-kilometer type of stations which will sample

various runoff provinces such as those with different exposures to storms

and having different topography altitude geology type of land cover

etc The intensity of the network of stations in different regions

would vary depending upon the apparent future economic value or worth

of the water in each area This will be discussed in more detail in

the recommendations

18

In order to look over the existing program observe something of

the technical methods in use and see a variety of runoff and economic

types of areas in the islands to gain an idea of the type of stream

gaging network needed I have visited several regions accompanied most

of the time by Mr George Hargreaves It has been very helpful to me

to have him take such an interest in the detailed objectives of ry

assignment and I am sure it will facilitate Mrs Snellas work a great

deal to have available for consultation and guidance Mr Hargreaves

wide experience in water resources development and investigations

We were accompanied by Mr J C Regalado of the ydrographic Section

who made most of the advance contacts with field offices in connecshy

tion with our trips We usually travelled to central points by Philshy

ippine Air Lines and were then driven to nearby areas by field officials

of the Hydrographic Section and other agencies The hospitality and

cooperation of everyone toward us was exceptional and much appreciated

Besides a fairly detailed coverage of the Central Luzon area where an

intensified program is proposed our inspections included Northern

Luzon Southern Luzon (the Bicol region) Leyte Panay and several

parts of Mindanao In addition we made a special effort to observe

the country all along the routes of airplane flights taken and that

coupled with airplane stops made on other islands gave us a fairly

comprehensive view of the geography of the Philippines It is upon

this that my recommendations concerning the design of a stream gaging

program are based

19

Bquipment and technical methods-

The stream gaging equipment and methods used by the Hydrographic

Section since 1908 have been patterned mainly after those of the US

Geological Survey as described in the 1904 publication H4ydrographic

Manual Thus it appears likely that the methods and accuracy stanshy

dards have changed but little since the Philippine program was started

Stream gaging tecniques used by the other agencies are similar but

they have not had the advantage of some of the new ICA-furnished equipshy

ment This is expected to be remedied in the aid allocations for fiscal

year 1958

Although some use has been made of the 2-8 method of measuring

discharge present practice is limited almost entirely to the 6method

for low and medium stages and the sub-surface method for high stages

for the latter the meter is suspended over a 15-E weight and set 03

meter below the surface with a coefficient of 0915 applied

The number of verticals or measuring points taken in the cross

section usually is between 8 and 15 No bridge cranes or suspension

reels of any kind have been available all discharge work other than

with wading rod having been done by hand line All this is about to

be changed with the recent arrival of the first ICA-furnished sounding

reels weights and tag lines purchased from 1956 FY funds

Staff gages are read to the nearest centimeter (about 0033 foot)

Most of the gages would be difficult to read to any closer limit alshy

though a few stations have Leupold Stevens enameled gages with levelshy

rod type markings

20

The hydrographer records his discharge measurement notes in a

small bound pocket-size book which he carries until it is full After

each measurement is computed in the field a complete copy of the notes

is made on a card and mailed to the Manila office I am informed

that the bound notebooks are practically never lost or dropped in

the water With the increased amount of flood measuring expected to

be done in the future that situation might change

Rating curves are drawn to average large groups of discharge

measurements Large rectangular-scale cross section sheets are used

Percentage differences of the measured values with respect to the

rating table are not computed A minimum of use is made of Stoutshy

method shifts

The water-stage recorders furnished to date by the ICA have been

manufactured with time scales of either 03 inch per day (the FM

model) or 48 inches per day (the A-35 model) The former scale is

too small for satisfactory use in most stream gaging and the latter

is too large Thirty pairs of time scale gears have been ordered for

converting the A-35s from 48 to 24 inches per day Upon inquiry at

the factory it was learned that no conversion of the FM recorders is

possible An exchange of 25 of them is being made with the ground

water program for an equivalent value in A-35 recordero but the

remaining 65 will be used at the surface water stations They are

very satisfactory on lakes or spring-fed streams or large streams

whose fluctuations are not too sudden

21

Ipo dam on Angat River which diverts water to supply City of Manila and surrounding area March 13 1957 Reservoir is traversed by boat in reaching the gaging station upstream

Ready to leave Ipo Dam for gaging station 6 kilqmeters upstream B Ramos and J Regalado in oanca March 13 1957

4 ~ s~

B Ramos making discharge measurement by wading on Angat River above Ipo DamMarch 13 1957 Spacings between verticals were obtained from cable makings byline hanging from cable car

23

At non-recording gages it has been the custom to hire gagekeepers

at uniform or statutory rates of 025 or P30 per month (not related

to the distance traversed in going to the gage) to obtain readings

three times a day The pay has been the same even where the gage is

located several kilometers away from the gagekeepers home The system

has certain disadvantages which may affect the accuracy of the records

At some stations the pay is too high while at others it is too low

Three readings a day are not necessary most of the time for adequately

developing the hydrograph especially during the dry season and a

request for obviously unnecessary readings seems to put too severe a

test upon human nature It is practically an open invitation to a

certain amount of faking I doubt that it should be held against a

gagekeeper to put down some estimated readings under those circumstances

any more than it would be to blame children for taking candy or cookies

from a forbidden plate left openly in their midst The question then

becomes - what readings can be relied upon and what cannbt I sincerely

believe that a more accurate daily discharge record can be prepared in

the office from a few completely reliable gage readinrs per week by

means of hydrographic comparisons with recording-gage records from

nearby stations and with less expense than can be produced by proshy

cessing comparing and weeding out questionable parts from a complete

(on paper) record of three readings a day A gagekeepers habit

developed during the dry season of not going to the gage when it is

inconvenient or he doesnt feel like it is bound to crop up during

the high water season as well with the result that all his readings

24

must be looked at critically and considered reliAble only after

unusually extensive comparisons are made with weather records and

other stations

In regard to specialized stream gaging equipment listed below

are the amounts purchased by the ICA up to the present time

Ordered from Ordered from Being FY 1955 PPA 1956 PPA ordered Delivered in Delivered in from 1957

May 1956 May 1957 PPA

Canfield reels 0 6 8

Type A reels 0 6 2

Canfield tag lines 0 15 0

A-35 recorders 20 10 25

FM recorders 65 25 0

Enameled gage secs 400 600 200

Currer meter outfits inc ding rod headphonehanuline and 15-pound weight 11 10 0

Pygmy meters 0 0 10

Bridge cranes 0 3 0

Sounding wts 30-lb 0 0 10

50-lb 0 0 10

I i 75-lb 0 0 1

I 100-lb 0 0 1

Stopwatches 20 10 0

Being purchased as models for possible future use in procurement of

weights of local manufacture

25

~-

-~ ~- shy

~-

4rshy~~L~zu 1 - ~ A-

-~ - ~jj ~

~- k ~ ~

Helper and P Nubio National Power Corporationpreparing to make discharge measurement Tag marks of grass being tied to line Bantay River near Bokod Benguet Mountain Province March 26 1957

-- ~ 4

V

Helper holding meter in place suspended on a weight hanger while revolutions are counted oy hydrographer P Nubio E P Nbesamis is at extreme right March 26 1957

26

-p --shy

t-~-- - -

A ~

A~4 ~ 4

A -Y

- -

- - - -

gt~ ~ ~-

Z4z4a - ~z

- shy -~-~shy

4shy- --

I NPC discharge party on Bokod River at-Bokod BenguetMountain Province Helper and gagekeeper holding meter and 15-pound weight in position P Nubio on shore counting revolutions and recording notes March 26 1957

Ar 7

-~ I

0 I 15-pound weight used in discharge measurement work by the NPC hydrographer stationed at Ambuklao Dam March 26 1957

27

Recommendations

A sharp expansion in the stream gaging program of the Philippines

has occurred recently brought about not only by the ICAs economic and

technical aid program but also by the growing local demand for water

resources information It is inevitable that some organizational

changes would be required to accommodate such a sudden growth This

subject was discussed in conferences with Mr Saddam and Mr Regalado

and the following list of special objectives agreed upon They had a

number of these in mind or partly in effect already and were planning

to gradually adopt several others The items are listed here in order

to express my reasons for wanting to see them completely implemented

within the next two or three years They are as follows

A It is recommended that the district offices compute their own disshy

charge records and prepare them for publication for final review

in the central office in ranila

1 Additional engineers would be needed in each district office

and fewer engineers in the Manila office

2 At least the district hydrographer and preferably one other

engineer in addition should be trained in the office work in

Manila before the records were transferred to a district

3 Each engineer in a district office would be given a field area

which he would cover by a round of discharge measurements once

every 4 to 6 weeks each coverage taking about 2 weeks Betshy

ween trips he would do office work preferably on the same

stations that he covers in the field

28

4 Benefits of thissystem are believed to be as follows

a Records requested could be furnished more quickly to the

public especially to those in the district area

b This kind of a close tie between field and office work has

been found to greatly improve the quality of the records

the economy of operation and the performance and developshy

ment of the individual engineers

c The alternating of each person between field and office

work makes him (1) more competent in the field work and

also more competent in the office work than is possible

in segregated office and field groups and (2) permits

him to be home more of the time and lead a more normal

lifc thus increasing his morale and efficiency

5 Personnel arrangements recommended are

a Offer more rapid promotion to those who transfer like

from Manila to a field office or between field offices

b Encourage each man to transfer every few years with

faster promotions as an incentive It has been found

that this develops an engineers competence more rapidly

than if he stays in one office indefinitely Such ability

repays the government in added officiency and production

to an extent greater than its cost in extra salary

B Certain organization changes are recommended as follows

1 Appoint an Office Engineer a Field Engineer and (whenever

needed) a Construction Engineer They would be headquartered

__

V 29

2

~- ~

q

Ambuklao Dam on Agno River Generating capacity 75000 kw Powerplant is underground March 2557

7- t

-JI

Maria Cristina falls and power plant on Agus River River near Iligan Lanao Province Mindanao Present installed capacity 50000 kw May 1 1957

30

II I

Looking downstream at the Binga dam site on Agno River about 15 kilometers east of Baguio March 25 1957

Looking upstream at the Marikina dam site on Marikina River at Wawa near Montalban Rizal about 25 kilometers northeast of Manila April 5 1957

31

in the Manila office and act under the general supervision of

the head of the Section with the following responsibilities

to be included

a Office Engineer

(1) Be responsible for the discharge computations and

related office work in the Manila field district or

area

(2) Be responsible for review and final preparation for

publication of all records in the nation

(3) See that a progress chart of status-of-record compushy

tations is maintained in each district office and

that a summary statement concerning such progress is

sent to the central office at least quarterly

(4) Be responsible for research in office methods and

equipment (See footnote on next page)

b Field Engineer

(1) Act as first assistant to head of the Section of

Hydrography

(2) Be responsible for field operation vork throughout the

nation

(a) Make at least one annual field inspection in each

district

(b) Develop the system in every headquarters of keepshy

ing a running chronological chart of the discharge

measurements made at each gaging station or

32W

scheduled miscellaneous site A form in use in

Tacoma Washington has been found to be very conshy

venient for this purpose Such a chart gives the

supervisor a quick overall view of the status of

the field work and serves as a check at end of

the year to make sure all measurements have been

listed and counted

(3) Be responsible for the design of the stream gaging

network and the selection of sites for new gaging

stations

(4) Be responsible for research in field methods and

equipment

Construction Engineer

(1) Give general supervision and management to the conshy

struction program

(a) Obtain assignment of resident engineer or foreman

for each job

(b) See that the materials are made available Help

the foreman in every way possible in organizing

the job procuring emergency equipment or supplies

and making decisions about serious problems that

may arise on the job

If funds became available for considerable research it probably

would be better to appoint a special Research Engineer

33

~A

Cagayan River gaging station near Cagayan de OroMisamis Oriental Mindanao April 30 1957 Note how corrugated pipe recorder structure was bent by flood J C Regalado J J Ponco gagekeeper and G H Hargreaves in foreground

-

V

View of staff gage and control on Binakaan River at Tifigib near Pastrana Leyte Stream divided by a barand control excavated for unknown reason May 6 1957 J Regalado by the sign and G Hargreaves at right

Cable footbridge below Binga dam site Tree anchorage for cableway onformerly used by NPC in making Angat River above Ipo Damdischarge measurements P Nubio and March 13 1957E Abesamis of NPC on bridge March 25 1957

35

(c) Visit the major jobs occasionally to see that

they are proceding satisfactorily in all the

islands Make sure the stations are installed

according to instructions and plans An approved

sketch plan showing dimensions and elevations is

desirable for each construction job

(d) Prepare first draft of each new station description

(e) Prepare brief construction report including costs

A form in use at Tacoma Washington has been found

convenient for this purpose

C The following policies in regard to gagekeepers are recommended

1 Start a gradual change-over to paying each gagekeeper on basis

only of the hours he works plus a basic amount for taking the

responsibility This may result in increasing the pay of some

but it should reduce the pay of a much larger number

2 Convert most gagekeepers to two readings a day most of the time

with one or more additional readings during floods In some of

the drier parts of the Central Luzon area in cases where gages

are remote from habitation request only one reading a day

during the dry months such as from January through May inclushy

sive more than that are believed to cost more than they are

worth and are an open invitation to the reporting of estimated

readings

3 When a new recorder installation is at a barrio or bridge where

it appears unlikely to be vandalized try running the station

36

without hiring a gagekeeper If this system proves successful

discontinue the services of the gagekeepers at certain selected

recorders At all other recorders reduce the number of readshy

ings required to one per day and reduce their pay accordingly

If a gagekeeper prefers not to accept a lower monthly rate for

fewer readings it is suggested that he resign except in cases

where security of the station structures or right-of-way favors

may be involved

Proceed on the principle that a saving in public tax money from

the above reforms is more important than supporting gagekeepers

just because they depend on the income and need the money The

present dependence of a gagekeeper on his P300 or P360 a year

and the hardship he must undergo in adjusting to a lower rate

of pay for the job are not believed to be sufficient reasons

for continuing indefinitely to pay him more than necessary

However it is recommended that he be given 30 or 60 days

notice before a reduction in pay is placed in effect

D Vehicles

1 It is recommended that a gradual change-over be made from the

short-wheelbase open Jeep to the Jeep station wagon as a hydroshy

graphers car Benefits should be as follows

a The car can be locked leaving only the tires as attractive

to thieves

b The station wagon has more space As the hydrographers

became better equipped that space will be needed

37

Bamboo-and-grass shelters built and used by crew during construction of gaging station on Angat River above Ipo Dam March 13 1957

3

4

-Ti LP

Proposed site for new index-type gaging station selected on Baoas River near Mangatarem Pangasinan above all diversions by Regalado Romasanta dargreaves and Veatch April 15 1957 Photo by J S Romasanta

38

Taking Philippine Airlines plane at Legaspi Albayfor Manila on May 17 1957 Mount Mayon 7960 feet high in background

I

N 1 x

Y

I

Showing typical vehicle used on the reconnaissance and inspection trips over the Philippines

39

c For occasional errands or trips it will be feasible for

only oneman to take the car because he can lock the con

tents when the car is not attended

d It may possibly develop in some parts of the Philippines

that a hydrographer for a certain area will not need a

driver-helper and thereby a saving in funds can be made

However such a change should be made only on a trial

basis and is not recommended until conditions so warrant

and until the hydrographer involved is satisfied with the

change or else desires it

E Certain technical stream-gaging procedures are recommended to be

followed in the Philippine Islands hydrographic work at the average

gaging station by all agencies doing stream gaging as follows

1 Obtain a discharge measurement once every four to six weeks

throughout the year

2 Furnish the hydrographer with a print of the station descripshy

tion and of the rating curve and require him as a general rule

to compute and plot his discharge measurement in the field

3 Have the gage read both before and after each discharge measureshy

ment and the readings recorded on the field notes

4 Use a loose-leaf discharge-measurement note form or forms

containing a summary page patterned to some extent after the

forms in use by the USGS Bound notes make it too inconshy

venient or perhaps impossible for the office engineer to

examine the notes for a whole year when he analyzes a station

record

40

5 Gradually change to the use of ehameled steel gage plates

instead of painted gages because their initial cost is less

and they are more durable Plates graduated somewhat like

those of the US Geological Survey are believed much better

than those stocked by private companies While here I drew

up a suggested design for local manufacture which appealed

to the Hydrographic Section

6 Obtain levels at staff gages at least once a year especially

on the low section of gage Replace or repair each low secshy

tion soon after it becomes damaged or the markings become

indistinct

7 Continue as a general rule to use the 6-depth method with

the sub-surface method for deep swift water Obtain a comshy

plete cross section as soon as feasible after the high water

has subsided

8 Gradually change to the use of heavier sounding weights so

that the 6-depth method with soundings can be used at high

water in any event take soundings and velocities as far out

as practicable from each bank at flood stages then go across

deep part of channel with sub-surface method Check subshy

surface method coeficients whenever practicable by means of

vertical velocity curves Until such checks show otherwise

use a coefficient of 090

9 Compute discharge measurements by the mid-section method

This saves time (and money) and is at least as accurate as the

41

other method Request hydrographers to bear the method in mind

when selecting verticals near edges of channel or at breaks in

the cross section It is recommended that in the interests of

economy this change be made at an early date

10 Consider 20 as a desirable number of verticals in an average

stream cross section Continue to time the meter revolutions

for 40 to 60 seconds at each setting Someday if more accushy

racy is desired in hydrographic work in the Philippines it

would be appropriate to standardize on 30 verticals per measureshy

ment provided the 2-8 depth method were used and the gages

were read to fractions of a centimeter For the present it

seems consistent to take about 20 verticals when using the 6

method and with gages read only to the nearest centimeter

11 Use steel tag lines for wading measurements Paint bridge

rails and cables with markings sufficiently close together

that they can be used rapidly to determine stationing between

them When installing the paint marks use standard intervals

of either 1 meter 2 meters or 5 meters To avoid confusion

do not use intervals of 3 or 4 meters If measuring intervals

are to be 1 meter or less it is very convenient to have a

mark available every meter If intervals are between 1 and 5

meters use a mark every 2 meters A good system for making

the marks readily identifiable is to place 1 paint mark at

each basic interval like every 2 meters then put 2 marks every

10 meters 3 every 50 meters and 4 at 100 meters

42

use on12 Always tags the portion of the meter suspension line

that goes in the water The tags usually consist of small

pieces of colored cloth taped tightly to the line They

should be watched and checked occasionally against slippage

and error The tags should not be more than one meter apart

and should be spaced to give maximum convenience and speed in

measuring the discharge

13 As it may becoin feasible convert Type A current meters to

Type AA The more deeply recessed bearing of the Type AA

meter provides more durability of the pivot and bearing

because trapped air excludes most of the water and silt the

longer pivot results in a relatively lower center of gravity

of the bucke t wheel with respect to the point of bearing and

results in smoother performance

F Design of the stream gaging network

1 Everyone seem3 to agree with the objective of a network of

well-distributed long-term base stations for giving runoffshy

per-square-kilometer values representative of the general

area in which each station is located As rapidly as practishy

cable stations should be L d n the o ting netrk

and designated as base or index stations for permanent operashy

tion They should be the best stations both hydraulically

and as to equipment and should be free from upstream regushy

lation or diversion Where needed new base stations should

be installed as soon as they can be financed to appropriately

L11 out the network

43

2 In between such base stations it is desirable to sample smaller

basins with short-term records of various lengths which can be short term

correlated with the long records For this purpose thestashy

tion structures should be constructed so that they are as moveshy

able or salvageable as possiblej Often these movable stations

will be operated at or near specific project sites

3 It usually is more economical and satisfactory to gage a stream

at a highway crossing or other convenient place rather than

exactly at a project site later the data can be transferred

to the project site by means of drainage area proportions

checked by obtaining at the site e

two miscellaneous measurements or possibly in some cases a

whole year of record

4 A method for studying the existing network of stations to see

whether the intensity of coverage is satisfactory or not is to

plot correlations between the various station records prefershy

ably following the present methods of the USGS

5 It has been found advantageous to classify all gaging stations

that are in operation using categories somewhat like these

areal network base stations primary and secondary main stream

stations and water management stations This procedure is

helpful in planning how long various stations should be operated

Detailed information about station classification methods is

available from the U S Geological Survey for use as a guide

The Technical Training Program

Early plans

When this assignment was given to me it was anticipated that a

series of across-the-table discussions would be held with small groups

of hydrographers from the Philippine government bureaus engaging in

such work Detailed procedures would be discussed without formality

But when arrangements were initiated for such conferences I was inshy

formed that among those wanting to attend were many at the managerial

level as well as a number of representatives of agencies interested

more in water development projects than in resource investigations

These could not be turned down so it was necessary to revise the

agenda to include more of general interest

Later developments

In view of the wide experience and high rank of many prospective

attendants of the conference it did not seem appropriate to call it

a lecture series or school and the name Seminar On Water Resources

was decided upon The agenda is included in this report and will be

self-explanatory Registered attendance for each of the three weeks

was 68 72 and 70 persons respectively for a total of 210 The

setting for the Seminar can best be understood from the photographs

Conditions as a whole were good although the tape-recording of the

entire three weeks of proceedings and the need for a member to come

F M Veatch and Water Resources Seminar group week of April 8-12 1957 at Bureau of Public Highways conference building Manila

I y

rT

I

4

47

forward and use the microphone whenever he asked a question or made a

comment was somewhat of a dampener oh discussion When preparing the

agenda I assumed that few besides the hydrographers would attend the

sessions on technical details of stream gaging scheduled for Wednesday

to Friday yet the entire membership stayed through the full program

each week and so no small-group round-table discussions were practicable

It developed later that the language barrier was a little more

serious than first realized Also it was not evident at first that

many present did not know what a gaging station was One of the main

benefits gained from the field trip was to show them a typical station

along with some equipment Taken as a whole it is believed that the

Seminar was successful and worthwhile

The sending of trainees from the Hydrographic Section to the

United States by ICA is very effective in supplementing the technical

assistance rendered directly by American personnel in the Philippines

and it should be continued as long as possible

Acknowledgments

Announcements and invitations to attend the Seminar were sent to

numerous agencies and offices by the Hydrographic Section who also

made all arrangements such as for space registration loud speaker

system tape recordings and recess refreshments The Bureau of

Public Highways made their new conference building available and the

National Media Center furnished a slide projector screen and room

all of which were greatly appreciated The introductory talks by

48

several busy executives including Director J A Buendia and Messrs

A T Alano R R Lord P G Afable and D Rosell with Mr Tomas

Saddam acting as master of ceremonies contributed ideas and gave

each weeks session a good send-off

Publications

Copies of the following publications of the U S Geological

Survey (one by Bureau of Reclamation and one from ASCE) were disshyon

play at the Seminar at all times for inspection by the members Alshy

though they were requested not to take the publications away quite a

few copies gradually became missing

Irrigation Water Measurement Tables and Diagrams by U S

Bureau of Reclamation

ASCE Separate 413 - Backwater Effects of Open Channel

Constrictions

Stage-Fall Discharge Relation for Steady Flow in Prismatic

Channels Water-Supply Paper 1164

Topographic Characteristics of Drainage Basins W S P 968C

Weir Experiments Coefficients and Formulas WSP 200

Handbook for Hydrologists - Chapters 1 - 11

Chapter 1 -- Instructions for Flood Frequency Compilations

Chapter 2 -- ledian Discharge Computation Methods

Chapter 3 -- Instructions for Abstracting Topographic

Characteristics of Drainage Basins

i

-Imr- I

1 N

L

V10J~

C R Mirray explaining a ground water formula

Ii

17t

o

Water Resources Seminar group at gaging station on Marikina River near Montalban Rizal about an hours drive northeast of Manila April 12 1957

51

-- Channel Storage and Flood Routing

-- Extending Stream-flow Records

Chapter 6 -- Double Mass Curves

Chapter 7-A- Frequency Curves of Low Flows and Storage

Requirements

Chapter 8 -- Flood Frequency Analyses

Chapter 9 -- Small Stream Investigations

Chapter 10 - Hydrologic Definitions

Chapter 11 - Base-Flow Recession-Curves

Computation of Backwater at Open Channel Constrictions

Floods in Western Washington Frequency and Magnitude in

Relation to Drainage Basin Characteristics GS Circular 191

Floods in Georgia Frequency and Magnitude GS Circular 100

Stream-Gaging Procedure - A Manual Describing Methods and

Practice of the Geological Survey - WSP 888

Investigation of Methods and Equipment used in Stream Gaging

Part 2 Intakes For Gage Wells

Computation of Peak Discharge through Culverts

Computation of Backwater at Open-Channel Constrictions

Equipment for River Measurements Structures for Cableways

by Charles H Pierce

Computation of Peak Discharge at Contractions Circular 284

Care and Rating of Current Meters

Surface Water Supply o the United States 1950 Parts 1 - 14

52

In addition to the above publications a two-page single-spaced

memorandum entitled Plotting Flood Frequency Curves (Extracted from

U S Geological Survey publications) was prepared by me under date

of April 3 1957 and handed to each member of the Seminar each week

The program or agenda for the Seminar one copy of which was

given to each member follows on Pages 53 to 63 inclusive The

graphs on Page 63 were referred to during the talks

53

March 29 1957

AGENDA FOiR SEMINARZ ON WATER RESCURCES AND STAE4 GAGING

IN THE PHILIPPINES

PLACE Conference hoom 2nd Floor Bureau of Public Highways Building Second Street Port Area Manila

TIKE April 1-5 8-12 and 22-26 (same program each week)

CONDUCTED BY M1r i 1 Veatch District EngineerSurface WaterBranch Jater Aesources Division United States Geological Suver Thcoma ashington who is un three-month assignment with the ICA

Held in connoction with the Philippine Government-ICA water resources program

54

GENERAL PROGRAM MONDAY AND TUESDAY

honday morning 830

Opening remarks Mr Julian A Buendia Director Bureau of Fublic Works Mr R R Lord Chief Public Works Division ICA Mr G H Hargreaves Hydraulic Engineer ICA

Importance of water resources and their investigation

The hydrologic cycle Evaporation transpiration and precipitation Runoff

Daily discharge record and the hydrograph Storm runoff Base flow

Grou~nd Water Very brief description (this subject to be covered

iaore fully on Tuesday afternoon)

General characteristics of natural stream runoff in the Philippines Quantity

Adequacy Comparison with United States

Variations with time Day to day and year to year Long-term trends

Distributin by area General over the Philippine Islands Variations between nearby drainage basins

Effect of location elevation geology cover etc

Major uses of stream-flow data Many years of rccornds should be crnsidered Granting water r phts

Protect existing rights Prevent capital expenditures where water supply inadequate

Planning river basin developments including municipal supply irrigation pnwer flood control etc

Destping structures such as dams reservoirs dikes floodways canals pumping systems power plants bridges etc

Accuracy and extent of dat needed for minimizing underdesign or wasteful overdesign

Cost of water-supply data in relation to total cost of a project

Operating water projects Distribution of water on projects Operation of storage reservoirs and diversion dams

To make maximum use uf water supply Designing alterations or enlargements to existing projects

RECESS 1000 to 1015

55 -3-

Monday morning (Continued) 1015 aim

Management of the stream gaging program Foreseeing the needs for stream-flow records

Study population and industrial trends Keep inforned on water-development plans and

prgraIIs of all agencies Continuity of the records

Essential for wator-supply studies Regular financinp reouired

Annual appropriations a poundfccted by temporary econoidc or political conditions

Permanent type of financing needed Surcharge method License fee method

-Dissemination of the data Annual publication Occasional summary compilations Furnishing advance cupies of unpublished records Furnishing current data - daily weekly or munthly

wherever required Special water resources investigation agency desirable

Briefly dancribe United States organization Uniform tecnical standards Uniform ways of presenting data One series of publicatiens Distributial center for basic water data Genera l-coverage program requires close coordination

for economy of operation Personal requirements

Engineers Engir ring aids Computers Clerks

ADJOURN - 1145

Resume after lunch only if necessary for completing the above subjects

56

Tueday morning 830

Design of a comprehensive stream gjaging program General rrinciIlac

Represenkc tive runoff-type provinces should be sainpled with stations of various classes

Vary the intensity of coverage with probable intenshysity of water use

Follow tiie tcends variations with records fromand L sri etatiorns secondary

Correlate resultls one continually adjustnetwork Classification of ra-in stationa

Areal prinary and secondary viain strem priiary nd secondary Water-manmfciact stat-i ons Miscellanous dischaige mcasurements

Correlating the dat obttined in comprehensive program Logarithmic pajer Five years of lecord uscd What is a good corrclation

Analyses of data Flood frcouencjs

Annual serics Partial duration series

Low-flow frecuencies Low-flow duration hydrograph

Extending strewm-flow records Comparisons witi other gaging stations Rainfall-runoff correlations

Quality of water Temperature

Intermittent observations Recorders

Chemical gtuality Element -Dissolved solids

Suspended iaterial Time of cecurrence-floods Sampling

Methods Cost

RECESS - 1000 to 1015

57

- 5 -

Tuesday afternoon 130

Ground water (This subject conducted by Mr C R Murray) Occurrence

Water table Artesian Lakes

Movement Through the ground Into stream channels

Availability Geologic structure Aquifers Funing tests

Recharge Froa precipitation Artificial Froma induced lateral movement

Investigation Geology Springs Logs of dug and drilled wells Test wells

lecording Lanual

Quantitative studies Chemical quality analyses

Mincral ccontnt Sallt water intrusion

Drilling of wells for production use Ground water rirhts

Depletion of ground water reservoirs teyond rccharge capability

ADJOURN at 330

Geologist Ground Water Branch dater Resources Division U 6 Geological Survey who is on two-ywar assignment with ICA

58

PROGRAM ON STREMvi GAGING PROCEDURE WEDNESDAY TO FRIDAY

4ednesday morning 830

Establishing and constructing gaging stations Selection of site

Consider najor probable uses of the record Investigate extent of upstream diversion and

-egulation Utilize contour naps Obtain list of nmrjor water right applications

iydraulic conditicns Section control Shifting channel Overbank flow Dackwater

Accessibility Avoid too much expense Need to reach quickly to measure flash floods

Natural protection front flood damage Avoid excessively expensive construction conditions

Bed iock Quick sand Too-longintake pipes

For non-rccording gage choose site convenient to

one or more local gage readers

Survey of site Bank cross-prefile at gage Cross section at cable Plan

Right of way Oral pervrission ritten permission

Easement Land purchase

RECESS - 945 to 1000

- 7 - 59

Wednesday morning (Continued) 100)

Construction Select types and sizes of structures To fit purpose oi the record Plan later salva e (for secondary stations) For economy of operation (for example design cableway to

operat mesily) Adapt availabic standard plans to fit the site Keep costs to hclp in future estimating Make brief construction report for future assistance in

planninr sililar Jobs Prepare staLion descripLion

Road log distences etc for How to reach paragraph Descriptions of gages bench marks etc Dimensions cf structuis Gage datum elevations of portinent parts of structures

Operating and maintaining gaging stations Records of stage

Choice of dtum Arbitrcry local datum

Set gages so there will be no minus gage readings

Mean sea level datum May be used but has disadvantages

1hen later adjustments are made to level networks

Gages have to be reset or Equation must be published

Non-recording gages Types

Vertical staff Inclined staff

ire-weight Crest-stage gages

Refinement of graduations ake adequate for accuracy of record needed

Maintatling dat of gage Adequate number of local reference marks Take levels at least once a year

Work o- local gare reader Fy according to approx number of hours worked Do not roruire too many roadings for the

conditions Warm (with omphasis) against my guessed

readings Inform reader anv errors in reading will

show up in hydrogrq oic comtparisons Engineers obtain check readings whenever

possible Visit gage reader frequently a d show inshy

terest in his gage-height record Encourage reader to retain personal copy

ADJOURN at 1145

60

Thursday morning 800

Records of stage (continued) Recording gages

Select type of instrument and its scales to fit conditions at gaging station

Weekly or continuous recorder Recorder scales Range of stage Rate of change of stage Availability of someone to change weekly

chart Work of Cage inspector of keeper

Avoid resetting pen Repurt any trash or debris causing backwater

at gage Do not have a gage keeper unless needed

aintaining gage datum Check outside gae by levels annually Keep outside gage sections reset to datum

Standard reference gage Inside gage of soie sort preferable

Staff Float-tape Anchor type

Intake action Clean or flush pipes after floods Slot intakes Self-cleaning iitakes

For pipe gage wells For wells built into bridge piers

Draw-down (where excessive) Use bapfle or static tube

Elood marks at station Make record of well-defined high water

marks

AECESS - 945 to 1000

- 9 - 61

Thursday morning (Continudd) 1000

Discharge measuroments Current hmeters

Price Type A Type AA

Pygmpy Carc of inters

Sounding weights E-typc C-type

Lead Brono

Type of notebook Loose shects Loose-leaf book Bound booL

Measurement of depth aeding rod Tag-line nethod Vertical-nglc coofficients Sounding during floods

Ilacemont of mter Sub--surface method 2-depth n cthod 6-de-pth icthod 2- imetY od

Number of verticals Velocity -urgcs

Miscellaneous f-ctors Effect of bridge piers Horizontal angle of current Insufficient weight on current water

1Mean gage hoitht for a discharge measurement Special methods of (Itermining flood discharge

Floats Slope-area method

Rating curv- etonsion method Arca and velocity curves Loparithmic plottig

Contrqctd-opening mothod Flow ovcr dams

Report on condition of control Carry station description and rating curve in field

Ubtain another me asurement if needed If first indicates large shift If new station and stagc advantagoous for

defining blank part of rating curve

ADJOUffN - 1145 AI

Resumne atfter lunch only if necessary for comploting the above subjects

62

- 10 -

Friday morning S00

A few remarks about office methods Rating curves

Log-log paper Upward extonsions Dowmward extensions

Rectangular plotting Computing recorder charts

M-ark index correction and time correction for each inspection reading

Break midnight lines at raph Never oblitertte or mark over the original trace Nake office markings on chart distinctive from

those mad( At the gage Use of colored pencils by computer and checker is one good wa)y

Daily discharge record Flot hydrograph Compare over light box with other stations

This method preferable to plotting several station records on same sheet

Concluding discussions

RECESS - 945 to 1000

Projection of gaging station equipment Lnd scenic slides taken in the United States and Canada

ADJOURN - 1145

Field trip Cars will be available at the conference building to

take members to the raging station on arikina iRivei at ontalban about an hours drive from Manila where a brief demonstration of certain field equipment will be given

Return to noL later thanoanila 500 FL

---

- Ishy4 ~7L~

0F OllY LISCIiRE 4- 1 -shy

__L TaI- er A6v-a cca

- O 1 B -- 2r 2 ZZ 23 24 2 c 26 7 8 2717x I 2

_~ I 027 _d- 1 2 shy

7 -

n_ a t-i IZ

- _______________ Pnu~ OAgvhshy

-~ ~-r- 1 - V-shy- i-shytvkty--- in--a-- -~ ~Z2m7~ ~

- ~ ~-~-----~- V 1~5~ LTLL2P7o -4----4 1 -- I -- I I _ __ --- -- -- - - L - - I ----

~- ~y~-~ 64 4

N

A il

Seminar members observing demonshystrat-n of measurshying e -pment by F M Veatch at Marikina River gaging station April 12 1957

I

Water Resources Seminar members observing working model of proppsed Binga Dam at the hydraulics laboratory of University of the Philippines April 12 1957

65

Current meter rating flume mechanism Y 22 1957

Current meter rating flume mechanism May 22 1957

66

Current Meter Rating Station

The new current meter rating station at the University of the

Philippines (see photographs) was not quite ready for use before I

left the country The mechanism and instruments were manufactured

in Germanyobtained thru ICA-NEC procurement for the Water Resources

Program of the Department of Public Works and have been installed by

Professor Alberto Villares and his hydraulics laboratory staff under

Dean C A Ortigas of the College of Engineering with some guidance

by Professor Edward L Ericksen of the University of Michigan who is

a civil engineer on detail here with the Stanford Group Professor

Villares spent 18 months in the hydraulics laboratory of the Univershy

sity of Iowa

There is every evidence that this rating flume will with expeshy

rience do work accurate enough not only for determining differences

in ratings between current meters but also for preparing absolute or

independent ratings This can be reported on more fully at some

later date by Messrs Hargreaves and Snell

The Central Luzon Region Program

The Water Resources Development Committee is preparing a recomshy

mended plan for the expedited multiple-purpose development of the

water resources of the Central Luzon region The area contains oneshy

sixteenth of the land surface and one-fourth of the population of the

Philippines and is termed the rice granary of the nation It is to

be used as an example or experiment in water and land development

67

The Committee has requested member agencies to submit estimates

of the minimum amount of additional basic data needed for making a

useful report and for proceeding with development projects Such

estimates are to include mapping soil surveys dam and reservoir site

surveys water resources surveys and other items A preliminary

report is to be prepared soon summarizing the existing information

pointing out the need for additional dataand submitting estimates

of cost for the further investigations needed An outline for the

final report has been prepared and distributed so it will be availashy

ble as a guide and funds for the first years efforts are being

sought for fiscal year 1958 It appears reasonable that the report

on a comprehensive plan could be submitted to the President and

Congress of the Philippines in about five years

With the assistance of Mr Hargreaves I have prepared estimates

for a surface water measurement program to complement the existing

program It is designed to fill the worst gaps in the present netshy

work Details are subject to change as more reconnaissance informashy

tion becomes available as only five days were spent covering the area

by automobile Unit costs were provided by the Hydrographic Section

and they include cost of preparation of the records for publication

Estimates were submitted as given below They were supported by a

detailed list of stream names and locations which included desigshy

nations as to the primary purpose or type of each proposed new gaging

station and whether a recording or non-recording gage was recommended

It is available for reference in both the ydrographic Section and

ICA offices

68

New gaging stations

1 Daily discharge type

Installation (including cableways where needed)

Recording ------- 7 Pl650 11550

Non-recording --- 4 950 3800 15350

Operation 1st year -11 660 7260 P22610

2 High water type (flood records)

Installation

Gages (nonshy

recording) ----- 4 150 600

Measuring equipment 800 1400

Operation 1st year - 4 300 1200 2600

Total for new gaging stations ------------- 25210

Miscellaneous discharge measurements

1 4 or 5 during dry season Nov - April

4 sites x 5 per site = 20 30 ---------------- 600

2 1 or 2 during low part of year March and April

37 sites x l per site = 55 k30 ------------- 1650

Total for miscellaneous measurements ------ 2250

Total -------------- -2746o

69

Rainfall And Evaporation Stations

Existing network

A map examination of the existing network of rain gages was made

and a surprisingly large number were found to be in operation -- 2

recording and 115 manual stations or a total of 117 They are beshy

lieved to be fairly adequate in number and are well distributed

areally over the Philippines but like in the United States are conshy

fined largely to the lower altitudes where the agricultural and urban

population live In addition to these records are available for

various lengths of time from about 8 discontinued Weather Bureau

stations and from more than 300 haciendas reforestaion stations

and provincial rnrseries

Additional gages

The Weather Bureau and the Bureau of Public Works are cooperating

in the installation of some new rainfall stations at higher altitudes

part of which will utilize new instruments purchased with ICA aid

funds Some of the instruments will be installed at existing nonshy

recording stations Forty new installations are proposed for 1958

fiscal year It is now recognized that rainfall station coverage at

higher altitudes is needed in order to furnish records that can be

correlated with the long-term valley records and also with the gaging

station discharge records D

70

Weather station maintained by Bureau of Public WorksIrrigation Division near Tuguegarao Cagayan From left to right N Ciriaco District Hydrographer drivershyhelper observer J G Garcia hydrographer J C Regalado and G H Hargreaves May 13 1957

Weather station at Pototan Iloilo Panay A Lacuestadistrict bydro-rapher standing May 5 1957

71

Group luncheon at Tacloban Leyte typical of the hospitality received by us during inspection tour of the Philippines From left to right M Rico irrig distr engr G Hargreaves G Araos E N Salazar P Formilleza L Abella S Velasco JCRegalado V H Sydiongoo distr hydrographer I M Ortega Oscar de Venecia and N Oliver May 7 1957

ICA Public Works Division March 1957 From left to right C R Murray A A Ketchum asat Div head J B Delaney I J Silverstone Sofia Halili 0 H Hosmer R R Lord Div head B B Hill Betty Valdez G H Hargreaves J L Brenden FM Veatch

72

Evaporation stations

Fifteen double-pan (one open and one partially shaded) evaporation

stations with rainfall temperature wind and humidity instruments as

auxiliary are being operated in the Philippines and ten more are to

follow next year They are well distributed over the islands and

should furnish data of great value for reservoir design Thq reccrds

will be publish3d

Publication of rainfall data

All rainfall reccrds are published annually by the Weather Bureau

whose 1954 volume is the latest one printed The 1955 issue should be

released soon One excellent source of information for anyone studyshy

ing rainfall data in the Philippines is the publication The Distrishy

bution of Rainfall In The Philippines by Eugenio B Manalo Chief

Climatological Division Weather Bureau Manila This contains

valuable descriptive material tables of monthly and annual values

and mean monthly and annual isohyets in inches An inspection or

study of the monthly isohyetal maps shows clearly how storm patterns

change with the seasons in certain parts of the Philippines and that

73

in other areas the rain is almost evenly distributed throughout the

year The long dry season of Manila and the central Luzon plains is

graphically portrayed by the isohyets Mr Manalos publication

should be of great benefit to government agencies and private parties

or individuals in connection with agricultural and business activities

over the islands It is presumed that the isohyets will warrant some

revision after another 5 or 10 years as more records especially those

at higher altitudes become available

Sediment Measurement Stations

Practically no silt-sampling has been done in the Philippines

to date and no extensive program is believed possible because of the

lack of funds For the present it is recommended that every governshy

ment field hydrographer be equipped with a thermomater and a turbidity

stick and required to report a spot water temperature and turbidity

reading at time of each discharge measurement Thus without extra

cost a large amount of data can be accumulated which after several

years should make it possible to determine what streams are the

siltiest and where more detailed studies might be needed Whenever a

reservoir project reaches the intensive-investigation stage including

dam-site drilling detailed topography etc it is recommended that

a complete sediment sampling station be operated there for at least

one full flood season before the project feasibility report is

completed

74

Statement Before Water Resources Development Committee

On March 20 1957 I presented the following statement regarding

the streamflow measurement program in the Philippines

The Philippine Republic is blessed with an excellent supply of

water of good quality but much of it is wasted to the sea during the

rainy season The development of this resource is vitally important

to the nation and it involves the storing of flood waters for dryshy

season release Where investments are to be made for construction of

dams etc in the development of irrigation power production and

flood control large sums can easily be wasted through overdesign or

underdesign if enough engineering data are not available Conflicting

or competing uses for the water supplies will gradually develop in

your country the same as they have in the United States If water

rights are to be granted fairly with due regard for all prior users

many years of basic data are necessary so that the long-term water

supply can be estimated For this purpose a good network of stream

gaging records and ground water levels must be secured One would

not attempt to manage the money in a bank without bookkeeping and it

is just as important to have an accounting system when managing water

The sound economical procedure is to base all project designs on as

complete engineering information as can be obtained

The ICA is attempting to assist the Philippine Government in

planning the orderly development of its water resources and we are

concerned that too many structures may be built before accurate

9i

hydrologic data are available for their design For this reason we

strongly urge you to improve the basic data gathering program at the

earliest possible date as follows

(1) Review and publish the stream-flow records that have been

obtained since the war

(2) Finance an expanded program of stream-flow measurement and

ground water study

The Bureau of Public Works has prepared preliminary estimates of

the funds needed for bringing publication of basic data up to date and

for expanding the wiater resources investigation program The attached

copies of estimates are of course provisional and subject to revision

but it is suggested that they be placed in the files of this Committee

for future reference The figure of P56oooo for publication is a

fairly firm figure It is suggested that the Committee take immeshy

diate action to further the procurement of these funds

The procurement of water resources data is a specialized field

requiring engineers and other technical men with a high degree of

education Years must be spent in training them in such special

work The men must endure rigorous physical work corbatting the

elements and using resourcefulness and judgment It is very uneconoshy

mical and unsatisfactory to have a technical organization of that kind

subject to occasional and unpredictable severe cuts in appropriations

It is even more unsatisfactory to have the time sequence of basic

water data collection interrupted and valuable records lost forever

3

The Stream Gaging Program In The Philippines

History

The Hydrographic Section of the Irrigation Division Department

of Public Works and Communications (formerly the Department of Commerce

and Communications) has been the major stream gaging agency in the

Philippines since the work was started in 1908 265 gaging stations

in 40 of the 49 provinces were operated for short periods of time between

1908 and 1922 mostly in 1910-12 and 1919-22 All daily gage-height and

discharge records collected by that agency between January 1 1923 and

June 1944 became destroyed by Lire during World War II However the

results of numerous discharge measurements made from 1939 to 1942 were

saved for several gaging stations in the Bicol region of southern Luzon

Stream gaging by the Hydrographic Section was resumed on August 19 1945

on the Aringay River near Tubao La Union followed gradually by other

stations as the Liberation progressed

Records for 1908 to 1922 were published in 1923 in four volumes-as

Water Supply Bulletin No 1 Surface Water Supply of the Philippine

Islands which included the results of all discharge measurements as

well as computed daily discharges in second-liters The calendar year

is used rather than a water year The Extremes paragraphs do not

include any stage records the only gage heights published being those

contained in the lists of discharge measurements

k

Forty-six of the gaging stations operated during the 1908-22

period were re-established after World War II at sites where the records

are considered comparable -- that is where the drainage area does not

differ by more than five per cent The longest continuous records of

discharge not affected by diversion or regulation that I have been able

to find in the Philippines for the postwar period are for the Maasim

River near San Rafael Bulacan Luzon October 5 1945 to date and for

the Aringay River near Tubao La Union from August 19 1945 to date

Available maps are not very satisfactory for locating sites of former

gaging stations because the names of many of the barrios and towns are

different on present maps than they were when the stations were first

operated and described

Considerable stream gaging has also been done by the National

Power Corporation and some river stage records have been obtained by

the River Control and Drainage Section Irrigation Division These are

summarized in the tabulation on Page 6 In addition miscelshynumerous

laneous discharge measurements have been obtained by several agencies

Daily discharge records are available in the files of the National

Power Corporation for eight pre-war gaging stations that were operated

for varying periods between 1923 and 1943 by the Bureau of Public Works

One of these on Barit River at Santiago Iriga Camarines Sur was

operated from 1923 to 1940 The original forms for all eight stations

became destroyed during the war but a set of prints was later discovered

by the National Power Corporation in some hydroelectrical project files

that were saved The NPC re-established the Barit River station at

the same site in 1950

5

Marikina R at Montalban Rizal Province with Stevens FM 30-day recorder April 5 1957

TYPICAL NEW GAGING STATION STRUCTURES CONSTRUCTED AS A RESULT CF THE ICA PROGRAM

III I I

I I I

~iz

7~il

2~-

Pampanga River at Atate Nueva Ecija Stevens FM recorder J C Regalado driver helper and L Borbolla in foreground April 14 1957

47~I

-4

4

iuJi rf if poundflLLi

77

Pre-war frame shelter and 36 corr pipe Frame shelter over new 36 corrwell with Gurley weekly recorder Pampanga

J C Regalado B Ramos and E M Veatch pipe well Pampanga River near standing Taken by G H Hargreaves Arayat Pampanga March 1 1957 March 1 1957

Status of post-war computations and publication

Daily discharge computations of the Hydrographic Section tbr 1944

to 1954 are practically coplete those for 1955 are about 40 per deb4t

complete and for 1956 about 15 per cent Office work has been delayed

considerably because of the heavy constructionfprogran which started

in 1956 using supplies and instruments furnished by the ICA All office

computations are made in the Manila office No discharge records have

been published since those of 1908-22 but steps are being taken as

explained later in this report to bring publication up to date It is

planned that the records which have been compuhed for the years 1944 to

1956 will be reviewed before their final preparation for publication

to make sure their standards of accuracy are reasonably consistent

with the slightly higher standards proposed to be instituted as a

result of recommendations made in this report About 1500 stationshy

years of stream-flow recordsless than 10 per cent of which are from

agencies other than the Hydrographic Section are proposed to be comshy

piled and printed in a single-volume publication of monthly and annual

data Tables of monthly minimum discharge are to be included

Organization and cooperation

The Hydrographic Section customarily assigns a district hydrographer

and his assistants as resident at each irrigation district office that

is situated a long distance from Manila Their headquarters are as

follows

District Province Town

Northern Luzon Isabela San Mateo

Bicol Region Luzon Camarines Sur Naga

Eastern Visayas Leyte Tacloban

Western Visayas Iloilo Iloilo

Mindanao Davao Davao

This district is presently being operated by hydrographers from

Manila the same as for the central part of Luzon

The above field hydrographers are each assigned a Jeep and a drivershy

helper Hydrographers pay scales range between about Y2400 and P4200

per annum and in addition they are granted a subsistence allowance of

Y2OO per unit or Y800 a day Driver-helpers receive an average pay

of P5 per day plus a subsistence allowance of P200 per day (which has

been reduced administratively from P450 a day because of lack of funds)

The field personnel send or deliver all basic records to Manila

where they are processed computed and filed Most of the office work

is done by office personnel with the field men doing but little of the

office work

9

New timber recorder structure including plank intake with Stevens A-35 recorder Pinagcanauan de Tuguegarao River near Tuguegarao Cagayan Jose G Garcia assistant hydrographer and Norberto Ciriaco District Hydrographer on walkway May 14 1957

Staff gage on Jalaur River at Passi Iloilo From left to right 2 boys A Lacuesta Distr HydrogrLher J CorderoIrrig Distr Engr G Hargreaves J Regalado gagekeeper (kneeling) and onlooker May 8 1957

I

--- S

F National Power Corporation staff gage on Angat River above Ipo Dam now beingreplaced by a Bureau of Public Works recorder installation March 13 1957

O~

~A F~ ~~ shy- ~

~

- --

I ------ ~

A -~ 1

~ -- gt I~-

5 shy

- ~- ~ U

amp~~ -

2r~ ~k- ~ ~

National Power Cororation painted staff gage Bantay River near Bokod BenguetMountain Province Hydrographers helperstanding March 26 1957 Note lower markings faded

11

Whether any other changes are made or not it is the expressed

plan of the Hydrographic Section to have the District-Hydrographer

who is in charge of the Northern Mindanao District headquartered at

Cagayan de Oro

A considerable portion of the pay of district hydrographers and

their staffs comes directly from the Irrigation Section district

office at which they are headquartered rather than through the

Hydrographic Section This has had the effect of limiting their

efforts somewhat to project work rather than to general or all-purpose

investigations

Some of the other agencies particularly the National Power

Corporation obtain the cooperation of the Hydrographic Section in

helping operate certain gaging stations where a duplication of travel

can thus be avoided However the discharge measurements so made by

the Hydrographic Section are turned over to the NPC who make their

own computations of daily discharge The latter also sometimes pays

directly the salaries of certain gagekeepers Usually this cooperashy

tion does not involve an exchange of funds but some change in that

situation is recommended as explained later in this report

All agencies make their daily discharge records available to the

Hydrographic Section upon request and the plan is to have the later

agency include all such records in their publications No reproduction

machine is available in any of the offices and all copies of records

must be made individually in typing or longhand A machine is under

order by the Hydrographic Section

-fiUMBER OI~ GAGIiG~STATIONS-eP-ERATED IN-PIILIPPINES -

CALENDAR YEAR

YEA HYOROGRAPHIC

STAGE NATIONAL

SECTION PO R0 P

RIVEl CONTROL SECTON

TOT AL

DISCHARGE NATIONAL

HYDROGRAPHIC SECTION ORHYTGRPI SECTION POR

TOTAL TOA

RECORDING NON-REC TOTAL NON-REC NON-REC RECORDING NON-REC TOTAL

1908-1922 265 265 265

1923-1944 3 3 9 12

1945 6 6 6 15 15 2 17

1946 2 12 14 14 28 28 4 32

1947 3 11 14 14 29 29 4 33

1948 3 18 21 5 26 45 45 5 50

1949 3 13 16 6 5 27 74 74 15 89

1950 3 9 12 10 4 26 91 91 20 111

1951 3 15 18 10 4 34 103 103 17 120

1952 3 13 16 10 4 30 111 111 17 128 1953 3 17 20 11 17 48 1 96 97 23 120

1954 4 18 22 11 26 49 1 145 146 22 168

1955 4 18 22 13 19 54 1 207 208 27 235

1956 6 12 15 1 25 52 40 189 26 5

13

Various agencies have submitted lists of proposed gaging stations

which they would like to have installed to provide data for their

projects It is apparent that this work will be well coordinated in

the future and that the other agencies will come to rely more and

more on the Hydrographic Section for most of their basic stream-flow

records But they probably will continue to have their own personnel

make certain types of hydrographic investigations for the detailed

study of specific projects such as river profiles tailwater rating

curves etc

Financing

The main difficulty in regard to financing has been lack of

stability and continuity to the program and insufficient generalshy

fund money to permit the establishment of an all-purpose gaging proshy

gram In 1956 and 1957 the Hydrographic Section rec3ived P120000

(less than half of their total funds) for such general use with all

other monies either from counterpart funds (explained below) in theor

form of contributions from other agencies to cover certain gaging

expenses Another difficulty has been the lack of enough funds to

properly carry out the sudden large construction program generated by

the new ICA-furnished materials and instruments Most of the regular

hydrographic force has been assigned to construction during the last

twelve months or so because separate construction foremen or substitute

hydrographers could not be hired As a result the regular field

operation of gaging stations has suffered considerable neglect This

- - -

14

wuld not have been necessary if the Hydrographic Sections funds had

been flexible and appropriated on basis of a performance budget As

it is the Section must adhere to line items which spell out exactly

how all money is to be spent

The financing of an expanded 1958 program now appears to be

progressing satisfactorily largely from the counterpart monies

This fund consists of pesos allocated by the Philippine government

in an amount equivalent to the dollar value of imports furnished by

the ICA It is administered by the National Economic Council with

allocations subject to approval of the ICA on budget recommendations

received from Philippine government agencies In the case of water

resources programs they are assisted by recommendations of the Water

Resources Development Committee an NEC administratively appointed

body composed of representatives of ten agencies interested or inshy

volved in water development A rougn breakdown of the Hydrographic

Sections budget proposed for the fiscal year starting July 1 1957

is as follows

General Fund Pesos

Annual appropriation - ------------ 120000

Counterpart Funds

For bringing up to date the publication of

annual records plus a compilation - - - - 56000

For an expanded program of surface-water

investigations----------- - 500000

TOTAL - - - - - - 676000

The total funds available in 1955 and 1956 fiscal years were 180000

and 280000 respectively

It

a 7~

IC

U

i

Staff gage out of water Labangan River at Bagbag Calumpit Bulacan March 1 1957

7lt 2

I

fr

Gagekeeper and staff Jalaur River at Calinog Iloilo He read 10 centimeters low today because markings on lower part of gage were illegible

I-J May 8 1957

16 8

hational Power Corp staff gage painted on streamward side of cliff Lower markings gone and gagekeeper determines gage heights three times a day by wading to gage and measuring down with rule as shown in this picture Bokod R at Boiod Benguet Mountain Province March 26 1957

Bureau of Public Works staff gage station Gagekeeper has made readingsby measuring down from a nail since this section of gage was washed out by a flood Madlum River near Sibul Springs Bulacan April 25 1957

17

The only difficulty with counterpart financing is that it is

temporary and could conceivably leave the program stranded in a few

years when ICA aid is discontinued The necessity is recognized for

gradually obtaining regular Congressional appropriations to take the

place of counterpart funds An effort will also be made to have a

performance type of budget accepted because line items make the

program inflexible and prevent the best management and economy

It is recommended that other agencies desiring for their projects

certain stream flow records which cannot be financed from the regular

budget of the Hydrographic Section transfer funds annually (either in

advance or on a reimbursement basis) to the Hydrographic Section to

pay the extra costs required for the fulfilment of their requests

Design of the stream gaging program

As mentioned above the fiscal arrangements prevailing up to this

time have resulted in an almost total emphasis on project-type gaging

stations in the Philippines However I believe everyone is now in

agreement with the desirability or need for a nation-wide network of

index or runoff-per-square-kilometer type of stations which will sample

various runoff provinces such as those with different exposures to storms

and having different topography altitude geology type of land cover

etc The intensity of the network of stations in different regions

would vary depending upon the apparent future economic value or worth

of the water in each area This will be discussed in more detail in

the recommendations

18

In order to look over the existing program observe something of

the technical methods in use and see a variety of runoff and economic

types of areas in the islands to gain an idea of the type of stream

gaging network needed I have visited several regions accompanied most

of the time by Mr George Hargreaves It has been very helpful to me

to have him take such an interest in the detailed objectives of ry

assignment and I am sure it will facilitate Mrs Snellas work a great

deal to have available for consultation and guidance Mr Hargreaves

wide experience in water resources development and investigations

We were accompanied by Mr J C Regalado of the ydrographic Section

who made most of the advance contacts with field offices in connecshy

tion with our trips We usually travelled to central points by Philshy

ippine Air Lines and were then driven to nearby areas by field officials

of the Hydrographic Section and other agencies The hospitality and

cooperation of everyone toward us was exceptional and much appreciated

Besides a fairly detailed coverage of the Central Luzon area where an

intensified program is proposed our inspections included Northern

Luzon Southern Luzon (the Bicol region) Leyte Panay and several

parts of Mindanao In addition we made a special effort to observe

the country all along the routes of airplane flights taken and that

coupled with airplane stops made on other islands gave us a fairly

comprehensive view of the geography of the Philippines It is upon

this that my recommendations concerning the design of a stream gaging

program are based

19

Bquipment and technical methods-

The stream gaging equipment and methods used by the Hydrographic

Section since 1908 have been patterned mainly after those of the US

Geological Survey as described in the 1904 publication H4ydrographic

Manual Thus it appears likely that the methods and accuracy stanshy

dards have changed but little since the Philippine program was started

Stream gaging tecniques used by the other agencies are similar but

they have not had the advantage of some of the new ICA-furnished equipshy

ment This is expected to be remedied in the aid allocations for fiscal

year 1958

Although some use has been made of the 2-8 method of measuring

discharge present practice is limited almost entirely to the 6method

for low and medium stages and the sub-surface method for high stages

for the latter the meter is suspended over a 15-E weight and set 03

meter below the surface with a coefficient of 0915 applied

The number of verticals or measuring points taken in the cross

section usually is between 8 and 15 No bridge cranes or suspension

reels of any kind have been available all discharge work other than

with wading rod having been done by hand line All this is about to

be changed with the recent arrival of the first ICA-furnished sounding

reels weights and tag lines purchased from 1956 FY funds

Staff gages are read to the nearest centimeter (about 0033 foot)

Most of the gages would be difficult to read to any closer limit alshy

though a few stations have Leupold Stevens enameled gages with levelshy

rod type markings

20

The hydrographer records his discharge measurement notes in a

small bound pocket-size book which he carries until it is full After

each measurement is computed in the field a complete copy of the notes

is made on a card and mailed to the Manila office I am informed

that the bound notebooks are practically never lost or dropped in

the water With the increased amount of flood measuring expected to

be done in the future that situation might change

Rating curves are drawn to average large groups of discharge

measurements Large rectangular-scale cross section sheets are used

Percentage differences of the measured values with respect to the

rating table are not computed A minimum of use is made of Stoutshy

method shifts

The water-stage recorders furnished to date by the ICA have been

manufactured with time scales of either 03 inch per day (the FM

model) or 48 inches per day (the A-35 model) The former scale is

too small for satisfactory use in most stream gaging and the latter

is too large Thirty pairs of time scale gears have been ordered for

converting the A-35s from 48 to 24 inches per day Upon inquiry at

the factory it was learned that no conversion of the FM recorders is

possible An exchange of 25 of them is being made with the ground

water program for an equivalent value in A-35 recordero but the

remaining 65 will be used at the surface water stations They are

very satisfactory on lakes or spring-fed streams or large streams

whose fluctuations are not too sudden

21

Ipo dam on Angat River which diverts water to supply City of Manila and surrounding area March 13 1957 Reservoir is traversed by boat in reaching the gaging station upstream

Ready to leave Ipo Dam for gaging station 6 kilqmeters upstream B Ramos and J Regalado in oanca March 13 1957

4 ~ s~

B Ramos making discharge measurement by wading on Angat River above Ipo DamMarch 13 1957 Spacings between verticals were obtained from cable makings byline hanging from cable car

23

At non-recording gages it has been the custom to hire gagekeepers

at uniform or statutory rates of 025 or P30 per month (not related

to the distance traversed in going to the gage) to obtain readings

three times a day The pay has been the same even where the gage is

located several kilometers away from the gagekeepers home The system

has certain disadvantages which may affect the accuracy of the records

At some stations the pay is too high while at others it is too low

Three readings a day are not necessary most of the time for adequately

developing the hydrograph especially during the dry season and a

request for obviously unnecessary readings seems to put too severe a

test upon human nature It is practically an open invitation to a

certain amount of faking I doubt that it should be held against a

gagekeeper to put down some estimated readings under those circumstances

any more than it would be to blame children for taking candy or cookies

from a forbidden plate left openly in their midst The question then

becomes - what readings can be relied upon and what cannbt I sincerely

believe that a more accurate daily discharge record can be prepared in

the office from a few completely reliable gage readinrs per week by

means of hydrographic comparisons with recording-gage records from

nearby stations and with less expense than can be produced by proshy

cessing comparing and weeding out questionable parts from a complete

(on paper) record of three readings a day A gagekeepers habit

developed during the dry season of not going to the gage when it is

inconvenient or he doesnt feel like it is bound to crop up during

the high water season as well with the result that all his readings

24

must be looked at critically and considered reliAble only after

unusually extensive comparisons are made with weather records and

other stations

In regard to specialized stream gaging equipment listed below

are the amounts purchased by the ICA up to the present time

Ordered from Ordered from Being FY 1955 PPA 1956 PPA ordered Delivered in Delivered in from 1957

May 1956 May 1957 PPA

Canfield reels 0 6 8

Type A reels 0 6 2

Canfield tag lines 0 15 0

A-35 recorders 20 10 25

FM recorders 65 25 0

Enameled gage secs 400 600 200

Currer meter outfits inc ding rod headphonehanuline and 15-pound weight 11 10 0

Pygmy meters 0 0 10

Bridge cranes 0 3 0

Sounding wts 30-lb 0 0 10

50-lb 0 0 10

I i 75-lb 0 0 1

I 100-lb 0 0 1

Stopwatches 20 10 0

Being purchased as models for possible future use in procurement of

weights of local manufacture

25

~-

-~ ~- shy

~-

4rshy~~L~zu 1 - ~ A-

-~ - ~jj ~

~- k ~ ~

Helper and P Nubio National Power Corporationpreparing to make discharge measurement Tag marks of grass being tied to line Bantay River near Bokod Benguet Mountain Province March 26 1957

-- ~ 4

V

Helper holding meter in place suspended on a weight hanger while revolutions are counted oy hydrographer P Nubio E P Nbesamis is at extreme right March 26 1957

26

-p --shy

t-~-- - -

A ~

A~4 ~ 4

A -Y

- -

- - - -

gt~ ~ ~-

Z4z4a - ~z

- shy -~-~shy

4shy- --

I NPC discharge party on Bokod River at-Bokod BenguetMountain Province Helper and gagekeeper holding meter and 15-pound weight in position P Nubio on shore counting revolutions and recording notes March 26 1957

Ar 7

-~ I

0 I 15-pound weight used in discharge measurement work by the NPC hydrographer stationed at Ambuklao Dam March 26 1957

27

Recommendations

A sharp expansion in the stream gaging program of the Philippines

has occurred recently brought about not only by the ICAs economic and

technical aid program but also by the growing local demand for water

resources information It is inevitable that some organizational

changes would be required to accommodate such a sudden growth This

subject was discussed in conferences with Mr Saddam and Mr Regalado

and the following list of special objectives agreed upon They had a

number of these in mind or partly in effect already and were planning

to gradually adopt several others The items are listed here in order

to express my reasons for wanting to see them completely implemented

within the next two or three years They are as follows

A It is recommended that the district offices compute their own disshy

charge records and prepare them for publication for final review

in the central office in ranila

1 Additional engineers would be needed in each district office

and fewer engineers in the Manila office

2 At least the district hydrographer and preferably one other

engineer in addition should be trained in the office work in

Manila before the records were transferred to a district

3 Each engineer in a district office would be given a field area

which he would cover by a round of discharge measurements once

every 4 to 6 weeks each coverage taking about 2 weeks Betshy

ween trips he would do office work preferably on the same

stations that he covers in the field

28

4 Benefits of thissystem are believed to be as follows

a Records requested could be furnished more quickly to the

public especially to those in the district area

b This kind of a close tie between field and office work has

been found to greatly improve the quality of the records

the economy of operation and the performance and developshy

ment of the individual engineers

c The alternating of each person between field and office

work makes him (1) more competent in the field work and

also more competent in the office work than is possible

in segregated office and field groups and (2) permits

him to be home more of the time and lead a more normal

lifc thus increasing his morale and efficiency

5 Personnel arrangements recommended are

a Offer more rapid promotion to those who transfer like

from Manila to a field office or between field offices

b Encourage each man to transfer every few years with

faster promotions as an incentive It has been found

that this develops an engineers competence more rapidly

than if he stays in one office indefinitely Such ability

repays the government in added officiency and production

to an extent greater than its cost in extra salary

B Certain organization changes are recommended as follows

1 Appoint an Office Engineer a Field Engineer and (whenever

needed) a Construction Engineer They would be headquartered

__

V 29

2

~- ~

q

Ambuklao Dam on Agno River Generating capacity 75000 kw Powerplant is underground March 2557

7- t

-JI

Maria Cristina falls and power plant on Agus River River near Iligan Lanao Province Mindanao Present installed capacity 50000 kw May 1 1957

30

II I

Looking downstream at the Binga dam site on Agno River about 15 kilometers east of Baguio March 25 1957

Looking upstream at the Marikina dam site on Marikina River at Wawa near Montalban Rizal about 25 kilometers northeast of Manila April 5 1957

31

in the Manila office and act under the general supervision of

the head of the Section with the following responsibilities

to be included

a Office Engineer

(1) Be responsible for the discharge computations and

related office work in the Manila field district or

area

(2) Be responsible for review and final preparation for

publication of all records in the nation

(3) See that a progress chart of status-of-record compushy

tations is maintained in each district office and

that a summary statement concerning such progress is

sent to the central office at least quarterly

(4) Be responsible for research in office methods and

equipment (See footnote on next page)

b Field Engineer

(1) Act as first assistant to head of the Section of

Hydrography

(2) Be responsible for field operation vork throughout the

nation

(a) Make at least one annual field inspection in each

district

(b) Develop the system in every headquarters of keepshy

ing a running chronological chart of the discharge

measurements made at each gaging station or

32W

scheduled miscellaneous site A form in use in

Tacoma Washington has been found to be very conshy

venient for this purpose Such a chart gives the

supervisor a quick overall view of the status of

the field work and serves as a check at end of

the year to make sure all measurements have been

listed and counted

(3) Be responsible for the design of the stream gaging

network and the selection of sites for new gaging

stations

(4) Be responsible for research in field methods and

equipment

Construction Engineer

(1) Give general supervision and management to the conshy

struction program

(a) Obtain assignment of resident engineer or foreman

for each job

(b) See that the materials are made available Help

the foreman in every way possible in organizing

the job procuring emergency equipment or supplies

and making decisions about serious problems that

may arise on the job

If funds became available for considerable research it probably

would be better to appoint a special Research Engineer

33

~A

Cagayan River gaging station near Cagayan de OroMisamis Oriental Mindanao April 30 1957 Note how corrugated pipe recorder structure was bent by flood J C Regalado J J Ponco gagekeeper and G H Hargreaves in foreground

-

V

View of staff gage and control on Binakaan River at Tifigib near Pastrana Leyte Stream divided by a barand control excavated for unknown reason May 6 1957 J Regalado by the sign and G Hargreaves at right

Cable footbridge below Binga dam site Tree anchorage for cableway onformerly used by NPC in making Angat River above Ipo Damdischarge measurements P Nubio and March 13 1957E Abesamis of NPC on bridge March 25 1957

35

(c) Visit the major jobs occasionally to see that

they are proceding satisfactorily in all the

islands Make sure the stations are installed

according to instructions and plans An approved

sketch plan showing dimensions and elevations is

desirable for each construction job

(d) Prepare first draft of each new station description

(e) Prepare brief construction report including costs

A form in use at Tacoma Washington has been found

convenient for this purpose

C The following policies in regard to gagekeepers are recommended

1 Start a gradual change-over to paying each gagekeeper on basis

only of the hours he works plus a basic amount for taking the

responsibility This may result in increasing the pay of some

but it should reduce the pay of a much larger number

2 Convert most gagekeepers to two readings a day most of the time

with one or more additional readings during floods In some of

the drier parts of the Central Luzon area in cases where gages

are remote from habitation request only one reading a day

during the dry months such as from January through May inclushy

sive more than that are believed to cost more than they are

worth and are an open invitation to the reporting of estimated

readings

3 When a new recorder installation is at a barrio or bridge where

it appears unlikely to be vandalized try running the station

36

without hiring a gagekeeper If this system proves successful

discontinue the services of the gagekeepers at certain selected

recorders At all other recorders reduce the number of readshy

ings required to one per day and reduce their pay accordingly

If a gagekeeper prefers not to accept a lower monthly rate for

fewer readings it is suggested that he resign except in cases

where security of the station structures or right-of-way favors

may be involved

Proceed on the principle that a saving in public tax money from

the above reforms is more important than supporting gagekeepers

just because they depend on the income and need the money The

present dependence of a gagekeeper on his P300 or P360 a year

and the hardship he must undergo in adjusting to a lower rate

of pay for the job are not believed to be sufficient reasons

for continuing indefinitely to pay him more than necessary

However it is recommended that he be given 30 or 60 days

notice before a reduction in pay is placed in effect

D Vehicles

1 It is recommended that a gradual change-over be made from the

short-wheelbase open Jeep to the Jeep station wagon as a hydroshy

graphers car Benefits should be as follows

a The car can be locked leaving only the tires as attractive

to thieves

b The station wagon has more space As the hydrographers

became better equipped that space will be needed

37

Bamboo-and-grass shelters built and used by crew during construction of gaging station on Angat River above Ipo Dam March 13 1957

3

4

-Ti LP

Proposed site for new index-type gaging station selected on Baoas River near Mangatarem Pangasinan above all diversions by Regalado Romasanta dargreaves and Veatch April 15 1957 Photo by J S Romasanta

38

Taking Philippine Airlines plane at Legaspi Albayfor Manila on May 17 1957 Mount Mayon 7960 feet high in background

I

N 1 x

Y

I

Showing typical vehicle used on the reconnaissance and inspection trips over the Philippines

39

c For occasional errands or trips it will be feasible for

only oneman to take the car because he can lock the con

tents when the car is not attended

d It may possibly develop in some parts of the Philippines

that a hydrographer for a certain area will not need a

driver-helper and thereby a saving in funds can be made

However such a change should be made only on a trial

basis and is not recommended until conditions so warrant

and until the hydrographer involved is satisfied with the

change or else desires it

E Certain technical stream-gaging procedures are recommended to be

followed in the Philippine Islands hydrographic work at the average

gaging station by all agencies doing stream gaging as follows

1 Obtain a discharge measurement once every four to six weeks

throughout the year

2 Furnish the hydrographer with a print of the station descripshy

tion and of the rating curve and require him as a general rule

to compute and plot his discharge measurement in the field

3 Have the gage read both before and after each discharge measureshy

ment and the readings recorded on the field notes

4 Use a loose-leaf discharge-measurement note form or forms

containing a summary page patterned to some extent after the

forms in use by the USGS Bound notes make it too inconshy

venient or perhaps impossible for the office engineer to

examine the notes for a whole year when he analyzes a station

record

40

5 Gradually change to the use of ehameled steel gage plates

instead of painted gages because their initial cost is less

and they are more durable Plates graduated somewhat like

those of the US Geological Survey are believed much better

than those stocked by private companies While here I drew

up a suggested design for local manufacture which appealed

to the Hydrographic Section

6 Obtain levels at staff gages at least once a year especially

on the low section of gage Replace or repair each low secshy

tion soon after it becomes damaged or the markings become

indistinct

7 Continue as a general rule to use the 6-depth method with

the sub-surface method for deep swift water Obtain a comshy

plete cross section as soon as feasible after the high water

has subsided

8 Gradually change to the use of heavier sounding weights so

that the 6-depth method with soundings can be used at high

water in any event take soundings and velocities as far out

as practicable from each bank at flood stages then go across

deep part of channel with sub-surface method Check subshy

surface method coeficients whenever practicable by means of

vertical velocity curves Until such checks show otherwise

use a coefficient of 090

9 Compute discharge measurements by the mid-section method

This saves time (and money) and is at least as accurate as the

41

other method Request hydrographers to bear the method in mind

when selecting verticals near edges of channel or at breaks in

the cross section It is recommended that in the interests of

economy this change be made at an early date

10 Consider 20 as a desirable number of verticals in an average

stream cross section Continue to time the meter revolutions

for 40 to 60 seconds at each setting Someday if more accushy

racy is desired in hydrographic work in the Philippines it

would be appropriate to standardize on 30 verticals per measureshy

ment provided the 2-8 depth method were used and the gages

were read to fractions of a centimeter For the present it

seems consistent to take about 20 verticals when using the 6

method and with gages read only to the nearest centimeter

11 Use steel tag lines for wading measurements Paint bridge

rails and cables with markings sufficiently close together

that they can be used rapidly to determine stationing between

them When installing the paint marks use standard intervals

of either 1 meter 2 meters or 5 meters To avoid confusion

do not use intervals of 3 or 4 meters If measuring intervals

are to be 1 meter or less it is very convenient to have a

mark available every meter If intervals are between 1 and 5

meters use a mark every 2 meters A good system for making

the marks readily identifiable is to place 1 paint mark at

each basic interval like every 2 meters then put 2 marks every

10 meters 3 every 50 meters and 4 at 100 meters

42

use on12 Always tags the portion of the meter suspension line

that goes in the water The tags usually consist of small

pieces of colored cloth taped tightly to the line They

should be watched and checked occasionally against slippage

and error The tags should not be more than one meter apart

and should be spaced to give maximum convenience and speed in

measuring the discharge

13 As it may becoin feasible convert Type A current meters to

Type AA The more deeply recessed bearing of the Type AA

meter provides more durability of the pivot and bearing

because trapped air excludes most of the water and silt the

longer pivot results in a relatively lower center of gravity

of the bucke t wheel with respect to the point of bearing and

results in smoother performance

F Design of the stream gaging network

1 Everyone seem3 to agree with the objective of a network of

well-distributed long-term base stations for giving runoffshy

per-square-kilometer values representative of the general

area in which each station is located As rapidly as practishy

cable stations should be L d n the o ting netrk

and designated as base or index stations for permanent operashy

tion They should be the best stations both hydraulically

and as to equipment and should be free from upstream regushy

lation or diversion Where needed new base stations should

be installed as soon as they can be financed to appropriately

L11 out the network

43

2 In between such base stations it is desirable to sample smaller

basins with short-term records of various lengths which can be short term

correlated with the long records For this purpose thestashy

tion structures should be constructed so that they are as moveshy

able or salvageable as possiblej Often these movable stations

will be operated at or near specific project sites

3 It usually is more economical and satisfactory to gage a stream

at a highway crossing or other convenient place rather than

exactly at a project site later the data can be transferred

to the project site by means of drainage area proportions

checked by obtaining at the site e

two miscellaneous measurements or possibly in some cases a

whole year of record

4 A method for studying the existing network of stations to see

whether the intensity of coverage is satisfactory or not is to

plot correlations between the various station records prefershy

ably following the present methods of the USGS

5 It has been found advantageous to classify all gaging stations

that are in operation using categories somewhat like these

areal network base stations primary and secondary main stream

stations and water management stations This procedure is

helpful in planning how long various stations should be operated

Detailed information about station classification methods is

available from the U S Geological Survey for use as a guide

The Technical Training Program

Early plans

When this assignment was given to me it was anticipated that a

series of across-the-table discussions would be held with small groups

of hydrographers from the Philippine government bureaus engaging in

such work Detailed procedures would be discussed without formality

But when arrangements were initiated for such conferences I was inshy

formed that among those wanting to attend were many at the managerial

level as well as a number of representatives of agencies interested

more in water development projects than in resource investigations

These could not be turned down so it was necessary to revise the

agenda to include more of general interest

Later developments

In view of the wide experience and high rank of many prospective

attendants of the conference it did not seem appropriate to call it

a lecture series or school and the name Seminar On Water Resources

was decided upon The agenda is included in this report and will be

self-explanatory Registered attendance for each of the three weeks

was 68 72 and 70 persons respectively for a total of 210 The

setting for the Seminar can best be understood from the photographs

Conditions as a whole were good although the tape-recording of the

entire three weeks of proceedings and the need for a member to come

F M Veatch and Water Resources Seminar group week of April 8-12 1957 at Bureau of Public Highways conference building Manila

I y

rT

I

4

47

forward and use the microphone whenever he asked a question or made a

comment was somewhat of a dampener oh discussion When preparing the

agenda I assumed that few besides the hydrographers would attend the

sessions on technical details of stream gaging scheduled for Wednesday

to Friday yet the entire membership stayed through the full program

each week and so no small-group round-table discussions were practicable

It developed later that the language barrier was a little more

serious than first realized Also it was not evident at first that

many present did not know what a gaging station was One of the main

benefits gained from the field trip was to show them a typical station

along with some equipment Taken as a whole it is believed that the

Seminar was successful and worthwhile

The sending of trainees from the Hydrographic Section to the

United States by ICA is very effective in supplementing the technical

assistance rendered directly by American personnel in the Philippines

and it should be continued as long as possible

Acknowledgments

Announcements and invitations to attend the Seminar were sent to

numerous agencies and offices by the Hydrographic Section who also

made all arrangements such as for space registration loud speaker

system tape recordings and recess refreshments The Bureau of

Public Highways made their new conference building available and the

National Media Center furnished a slide projector screen and room

all of which were greatly appreciated The introductory talks by

48

several busy executives including Director J A Buendia and Messrs

A T Alano R R Lord P G Afable and D Rosell with Mr Tomas

Saddam acting as master of ceremonies contributed ideas and gave

each weeks session a good send-off

Publications

Copies of the following publications of the U S Geological

Survey (one by Bureau of Reclamation and one from ASCE) were disshyon

play at the Seminar at all times for inspection by the members Alshy

though they were requested not to take the publications away quite a

few copies gradually became missing

Irrigation Water Measurement Tables and Diagrams by U S

Bureau of Reclamation

ASCE Separate 413 - Backwater Effects of Open Channel

Constrictions

Stage-Fall Discharge Relation for Steady Flow in Prismatic

Channels Water-Supply Paper 1164

Topographic Characteristics of Drainage Basins W S P 968C

Weir Experiments Coefficients and Formulas WSP 200

Handbook for Hydrologists - Chapters 1 - 11

Chapter 1 -- Instructions for Flood Frequency Compilations

Chapter 2 -- ledian Discharge Computation Methods

Chapter 3 -- Instructions for Abstracting Topographic

Characteristics of Drainage Basins

i

-Imr- I

1 N

L

V10J~

C R Mirray explaining a ground water formula

Ii

17t

o

Water Resources Seminar group at gaging station on Marikina River near Montalban Rizal about an hours drive northeast of Manila April 12 1957

51

-- Channel Storage and Flood Routing

-- Extending Stream-flow Records

Chapter 6 -- Double Mass Curves

Chapter 7-A- Frequency Curves of Low Flows and Storage

Requirements

Chapter 8 -- Flood Frequency Analyses

Chapter 9 -- Small Stream Investigations

Chapter 10 - Hydrologic Definitions

Chapter 11 - Base-Flow Recession-Curves

Computation of Backwater at Open Channel Constrictions

Floods in Western Washington Frequency and Magnitude in

Relation to Drainage Basin Characteristics GS Circular 191

Floods in Georgia Frequency and Magnitude GS Circular 100

Stream-Gaging Procedure - A Manual Describing Methods and

Practice of the Geological Survey - WSP 888

Investigation of Methods and Equipment used in Stream Gaging

Part 2 Intakes For Gage Wells

Computation of Peak Discharge through Culverts

Computation of Backwater at Open-Channel Constrictions

Equipment for River Measurements Structures for Cableways

by Charles H Pierce

Computation of Peak Discharge at Contractions Circular 284

Care and Rating of Current Meters

Surface Water Supply o the United States 1950 Parts 1 - 14

52

In addition to the above publications a two-page single-spaced

memorandum entitled Plotting Flood Frequency Curves (Extracted from

U S Geological Survey publications) was prepared by me under date

of April 3 1957 and handed to each member of the Seminar each week

The program or agenda for the Seminar one copy of which was

given to each member follows on Pages 53 to 63 inclusive The

graphs on Page 63 were referred to during the talks

53

March 29 1957

AGENDA FOiR SEMINARZ ON WATER RESCURCES AND STAE4 GAGING

IN THE PHILIPPINES

PLACE Conference hoom 2nd Floor Bureau of Public Highways Building Second Street Port Area Manila

TIKE April 1-5 8-12 and 22-26 (same program each week)

CONDUCTED BY M1r i 1 Veatch District EngineerSurface WaterBranch Jater Aesources Division United States Geological Suver Thcoma ashington who is un three-month assignment with the ICA

Held in connoction with the Philippine Government-ICA water resources program

54

GENERAL PROGRAM MONDAY AND TUESDAY

honday morning 830

Opening remarks Mr Julian A Buendia Director Bureau of Fublic Works Mr R R Lord Chief Public Works Division ICA Mr G H Hargreaves Hydraulic Engineer ICA

Importance of water resources and their investigation

The hydrologic cycle Evaporation transpiration and precipitation Runoff

Daily discharge record and the hydrograph Storm runoff Base flow

Grou~nd Water Very brief description (this subject to be covered

iaore fully on Tuesday afternoon)

General characteristics of natural stream runoff in the Philippines Quantity

Adequacy Comparison with United States

Variations with time Day to day and year to year Long-term trends

Distributin by area General over the Philippine Islands Variations between nearby drainage basins

Effect of location elevation geology cover etc

Major uses of stream-flow data Many years of rccornds should be crnsidered Granting water r phts

Protect existing rights Prevent capital expenditures where water supply inadequate

Planning river basin developments including municipal supply irrigation pnwer flood control etc

Destping structures such as dams reservoirs dikes floodways canals pumping systems power plants bridges etc

Accuracy and extent of dat needed for minimizing underdesign or wasteful overdesign

Cost of water-supply data in relation to total cost of a project

Operating water projects Distribution of water on projects Operation of storage reservoirs and diversion dams

To make maximum use uf water supply Designing alterations or enlargements to existing projects

RECESS 1000 to 1015

55 -3-

Monday morning (Continued) 1015 aim

Management of the stream gaging program Foreseeing the needs for stream-flow records

Study population and industrial trends Keep inforned on water-development plans and

prgraIIs of all agencies Continuity of the records

Essential for wator-supply studies Regular financinp reouired

Annual appropriations a poundfccted by temporary econoidc or political conditions

Permanent type of financing needed Surcharge method License fee method

-Dissemination of the data Annual publication Occasional summary compilations Furnishing advance cupies of unpublished records Furnishing current data - daily weekly or munthly

wherever required Special water resources investigation agency desirable

Briefly dancribe United States organization Uniform tecnical standards Uniform ways of presenting data One series of publicatiens Distributial center for basic water data Genera l-coverage program requires close coordination

for economy of operation Personal requirements

Engineers Engir ring aids Computers Clerks

ADJOURN - 1145

Resume after lunch only if necessary for completing the above subjects

56

Tueday morning 830

Design of a comprehensive stream gjaging program General rrinciIlac

Represenkc tive runoff-type provinces should be sainpled with stations of various classes

Vary the intensity of coverage with probable intenshysity of water use

Follow tiie tcends variations with records fromand L sri etatiorns secondary

Correlate resultls one continually adjustnetwork Classification of ra-in stationa

Areal prinary and secondary viain strem priiary nd secondary Water-manmfciact stat-i ons Miscellanous dischaige mcasurements

Correlating the dat obttined in comprehensive program Logarithmic pajer Five years of lecord uscd What is a good corrclation

Analyses of data Flood frcouencjs

Annual serics Partial duration series

Low-flow frecuencies Low-flow duration hydrograph

Extending strewm-flow records Comparisons witi other gaging stations Rainfall-runoff correlations

Quality of water Temperature

Intermittent observations Recorders

Chemical gtuality Element -Dissolved solids

Suspended iaterial Time of cecurrence-floods Sampling

Methods Cost

RECESS - 1000 to 1015

57

- 5 -

Tuesday afternoon 130

Ground water (This subject conducted by Mr C R Murray) Occurrence

Water table Artesian Lakes

Movement Through the ground Into stream channels

Availability Geologic structure Aquifers Funing tests

Recharge Froa precipitation Artificial Froma induced lateral movement

Investigation Geology Springs Logs of dug and drilled wells Test wells

lecording Lanual

Quantitative studies Chemical quality analyses

Mincral ccontnt Sallt water intrusion

Drilling of wells for production use Ground water rirhts

Depletion of ground water reservoirs teyond rccharge capability

ADJOURN at 330

Geologist Ground Water Branch dater Resources Division U 6 Geological Survey who is on two-ywar assignment with ICA

58

PROGRAM ON STREMvi GAGING PROCEDURE WEDNESDAY TO FRIDAY

4ednesday morning 830

Establishing and constructing gaging stations Selection of site

Consider najor probable uses of the record Investigate extent of upstream diversion and

-egulation Utilize contour naps Obtain list of nmrjor water right applications

iydraulic conditicns Section control Shifting channel Overbank flow Dackwater

Accessibility Avoid too much expense Need to reach quickly to measure flash floods

Natural protection front flood damage Avoid excessively expensive construction conditions

Bed iock Quick sand Too-longintake pipes

For non-rccording gage choose site convenient to

one or more local gage readers

Survey of site Bank cross-prefile at gage Cross section at cable Plan

Right of way Oral pervrission ritten permission

Easement Land purchase

RECESS - 945 to 1000

- 7 - 59

Wednesday morning (Continued) 100)

Construction Select types and sizes of structures To fit purpose oi the record Plan later salva e (for secondary stations) For economy of operation (for example design cableway to

operat mesily) Adapt availabic standard plans to fit the site Keep costs to hclp in future estimating Make brief construction report for future assistance in

planninr sililar Jobs Prepare staLion descripLion

Road log distences etc for How to reach paragraph Descriptions of gages bench marks etc Dimensions cf structuis Gage datum elevations of portinent parts of structures

Operating and maintaining gaging stations Records of stage

Choice of dtum Arbitrcry local datum

Set gages so there will be no minus gage readings

Mean sea level datum May be used but has disadvantages

1hen later adjustments are made to level networks

Gages have to be reset or Equation must be published

Non-recording gages Types

Vertical staff Inclined staff

ire-weight Crest-stage gages

Refinement of graduations ake adequate for accuracy of record needed

Maintatling dat of gage Adequate number of local reference marks Take levels at least once a year

Work o- local gare reader Fy according to approx number of hours worked Do not roruire too many roadings for the

conditions Warm (with omphasis) against my guessed

readings Inform reader anv errors in reading will

show up in hydrogrq oic comtparisons Engineers obtain check readings whenever

possible Visit gage reader frequently a d show inshy

terest in his gage-height record Encourage reader to retain personal copy

ADJOURN at 1145

60

Thursday morning 800

Records of stage (continued) Recording gages

Select type of instrument and its scales to fit conditions at gaging station

Weekly or continuous recorder Recorder scales Range of stage Rate of change of stage Availability of someone to change weekly

chart Work of Cage inspector of keeper

Avoid resetting pen Repurt any trash or debris causing backwater

at gage Do not have a gage keeper unless needed

aintaining gage datum Check outside gae by levels annually Keep outside gage sections reset to datum

Standard reference gage Inside gage of soie sort preferable

Staff Float-tape Anchor type

Intake action Clean or flush pipes after floods Slot intakes Self-cleaning iitakes

For pipe gage wells For wells built into bridge piers

Draw-down (where excessive) Use bapfle or static tube

Elood marks at station Make record of well-defined high water

marks

AECESS - 945 to 1000

- 9 - 61

Thursday morning (Continudd) 1000

Discharge measuroments Current hmeters

Price Type A Type AA

Pygmpy Carc of inters

Sounding weights E-typc C-type

Lead Brono

Type of notebook Loose shects Loose-leaf book Bound booL

Measurement of depth aeding rod Tag-line nethod Vertical-nglc coofficients Sounding during floods

Ilacemont of mter Sub--surface method 2-depth n cthod 6-de-pth icthod 2- imetY od

Number of verticals Velocity -urgcs

Miscellaneous f-ctors Effect of bridge piers Horizontal angle of current Insufficient weight on current water

1Mean gage hoitht for a discharge measurement Special methods of (Itermining flood discharge

Floats Slope-area method

Rating curv- etonsion method Arca and velocity curves Loparithmic plottig

Contrqctd-opening mothod Flow ovcr dams

Report on condition of control Carry station description and rating curve in field

Ubtain another me asurement if needed If first indicates large shift If new station and stagc advantagoous for

defining blank part of rating curve

ADJOUffN - 1145 AI

Resumne atfter lunch only if necessary for comploting the above subjects

62

- 10 -

Friday morning S00

A few remarks about office methods Rating curves

Log-log paper Upward extonsions Dowmward extensions

Rectangular plotting Computing recorder charts

M-ark index correction and time correction for each inspection reading

Break midnight lines at raph Never oblitertte or mark over the original trace Nake office markings on chart distinctive from

those mad( At the gage Use of colored pencils by computer and checker is one good wa)y

Daily discharge record Flot hydrograph Compare over light box with other stations

This method preferable to plotting several station records on same sheet

Concluding discussions

RECESS - 945 to 1000

Projection of gaging station equipment Lnd scenic slides taken in the United States and Canada

ADJOURN - 1145

Field trip Cars will be available at the conference building to

take members to the raging station on arikina iRivei at ontalban about an hours drive from Manila where a brief demonstration of certain field equipment will be given

Return to noL later thanoanila 500 FL

---

- Ishy4 ~7L~

0F OllY LISCIiRE 4- 1 -shy

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- O 1 B -- 2r 2 ZZ 23 24 2 c 26 7 8 2717x I 2

_~ I 027 _d- 1 2 shy

7 -

n_ a t-i IZ

- _______________ Pnu~ OAgvhshy

-~ ~-r- 1 - V-shy- i-shytvkty--- in--a-- -~ ~Z2m7~ ~

- ~ ~-~-----~- V 1~5~ LTLL2P7o -4----4 1 -- I -- I I _ __ --- -- -- - - L - - I ----

~- ~y~-~ 64 4

N

A il

Seminar members observing demonshystrat-n of measurshying e -pment by F M Veatch at Marikina River gaging station April 12 1957

I

Water Resources Seminar members observing working model of proppsed Binga Dam at the hydraulics laboratory of University of the Philippines April 12 1957

65

Current meter rating flume mechanism Y 22 1957

Current meter rating flume mechanism May 22 1957

66

Current Meter Rating Station

The new current meter rating station at the University of the

Philippines (see photographs) was not quite ready for use before I

left the country The mechanism and instruments were manufactured

in Germanyobtained thru ICA-NEC procurement for the Water Resources

Program of the Department of Public Works and have been installed by

Professor Alberto Villares and his hydraulics laboratory staff under

Dean C A Ortigas of the College of Engineering with some guidance

by Professor Edward L Ericksen of the University of Michigan who is

a civil engineer on detail here with the Stanford Group Professor

Villares spent 18 months in the hydraulics laboratory of the Univershy

sity of Iowa

There is every evidence that this rating flume will with expeshy

rience do work accurate enough not only for determining differences

in ratings between current meters but also for preparing absolute or

independent ratings This can be reported on more fully at some

later date by Messrs Hargreaves and Snell

The Central Luzon Region Program

The Water Resources Development Committee is preparing a recomshy

mended plan for the expedited multiple-purpose development of the

water resources of the Central Luzon region The area contains oneshy

sixteenth of the land surface and one-fourth of the population of the

Philippines and is termed the rice granary of the nation It is to

be used as an example or experiment in water and land development

67

The Committee has requested member agencies to submit estimates

of the minimum amount of additional basic data needed for making a

useful report and for proceeding with development projects Such

estimates are to include mapping soil surveys dam and reservoir site

surveys water resources surveys and other items A preliminary

report is to be prepared soon summarizing the existing information

pointing out the need for additional dataand submitting estimates

of cost for the further investigations needed An outline for the

final report has been prepared and distributed so it will be availashy

ble as a guide and funds for the first years efforts are being

sought for fiscal year 1958 It appears reasonable that the report

on a comprehensive plan could be submitted to the President and

Congress of the Philippines in about five years

With the assistance of Mr Hargreaves I have prepared estimates

for a surface water measurement program to complement the existing

program It is designed to fill the worst gaps in the present netshy

work Details are subject to change as more reconnaissance informashy

tion becomes available as only five days were spent covering the area

by automobile Unit costs were provided by the Hydrographic Section

and they include cost of preparation of the records for publication

Estimates were submitted as given below They were supported by a

detailed list of stream names and locations which included desigshy

nations as to the primary purpose or type of each proposed new gaging

station and whether a recording or non-recording gage was recommended

It is available for reference in both the ydrographic Section and

ICA offices

68

New gaging stations

1 Daily discharge type

Installation (including cableways where needed)

Recording ------- 7 Pl650 11550

Non-recording --- 4 950 3800 15350

Operation 1st year -11 660 7260 P22610

2 High water type (flood records)

Installation

Gages (nonshy

recording) ----- 4 150 600

Measuring equipment 800 1400

Operation 1st year - 4 300 1200 2600

Total for new gaging stations ------------- 25210

Miscellaneous discharge measurements

1 4 or 5 during dry season Nov - April

4 sites x 5 per site = 20 30 ---------------- 600

2 1 or 2 during low part of year March and April

37 sites x l per site = 55 k30 ------------- 1650

Total for miscellaneous measurements ------ 2250

Total -------------- -2746o

69

Rainfall And Evaporation Stations

Existing network

A map examination of the existing network of rain gages was made

and a surprisingly large number were found to be in operation -- 2

recording and 115 manual stations or a total of 117 They are beshy

lieved to be fairly adequate in number and are well distributed

areally over the Philippines but like in the United States are conshy

fined largely to the lower altitudes where the agricultural and urban

population live In addition to these records are available for

various lengths of time from about 8 discontinued Weather Bureau

stations and from more than 300 haciendas reforestaion stations

and provincial rnrseries

Additional gages

The Weather Bureau and the Bureau of Public Works are cooperating

in the installation of some new rainfall stations at higher altitudes

part of which will utilize new instruments purchased with ICA aid

funds Some of the instruments will be installed at existing nonshy

recording stations Forty new installations are proposed for 1958

fiscal year It is now recognized that rainfall station coverage at

higher altitudes is needed in order to furnish records that can be

correlated with the long-term valley records and also with the gaging

station discharge records D

70

Weather station maintained by Bureau of Public WorksIrrigation Division near Tuguegarao Cagayan From left to right N Ciriaco District Hydrographer drivershyhelper observer J G Garcia hydrographer J C Regalado and G H Hargreaves May 13 1957

Weather station at Pototan Iloilo Panay A Lacuestadistrict bydro-rapher standing May 5 1957

71

Group luncheon at Tacloban Leyte typical of the hospitality received by us during inspection tour of the Philippines From left to right M Rico irrig distr engr G Hargreaves G Araos E N Salazar P Formilleza L Abella S Velasco JCRegalado V H Sydiongoo distr hydrographer I M Ortega Oscar de Venecia and N Oliver May 7 1957

ICA Public Works Division March 1957 From left to right C R Murray A A Ketchum asat Div head J B Delaney I J Silverstone Sofia Halili 0 H Hosmer R R Lord Div head B B Hill Betty Valdez G H Hargreaves J L Brenden FM Veatch

72

Evaporation stations

Fifteen double-pan (one open and one partially shaded) evaporation

stations with rainfall temperature wind and humidity instruments as

auxiliary are being operated in the Philippines and ten more are to

follow next year They are well distributed over the islands and

should furnish data of great value for reservoir design Thq reccrds

will be publish3d

Publication of rainfall data

All rainfall reccrds are published annually by the Weather Bureau

whose 1954 volume is the latest one printed The 1955 issue should be

released soon One excellent source of information for anyone studyshy

ing rainfall data in the Philippines is the publication The Distrishy

bution of Rainfall In The Philippines by Eugenio B Manalo Chief

Climatological Division Weather Bureau Manila This contains

valuable descriptive material tables of monthly and annual values

and mean monthly and annual isohyets in inches An inspection or

study of the monthly isohyetal maps shows clearly how storm patterns

change with the seasons in certain parts of the Philippines and that

73

in other areas the rain is almost evenly distributed throughout the

year The long dry season of Manila and the central Luzon plains is

graphically portrayed by the isohyets Mr Manalos publication

should be of great benefit to government agencies and private parties

or individuals in connection with agricultural and business activities

over the islands It is presumed that the isohyets will warrant some

revision after another 5 or 10 years as more records especially those

at higher altitudes become available

Sediment Measurement Stations

Practically no silt-sampling has been done in the Philippines

to date and no extensive program is believed possible because of the

lack of funds For the present it is recommended that every governshy

ment field hydrographer be equipped with a thermomater and a turbidity

stick and required to report a spot water temperature and turbidity

reading at time of each discharge measurement Thus without extra

cost a large amount of data can be accumulated which after several

years should make it possible to determine what streams are the

siltiest and where more detailed studies might be needed Whenever a

reservoir project reaches the intensive-investigation stage including

dam-site drilling detailed topography etc it is recommended that

a complete sediment sampling station be operated there for at least

one full flood season before the project feasibility report is

completed

74

Statement Before Water Resources Development Committee

On March 20 1957 I presented the following statement regarding

the streamflow measurement program in the Philippines

The Philippine Republic is blessed with an excellent supply of

water of good quality but much of it is wasted to the sea during the

rainy season The development of this resource is vitally important

to the nation and it involves the storing of flood waters for dryshy

season release Where investments are to be made for construction of

dams etc in the development of irrigation power production and

flood control large sums can easily be wasted through overdesign or

underdesign if enough engineering data are not available Conflicting

or competing uses for the water supplies will gradually develop in

your country the same as they have in the United States If water

rights are to be granted fairly with due regard for all prior users

many years of basic data are necessary so that the long-term water

supply can be estimated For this purpose a good network of stream

gaging records and ground water levels must be secured One would

not attempt to manage the money in a bank without bookkeeping and it

is just as important to have an accounting system when managing water

The sound economical procedure is to base all project designs on as

complete engineering information as can be obtained

The ICA is attempting to assist the Philippine Government in

planning the orderly development of its water resources and we are

concerned that too many structures may be built before accurate

9i

hydrologic data are available for their design For this reason we

strongly urge you to improve the basic data gathering program at the

earliest possible date as follows

(1) Review and publish the stream-flow records that have been

obtained since the war

(2) Finance an expanded program of stream-flow measurement and

ground water study

The Bureau of Public Works has prepared preliminary estimates of

the funds needed for bringing publication of basic data up to date and

for expanding the wiater resources investigation program The attached

copies of estimates are of course provisional and subject to revision

but it is suggested that they be placed in the files of this Committee

for future reference The figure of P56oooo for publication is a

fairly firm figure It is suggested that the Committee take immeshy

diate action to further the procurement of these funds

The procurement of water resources data is a specialized field

requiring engineers and other technical men with a high degree of

education Years must be spent in training them in such special

work The men must endure rigorous physical work corbatting the

elements and using resourcefulness and judgment It is very uneconoshy

mical and unsatisfactory to have a technical organization of that kind

subject to occasional and unpredictable severe cuts in appropriations

It is even more unsatisfactory to have the time sequence of basic

water data collection interrupted and valuable records lost forever

k

Forty-six of the gaging stations operated during the 1908-22

period were re-established after World War II at sites where the records

are considered comparable -- that is where the drainage area does not

differ by more than five per cent The longest continuous records of

discharge not affected by diversion or regulation that I have been able

to find in the Philippines for the postwar period are for the Maasim

River near San Rafael Bulacan Luzon October 5 1945 to date and for

the Aringay River near Tubao La Union from August 19 1945 to date

Available maps are not very satisfactory for locating sites of former

gaging stations because the names of many of the barrios and towns are

different on present maps than they were when the stations were first

operated and described

Considerable stream gaging has also been done by the National

Power Corporation and some river stage records have been obtained by

the River Control and Drainage Section Irrigation Division These are

summarized in the tabulation on Page 6 In addition miscelshynumerous

laneous discharge measurements have been obtained by several agencies

Daily discharge records are available in the files of the National

Power Corporation for eight pre-war gaging stations that were operated

for varying periods between 1923 and 1943 by the Bureau of Public Works

One of these on Barit River at Santiago Iriga Camarines Sur was

operated from 1923 to 1940 The original forms for all eight stations

became destroyed during the war but a set of prints was later discovered

by the National Power Corporation in some hydroelectrical project files

that were saved The NPC re-established the Barit River station at

the same site in 1950

5

Marikina R at Montalban Rizal Province with Stevens FM 30-day recorder April 5 1957

TYPICAL NEW GAGING STATION STRUCTURES CONSTRUCTED AS A RESULT CF THE ICA PROGRAM

III I I

I I I

~iz

7~il

2~-

Pampanga River at Atate Nueva Ecija Stevens FM recorder J C Regalado driver helper and L Borbolla in foreground April 14 1957

47~I

-4

4

iuJi rf if poundflLLi

77

Pre-war frame shelter and 36 corr pipe Frame shelter over new 36 corrwell with Gurley weekly recorder Pampanga

J C Regalado B Ramos and E M Veatch pipe well Pampanga River near standing Taken by G H Hargreaves Arayat Pampanga March 1 1957 March 1 1957

Status of post-war computations and publication

Daily discharge computations of the Hydrographic Section tbr 1944

to 1954 are practically coplete those for 1955 are about 40 per deb4t

complete and for 1956 about 15 per cent Office work has been delayed

considerably because of the heavy constructionfprogran which started

in 1956 using supplies and instruments furnished by the ICA All office

computations are made in the Manila office No discharge records have

been published since those of 1908-22 but steps are being taken as

explained later in this report to bring publication up to date It is

planned that the records which have been compuhed for the years 1944 to

1956 will be reviewed before their final preparation for publication

to make sure their standards of accuracy are reasonably consistent

with the slightly higher standards proposed to be instituted as a

result of recommendations made in this report About 1500 stationshy

years of stream-flow recordsless than 10 per cent of which are from

agencies other than the Hydrographic Section are proposed to be comshy

piled and printed in a single-volume publication of monthly and annual

data Tables of monthly minimum discharge are to be included

Organization and cooperation

The Hydrographic Section customarily assigns a district hydrographer

and his assistants as resident at each irrigation district office that

is situated a long distance from Manila Their headquarters are as

follows

District Province Town

Northern Luzon Isabela San Mateo

Bicol Region Luzon Camarines Sur Naga

Eastern Visayas Leyte Tacloban

Western Visayas Iloilo Iloilo

Mindanao Davao Davao

This district is presently being operated by hydrographers from

Manila the same as for the central part of Luzon

The above field hydrographers are each assigned a Jeep and a drivershy

helper Hydrographers pay scales range between about Y2400 and P4200

per annum and in addition they are granted a subsistence allowance of

Y2OO per unit or Y800 a day Driver-helpers receive an average pay

of P5 per day plus a subsistence allowance of P200 per day (which has

been reduced administratively from P450 a day because of lack of funds)

The field personnel send or deliver all basic records to Manila

where they are processed computed and filed Most of the office work

is done by office personnel with the field men doing but little of the

office work

9

New timber recorder structure including plank intake with Stevens A-35 recorder Pinagcanauan de Tuguegarao River near Tuguegarao Cagayan Jose G Garcia assistant hydrographer and Norberto Ciriaco District Hydrographer on walkway May 14 1957

Staff gage on Jalaur River at Passi Iloilo From left to right 2 boys A Lacuesta Distr HydrogrLher J CorderoIrrig Distr Engr G Hargreaves J Regalado gagekeeper (kneeling) and onlooker May 8 1957

I

--- S

F National Power Corporation staff gage on Angat River above Ipo Dam now beingreplaced by a Bureau of Public Works recorder installation March 13 1957

O~

~A F~ ~~ shy- ~

~

- --

I ------ ~

A -~ 1

~ -- gt I~-

5 shy

- ~- ~ U

amp~~ -

2r~ ~k- ~ ~

National Power Cororation painted staff gage Bantay River near Bokod BenguetMountain Province Hydrographers helperstanding March 26 1957 Note lower markings faded

11

Whether any other changes are made or not it is the expressed

plan of the Hydrographic Section to have the District-Hydrographer

who is in charge of the Northern Mindanao District headquartered at

Cagayan de Oro

A considerable portion of the pay of district hydrographers and

their staffs comes directly from the Irrigation Section district

office at which they are headquartered rather than through the

Hydrographic Section This has had the effect of limiting their

efforts somewhat to project work rather than to general or all-purpose

investigations

Some of the other agencies particularly the National Power

Corporation obtain the cooperation of the Hydrographic Section in

helping operate certain gaging stations where a duplication of travel

can thus be avoided However the discharge measurements so made by

the Hydrographic Section are turned over to the NPC who make their

own computations of daily discharge The latter also sometimes pays

directly the salaries of certain gagekeepers Usually this cooperashy

tion does not involve an exchange of funds but some change in that

situation is recommended as explained later in this report

All agencies make their daily discharge records available to the

Hydrographic Section upon request and the plan is to have the later

agency include all such records in their publications No reproduction

machine is available in any of the offices and all copies of records

must be made individually in typing or longhand A machine is under

order by the Hydrographic Section

-fiUMBER OI~ GAGIiG~STATIONS-eP-ERATED IN-PIILIPPINES -

CALENDAR YEAR

YEA HYOROGRAPHIC

STAGE NATIONAL

SECTION PO R0 P

RIVEl CONTROL SECTON

TOT AL

DISCHARGE NATIONAL

HYDROGRAPHIC SECTION ORHYTGRPI SECTION POR

TOTAL TOA

RECORDING NON-REC TOTAL NON-REC NON-REC RECORDING NON-REC TOTAL

1908-1922 265 265 265

1923-1944 3 3 9 12

1945 6 6 6 15 15 2 17

1946 2 12 14 14 28 28 4 32

1947 3 11 14 14 29 29 4 33

1948 3 18 21 5 26 45 45 5 50

1949 3 13 16 6 5 27 74 74 15 89

1950 3 9 12 10 4 26 91 91 20 111

1951 3 15 18 10 4 34 103 103 17 120

1952 3 13 16 10 4 30 111 111 17 128 1953 3 17 20 11 17 48 1 96 97 23 120

1954 4 18 22 11 26 49 1 145 146 22 168

1955 4 18 22 13 19 54 1 207 208 27 235

1956 6 12 15 1 25 52 40 189 26 5

13

Various agencies have submitted lists of proposed gaging stations

which they would like to have installed to provide data for their

projects It is apparent that this work will be well coordinated in

the future and that the other agencies will come to rely more and

more on the Hydrographic Section for most of their basic stream-flow

records But they probably will continue to have their own personnel

make certain types of hydrographic investigations for the detailed

study of specific projects such as river profiles tailwater rating

curves etc

Financing

The main difficulty in regard to financing has been lack of

stability and continuity to the program and insufficient generalshy

fund money to permit the establishment of an all-purpose gaging proshy

gram In 1956 and 1957 the Hydrographic Section rec3ived P120000

(less than half of their total funds) for such general use with all

other monies either from counterpart funds (explained below) in theor

form of contributions from other agencies to cover certain gaging

expenses Another difficulty has been the lack of enough funds to

properly carry out the sudden large construction program generated by

the new ICA-furnished materials and instruments Most of the regular

hydrographic force has been assigned to construction during the last

twelve months or so because separate construction foremen or substitute

hydrographers could not be hired As a result the regular field

operation of gaging stations has suffered considerable neglect This

- - -

14

wuld not have been necessary if the Hydrographic Sections funds had

been flexible and appropriated on basis of a performance budget As

it is the Section must adhere to line items which spell out exactly

how all money is to be spent

The financing of an expanded 1958 program now appears to be

progressing satisfactorily largely from the counterpart monies

This fund consists of pesos allocated by the Philippine government

in an amount equivalent to the dollar value of imports furnished by

the ICA It is administered by the National Economic Council with

allocations subject to approval of the ICA on budget recommendations

received from Philippine government agencies In the case of water

resources programs they are assisted by recommendations of the Water

Resources Development Committee an NEC administratively appointed

body composed of representatives of ten agencies interested or inshy

volved in water development A rougn breakdown of the Hydrographic

Sections budget proposed for the fiscal year starting July 1 1957

is as follows

General Fund Pesos

Annual appropriation - ------------ 120000

Counterpart Funds

For bringing up to date the publication of

annual records plus a compilation - - - - 56000

For an expanded program of surface-water

investigations----------- - 500000

TOTAL - - - - - - 676000

The total funds available in 1955 and 1956 fiscal years were 180000

and 280000 respectively

It

a 7~

IC

U

i

Staff gage out of water Labangan River at Bagbag Calumpit Bulacan March 1 1957

7lt 2

I

fr

Gagekeeper and staff Jalaur River at Calinog Iloilo He read 10 centimeters low today because markings on lower part of gage were illegible

I-J May 8 1957

16 8

hational Power Corp staff gage painted on streamward side of cliff Lower markings gone and gagekeeper determines gage heights three times a day by wading to gage and measuring down with rule as shown in this picture Bokod R at Boiod Benguet Mountain Province March 26 1957

Bureau of Public Works staff gage station Gagekeeper has made readingsby measuring down from a nail since this section of gage was washed out by a flood Madlum River near Sibul Springs Bulacan April 25 1957

17

The only difficulty with counterpart financing is that it is

temporary and could conceivably leave the program stranded in a few

years when ICA aid is discontinued The necessity is recognized for

gradually obtaining regular Congressional appropriations to take the

place of counterpart funds An effort will also be made to have a

performance type of budget accepted because line items make the

program inflexible and prevent the best management and economy

It is recommended that other agencies desiring for their projects

certain stream flow records which cannot be financed from the regular

budget of the Hydrographic Section transfer funds annually (either in

advance or on a reimbursement basis) to the Hydrographic Section to

pay the extra costs required for the fulfilment of their requests

Design of the stream gaging program

As mentioned above the fiscal arrangements prevailing up to this

time have resulted in an almost total emphasis on project-type gaging

stations in the Philippines However I believe everyone is now in

agreement with the desirability or need for a nation-wide network of

index or runoff-per-square-kilometer type of stations which will sample

various runoff provinces such as those with different exposures to storms

and having different topography altitude geology type of land cover

etc The intensity of the network of stations in different regions

would vary depending upon the apparent future economic value or worth

of the water in each area This will be discussed in more detail in

the recommendations

18

In order to look over the existing program observe something of

the technical methods in use and see a variety of runoff and economic

types of areas in the islands to gain an idea of the type of stream

gaging network needed I have visited several regions accompanied most

of the time by Mr George Hargreaves It has been very helpful to me

to have him take such an interest in the detailed objectives of ry

assignment and I am sure it will facilitate Mrs Snellas work a great

deal to have available for consultation and guidance Mr Hargreaves

wide experience in water resources development and investigations

We were accompanied by Mr J C Regalado of the ydrographic Section

who made most of the advance contacts with field offices in connecshy

tion with our trips We usually travelled to central points by Philshy

ippine Air Lines and were then driven to nearby areas by field officials

of the Hydrographic Section and other agencies The hospitality and

cooperation of everyone toward us was exceptional and much appreciated

Besides a fairly detailed coverage of the Central Luzon area where an

intensified program is proposed our inspections included Northern

Luzon Southern Luzon (the Bicol region) Leyte Panay and several

parts of Mindanao In addition we made a special effort to observe

the country all along the routes of airplane flights taken and that

coupled with airplane stops made on other islands gave us a fairly

comprehensive view of the geography of the Philippines It is upon

this that my recommendations concerning the design of a stream gaging

program are based

19

Bquipment and technical methods-

The stream gaging equipment and methods used by the Hydrographic

Section since 1908 have been patterned mainly after those of the US

Geological Survey as described in the 1904 publication H4ydrographic

Manual Thus it appears likely that the methods and accuracy stanshy

dards have changed but little since the Philippine program was started

Stream gaging tecniques used by the other agencies are similar but

they have not had the advantage of some of the new ICA-furnished equipshy

ment This is expected to be remedied in the aid allocations for fiscal

year 1958

Although some use has been made of the 2-8 method of measuring

discharge present practice is limited almost entirely to the 6method

for low and medium stages and the sub-surface method for high stages

for the latter the meter is suspended over a 15-E weight and set 03

meter below the surface with a coefficient of 0915 applied

The number of verticals or measuring points taken in the cross

section usually is between 8 and 15 No bridge cranes or suspension

reels of any kind have been available all discharge work other than

with wading rod having been done by hand line All this is about to

be changed with the recent arrival of the first ICA-furnished sounding

reels weights and tag lines purchased from 1956 FY funds

Staff gages are read to the nearest centimeter (about 0033 foot)

Most of the gages would be difficult to read to any closer limit alshy

though a few stations have Leupold Stevens enameled gages with levelshy

rod type markings

20

The hydrographer records his discharge measurement notes in a

small bound pocket-size book which he carries until it is full After

each measurement is computed in the field a complete copy of the notes

is made on a card and mailed to the Manila office I am informed

that the bound notebooks are practically never lost or dropped in

the water With the increased amount of flood measuring expected to

be done in the future that situation might change

Rating curves are drawn to average large groups of discharge

measurements Large rectangular-scale cross section sheets are used

Percentage differences of the measured values with respect to the

rating table are not computed A minimum of use is made of Stoutshy

method shifts

The water-stage recorders furnished to date by the ICA have been

manufactured with time scales of either 03 inch per day (the FM

model) or 48 inches per day (the A-35 model) The former scale is

too small for satisfactory use in most stream gaging and the latter

is too large Thirty pairs of time scale gears have been ordered for

converting the A-35s from 48 to 24 inches per day Upon inquiry at

the factory it was learned that no conversion of the FM recorders is

possible An exchange of 25 of them is being made with the ground

water program for an equivalent value in A-35 recordero but the

remaining 65 will be used at the surface water stations They are

very satisfactory on lakes or spring-fed streams or large streams

whose fluctuations are not too sudden

21

Ipo dam on Angat River which diverts water to supply City of Manila and surrounding area March 13 1957 Reservoir is traversed by boat in reaching the gaging station upstream

Ready to leave Ipo Dam for gaging station 6 kilqmeters upstream B Ramos and J Regalado in oanca March 13 1957

4 ~ s~

B Ramos making discharge measurement by wading on Angat River above Ipo DamMarch 13 1957 Spacings between verticals were obtained from cable makings byline hanging from cable car

23

At non-recording gages it has been the custom to hire gagekeepers

at uniform or statutory rates of 025 or P30 per month (not related

to the distance traversed in going to the gage) to obtain readings

three times a day The pay has been the same even where the gage is

located several kilometers away from the gagekeepers home The system

has certain disadvantages which may affect the accuracy of the records

At some stations the pay is too high while at others it is too low

Three readings a day are not necessary most of the time for adequately

developing the hydrograph especially during the dry season and a

request for obviously unnecessary readings seems to put too severe a

test upon human nature It is practically an open invitation to a

certain amount of faking I doubt that it should be held against a

gagekeeper to put down some estimated readings under those circumstances

any more than it would be to blame children for taking candy or cookies

from a forbidden plate left openly in their midst The question then

becomes - what readings can be relied upon and what cannbt I sincerely

believe that a more accurate daily discharge record can be prepared in

the office from a few completely reliable gage readinrs per week by

means of hydrographic comparisons with recording-gage records from

nearby stations and with less expense than can be produced by proshy

cessing comparing and weeding out questionable parts from a complete

(on paper) record of three readings a day A gagekeepers habit

developed during the dry season of not going to the gage when it is

inconvenient or he doesnt feel like it is bound to crop up during

the high water season as well with the result that all his readings

24

must be looked at critically and considered reliAble only after

unusually extensive comparisons are made with weather records and

other stations

In regard to specialized stream gaging equipment listed below

are the amounts purchased by the ICA up to the present time

Ordered from Ordered from Being FY 1955 PPA 1956 PPA ordered Delivered in Delivered in from 1957

May 1956 May 1957 PPA

Canfield reels 0 6 8

Type A reels 0 6 2

Canfield tag lines 0 15 0

A-35 recorders 20 10 25

FM recorders 65 25 0

Enameled gage secs 400 600 200

Currer meter outfits inc ding rod headphonehanuline and 15-pound weight 11 10 0

Pygmy meters 0 0 10

Bridge cranes 0 3 0

Sounding wts 30-lb 0 0 10

50-lb 0 0 10

I i 75-lb 0 0 1

I 100-lb 0 0 1

Stopwatches 20 10 0

Being purchased as models for possible future use in procurement of

weights of local manufacture

25

~-

-~ ~- shy

~-

4rshy~~L~zu 1 - ~ A-

-~ - ~jj ~

~- k ~ ~

Helper and P Nubio National Power Corporationpreparing to make discharge measurement Tag marks of grass being tied to line Bantay River near Bokod Benguet Mountain Province March 26 1957

-- ~ 4

V

Helper holding meter in place suspended on a weight hanger while revolutions are counted oy hydrographer P Nubio E P Nbesamis is at extreme right March 26 1957

26

-p --shy

t-~-- - -

A ~

A~4 ~ 4

A -Y

- -

- - - -

gt~ ~ ~-

Z4z4a - ~z

- shy -~-~shy

4shy- --

I NPC discharge party on Bokod River at-Bokod BenguetMountain Province Helper and gagekeeper holding meter and 15-pound weight in position P Nubio on shore counting revolutions and recording notes March 26 1957

Ar 7

-~ I

0 I 15-pound weight used in discharge measurement work by the NPC hydrographer stationed at Ambuklao Dam March 26 1957

27

Recommendations

A sharp expansion in the stream gaging program of the Philippines

has occurred recently brought about not only by the ICAs economic and

technical aid program but also by the growing local demand for water

resources information It is inevitable that some organizational

changes would be required to accommodate such a sudden growth This

subject was discussed in conferences with Mr Saddam and Mr Regalado

and the following list of special objectives agreed upon They had a

number of these in mind or partly in effect already and were planning

to gradually adopt several others The items are listed here in order

to express my reasons for wanting to see them completely implemented

within the next two or three years They are as follows

A It is recommended that the district offices compute their own disshy

charge records and prepare them for publication for final review

in the central office in ranila

1 Additional engineers would be needed in each district office

and fewer engineers in the Manila office

2 At least the district hydrographer and preferably one other

engineer in addition should be trained in the office work in

Manila before the records were transferred to a district

3 Each engineer in a district office would be given a field area

which he would cover by a round of discharge measurements once

every 4 to 6 weeks each coverage taking about 2 weeks Betshy

ween trips he would do office work preferably on the same

stations that he covers in the field

28

4 Benefits of thissystem are believed to be as follows

a Records requested could be furnished more quickly to the

public especially to those in the district area

b This kind of a close tie between field and office work has

been found to greatly improve the quality of the records

the economy of operation and the performance and developshy

ment of the individual engineers

c The alternating of each person between field and office

work makes him (1) more competent in the field work and

also more competent in the office work than is possible

in segregated office and field groups and (2) permits

him to be home more of the time and lead a more normal

lifc thus increasing his morale and efficiency

5 Personnel arrangements recommended are

a Offer more rapid promotion to those who transfer like

from Manila to a field office or between field offices

b Encourage each man to transfer every few years with

faster promotions as an incentive It has been found

that this develops an engineers competence more rapidly

than if he stays in one office indefinitely Such ability

repays the government in added officiency and production

to an extent greater than its cost in extra salary

B Certain organization changes are recommended as follows

1 Appoint an Office Engineer a Field Engineer and (whenever

needed) a Construction Engineer They would be headquartered

__

V 29

2

~- ~

q

Ambuklao Dam on Agno River Generating capacity 75000 kw Powerplant is underground March 2557

7- t

-JI

Maria Cristina falls and power plant on Agus River River near Iligan Lanao Province Mindanao Present installed capacity 50000 kw May 1 1957

30

II I

Looking downstream at the Binga dam site on Agno River about 15 kilometers east of Baguio March 25 1957

Looking upstream at the Marikina dam site on Marikina River at Wawa near Montalban Rizal about 25 kilometers northeast of Manila April 5 1957

31

in the Manila office and act under the general supervision of

the head of the Section with the following responsibilities

to be included

a Office Engineer

(1) Be responsible for the discharge computations and

related office work in the Manila field district or

area

(2) Be responsible for review and final preparation for

publication of all records in the nation

(3) See that a progress chart of status-of-record compushy

tations is maintained in each district office and

that a summary statement concerning such progress is

sent to the central office at least quarterly

(4) Be responsible for research in office methods and

equipment (See footnote on next page)

b Field Engineer

(1) Act as first assistant to head of the Section of

Hydrography

(2) Be responsible for field operation vork throughout the

nation

(a) Make at least one annual field inspection in each

district

(b) Develop the system in every headquarters of keepshy

ing a running chronological chart of the discharge

measurements made at each gaging station or

32W

scheduled miscellaneous site A form in use in

Tacoma Washington has been found to be very conshy

venient for this purpose Such a chart gives the

supervisor a quick overall view of the status of

the field work and serves as a check at end of

the year to make sure all measurements have been

listed and counted

(3) Be responsible for the design of the stream gaging

network and the selection of sites for new gaging

stations

(4) Be responsible for research in field methods and

equipment

Construction Engineer

(1) Give general supervision and management to the conshy

struction program

(a) Obtain assignment of resident engineer or foreman

for each job

(b) See that the materials are made available Help

the foreman in every way possible in organizing

the job procuring emergency equipment or supplies

and making decisions about serious problems that

may arise on the job

If funds became available for considerable research it probably

would be better to appoint a special Research Engineer

33

~A

Cagayan River gaging station near Cagayan de OroMisamis Oriental Mindanao April 30 1957 Note how corrugated pipe recorder structure was bent by flood J C Regalado J J Ponco gagekeeper and G H Hargreaves in foreground

-

V

View of staff gage and control on Binakaan River at Tifigib near Pastrana Leyte Stream divided by a barand control excavated for unknown reason May 6 1957 J Regalado by the sign and G Hargreaves at right

Cable footbridge below Binga dam site Tree anchorage for cableway onformerly used by NPC in making Angat River above Ipo Damdischarge measurements P Nubio and March 13 1957E Abesamis of NPC on bridge March 25 1957

35

(c) Visit the major jobs occasionally to see that

they are proceding satisfactorily in all the

islands Make sure the stations are installed

according to instructions and plans An approved

sketch plan showing dimensions and elevations is

desirable for each construction job

(d) Prepare first draft of each new station description

(e) Prepare brief construction report including costs

A form in use at Tacoma Washington has been found

convenient for this purpose

C The following policies in regard to gagekeepers are recommended

1 Start a gradual change-over to paying each gagekeeper on basis

only of the hours he works plus a basic amount for taking the

responsibility This may result in increasing the pay of some

but it should reduce the pay of a much larger number

2 Convert most gagekeepers to two readings a day most of the time

with one or more additional readings during floods In some of

the drier parts of the Central Luzon area in cases where gages

are remote from habitation request only one reading a day

during the dry months such as from January through May inclushy

sive more than that are believed to cost more than they are

worth and are an open invitation to the reporting of estimated

readings

3 When a new recorder installation is at a barrio or bridge where

it appears unlikely to be vandalized try running the station

36

without hiring a gagekeeper If this system proves successful

discontinue the services of the gagekeepers at certain selected

recorders At all other recorders reduce the number of readshy

ings required to one per day and reduce their pay accordingly

If a gagekeeper prefers not to accept a lower monthly rate for

fewer readings it is suggested that he resign except in cases

where security of the station structures or right-of-way favors

may be involved

Proceed on the principle that a saving in public tax money from

the above reforms is more important than supporting gagekeepers

just because they depend on the income and need the money The

present dependence of a gagekeeper on his P300 or P360 a year

and the hardship he must undergo in adjusting to a lower rate

of pay for the job are not believed to be sufficient reasons

for continuing indefinitely to pay him more than necessary

However it is recommended that he be given 30 or 60 days

notice before a reduction in pay is placed in effect

D Vehicles

1 It is recommended that a gradual change-over be made from the

short-wheelbase open Jeep to the Jeep station wagon as a hydroshy

graphers car Benefits should be as follows

a The car can be locked leaving only the tires as attractive

to thieves

b The station wagon has more space As the hydrographers

became better equipped that space will be needed

37

Bamboo-and-grass shelters built and used by crew during construction of gaging station on Angat River above Ipo Dam March 13 1957

3

4

-Ti LP

Proposed site for new index-type gaging station selected on Baoas River near Mangatarem Pangasinan above all diversions by Regalado Romasanta dargreaves and Veatch April 15 1957 Photo by J S Romasanta

38

Taking Philippine Airlines plane at Legaspi Albayfor Manila on May 17 1957 Mount Mayon 7960 feet high in background

I

N 1 x

Y

I

Showing typical vehicle used on the reconnaissance and inspection trips over the Philippines

39

c For occasional errands or trips it will be feasible for

only oneman to take the car because he can lock the con

tents when the car is not attended

d It may possibly develop in some parts of the Philippines

that a hydrographer for a certain area will not need a

driver-helper and thereby a saving in funds can be made

However such a change should be made only on a trial

basis and is not recommended until conditions so warrant

and until the hydrographer involved is satisfied with the

change or else desires it

E Certain technical stream-gaging procedures are recommended to be

followed in the Philippine Islands hydrographic work at the average

gaging station by all agencies doing stream gaging as follows

1 Obtain a discharge measurement once every four to six weeks

throughout the year

2 Furnish the hydrographer with a print of the station descripshy

tion and of the rating curve and require him as a general rule

to compute and plot his discharge measurement in the field

3 Have the gage read both before and after each discharge measureshy

ment and the readings recorded on the field notes

4 Use a loose-leaf discharge-measurement note form or forms

containing a summary page patterned to some extent after the

forms in use by the USGS Bound notes make it too inconshy

venient or perhaps impossible for the office engineer to

examine the notes for a whole year when he analyzes a station

record

40

5 Gradually change to the use of ehameled steel gage plates

instead of painted gages because their initial cost is less

and they are more durable Plates graduated somewhat like

those of the US Geological Survey are believed much better

than those stocked by private companies While here I drew

up a suggested design for local manufacture which appealed

to the Hydrographic Section

6 Obtain levels at staff gages at least once a year especially

on the low section of gage Replace or repair each low secshy

tion soon after it becomes damaged or the markings become

indistinct

7 Continue as a general rule to use the 6-depth method with

the sub-surface method for deep swift water Obtain a comshy

plete cross section as soon as feasible after the high water

has subsided

8 Gradually change to the use of heavier sounding weights so

that the 6-depth method with soundings can be used at high

water in any event take soundings and velocities as far out

as practicable from each bank at flood stages then go across

deep part of channel with sub-surface method Check subshy

surface method coeficients whenever practicable by means of

vertical velocity curves Until such checks show otherwise

use a coefficient of 090

9 Compute discharge measurements by the mid-section method

This saves time (and money) and is at least as accurate as the

41

other method Request hydrographers to bear the method in mind

when selecting verticals near edges of channel or at breaks in

the cross section It is recommended that in the interests of

economy this change be made at an early date

10 Consider 20 as a desirable number of verticals in an average

stream cross section Continue to time the meter revolutions

for 40 to 60 seconds at each setting Someday if more accushy

racy is desired in hydrographic work in the Philippines it

would be appropriate to standardize on 30 verticals per measureshy

ment provided the 2-8 depth method were used and the gages

were read to fractions of a centimeter For the present it

seems consistent to take about 20 verticals when using the 6

method and with gages read only to the nearest centimeter

11 Use steel tag lines for wading measurements Paint bridge

rails and cables with markings sufficiently close together

that they can be used rapidly to determine stationing between

them When installing the paint marks use standard intervals

of either 1 meter 2 meters or 5 meters To avoid confusion

do not use intervals of 3 or 4 meters If measuring intervals

are to be 1 meter or less it is very convenient to have a

mark available every meter If intervals are between 1 and 5

meters use a mark every 2 meters A good system for making

the marks readily identifiable is to place 1 paint mark at

each basic interval like every 2 meters then put 2 marks every

10 meters 3 every 50 meters and 4 at 100 meters

42

use on12 Always tags the portion of the meter suspension line

that goes in the water The tags usually consist of small

pieces of colored cloth taped tightly to the line They

should be watched and checked occasionally against slippage

and error The tags should not be more than one meter apart

and should be spaced to give maximum convenience and speed in

measuring the discharge

13 As it may becoin feasible convert Type A current meters to

Type AA The more deeply recessed bearing of the Type AA

meter provides more durability of the pivot and bearing

because trapped air excludes most of the water and silt the

longer pivot results in a relatively lower center of gravity

of the bucke t wheel with respect to the point of bearing and

results in smoother performance

F Design of the stream gaging network

1 Everyone seem3 to agree with the objective of a network of

well-distributed long-term base stations for giving runoffshy

per-square-kilometer values representative of the general

area in which each station is located As rapidly as practishy

cable stations should be L d n the o ting netrk

and designated as base or index stations for permanent operashy

tion They should be the best stations both hydraulically

and as to equipment and should be free from upstream regushy

lation or diversion Where needed new base stations should

be installed as soon as they can be financed to appropriately

L11 out the network

43

2 In between such base stations it is desirable to sample smaller

basins with short-term records of various lengths which can be short term

correlated with the long records For this purpose thestashy

tion structures should be constructed so that they are as moveshy

able or salvageable as possiblej Often these movable stations

will be operated at or near specific project sites

3 It usually is more economical and satisfactory to gage a stream

at a highway crossing or other convenient place rather than

exactly at a project site later the data can be transferred

to the project site by means of drainage area proportions

checked by obtaining at the site e

two miscellaneous measurements or possibly in some cases a

whole year of record

4 A method for studying the existing network of stations to see

whether the intensity of coverage is satisfactory or not is to

plot correlations between the various station records prefershy

ably following the present methods of the USGS

5 It has been found advantageous to classify all gaging stations

that are in operation using categories somewhat like these

areal network base stations primary and secondary main stream

stations and water management stations This procedure is

helpful in planning how long various stations should be operated

Detailed information about station classification methods is

available from the U S Geological Survey for use as a guide

The Technical Training Program

Early plans

When this assignment was given to me it was anticipated that a

series of across-the-table discussions would be held with small groups

of hydrographers from the Philippine government bureaus engaging in

such work Detailed procedures would be discussed without formality

But when arrangements were initiated for such conferences I was inshy

formed that among those wanting to attend were many at the managerial

level as well as a number of representatives of agencies interested

more in water development projects than in resource investigations

These could not be turned down so it was necessary to revise the

agenda to include more of general interest

Later developments

In view of the wide experience and high rank of many prospective

attendants of the conference it did not seem appropriate to call it

a lecture series or school and the name Seminar On Water Resources

was decided upon The agenda is included in this report and will be

self-explanatory Registered attendance for each of the three weeks

was 68 72 and 70 persons respectively for a total of 210 The

setting for the Seminar can best be understood from the photographs

Conditions as a whole were good although the tape-recording of the

entire three weeks of proceedings and the need for a member to come

F M Veatch and Water Resources Seminar group week of April 8-12 1957 at Bureau of Public Highways conference building Manila

I y

rT

I

4

47

forward and use the microphone whenever he asked a question or made a

comment was somewhat of a dampener oh discussion When preparing the

agenda I assumed that few besides the hydrographers would attend the

sessions on technical details of stream gaging scheduled for Wednesday

to Friday yet the entire membership stayed through the full program

each week and so no small-group round-table discussions were practicable

It developed later that the language barrier was a little more

serious than first realized Also it was not evident at first that

many present did not know what a gaging station was One of the main

benefits gained from the field trip was to show them a typical station

along with some equipment Taken as a whole it is believed that the

Seminar was successful and worthwhile

The sending of trainees from the Hydrographic Section to the

United States by ICA is very effective in supplementing the technical

assistance rendered directly by American personnel in the Philippines

and it should be continued as long as possible

Acknowledgments

Announcements and invitations to attend the Seminar were sent to

numerous agencies and offices by the Hydrographic Section who also

made all arrangements such as for space registration loud speaker

system tape recordings and recess refreshments The Bureau of

Public Highways made their new conference building available and the

National Media Center furnished a slide projector screen and room

all of which were greatly appreciated The introductory talks by

48

several busy executives including Director J A Buendia and Messrs

A T Alano R R Lord P G Afable and D Rosell with Mr Tomas

Saddam acting as master of ceremonies contributed ideas and gave

each weeks session a good send-off

Publications

Copies of the following publications of the U S Geological

Survey (one by Bureau of Reclamation and one from ASCE) were disshyon

play at the Seminar at all times for inspection by the members Alshy

though they were requested not to take the publications away quite a

few copies gradually became missing

Irrigation Water Measurement Tables and Diagrams by U S

Bureau of Reclamation

ASCE Separate 413 - Backwater Effects of Open Channel

Constrictions

Stage-Fall Discharge Relation for Steady Flow in Prismatic

Channels Water-Supply Paper 1164

Topographic Characteristics of Drainage Basins W S P 968C

Weir Experiments Coefficients and Formulas WSP 200

Handbook for Hydrologists - Chapters 1 - 11

Chapter 1 -- Instructions for Flood Frequency Compilations

Chapter 2 -- ledian Discharge Computation Methods

Chapter 3 -- Instructions for Abstracting Topographic

Characteristics of Drainage Basins

i

-Imr- I

1 N

L

V10J~

C R Mirray explaining a ground water formula

Ii

17t

o

Water Resources Seminar group at gaging station on Marikina River near Montalban Rizal about an hours drive northeast of Manila April 12 1957

51

-- Channel Storage and Flood Routing

-- Extending Stream-flow Records

Chapter 6 -- Double Mass Curves

Chapter 7-A- Frequency Curves of Low Flows and Storage

Requirements

Chapter 8 -- Flood Frequency Analyses

Chapter 9 -- Small Stream Investigations

Chapter 10 - Hydrologic Definitions

Chapter 11 - Base-Flow Recession-Curves

Computation of Backwater at Open Channel Constrictions

Floods in Western Washington Frequency and Magnitude in

Relation to Drainage Basin Characteristics GS Circular 191

Floods in Georgia Frequency and Magnitude GS Circular 100

Stream-Gaging Procedure - A Manual Describing Methods and

Practice of the Geological Survey - WSP 888

Investigation of Methods and Equipment used in Stream Gaging

Part 2 Intakes For Gage Wells

Computation of Peak Discharge through Culverts

Computation of Backwater at Open-Channel Constrictions

Equipment for River Measurements Structures for Cableways

by Charles H Pierce

Computation of Peak Discharge at Contractions Circular 284

Care and Rating of Current Meters

Surface Water Supply o the United States 1950 Parts 1 - 14

52

In addition to the above publications a two-page single-spaced

memorandum entitled Plotting Flood Frequency Curves (Extracted from

U S Geological Survey publications) was prepared by me under date

of April 3 1957 and handed to each member of the Seminar each week

The program or agenda for the Seminar one copy of which was

given to each member follows on Pages 53 to 63 inclusive The

graphs on Page 63 were referred to during the talks

53

March 29 1957

AGENDA FOiR SEMINARZ ON WATER RESCURCES AND STAE4 GAGING

IN THE PHILIPPINES

PLACE Conference hoom 2nd Floor Bureau of Public Highways Building Second Street Port Area Manila

TIKE April 1-5 8-12 and 22-26 (same program each week)

CONDUCTED BY M1r i 1 Veatch District EngineerSurface WaterBranch Jater Aesources Division United States Geological Suver Thcoma ashington who is un three-month assignment with the ICA

Held in connoction with the Philippine Government-ICA water resources program

54

GENERAL PROGRAM MONDAY AND TUESDAY

honday morning 830

Opening remarks Mr Julian A Buendia Director Bureau of Fublic Works Mr R R Lord Chief Public Works Division ICA Mr G H Hargreaves Hydraulic Engineer ICA

Importance of water resources and their investigation

The hydrologic cycle Evaporation transpiration and precipitation Runoff

Daily discharge record and the hydrograph Storm runoff Base flow

Grou~nd Water Very brief description (this subject to be covered

iaore fully on Tuesday afternoon)

General characteristics of natural stream runoff in the Philippines Quantity

Adequacy Comparison with United States

Variations with time Day to day and year to year Long-term trends

Distributin by area General over the Philippine Islands Variations between nearby drainage basins

Effect of location elevation geology cover etc

Major uses of stream-flow data Many years of rccornds should be crnsidered Granting water r phts

Protect existing rights Prevent capital expenditures where water supply inadequate

Planning river basin developments including municipal supply irrigation pnwer flood control etc

Destping structures such as dams reservoirs dikes floodways canals pumping systems power plants bridges etc

Accuracy and extent of dat needed for minimizing underdesign or wasteful overdesign

Cost of water-supply data in relation to total cost of a project

Operating water projects Distribution of water on projects Operation of storage reservoirs and diversion dams

To make maximum use uf water supply Designing alterations or enlargements to existing projects

RECESS 1000 to 1015

55 -3-

Monday morning (Continued) 1015 aim

Management of the stream gaging program Foreseeing the needs for stream-flow records

Study population and industrial trends Keep inforned on water-development plans and

prgraIIs of all agencies Continuity of the records

Essential for wator-supply studies Regular financinp reouired

Annual appropriations a poundfccted by temporary econoidc or political conditions

Permanent type of financing needed Surcharge method License fee method

-Dissemination of the data Annual publication Occasional summary compilations Furnishing advance cupies of unpublished records Furnishing current data - daily weekly or munthly

wherever required Special water resources investigation agency desirable

Briefly dancribe United States organization Uniform tecnical standards Uniform ways of presenting data One series of publicatiens Distributial center for basic water data Genera l-coverage program requires close coordination

for economy of operation Personal requirements

Engineers Engir ring aids Computers Clerks

ADJOURN - 1145

Resume after lunch only if necessary for completing the above subjects

56

Tueday morning 830

Design of a comprehensive stream gjaging program General rrinciIlac

Represenkc tive runoff-type provinces should be sainpled with stations of various classes

Vary the intensity of coverage with probable intenshysity of water use

Follow tiie tcends variations with records fromand L sri etatiorns secondary

Correlate resultls one continually adjustnetwork Classification of ra-in stationa

Areal prinary and secondary viain strem priiary nd secondary Water-manmfciact stat-i ons Miscellanous dischaige mcasurements

Correlating the dat obttined in comprehensive program Logarithmic pajer Five years of lecord uscd What is a good corrclation

Analyses of data Flood frcouencjs

Annual serics Partial duration series

Low-flow frecuencies Low-flow duration hydrograph

Extending strewm-flow records Comparisons witi other gaging stations Rainfall-runoff correlations

Quality of water Temperature

Intermittent observations Recorders

Chemical gtuality Element -Dissolved solids

Suspended iaterial Time of cecurrence-floods Sampling

Methods Cost

RECESS - 1000 to 1015

57

- 5 -

Tuesday afternoon 130

Ground water (This subject conducted by Mr C R Murray) Occurrence

Water table Artesian Lakes

Movement Through the ground Into stream channels

Availability Geologic structure Aquifers Funing tests

Recharge Froa precipitation Artificial Froma induced lateral movement

Investigation Geology Springs Logs of dug and drilled wells Test wells

lecording Lanual

Quantitative studies Chemical quality analyses

Mincral ccontnt Sallt water intrusion

Drilling of wells for production use Ground water rirhts

Depletion of ground water reservoirs teyond rccharge capability

ADJOURN at 330

Geologist Ground Water Branch dater Resources Division U 6 Geological Survey who is on two-ywar assignment with ICA

58

PROGRAM ON STREMvi GAGING PROCEDURE WEDNESDAY TO FRIDAY

4ednesday morning 830

Establishing and constructing gaging stations Selection of site

Consider najor probable uses of the record Investigate extent of upstream diversion and

-egulation Utilize contour naps Obtain list of nmrjor water right applications

iydraulic conditicns Section control Shifting channel Overbank flow Dackwater

Accessibility Avoid too much expense Need to reach quickly to measure flash floods

Natural protection front flood damage Avoid excessively expensive construction conditions

Bed iock Quick sand Too-longintake pipes

For non-rccording gage choose site convenient to

one or more local gage readers

Survey of site Bank cross-prefile at gage Cross section at cable Plan

Right of way Oral pervrission ritten permission

Easement Land purchase

RECESS - 945 to 1000

- 7 - 59

Wednesday morning (Continued) 100)

Construction Select types and sizes of structures To fit purpose oi the record Plan later salva e (for secondary stations) For economy of operation (for example design cableway to

operat mesily) Adapt availabic standard plans to fit the site Keep costs to hclp in future estimating Make brief construction report for future assistance in

planninr sililar Jobs Prepare staLion descripLion

Road log distences etc for How to reach paragraph Descriptions of gages bench marks etc Dimensions cf structuis Gage datum elevations of portinent parts of structures

Operating and maintaining gaging stations Records of stage

Choice of dtum Arbitrcry local datum

Set gages so there will be no minus gage readings

Mean sea level datum May be used but has disadvantages

1hen later adjustments are made to level networks

Gages have to be reset or Equation must be published

Non-recording gages Types

Vertical staff Inclined staff

ire-weight Crest-stage gages

Refinement of graduations ake adequate for accuracy of record needed

Maintatling dat of gage Adequate number of local reference marks Take levels at least once a year

Work o- local gare reader Fy according to approx number of hours worked Do not roruire too many roadings for the

conditions Warm (with omphasis) against my guessed

readings Inform reader anv errors in reading will

show up in hydrogrq oic comtparisons Engineers obtain check readings whenever

possible Visit gage reader frequently a d show inshy

terest in his gage-height record Encourage reader to retain personal copy

ADJOURN at 1145

60

Thursday morning 800

Records of stage (continued) Recording gages

Select type of instrument and its scales to fit conditions at gaging station

Weekly or continuous recorder Recorder scales Range of stage Rate of change of stage Availability of someone to change weekly

chart Work of Cage inspector of keeper

Avoid resetting pen Repurt any trash or debris causing backwater

at gage Do not have a gage keeper unless needed

aintaining gage datum Check outside gae by levels annually Keep outside gage sections reset to datum

Standard reference gage Inside gage of soie sort preferable

Staff Float-tape Anchor type

Intake action Clean or flush pipes after floods Slot intakes Self-cleaning iitakes

For pipe gage wells For wells built into bridge piers

Draw-down (where excessive) Use bapfle or static tube

Elood marks at station Make record of well-defined high water

marks

AECESS - 945 to 1000

- 9 - 61

Thursday morning (Continudd) 1000

Discharge measuroments Current hmeters

Price Type A Type AA

Pygmpy Carc of inters

Sounding weights E-typc C-type

Lead Brono

Type of notebook Loose shects Loose-leaf book Bound booL

Measurement of depth aeding rod Tag-line nethod Vertical-nglc coofficients Sounding during floods

Ilacemont of mter Sub--surface method 2-depth n cthod 6-de-pth icthod 2- imetY od

Number of verticals Velocity -urgcs

Miscellaneous f-ctors Effect of bridge piers Horizontal angle of current Insufficient weight on current water

1Mean gage hoitht for a discharge measurement Special methods of (Itermining flood discharge

Floats Slope-area method

Rating curv- etonsion method Arca and velocity curves Loparithmic plottig

Contrqctd-opening mothod Flow ovcr dams

Report on condition of control Carry station description and rating curve in field

Ubtain another me asurement if needed If first indicates large shift If new station and stagc advantagoous for

defining blank part of rating curve

ADJOUffN - 1145 AI

Resumne atfter lunch only if necessary for comploting the above subjects

62

- 10 -

Friday morning S00

A few remarks about office methods Rating curves

Log-log paper Upward extonsions Dowmward extensions

Rectangular plotting Computing recorder charts

M-ark index correction and time correction for each inspection reading

Break midnight lines at raph Never oblitertte or mark over the original trace Nake office markings on chart distinctive from

those mad( At the gage Use of colored pencils by computer and checker is one good wa)y

Daily discharge record Flot hydrograph Compare over light box with other stations

This method preferable to plotting several station records on same sheet

Concluding discussions

RECESS - 945 to 1000

Projection of gaging station equipment Lnd scenic slides taken in the United States and Canada

ADJOURN - 1145

Field trip Cars will be available at the conference building to

take members to the raging station on arikina iRivei at ontalban about an hours drive from Manila where a brief demonstration of certain field equipment will be given

Return to noL later thanoanila 500 FL

---

- Ishy4 ~7L~

0F OllY LISCIiRE 4- 1 -shy

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- O 1 B -- 2r 2 ZZ 23 24 2 c 26 7 8 2717x I 2

_~ I 027 _d- 1 2 shy

7 -

n_ a t-i IZ

- _______________ Pnu~ OAgvhshy

-~ ~-r- 1 - V-shy- i-shytvkty--- in--a-- -~ ~Z2m7~ ~

- ~ ~-~-----~- V 1~5~ LTLL2P7o -4----4 1 -- I -- I I _ __ --- -- -- - - L - - I ----

~- ~y~-~ 64 4

N

A il

Seminar members observing demonshystrat-n of measurshying e -pment by F M Veatch at Marikina River gaging station April 12 1957

I

Water Resources Seminar members observing working model of proppsed Binga Dam at the hydraulics laboratory of University of the Philippines April 12 1957

65

Current meter rating flume mechanism Y 22 1957

Current meter rating flume mechanism May 22 1957

66

Current Meter Rating Station

The new current meter rating station at the University of the

Philippines (see photographs) was not quite ready for use before I

left the country The mechanism and instruments were manufactured

in Germanyobtained thru ICA-NEC procurement for the Water Resources

Program of the Department of Public Works and have been installed by

Professor Alberto Villares and his hydraulics laboratory staff under

Dean C A Ortigas of the College of Engineering with some guidance

by Professor Edward L Ericksen of the University of Michigan who is

a civil engineer on detail here with the Stanford Group Professor

Villares spent 18 months in the hydraulics laboratory of the Univershy

sity of Iowa

There is every evidence that this rating flume will with expeshy

rience do work accurate enough not only for determining differences

in ratings between current meters but also for preparing absolute or

independent ratings This can be reported on more fully at some

later date by Messrs Hargreaves and Snell

The Central Luzon Region Program

The Water Resources Development Committee is preparing a recomshy

mended plan for the expedited multiple-purpose development of the

water resources of the Central Luzon region The area contains oneshy

sixteenth of the land surface and one-fourth of the population of the

Philippines and is termed the rice granary of the nation It is to

be used as an example or experiment in water and land development

67

The Committee has requested member agencies to submit estimates

of the minimum amount of additional basic data needed for making a

useful report and for proceeding with development projects Such

estimates are to include mapping soil surveys dam and reservoir site

surveys water resources surveys and other items A preliminary

report is to be prepared soon summarizing the existing information

pointing out the need for additional dataand submitting estimates

of cost for the further investigations needed An outline for the

final report has been prepared and distributed so it will be availashy

ble as a guide and funds for the first years efforts are being

sought for fiscal year 1958 It appears reasonable that the report

on a comprehensive plan could be submitted to the President and

Congress of the Philippines in about five years

With the assistance of Mr Hargreaves I have prepared estimates

for a surface water measurement program to complement the existing

program It is designed to fill the worst gaps in the present netshy

work Details are subject to change as more reconnaissance informashy

tion becomes available as only five days were spent covering the area

by automobile Unit costs were provided by the Hydrographic Section

and they include cost of preparation of the records for publication

Estimates were submitted as given below They were supported by a

detailed list of stream names and locations which included desigshy

nations as to the primary purpose or type of each proposed new gaging

station and whether a recording or non-recording gage was recommended

It is available for reference in both the ydrographic Section and

ICA offices

68

New gaging stations

1 Daily discharge type

Installation (including cableways where needed)

Recording ------- 7 Pl650 11550

Non-recording --- 4 950 3800 15350

Operation 1st year -11 660 7260 P22610

2 High water type (flood records)

Installation

Gages (nonshy

recording) ----- 4 150 600

Measuring equipment 800 1400

Operation 1st year - 4 300 1200 2600

Total for new gaging stations ------------- 25210

Miscellaneous discharge measurements

1 4 or 5 during dry season Nov - April

4 sites x 5 per site = 20 30 ---------------- 600

2 1 or 2 during low part of year March and April

37 sites x l per site = 55 k30 ------------- 1650

Total for miscellaneous measurements ------ 2250

Total -------------- -2746o

69

Rainfall And Evaporation Stations

Existing network

A map examination of the existing network of rain gages was made

and a surprisingly large number were found to be in operation -- 2

recording and 115 manual stations or a total of 117 They are beshy

lieved to be fairly adequate in number and are well distributed

areally over the Philippines but like in the United States are conshy

fined largely to the lower altitudes where the agricultural and urban

population live In addition to these records are available for

various lengths of time from about 8 discontinued Weather Bureau

stations and from more than 300 haciendas reforestaion stations

and provincial rnrseries

Additional gages

The Weather Bureau and the Bureau of Public Works are cooperating

in the installation of some new rainfall stations at higher altitudes

part of which will utilize new instruments purchased with ICA aid

funds Some of the instruments will be installed at existing nonshy

recording stations Forty new installations are proposed for 1958

fiscal year It is now recognized that rainfall station coverage at

higher altitudes is needed in order to furnish records that can be

correlated with the long-term valley records and also with the gaging

station discharge records D

70

Weather station maintained by Bureau of Public WorksIrrigation Division near Tuguegarao Cagayan From left to right N Ciriaco District Hydrographer drivershyhelper observer J G Garcia hydrographer J C Regalado and G H Hargreaves May 13 1957

Weather station at Pototan Iloilo Panay A Lacuestadistrict bydro-rapher standing May 5 1957

71

Group luncheon at Tacloban Leyte typical of the hospitality received by us during inspection tour of the Philippines From left to right M Rico irrig distr engr G Hargreaves G Araos E N Salazar P Formilleza L Abella S Velasco JCRegalado V H Sydiongoo distr hydrographer I M Ortega Oscar de Venecia and N Oliver May 7 1957

ICA Public Works Division March 1957 From left to right C R Murray A A Ketchum asat Div head J B Delaney I J Silverstone Sofia Halili 0 H Hosmer R R Lord Div head B B Hill Betty Valdez G H Hargreaves J L Brenden FM Veatch

72

Evaporation stations

Fifteen double-pan (one open and one partially shaded) evaporation

stations with rainfall temperature wind and humidity instruments as

auxiliary are being operated in the Philippines and ten more are to

follow next year They are well distributed over the islands and

should furnish data of great value for reservoir design Thq reccrds

will be publish3d

Publication of rainfall data

All rainfall reccrds are published annually by the Weather Bureau

whose 1954 volume is the latest one printed The 1955 issue should be

released soon One excellent source of information for anyone studyshy

ing rainfall data in the Philippines is the publication The Distrishy

bution of Rainfall In The Philippines by Eugenio B Manalo Chief

Climatological Division Weather Bureau Manila This contains

valuable descriptive material tables of monthly and annual values

and mean monthly and annual isohyets in inches An inspection or

study of the monthly isohyetal maps shows clearly how storm patterns

change with the seasons in certain parts of the Philippines and that

73

in other areas the rain is almost evenly distributed throughout the

year The long dry season of Manila and the central Luzon plains is

graphically portrayed by the isohyets Mr Manalos publication

should be of great benefit to government agencies and private parties

or individuals in connection with agricultural and business activities

over the islands It is presumed that the isohyets will warrant some

revision after another 5 or 10 years as more records especially those

at higher altitudes become available

Sediment Measurement Stations

Practically no silt-sampling has been done in the Philippines

to date and no extensive program is believed possible because of the

lack of funds For the present it is recommended that every governshy

ment field hydrographer be equipped with a thermomater and a turbidity

stick and required to report a spot water temperature and turbidity

reading at time of each discharge measurement Thus without extra

cost a large amount of data can be accumulated which after several

years should make it possible to determine what streams are the

siltiest and where more detailed studies might be needed Whenever a

reservoir project reaches the intensive-investigation stage including

dam-site drilling detailed topography etc it is recommended that

a complete sediment sampling station be operated there for at least

one full flood season before the project feasibility report is

completed

74

Statement Before Water Resources Development Committee

On March 20 1957 I presented the following statement regarding

the streamflow measurement program in the Philippines

The Philippine Republic is blessed with an excellent supply of

water of good quality but much of it is wasted to the sea during the

rainy season The development of this resource is vitally important

to the nation and it involves the storing of flood waters for dryshy

season release Where investments are to be made for construction of

dams etc in the development of irrigation power production and

flood control large sums can easily be wasted through overdesign or

underdesign if enough engineering data are not available Conflicting

or competing uses for the water supplies will gradually develop in

your country the same as they have in the United States If water

rights are to be granted fairly with due regard for all prior users

many years of basic data are necessary so that the long-term water

supply can be estimated For this purpose a good network of stream

gaging records and ground water levels must be secured One would

not attempt to manage the money in a bank without bookkeeping and it

is just as important to have an accounting system when managing water

The sound economical procedure is to base all project designs on as

complete engineering information as can be obtained

The ICA is attempting to assist the Philippine Government in

planning the orderly development of its water resources and we are

concerned that too many structures may be built before accurate

9i

hydrologic data are available for their design For this reason we

strongly urge you to improve the basic data gathering program at the

earliest possible date as follows

(1) Review and publish the stream-flow records that have been

obtained since the war

(2) Finance an expanded program of stream-flow measurement and

ground water study

The Bureau of Public Works has prepared preliminary estimates of

the funds needed for bringing publication of basic data up to date and

for expanding the wiater resources investigation program The attached

copies of estimates are of course provisional and subject to revision

but it is suggested that they be placed in the files of this Committee

for future reference The figure of P56oooo for publication is a

fairly firm figure It is suggested that the Committee take immeshy

diate action to further the procurement of these funds

The procurement of water resources data is a specialized field

requiring engineers and other technical men with a high degree of

education Years must be spent in training them in such special

work The men must endure rigorous physical work corbatting the

elements and using resourcefulness and judgment It is very uneconoshy

mical and unsatisfactory to have a technical organization of that kind

subject to occasional and unpredictable severe cuts in appropriations

It is even more unsatisfactory to have the time sequence of basic

water data collection interrupted and valuable records lost forever

5

Marikina R at Montalban Rizal Province with Stevens FM 30-day recorder April 5 1957

TYPICAL NEW GAGING STATION STRUCTURES CONSTRUCTED AS A RESULT CF THE ICA PROGRAM

III I I

I I I

~iz

7~il

2~-

Pampanga River at Atate Nueva Ecija Stevens FM recorder J C Regalado driver helper and L Borbolla in foreground April 14 1957

47~I

-4

4

iuJi rf if poundflLLi

77

Pre-war frame shelter and 36 corr pipe Frame shelter over new 36 corrwell with Gurley weekly recorder Pampanga

J C Regalado B Ramos and E M Veatch pipe well Pampanga River near standing Taken by G H Hargreaves Arayat Pampanga March 1 1957 March 1 1957

Status of post-war computations and publication

Daily discharge computations of the Hydrographic Section tbr 1944

to 1954 are practically coplete those for 1955 are about 40 per deb4t

complete and for 1956 about 15 per cent Office work has been delayed

considerably because of the heavy constructionfprogran which started

in 1956 using supplies and instruments furnished by the ICA All office

computations are made in the Manila office No discharge records have

been published since those of 1908-22 but steps are being taken as

explained later in this report to bring publication up to date It is

planned that the records which have been compuhed for the years 1944 to

1956 will be reviewed before their final preparation for publication

to make sure their standards of accuracy are reasonably consistent

with the slightly higher standards proposed to be instituted as a

result of recommendations made in this report About 1500 stationshy

years of stream-flow recordsless than 10 per cent of which are from

agencies other than the Hydrographic Section are proposed to be comshy

piled and printed in a single-volume publication of monthly and annual

data Tables of monthly minimum discharge are to be included

Organization and cooperation

The Hydrographic Section customarily assigns a district hydrographer

and his assistants as resident at each irrigation district office that

is situated a long distance from Manila Their headquarters are as

follows

District Province Town

Northern Luzon Isabela San Mateo

Bicol Region Luzon Camarines Sur Naga

Eastern Visayas Leyte Tacloban

Western Visayas Iloilo Iloilo

Mindanao Davao Davao

This district is presently being operated by hydrographers from

Manila the same as for the central part of Luzon

The above field hydrographers are each assigned a Jeep and a drivershy

helper Hydrographers pay scales range between about Y2400 and P4200

per annum and in addition they are granted a subsistence allowance of

Y2OO per unit or Y800 a day Driver-helpers receive an average pay

of P5 per day plus a subsistence allowance of P200 per day (which has

been reduced administratively from P450 a day because of lack of funds)

The field personnel send or deliver all basic records to Manila

where they are processed computed and filed Most of the office work

is done by office personnel with the field men doing but little of the

office work

9

New timber recorder structure including plank intake with Stevens A-35 recorder Pinagcanauan de Tuguegarao River near Tuguegarao Cagayan Jose G Garcia assistant hydrographer and Norberto Ciriaco District Hydrographer on walkway May 14 1957

Staff gage on Jalaur River at Passi Iloilo From left to right 2 boys A Lacuesta Distr HydrogrLher J CorderoIrrig Distr Engr G Hargreaves J Regalado gagekeeper (kneeling) and onlooker May 8 1957

I

--- S

F National Power Corporation staff gage on Angat River above Ipo Dam now beingreplaced by a Bureau of Public Works recorder installation March 13 1957

O~

~A F~ ~~ shy- ~

~

- --

I ------ ~

A -~ 1

~ -- gt I~-

5 shy

- ~- ~ U

amp~~ -

2r~ ~k- ~ ~

National Power Cororation painted staff gage Bantay River near Bokod BenguetMountain Province Hydrographers helperstanding March 26 1957 Note lower markings faded

11

Whether any other changes are made or not it is the expressed

plan of the Hydrographic Section to have the District-Hydrographer

who is in charge of the Northern Mindanao District headquartered at

Cagayan de Oro

A considerable portion of the pay of district hydrographers and

their staffs comes directly from the Irrigation Section district

office at which they are headquartered rather than through the

Hydrographic Section This has had the effect of limiting their

efforts somewhat to project work rather than to general or all-purpose

investigations

Some of the other agencies particularly the National Power

Corporation obtain the cooperation of the Hydrographic Section in

helping operate certain gaging stations where a duplication of travel

can thus be avoided However the discharge measurements so made by

the Hydrographic Section are turned over to the NPC who make their

own computations of daily discharge The latter also sometimes pays

directly the salaries of certain gagekeepers Usually this cooperashy

tion does not involve an exchange of funds but some change in that

situation is recommended as explained later in this report

All agencies make their daily discharge records available to the

Hydrographic Section upon request and the plan is to have the later

agency include all such records in their publications No reproduction

machine is available in any of the offices and all copies of records

must be made individually in typing or longhand A machine is under

order by the Hydrographic Section

-fiUMBER OI~ GAGIiG~STATIONS-eP-ERATED IN-PIILIPPINES -

CALENDAR YEAR

YEA HYOROGRAPHIC

STAGE NATIONAL

SECTION PO R0 P

RIVEl CONTROL SECTON

TOT AL

DISCHARGE NATIONAL

HYDROGRAPHIC SECTION ORHYTGRPI SECTION POR

TOTAL TOA

RECORDING NON-REC TOTAL NON-REC NON-REC RECORDING NON-REC TOTAL

1908-1922 265 265 265

1923-1944 3 3 9 12

1945 6 6 6 15 15 2 17

1946 2 12 14 14 28 28 4 32

1947 3 11 14 14 29 29 4 33

1948 3 18 21 5 26 45 45 5 50

1949 3 13 16 6 5 27 74 74 15 89

1950 3 9 12 10 4 26 91 91 20 111

1951 3 15 18 10 4 34 103 103 17 120

1952 3 13 16 10 4 30 111 111 17 128 1953 3 17 20 11 17 48 1 96 97 23 120

1954 4 18 22 11 26 49 1 145 146 22 168

1955 4 18 22 13 19 54 1 207 208 27 235

1956 6 12 15 1 25 52 40 189 26 5

13

Various agencies have submitted lists of proposed gaging stations

which they would like to have installed to provide data for their

projects It is apparent that this work will be well coordinated in

the future and that the other agencies will come to rely more and

more on the Hydrographic Section for most of their basic stream-flow

records But they probably will continue to have their own personnel

make certain types of hydrographic investigations for the detailed

study of specific projects such as river profiles tailwater rating

curves etc

Financing

The main difficulty in regard to financing has been lack of

stability and continuity to the program and insufficient generalshy

fund money to permit the establishment of an all-purpose gaging proshy

gram In 1956 and 1957 the Hydrographic Section rec3ived P120000

(less than half of their total funds) for such general use with all

other monies either from counterpart funds (explained below) in theor

form of contributions from other agencies to cover certain gaging

expenses Another difficulty has been the lack of enough funds to

properly carry out the sudden large construction program generated by

the new ICA-furnished materials and instruments Most of the regular

hydrographic force has been assigned to construction during the last

twelve months or so because separate construction foremen or substitute

hydrographers could not be hired As a result the regular field

operation of gaging stations has suffered considerable neglect This

- - -

14

wuld not have been necessary if the Hydrographic Sections funds had

been flexible and appropriated on basis of a performance budget As

it is the Section must adhere to line items which spell out exactly

how all money is to be spent

The financing of an expanded 1958 program now appears to be

progressing satisfactorily largely from the counterpart monies

This fund consists of pesos allocated by the Philippine government

in an amount equivalent to the dollar value of imports furnished by

the ICA It is administered by the National Economic Council with

allocations subject to approval of the ICA on budget recommendations

received from Philippine government agencies In the case of water

resources programs they are assisted by recommendations of the Water

Resources Development Committee an NEC administratively appointed

body composed of representatives of ten agencies interested or inshy

volved in water development A rougn breakdown of the Hydrographic

Sections budget proposed for the fiscal year starting July 1 1957

is as follows

General Fund Pesos

Annual appropriation - ------------ 120000

Counterpart Funds

For bringing up to date the publication of

annual records plus a compilation - - - - 56000

For an expanded program of surface-water

investigations----------- - 500000

TOTAL - - - - - - 676000

The total funds available in 1955 and 1956 fiscal years were 180000

and 280000 respectively

It

a 7~

IC

U

i

Staff gage out of water Labangan River at Bagbag Calumpit Bulacan March 1 1957

7lt 2

I

fr

Gagekeeper and staff Jalaur River at Calinog Iloilo He read 10 centimeters low today because markings on lower part of gage were illegible

I-J May 8 1957

16 8

hational Power Corp staff gage painted on streamward side of cliff Lower markings gone and gagekeeper determines gage heights three times a day by wading to gage and measuring down with rule as shown in this picture Bokod R at Boiod Benguet Mountain Province March 26 1957

Bureau of Public Works staff gage station Gagekeeper has made readingsby measuring down from a nail since this section of gage was washed out by a flood Madlum River near Sibul Springs Bulacan April 25 1957

17

The only difficulty with counterpart financing is that it is

temporary and could conceivably leave the program stranded in a few

years when ICA aid is discontinued The necessity is recognized for

gradually obtaining regular Congressional appropriations to take the

place of counterpart funds An effort will also be made to have a

performance type of budget accepted because line items make the

program inflexible and prevent the best management and economy

It is recommended that other agencies desiring for their projects

certain stream flow records which cannot be financed from the regular

budget of the Hydrographic Section transfer funds annually (either in

advance or on a reimbursement basis) to the Hydrographic Section to

pay the extra costs required for the fulfilment of their requests

Design of the stream gaging program

As mentioned above the fiscal arrangements prevailing up to this

time have resulted in an almost total emphasis on project-type gaging

stations in the Philippines However I believe everyone is now in

agreement with the desirability or need for a nation-wide network of

index or runoff-per-square-kilometer type of stations which will sample

various runoff provinces such as those with different exposures to storms

and having different topography altitude geology type of land cover

etc The intensity of the network of stations in different regions

would vary depending upon the apparent future economic value or worth

of the water in each area This will be discussed in more detail in

the recommendations

18

In order to look over the existing program observe something of

the technical methods in use and see a variety of runoff and economic

types of areas in the islands to gain an idea of the type of stream

gaging network needed I have visited several regions accompanied most

of the time by Mr George Hargreaves It has been very helpful to me

to have him take such an interest in the detailed objectives of ry

assignment and I am sure it will facilitate Mrs Snellas work a great

deal to have available for consultation and guidance Mr Hargreaves

wide experience in water resources development and investigations

We were accompanied by Mr J C Regalado of the ydrographic Section

who made most of the advance contacts with field offices in connecshy

tion with our trips We usually travelled to central points by Philshy

ippine Air Lines and were then driven to nearby areas by field officials

of the Hydrographic Section and other agencies The hospitality and

cooperation of everyone toward us was exceptional and much appreciated

Besides a fairly detailed coverage of the Central Luzon area where an

intensified program is proposed our inspections included Northern

Luzon Southern Luzon (the Bicol region) Leyte Panay and several

parts of Mindanao In addition we made a special effort to observe

the country all along the routes of airplane flights taken and that

coupled with airplane stops made on other islands gave us a fairly

comprehensive view of the geography of the Philippines It is upon

this that my recommendations concerning the design of a stream gaging

program are based

19

Bquipment and technical methods-

The stream gaging equipment and methods used by the Hydrographic

Section since 1908 have been patterned mainly after those of the US

Geological Survey as described in the 1904 publication H4ydrographic

Manual Thus it appears likely that the methods and accuracy stanshy

dards have changed but little since the Philippine program was started

Stream gaging tecniques used by the other agencies are similar but

they have not had the advantage of some of the new ICA-furnished equipshy

ment This is expected to be remedied in the aid allocations for fiscal

year 1958

Although some use has been made of the 2-8 method of measuring

discharge present practice is limited almost entirely to the 6method

for low and medium stages and the sub-surface method for high stages

for the latter the meter is suspended over a 15-E weight and set 03

meter below the surface with a coefficient of 0915 applied

The number of verticals or measuring points taken in the cross

section usually is between 8 and 15 No bridge cranes or suspension

reels of any kind have been available all discharge work other than

with wading rod having been done by hand line All this is about to

be changed with the recent arrival of the first ICA-furnished sounding

reels weights and tag lines purchased from 1956 FY funds

Staff gages are read to the nearest centimeter (about 0033 foot)

Most of the gages would be difficult to read to any closer limit alshy

though a few stations have Leupold Stevens enameled gages with levelshy

rod type markings

20

The hydrographer records his discharge measurement notes in a

small bound pocket-size book which he carries until it is full After

each measurement is computed in the field a complete copy of the notes

is made on a card and mailed to the Manila office I am informed

that the bound notebooks are practically never lost or dropped in

the water With the increased amount of flood measuring expected to

be done in the future that situation might change

Rating curves are drawn to average large groups of discharge

measurements Large rectangular-scale cross section sheets are used

Percentage differences of the measured values with respect to the

rating table are not computed A minimum of use is made of Stoutshy

method shifts

The water-stage recorders furnished to date by the ICA have been

manufactured with time scales of either 03 inch per day (the FM

model) or 48 inches per day (the A-35 model) The former scale is

too small for satisfactory use in most stream gaging and the latter

is too large Thirty pairs of time scale gears have been ordered for

converting the A-35s from 48 to 24 inches per day Upon inquiry at

the factory it was learned that no conversion of the FM recorders is

possible An exchange of 25 of them is being made with the ground

water program for an equivalent value in A-35 recordero but the

remaining 65 will be used at the surface water stations They are

very satisfactory on lakes or spring-fed streams or large streams

whose fluctuations are not too sudden

21

Ipo dam on Angat River which diverts water to supply City of Manila and surrounding area March 13 1957 Reservoir is traversed by boat in reaching the gaging station upstream

Ready to leave Ipo Dam for gaging station 6 kilqmeters upstream B Ramos and J Regalado in oanca March 13 1957

4 ~ s~

B Ramos making discharge measurement by wading on Angat River above Ipo DamMarch 13 1957 Spacings between verticals were obtained from cable makings byline hanging from cable car

23

At non-recording gages it has been the custom to hire gagekeepers

at uniform or statutory rates of 025 or P30 per month (not related

to the distance traversed in going to the gage) to obtain readings

three times a day The pay has been the same even where the gage is

located several kilometers away from the gagekeepers home The system

has certain disadvantages which may affect the accuracy of the records

At some stations the pay is too high while at others it is too low

Three readings a day are not necessary most of the time for adequately

developing the hydrograph especially during the dry season and a

request for obviously unnecessary readings seems to put too severe a

test upon human nature It is practically an open invitation to a

certain amount of faking I doubt that it should be held against a

gagekeeper to put down some estimated readings under those circumstances

any more than it would be to blame children for taking candy or cookies

from a forbidden plate left openly in their midst The question then

becomes - what readings can be relied upon and what cannbt I sincerely

believe that a more accurate daily discharge record can be prepared in

the office from a few completely reliable gage readinrs per week by

means of hydrographic comparisons with recording-gage records from

nearby stations and with less expense than can be produced by proshy

cessing comparing and weeding out questionable parts from a complete

(on paper) record of three readings a day A gagekeepers habit

developed during the dry season of not going to the gage when it is

inconvenient or he doesnt feel like it is bound to crop up during

the high water season as well with the result that all his readings

24

must be looked at critically and considered reliAble only after

unusually extensive comparisons are made with weather records and

other stations

In regard to specialized stream gaging equipment listed below

are the amounts purchased by the ICA up to the present time

Ordered from Ordered from Being FY 1955 PPA 1956 PPA ordered Delivered in Delivered in from 1957

May 1956 May 1957 PPA

Canfield reels 0 6 8

Type A reels 0 6 2

Canfield tag lines 0 15 0

A-35 recorders 20 10 25

FM recorders 65 25 0

Enameled gage secs 400 600 200

Currer meter outfits inc ding rod headphonehanuline and 15-pound weight 11 10 0

Pygmy meters 0 0 10

Bridge cranes 0 3 0

Sounding wts 30-lb 0 0 10

50-lb 0 0 10

I i 75-lb 0 0 1

I 100-lb 0 0 1

Stopwatches 20 10 0

Being purchased as models for possible future use in procurement of

weights of local manufacture

25

~-

-~ ~- shy

~-

4rshy~~L~zu 1 - ~ A-

-~ - ~jj ~

~- k ~ ~

Helper and P Nubio National Power Corporationpreparing to make discharge measurement Tag marks of grass being tied to line Bantay River near Bokod Benguet Mountain Province March 26 1957

-- ~ 4

V

Helper holding meter in place suspended on a weight hanger while revolutions are counted oy hydrographer P Nubio E P Nbesamis is at extreme right March 26 1957

26

-p --shy

t-~-- - -

A ~

A~4 ~ 4

A -Y

- -

- - - -

gt~ ~ ~-

Z4z4a - ~z

- shy -~-~shy

4shy- --

I NPC discharge party on Bokod River at-Bokod BenguetMountain Province Helper and gagekeeper holding meter and 15-pound weight in position P Nubio on shore counting revolutions and recording notes March 26 1957

Ar 7

-~ I

0 I 15-pound weight used in discharge measurement work by the NPC hydrographer stationed at Ambuklao Dam March 26 1957

27

Recommendations

A sharp expansion in the stream gaging program of the Philippines

has occurred recently brought about not only by the ICAs economic and

technical aid program but also by the growing local demand for water

resources information It is inevitable that some organizational

changes would be required to accommodate such a sudden growth This

subject was discussed in conferences with Mr Saddam and Mr Regalado

and the following list of special objectives agreed upon They had a

number of these in mind or partly in effect already and were planning

to gradually adopt several others The items are listed here in order

to express my reasons for wanting to see them completely implemented

within the next two or three years They are as follows

A It is recommended that the district offices compute their own disshy

charge records and prepare them for publication for final review

in the central office in ranila

1 Additional engineers would be needed in each district office

and fewer engineers in the Manila office

2 At least the district hydrographer and preferably one other

engineer in addition should be trained in the office work in

Manila before the records were transferred to a district

3 Each engineer in a district office would be given a field area

which he would cover by a round of discharge measurements once

every 4 to 6 weeks each coverage taking about 2 weeks Betshy

ween trips he would do office work preferably on the same

stations that he covers in the field

28

4 Benefits of thissystem are believed to be as follows

a Records requested could be furnished more quickly to the

public especially to those in the district area

b This kind of a close tie between field and office work has

been found to greatly improve the quality of the records

the economy of operation and the performance and developshy

ment of the individual engineers

c The alternating of each person between field and office

work makes him (1) more competent in the field work and

also more competent in the office work than is possible

in segregated office and field groups and (2) permits

him to be home more of the time and lead a more normal

lifc thus increasing his morale and efficiency

5 Personnel arrangements recommended are

a Offer more rapid promotion to those who transfer like

from Manila to a field office or between field offices

b Encourage each man to transfer every few years with

faster promotions as an incentive It has been found

that this develops an engineers competence more rapidly

than if he stays in one office indefinitely Such ability

repays the government in added officiency and production

to an extent greater than its cost in extra salary

B Certain organization changes are recommended as follows

1 Appoint an Office Engineer a Field Engineer and (whenever

needed) a Construction Engineer They would be headquartered

__

V 29

2

~- ~

q

Ambuklao Dam on Agno River Generating capacity 75000 kw Powerplant is underground March 2557

7- t

-JI

Maria Cristina falls and power plant on Agus River River near Iligan Lanao Province Mindanao Present installed capacity 50000 kw May 1 1957

30

II I

Looking downstream at the Binga dam site on Agno River about 15 kilometers east of Baguio March 25 1957

Looking upstream at the Marikina dam site on Marikina River at Wawa near Montalban Rizal about 25 kilometers northeast of Manila April 5 1957

31

in the Manila office and act under the general supervision of

the head of the Section with the following responsibilities

to be included

a Office Engineer

(1) Be responsible for the discharge computations and

related office work in the Manila field district or

area

(2) Be responsible for review and final preparation for

publication of all records in the nation

(3) See that a progress chart of status-of-record compushy

tations is maintained in each district office and

that a summary statement concerning such progress is

sent to the central office at least quarterly

(4) Be responsible for research in office methods and

equipment (See footnote on next page)

b Field Engineer

(1) Act as first assistant to head of the Section of

Hydrography

(2) Be responsible for field operation vork throughout the

nation

(a) Make at least one annual field inspection in each

district

(b) Develop the system in every headquarters of keepshy

ing a running chronological chart of the discharge

measurements made at each gaging station or

32W

scheduled miscellaneous site A form in use in

Tacoma Washington has been found to be very conshy

venient for this purpose Such a chart gives the

supervisor a quick overall view of the status of

the field work and serves as a check at end of

the year to make sure all measurements have been

listed and counted

(3) Be responsible for the design of the stream gaging

network and the selection of sites for new gaging

stations

(4) Be responsible for research in field methods and

equipment

Construction Engineer

(1) Give general supervision and management to the conshy

struction program

(a) Obtain assignment of resident engineer or foreman

for each job

(b) See that the materials are made available Help

the foreman in every way possible in organizing

the job procuring emergency equipment or supplies

and making decisions about serious problems that

may arise on the job

If funds became available for considerable research it probably

would be better to appoint a special Research Engineer

33

~A

Cagayan River gaging station near Cagayan de OroMisamis Oriental Mindanao April 30 1957 Note how corrugated pipe recorder structure was bent by flood J C Regalado J J Ponco gagekeeper and G H Hargreaves in foreground

-

V

View of staff gage and control on Binakaan River at Tifigib near Pastrana Leyte Stream divided by a barand control excavated for unknown reason May 6 1957 J Regalado by the sign and G Hargreaves at right

Cable footbridge below Binga dam site Tree anchorage for cableway onformerly used by NPC in making Angat River above Ipo Damdischarge measurements P Nubio and March 13 1957E Abesamis of NPC on bridge March 25 1957

35

(c) Visit the major jobs occasionally to see that

they are proceding satisfactorily in all the

islands Make sure the stations are installed

according to instructions and plans An approved

sketch plan showing dimensions and elevations is

desirable for each construction job

(d) Prepare first draft of each new station description

(e) Prepare brief construction report including costs

A form in use at Tacoma Washington has been found

convenient for this purpose

C The following policies in regard to gagekeepers are recommended

1 Start a gradual change-over to paying each gagekeeper on basis

only of the hours he works plus a basic amount for taking the

responsibility This may result in increasing the pay of some

but it should reduce the pay of a much larger number

2 Convert most gagekeepers to two readings a day most of the time

with one or more additional readings during floods In some of

the drier parts of the Central Luzon area in cases where gages

are remote from habitation request only one reading a day

during the dry months such as from January through May inclushy

sive more than that are believed to cost more than they are

worth and are an open invitation to the reporting of estimated

readings

3 When a new recorder installation is at a barrio or bridge where

it appears unlikely to be vandalized try running the station

36

without hiring a gagekeeper If this system proves successful

discontinue the services of the gagekeepers at certain selected

recorders At all other recorders reduce the number of readshy

ings required to one per day and reduce their pay accordingly

If a gagekeeper prefers not to accept a lower monthly rate for

fewer readings it is suggested that he resign except in cases

where security of the station structures or right-of-way favors

may be involved

Proceed on the principle that a saving in public tax money from

the above reforms is more important than supporting gagekeepers

just because they depend on the income and need the money The

present dependence of a gagekeeper on his P300 or P360 a year

and the hardship he must undergo in adjusting to a lower rate

of pay for the job are not believed to be sufficient reasons

for continuing indefinitely to pay him more than necessary

However it is recommended that he be given 30 or 60 days

notice before a reduction in pay is placed in effect

D Vehicles

1 It is recommended that a gradual change-over be made from the

short-wheelbase open Jeep to the Jeep station wagon as a hydroshy

graphers car Benefits should be as follows

a The car can be locked leaving only the tires as attractive

to thieves

b The station wagon has more space As the hydrographers

became better equipped that space will be needed

37

Bamboo-and-grass shelters built and used by crew during construction of gaging station on Angat River above Ipo Dam March 13 1957

3

4

-Ti LP

Proposed site for new index-type gaging station selected on Baoas River near Mangatarem Pangasinan above all diversions by Regalado Romasanta dargreaves and Veatch April 15 1957 Photo by J S Romasanta

38

Taking Philippine Airlines plane at Legaspi Albayfor Manila on May 17 1957 Mount Mayon 7960 feet high in background

I

N 1 x

Y

I

Showing typical vehicle used on the reconnaissance and inspection trips over the Philippines

39

c For occasional errands or trips it will be feasible for

only oneman to take the car because he can lock the con

tents when the car is not attended

d It may possibly develop in some parts of the Philippines

that a hydrographer for a certain area will not need a

driver-helper and thereby a saving in funds can be made

However such a change should be made only on a trial

basis and is not recommended until conditions so warrant

and until the hydrographer involved is satisfied with the

change or else desires it

E Certain technical stream-gaging procedures are recommended to be

followed in the Philippine Islands hydrographic work at the average

gaging station by all agencies doing stream gaging as follows

1 Obtain a discharge measurement once every four to six weeks

throughout the year

2 Furnish the hydrographer with a print of the station descripshy

tion and of the rating curve and require him as a general rule

to compute and plot his discharge measurement in the field

3 Have the gage read both before and after each discharge measureshy

ment and the readings recorded on the field notes

4 Use a loose-leaf discharge-measurement note form or forms

containing a summary page patterned to some extent after the

forms in use by the USGS Bound notes make it too inconshy

venient or perhaps impossible for the office engineer to

examine the notes for a whole year when he analyzes a station

record

40

5 Gradually change to the use of ehameled steel gage plates

instead of painted gages because their initial cost is less

and they are more durable Plates graduated somewhat like

those of the US Geological Survey are believed much better

than those stocked by private companies While here I drew

up a suggested design for local manufacture which appealed

to the Hydrographic Section

6 Obtain levels at staff gages at least once a year especially

on the low section of gage Replace or repair each low secshy

tion soon after it becomes damaged or the markings become

indistinct

7 Continue as a general rule to use the 6-depth method with

the sub-surface method for deep swift water Obtain a comshy

plete cross section as soon as feasible after the high water

has subsided

8 Gradually change to the use of heavier sounding weights so

that the 6-depth method with soundings can be used at high

water in any event take soundings and velocities as far out

as practicable from each bank at flood stages then go across

deep part of channel with sub-surface method Check subshy

surface method coeficients whenever practicable by means of

vertical velocity curves Until such checks show otherwise

use a coefficient of 090

9 Compute discharge measurements by the mid-section method

This saves time (and money) and is at least as accurate as the

41

other method Request hydrographers to bear the method in mind

when selecting verticals near edges of channel or at breaks in

the cross section It is recommended that in the interests of

economy this change be made at an early date

10 Consider 20 as a desirable number of verticals in an average

stream cross section Continue to time the meter revolutions

for 40 to 60 seconds at each setting Someday if more accushy

racy is desired in hydrographic work in the Philippines it

would be appropriate to standardize on 30 verticals per measureshy

ment provided the 2-8 depth method were used and the gages

were read to fractions of a centimeter For the present it

seems consistent to take about 20 verticals when using the 6

method and with gages read only to the nearest centimeter

11 Use steel tag lines for wading measurements Paint bridge

rails and cables with markings sufficiently close together

that they can be used rapidly to determine stationing between

them When installing the paint marks use standard intervals

of either 1 meter 2 meters or 5 meters To avoid confusion

do not use intervals of 3 or 4 meters If measuring intervals

are to be 1 meter or less it is very convenient to have a

mark available every meter If intervals are between 1 and 5

meters use a mark every 2 meters A good system for making

the marks readily identifiable is to place 1 paint mark at

each basic interval like every 2 meters then put 2 marks every

10 meters 3 every 50 meters and 4 at 100 meters

42

use on12 Always tags the portion of the meter suspension line

that goes in the water The tags usually consist of small

pieces of colored cloth taped tightly to the line They

should be watched and checked occasionally against slippage

and error The tags should not be more than one meter apart

and should be spaced to give maximum convenience and speed in

measuring the discharge

13 As it may becoin feasible convert Type A current meters to

Type AA The more deeply recessed bearing of the Type AA

meter provides more durability of the pivot and bearing

because trapped air excludes most of the water and silt the

longer pivot results in a relatively lower center of gravity

of the bucke t wheel with respect to the point of bearing and

results in smoother performance

F Design of the stream gaging network

1 Everyone seem3 to agree with the objective of a network of

well-distributed long-term base stations for giving runoffshy

per-square-kilometer values representative of the general

area in which each station is located As rapidly as practishy

cable stations should be L d n the o ting netrk

and designated as base or index stations for permanent operashy

tion They should be the best stations both hydraulically

and as to equipment and should be free from upstream regushy

lation or diversion Where needed new base stations should

be installed as soon as they can be financed to appropriately

L11 out the network

43

2 In between such base stations it is desirable to sample smaller

basins with short-term records of various lengths which can be short term

correlated with the long records For this purpose thestashy

tion structures should be constructed so that they are as moveshy

able or salvageable as possiblej Often these movable stations

will be operated at or near specific project sites

3 It usually is more economical and satisfactory to gage a stream

at a highway crossing or other convenient place rather than

exactly at a project site later the data can be transferred

to the project site by means of drainage area proportions

checked by obtaining at the site e

two miscellaneous measurements or possibly in some cases a

whole year of record

4 A method for studying the existing network of stations to see

whether the intensity of coverage is satisfactory or not is to

plot correlations between the various station records prefershy

ably following the present methods of the USGS

5 It has been found advantageous to classify all gaging stations

that are in operation using categories somewhat like these

areal network base stations primary and secondary main stream

stations and water management stations This procedure is

helpful in planning how long various stations should be operated

Detailed information about station classification methods is

available from the U S Geological Survey for use as a guide

The Technical Training Program

Early plans

When this assignment was given to me it was anticipated that a

series of across-the-table discussions would be held with small groups

of hydrographers from the Philippine government bureaus engaging in

such work Detailed procedures would be discussed without formality

But when arrangements were initiated for such conferences I was inshy

formed that among those wanting to attend were many at the managerial

level as well as a number of representatives of agencies interested

more in water development projects than in resource investigations

These could not be turned down so it was necessary to revise the

agenda to include more of general interest

Later developments

In view of the wide experience and high rank of many prospective

attendants of the conference it did not seem appropriate to call it

a lecture series or school and the name Seminar On Water Resources

was decided upon The agenda is included in this report and will be

self-explanatory Registered attendance for each of the three weeks

was 68 72 and 70 persons respectively for a total of 210 The

setting for the Seminar can best be understood from the photographs

Conditions as a whole were good although the tape-recording of the

entire three weeks of proceedings and the need for a member to come

F M Veatch and Water Resources Seminar group week of April 8-12 1957 at Bureau of Public Highways conference building Manila

I y

rT

I

4

47

forward and use the microphone whenever he asked a question or made a

comment was somewhat of a dampener oh discussion When preparing the

agenda I assumed that few besides the hydrographers would attend the

sessions on technical details of stream gaging scheduled for Wednesday

to Friday yet the entire membership stayed through the full program

each week and so no small-group round-table discussions were practicable

It developed later that the language barrier was a little more

serious than first realized Also it was not evident at first that

many present did not know what a gaging station was One of the main

benefits gained from the field trip was to show them a typical station

along with some equipment Taken as a whole it is believed that the

Seminar was successful and worthwhile

The sending of trainees from the Hydrographic Section to the

United States by ICA is very effective in supplementing the technical

assistance rendered directly by American personnel in the Philippines

and it should be continued as long as possible

Acknowledgments

Announcements and invitations to attend the Seminar were sent to

numerous agencies and offices by the Hydrographic Section who also

made all arrangements such as for space registration loud speaker

system tape recordings and recess refreshments The Bureau of

Public Highways made their new conference building available and the

National Media Center furnished a slide projector screen and room

all of which were greatly appreciated The introductory talks by

48

several busy executives including Director J A Buendia and Messrs

A T Alano R R Lord P G Afable and D Rosell with Mr Tomas

Saddam acting as master of ceremonies contributed ideas and gave

each weeks session a good send-off

Publications

Copies of the following publications of the U S Geological

Survey (one by Bureau of Reclamation and one from ASCE) were disshyon

play at the Seminar at all times for inspection by the members Alshy

though they were requested not to take the publications away quite a

few copies gradually became missing

Irrigation Water Measurement Tables and Diagrams by U S

Bureau of Reclamation

ASCE Separate 413 - Backwater Effects of Open Channel

Constrictions

Stage-Fall Discharge Relation for Steady Flow in Prismatic

Channels Water-Supply Paper 1164

Topographic Characteristics of Drainage Basins W S P 968C

Weir Experiments Coefficients and Formulas WSP 200

Handbook for Hydrologists - Chapters 1 - 11

Chapter 1 -- Instructions for Flood Frequency Compilations

Chapter 2 -- ledian Discharge Computation Methods

Chapter 3 -- Instructions for Abstracting Topographic

Characteristics of Drainage Basins

i

-Imr- I

1 N

L

V10J~

C R Mirray explaining a ground water formula

Ii

17t

o

Water Resources Seminar group at gaging station on Marikina River near Montalban Rizal about an hours drive northeast of Manila April 12 1957

51

-- Channel Storage and Flood Routing

-- Extending Stream-flow Records

Chapter 6 -- Double Mass Curves

Chapter 7-A- Frequency Curves of Low Flows and Storage

Requirements

Chapter 8 -- Flood Frequency Analyses

Chapter 9 -- Small Stream Investigations

Chapter 10 - Hydrologic Definitions

Chapter 11 - Base-Flow Recession-Curves

Computation of Backwater at Open Channel Constrictions

Floods in Western Washington Frequency and Magnitude in

Relation to Drainage Basin Characteristics GS Circular 191

Floods in Georgia Frequency and Magnitude GS Circular 100

Stream-Gaging Procedure - A Manual Describing Methods and

Practice of the Geological Survey - WSP 888

Investigation of Methods and Equipment used in Stream Gaging

Part 2 Intakes For Gage Wells

Computation of Peak Discharge through Culverts

Computation of Backwater at Open-Channel Constrictions

Equipment for River Measurements Structures for Cableways

by Charles H Pierce

Computation of Peak Discharge at Contractions Circular 284

Care and Rating of Current Meters

Surface Water Supply o the United States 1950 Parts 1 - 14

52

In addition to the above publications a two-page single-spaced

memorandum entitled Plotting Flood Frequency Curves (Extracted from

U S Geological Survey publications) was prepared by me under date

of April 3 1957 and handed to each member of the Seminar each week

The program or agenda for the Seminar one copy of which was

given to each member follows on Pages 53 to 63 inclusive The

graphs on Page 63 were referred to during the talks

53

March 29 1957

AGENDA FOiR SEMINARZ ON WATER RESCURCES AND STAE4 GAGING

IN THE PHILIPPINES

PLACE Conference hoom 2nd Floor Bureau of Public Highways Building Second Street Port Area Manila

TIKE April 1-5 8-12 and 22-26 (same program each week)

CONDUCTED BY M1r i 1 Veatch District EngineerSurface WaterBranch Jater Aesources Division United States Geological Suver Thcoma ashington who is un three-month assignment with the ICA

Held in connoction with the Philippine Government-ICA water resources program

54

GENERAL PROGRAM MONDAY AND TUESDAY

honday morning 830

Opening remarks Mr Julian A Buendia Director Bureau of Fublic Works Mr R R Lord Chief Public Works Division ICA Mr G H Hargreaves Hydraulic Engineer ICA

Importance of water resources and their investigation

The hydrologic cycle Evaporation transpiration and precipitation Runoff

Daily discharge record and the hydrograph Storm runoff Base flow

Grou~nd Water Very brief description (this subject to be covered

iaore fully on Tuesday afternoon)

General characteristics of natural stream runoff in the Philippines Quantity

Adequacy Comparison with United States

Variations with time Day to day and year to year Long-term trends

Distributin by area General over the Philippine Islands Variations between nearby drainage basins

Effect of location elevation geology cover etc

Major uses of stream-flow data Many years of rccornds should be crnsidered Granting water r phts

Protect existing rights Prevent capital expenditures where water supply inadequate

Planning river basin developments including municipal supply irrigation pnwer flood control etc

Destping structures such as dams reservoirs dikes floodways canals pumping systems power plants bridges etc

Accuracy and extent of dat needed for minimizing underdesign or wasteful overdesign

Cost of water-supply data in relation to total cost of a project

Operating water projects Distribution of water on projects Operation of storage reservoirs and diversion dams

To make maximum use uf water supply Designing alterations or enlargements to existing projects

RECESS 1000 to 1015

55 -3-

Monday morning (Continued) 1015 aim

Management of the stream gaging program Foreseeing the needs for stream-flow records

Study population and industrial trends Keep inforned on water-development plans and

prgraIIs of all agencies Continuity of the records

Essential for wator-supply studies Regular financinp reouired

Annual appropriations a poundfccted by temporary econoidc or political conditions

Permanent type of financing needed Surcharge method License fee method

-Dissemination of the data Annual publication Occasional summary compilations Furnishing advance cupies of unpublished records Furnishing current data - daily weekly or munthly

wherever required Special water resources investigation agency desirable

Briefly dancribe United States organization Uniform tecnical standards Uniform ways of presenting data One series of publicatiens Distributial center for basic water data Genera l-coverage program requires close coordination

for economy of operation Personal requirements

Engineers Engir ring aids Computers Clerks

ADJOURN - 1145

Resume after lunch only if necessary for completing the above subjects

56

Tueday morning 830

Design of a comprehensive stream gjaging program General rrinciIlac

Represenkc tive runoff-type provinces should be sainpled with stations of various classes

Vary the intensity of coverage with probable intenshysity of water use

Follow tiie tcends variations with records fromand L sri etatiorns secondary

Correlate resultls one continually adjustnetwork Classification of ra-in stationa

Areal prinary and secondary viain strem priiary nd secondary Water-manmfciact stat-i ons Miscellanous dischaige mcasurements

Correlating the dat obttined in comprehensive program Logarithmic pajer Five years of lecord uscd What is a good corrclation

Analyses of data Flood frcouencjs

Annual serics Partial duration series

Low-flow frecuencies Low-flow duration hydrograph

Extending strewm-flow records Comparisons witi other gaging stations Rainfall-runoff correlations

Quality of water Temperature

Intermittent observations Recorders

Chemical gtuality Element -Dissolved solids

Suspended iaterial Time of cecurrence-floods Sampling

Methods Cost

RECESS - 1000 to 1015

57

- 5 -

Tuesday afternoon 130

Ground water (This subject conducted by Mr C R Murray) Occurrence

Water table Artesian Lakes

Movement Through the ground Into stream channels

Availability Geologic structure Aquifers Funing tests

Recharge Froa precipitation Artificial Froma induced lateral movement

Investigation Geology Springs Logs of dug and drilled wells Test wells

lecording Lanual

Quantitative studies Chemical quality analyses

Mincral ccontnt Sallt water intrusion

Drilling of wells for production use Ground water rirhts

Depletion of ground water reservoirs teyond rccharge capability

ADJOURN at 330

Geologist Ground Water Branch dater Resources Division U 6 Geological Survey who is on two-ywar assignment with ICA

58

PROGRAM ON STREMvi GAGING PROCEDURE WEDNESDAY TO FRIDAY

4ednesday morning 830

Establishing and constructing gaging stations Selection of site

Consider najor probable uses of the record Investigate extent of upstream diversion and

-egulation Utilize contour naps Obtain list of nmrjor water right applications

iydraulic conditicns Section control Shifting channel Overbank flow Dackwater

Accessibility Avoid too much expense Need to reach quickly to measure flash floods

Natural protection front flood damage Avoid excessively expensive construction conditions

Bed iock Quick sand Too-longintake pipes

For non-rccording gage choose site convenient to

one or more local gage readers

Survey of site Bank cross-prefile at gage Cross section at cable Plan

Right of way Oral pervrission ritten permission

Easement Land purchase

RECESS - 945 to 1000

- 7 - 59

Wednesday morning (Continued) 100)

Construction Select types and sizes of structures To fit purpose oi the record Plan later salva e (for secondary stations) For economy of operation (for example design cableway to

operat mesily) Adapt availabic standard plans to fit the site Keep costs to hclp in future estimating Make brief construction report for future assistance in

planninr sililar Jobs Prepare staLion descripLion

Road log distences etc for How to reach paragraph Descriptions of gages bench marks etc Dimensions cf structuis Gage datum elevations of portinent parts of structures

Operating and maintaining gaging stations Records of stage

Choice of dtum Arbitrcry local datum

Set gages so there will be no minus gage readings

Mean sea level datum May be used but has disadvantages

1hen later adjustments are made to level networks

Gages have to be reset or Equation must be published

Non-recording gages Types

Vertical staff Inclined staff

ire-weight Crest-stage gages

Refinement of graduations ake adequate for accuracy of record needed

Maintatling dat of gage Adequate number of local reference marks Take levels at least once a year

Work o- local gare reader Fy according to approx number of hours worked Do not roruire too many roadings for the

conditions Warm (with omphasis) against my guessed

readings Inform reader anv errors in reading will

show up in hydrogrq oic comtparisons Engineers obtain check readings whenever

possible Visit gage reader frequently a d show inshy

terest in his gage-height record Encourage reader to retain personal copy

ADJOURN at 1145

60

Thursday morning 800

Records of stage (continued) Recording gages

Select type of instrument and its scales to fit conditions at gaging station

Weekly or continuous recorder Recorder scales Range of stage Rate of change of stage Availability of someone to change weekly

chart Work of Cage inspector of keeper

Avoid resetting pen Repurt any trash or debris causing backwater

at gage Do not have a gage keeper unless needed

aintaining gage datum Check outside gae by levels annually Keep outside gage sections reset to datum

Standard reference gage Inside gage of soie sort preferable

Staff Float-tape Anchor type

Intake action Clean or flush pipes after floods Slot intakes Self-cleaning iitakes

For pipe gage wells For wells built into bridge piers

Draw-down (where excessive) Use bapfle or static tube

Elood marks at station Make record of well-defined high water

marks

AECESS - 945 to 1000

- 9 - 61

Thursday morning (Continudd) 1000

Discharge measuroments Current hmeters

Price Type A Type AA

Pygmpy Carc of inters

Sounding weights E-typc C-type

Lead Brono

Type of notebook Loose shects Loose-leaf book Bound booL

Measurement of depth aeding rod Tag-line nethod Vertical-nglc coofficients Sounding during floods

Ilacemont of mter Sub--surface method 2-depth n cthod 6-de-pth icthod 2- imetY od

Number of verticals Velocity -urgcs

Miscellaneous f-ctors Effect of bridge piers Horizontal angle of current Insufficient weight on current water

1Mean gage hoitht for a discharge measurement Special methods of (Itermining flood discharge

Floats Slope-area method

Rating curv- etonsion method Arca and velocity curves Loparithmic plottig

Contrqctd-opening mothod Flow ovcr dams

Report on condition of control Carry station description and rating curve in field

Ubtain another me asurement if needed If first indicates large shift If new station and stagc advantagoous for

defining blank part of rating curve

ADJOUffN - 1145 AI

Resumne atfter lunch only if necessary for comploting the above subjects

62

- 10 -

Friday morning S00

A few remarks about office methods Rating curves

Log-log paper Upward extonsions Dowmward extensions

Rectangular plotting Computing recorder charts

M-ark index correction and time correction for each inspection reading

Break midnight lines at raph Never oblitertte or mark over the original trace Nake office markings on chart distinctive from

those mad( At the gage Use of colored pencils by computer and checker is one good wa)y

Daily discharge record Flot hydrograph Compare over light box with other stations

This method preferable to plotting several station records on same sheet

Concluding discussions

RECESS - 945 to 1000

Projection of gaging station equipment Lnd scenic slides taken in the United States and Canada

ADJOURN - 1145

Field trip Cars will be available at the conference building to

take members to the raging station on arikina iRivei at ontalban about an hours drive from Manila where a brief demonstration of certain field equipment will be given

Return to noL later thanoanila 500 FL

---

- Ishy4 ~7L~

0F OllY LISCIiRE 4- 1 -shy

__L TaI- er A6v-a cca

- O 1 B -- 2r 2 ZZ 23 24 2 c 26 7 8 2717x I 2

_~ I 027 _d- 1 2 shy

7 -

n_ a t-i IZ

- _______________ Pnu~ OAgvhshy

-~ ~-r- 1 - V-shy- i-shytvkty--- in--a-- -~ ~Z2m7~ ~

- ~ ~-~-----~- V 1~5~ LTLL2P7o -4----4 1 -- I -- I I _ __ --- -- -- - - L - - I ----

~- ~y~-~ 64 4

N

A il

Seminar members observing demonshystrat-n of measurshying e -pment by F M Veatch at Marikina River gaging station April 12 1957

I

Water Resources Seminar members observing working model of proppsed Binga Dam at the hydraulics laboratory of University of the Philippines April 12 1957

65

Current meter rating flume mechanism Y 22 1957

Current meter rating flume mechanism May 22 1957

66

Current Meter Rating Station

The new current meter rating station at the University of the

Philippines (see photographs) was not quite ready for use before I

left the country The mechanism and instruments were manufactured

in Germanyobtained thru ICA-NEC procurement for the Water Resources

Program of the Department of Public Works and have been installed by

Professor Alberto Villares and his hydraulics laboratory staff under

Dean C A Ortigas of the College of Engineering with some guidance

by Professor Edward L Ericksen of the University of Michigan who is

a civil engineer on detail here with the Stanford Group Professor

Villares spent 18 months in the hydraulics laboratory of the Univershy

sity of Iowa

There is every evidence that this rating flume will with expeshy

rience do work accurate enough not only for determining differences

in ratings between current meters but also for preparing absolute or

independent ratings This can be reported on more fully at some

later date by Messrs Hargreaves and Snell

The Central Luzon Region Program

The Water Resources Development Committee is preparing a recomshy

mended plan for the expedited multiple-purpose development of the

water resources of the Central Luzon region The area contains oneshy

sixteenth of the land surface and one-fourth of the population of the

Philippines and is termed the rice granary of the nation It is to

be used as an example or experiment in water and land development

67

The Committee has requested member agencies to submit estimates

of the minimum amount of additional basic data needed for making a

useful report and for proceeding with development projects Such

estimates are to include mapping soil surveys dam and reservoir site

surveys water resources surveys and other items A preliminary

report is to be prepared soon summarizing the existing information

pointing out the need for additional dataand submitting estimates

of cost for the further investigations needed An outline for the

final report has been prepared and distributed so it will be availashy

ble as a guide and funds for the first years efforts are being

sought for fiscal year 1958 It appears reasonable that the report

on a comprehensive plan could be submitted to the President and

Congress of the Philippines in about five years

With the assistance of Mr Hargreaves I have prepared estimates

for a surface water measurement program to complement the existing

program It is designed to fill the worst gaps in the present netshy

work Details are subject to change as more reconnaissance informashy

tion becomes available as only five days were spent covering the area

by automobile Unit costs were provided by the Hydrographic Section

and they include cost of preparation of the records for publication

Estimates were submitted as given below They were supported by a

detailed list of stream names and locations which included desigshy

nations as to the primary purpose or type of each proposed new gaging

station and whether a recording or non-recording gage was recommended

It is available for reference in both the ydrographic Section and

ICA offices

68

New gaging stations

1 Daily discharge type

Installation (including cableways where needed)

Recording ------- 7 Pl650 11550

Non-recording --- 4 950 3800 15350

Operation 1st year -11 660 7260 P22610

2 High water type (flood records)

Installation

Gages (nonshy

recording) ----- 4 150 600

Measuring equipment 800 1400

Operation 1st year - 4 300 1200 2600

Total for new gaging stations ------------- 25210

Miscellaneous discharge measurements

1 4 or 5 during dry season Nov - April

4 sites x 5 per site = 20 30 ---------------- 600

2 1 or 2 during low part of year March and April

37 sites x l per site = 55 k30 ------------- 1650

Total for miscellaneous measurements ------ 2250

Total -------------- -2746o

69

Rainfall And Evaporation Stations

Existing network

A map examination of the existing network of rain gages was made

and a surprisingly large number were found to be in operation -- 2

recording and 115 manual stations or a total of 117 They are beshy

lieved to be fairly adequate in number and are well distributed

areally over the Philippines but like in the United States are conshy

fined largely to the lower altitudes where the agricultural and urban

population live In addition to these records are available for

various lengths of time from about 8 discontinued Weather Bureau

stations and from more than 300 haciendas reforestaion stations

and provincial rnrseries

Additional gages

The Weather Bureau and the Bureau of Public Works are cooperating

in the installation of some new rainfall stations at higher altitudes

part of which will utilize new instruments purchased with ICA aid

funds Some of the instruments will be installed at existing nonshy

recording stations Forty new installations are proposed for 1958

fiscal year It is now recognized that rainfall station coverage at

higher altitudes is needed in order to furnish records that can be

correlated with the long-term valley records and also with the gaging

station discharge records D

70

Weather station maintained by Bureau of Public WorksIrrigation Division near Tuguegarao Cagayan From left to right N Ciriaco District Hydrographer drivershyhelper observer J G Garcia hydrographer J C Regalado and G H Hargreaves May 13 1957

Weather station at Pototan Iloilo Panay A Lacuestadistrict bydro-rapher standing May 5 1957

71

Group luncheon at Tacloban Leyte typical of the hospitality received by us during inspection tour of the Philippines From left to right M Rico irrig distr engr G Hargreaves G Araos E N Salazar P Formilleza L Abella S Velasco JCRegalado V H Sydiongoo distr hydrographer I M Ortega Oscar de Venecia and N Oliver May 7 1957

ICA Public Works Division March 1957 From left to right C R Murray A A Ketchum asat Div head J B Delaney I J Silverstone Sofia Halili 0 H Hosmer R R Lord Div head B B Hill Betty Valdez G H Hargreaves J L Brenden FM Veatch

72

Evaporation stations

Fifteen double-pan (one open and one partially shaded) evaporation

stations with rainfall temperature wind and humidity instruments as

auxiliary are being operated in the Philippines and ten more are to

follow next year They are well distributed over the islands and

should furnish data of great value for reservoir design Thq reccrds

will be publish3d

Publication of rainfall data

All rainfall reccrds are published annually by the Weather Bureau

whose 1954 volume is the latest one printed The 1955 issue should be

released soon One excellent source of information for anyone studyshy

ing rainfall data in the Philippines is the publication The Distrishy

bution of Rainfall In The Philippines by Eugenio B Manalo Chief

Climatological Division Weather Bureau Manila This contains

valuable descriptive material tables of monthly and annual values

and mean monthly and annual isohyets in inches An inspection or

study of the monthly isohyetal maps shows clearly how storm patterns

change with the seasons in certain parts of the Philippines and that

73

in other areas the rain is almost evenly distributed throughout the

year The long dry season of Manila and the central Luzon plains is

graphically portrayed by the isohyets Mr Manalos publication

should be of great benefit to government agencies and private parties

or individuals in connection with agricultural and business activities

over the islands It is presumed that the isohyets will warrant some

revision after another 5 or 10 years as more records especially those

at higher altitudes become available

Sediment Measurement Stations

Practically no silt-sampling has been done in the Philippines

to date and no extensive program is believed possible because of the

lack of funds For the present it is recommended that every governshy

ment field hydrographer be equipped with a thermomater and a turbidity

stick and required to report a spot water temperature and turbidity

reading at time of each discharge measurement Thus without extra

cost a large amount of data can be accumulated which after several

years should make it possible to determine what streams are the

siltiest and where more detailed studies might be needed Whenever a

reservoir project reaches the intensive-investigation stage including

dam-site drilling detailed topography etc it is recommended that

a complete sediment sampling station be operated there for at least

one full flood season before the project feasibility report is

completed

74

Statement Before Water Resources Development Committee

On March 20 1957 I presented the following statement regarding

the streamflow measurement program in the Philippines

The Philippine Republic is blessed with an excellent supply of

water of good quality but much of it is wasted to the sea during the

rainy season The development of this resource is vitally important

to the nation and it involves the storing of flood waters for dryshy

season release Where investments are to be made for construction of

dams etc in the development of irrigation power production and

flood control large sums can easily be wasted through overdesign or

underdesign if enough engineering data are not available Conflicting

or competing uses for the water supplies will gradually develop in

your country the same as they have in the United States If water

rights are to be granted fairly with due regard for all prior users

many years of basic data are necessary so that the long-term water

supply can be estimated For this purpose a good network of stream

gaging records and ground water levels must be secured One would

not attempt to manage the money in a bank without bookkeeping and it

is just as important to have an accounting system when managing water

The sound economical procedure is to base all project designs on as

complete engineering information as can be obtained

The ICA is attempting to assist the Philippine Government in

planning the orderly development of its water resources and we are

concerned that too many structures may be built before accurate

9i

hydrologic data are available for their design For this reason we

strongly urge you to improve the basic data gathering program at the

earliest possible date as follows

(1) Review and publish the stream-flow records that have been

obtained since the war

(2) Finance an expanded program of stream-flow measurement and

ground water study

The Bureau of Public Works has prepared preliminary estimates of

the funds needed for bringing publication of basic data up to date and

for expanding the wiater resources investigation program The attached

copies of estimates are of course provisional and subject to revision

but it is suggested that they be placed in the files of this Committee

for future reference The figure of P56oooo for publication is a

fairly firm figure It is suggested that the Committee take immeshy

diate action to further the procurement of these funds

The procurement of water resources data is a specialized field

requiring engineers and other technical men with a high degree of

education Years must be spent in training them in such special

work The men must endure rigorous physical work corbatting the

elements and using resourcefulness and judgment It is very uneconoshy

mical and unsatisfactory to have a technical organization of that kind

subject to occasional and unpredictable severe cuts in appropriations

It is even more unsatisfactory to have the time sequence of basic

water data collection interrupted and valuable records lost forever

47~I

-4

4

iuJi rf if poundflLLi

77

Pre-war frame shelter and 36 corr pipe Frame shelter over new 36 corrwell with Gurley weekly recorder Pampanga

J C Regalado B Ramos and E M Veatch pipe well Pampanga River near standing Taken by G H Hargreaves Arayat Pampanga March 1 1957 March 1 1957

Status of post-war computations and publication

Daily discharge computations of the Hydrographic Section tbr 1944

to 1954 are practically coplete those for 1955 are about 40 per deb4t

complete and for 1956 about 15 per cent Office work has been delayed

considerably because of the heavy constructionfprogran which started

in 1956 using supplies and instruments furnished by the ICA All office

computations are made in the Manila office No discharge records have

been published since those of 1908-22 but steps are being taken as

explained later in this report to bring publication up to date It is

planned that the records which have been compuhed for the years 1944 to

1956 will be reviewed before their final preparation for publication

to make sure their standards of accuracy are reasonably consistent

with the slightly higher standards proposed to be instituted as a

result of recommendations made in this report About 1500 stationshy

years of stream-flow recordsless than 10 per cent of which are from

agencies other than the Hydrographic Section are proposed to be comshy

piled and printed in a single-volume publication of monthly and annual

data Tables of monthly minimum discharge are to be included

Organization and cooperation

The Hydrographic Section customarily assigns a district hydrographer

and his assistants as resident at each irrigation district office that

is situated a long distance from Manila Their headquarters are as

follows

District Province Town

Northern Luzon Isabela San Mateo

Bicol Region Luzon Camarines Sur Naga

Eastern Visayas Leyte Tacloban

Western Visayas Iloilo Iloilo

Mindanao Davao Davao

This district is presently being operated by hydrographers from

Manila the same as for the central part of Luzon

The above field hydrographers are each assigned a Jeep and a drivershy

helper Hydrographers pay scales range between about Y2400 and P4200

per annum and in addition they are granted a subsistence allowance of

Y2OO per unit or Y800 a day Driver-helpers receive an average pay

of P5 per day plus a subsistence allowance of P200 per day (which has

been reduced administratively from P450 a day because of lack of funds)

The field personnel send or deliver all basic records to Manila

where they are processed computed and filed Most of the office work

is done by office personnel with the field men doing but little of the

office work

9

New timber recorder structure including plank intake with Stevens A-35 recorder Pinagcanauan de Tuguegarao River near Tuguegarao Cagayan Jose G Garcia assistant hydrographer and Norberto Ciriaco District Hydrographer on walkway May 14 1957

Staff gage on Jalaur River at Passi Iloilo From left to right 2 boys A Lacuesta Distr HydrogrLher J CorderoIrrig Distr Engr G Hargreaves J Regalado gagekeeper (kneeling) and onlooker May 8 1957

I

--- S

F National Power Corporation staff gage on Angat River above Ipo Dam now beingreplaced by a Bureau of Public Works recorder installation March 13 1957

O~

~A F~ ~~ shy- ~

~

- --

I ------ ~

A -~ 1

~ -- gt I~-

5 shy

- ~- ~ U

amp~~ -

2r~ ~k- ~ ~

National Power Cororation painted staff gage Bantay River near Bokod BenguetMountain Province Hydrographers helperstanding March 26 1957 Note lower markings faded

11

Whether any other changes are made or not it is the expressed

plan of the Hydrographic Section to have the District-Hydrographer

who is in charge of the Northern Mindanao District headquartered at

Cagayan de Oro

A considerable portion of the pay of district hydrographers and

their staffs comes directly from the Irrigation Section district

office at which they are headquartered rather than through the

Hydrographic Section This has had the effect of limiting their

efforts somewhat to project work rather than to general or all-purpose

investigations

Some of the other agencies particularly the National Power

Corporation obtain the cooperation of the Hydrographic Section in

helping operate certain gaging stations where a duplication of travel

can thus be avoided However the discharge measurements so made by

the Hydrographic Section are turned over to the NPC who make their

own computations of daily discharge The latter also sometimes pays

directly the salaries of certain gagekeepers Usually this cooperashy

tion does not involve an exchange of funds but some change in that

situation is recommended as explained later in this report

All agencies make their daily discharge records available to the

Hydrographic Section upon request and the plan is to have the later

agency include all such records in their publications No reproduction

machine is available in any of the offices and all copies of records

must be made individually in typing or longhand A machine is under

order by the Hydrographic Section

-fiUMBER OI~ GAGIiG~STATIONS-eP-ERATED IN-PIILIPPINES -

CALENDAR YEAR

YEA HYOROGRAPHIC

STAGE NATIONAL

SECTION PO R0 P

RIVEl CONTROL SECTON

TOT AL

DISCHARGE NATIONAL

HYDROGRAPHIC SECTION ORHYTGRPI SECTION POR

TOTAL TOA

RECORDING NON-REC TOTAL NON-REC NON-REC RECORDING NON-REC TOTAL

1908-1922 265 265 265

1923-1944 3 3 9 12

1945 6 6 6 15 15 2 17

1946 2 12 14 14 28 28 4 32

1947 3 11 14 14 29 29 4 33

1948 3 18 21 5 26 45 45 5 50

1949 3 13 16 6 5 27 74 74 15 89

1950 3 9 12 10 4 26 91 91 20 111

1951 3 15 18 10 4 34 103 103 17 120

1952 3 13 16 10 4 30 111 111 17 128 1953 3 17 20 11 17 48 1 96 97 23 120

1954 4 18 22 11 26 49 1 145 146 22 168

1955 4 18 22 13 19 54 1 207 208 27 235

1956 6 12 15 1 25 52 40 189 26 5

13

Various agencies have submitted lists of proposed gaging stations

which they would like to have installed to provide data for their

projects It is apparent that this work will be well coordinated in

the future and that the other agencies will come to rely more and

more on the Hydrographic Section for most of their basic stream-flow

records But they probably will continue to have their own personnel

make certain types of hydrographic investigations for the detailed

study of specific projects such as river profiles tailwater rating

curves etc

Financing

The main difficulty in regard to financing has been lack of

stability and continuity to the program and insufficient generalshy

fund money to permit the establishment of an all-purpose gaging proshy

gram In 1956 and 1957 the Hydrographic Section rec3ived P120000

(less than half of their total funds) for such general use with all

other monies either from counterpart funds (explained below) in theor

form of contributions from other agencies to cover certain gaging

expenses Another difficulty has been the lack of enough funds to

properly carry out the sudden large construction program generated by

the new ICA-furnished materials and instruments Most of the regular

hydrographic force has been assigned to construction during the last

twelve months or so because separate construction foremen or substitute

hydrographers could not be hired As a result the regular field

operation of gaging stations has suffered considerable neglect This

- - -

14

wuld not have been necessary if the Hydrographic Sections funds had

been flexible and appropriated on basis of a performance budget As

it is the Section must adhere to line items which spell out exactly

how all money is to be spent

The financing of an expanded 1958 program now appears to be

progressing satisfactorily largely from the counterpart monies

This fund consists of pesos allocated by the Philippine government

in an amount equivalent to the dollar value of imports furnished by

the ICA It is administered by the National Economic Council with

allocations subject to approval of the ICA on budget recommendations

received from Philippine government agencies In the case of water

resources programs they are assisted by recommendations of the Water

Resources Development Committee an NEC administratively appointed

body composed of representatives of ten agencies interested or inshy

volved in water development A rougn breakdown of the Hydrographic

Sections budget proposed for the fiscal year starting July 1 1957

is as follows

General Fund Pesos

Annual appropriation - ------------ 120000

Counterpart Funds

For bringing up to date the publication of

annual records plus a compilation - - - - 56000

For an expanded program of surface-water

investigations----------- - 500000

TOTAL - - - - - - 676000

The total funds available in 1955 and 1956 fiscal years were 180000

and 280000 respectively

It

a 7~

IC

U

i

Staff gage out of water Labangan River at Bagbag Calumpit Bulacan March 1 1957

7lt 2

I

fr

Gagekeeper and staff Jalaur River at Calinog Iloilo He read 10 centimeters low today because markings on lower part of gage were illegible

I-J May 8 1957

16 8

hational Power Corp staff gage painted on streamward side of cliff Lower markings gone and gagekeeper determines gage heights three times a day by wading to gage and measuring down with rule as shown in this picture Bokod R at Boiod Benguet Mountain Province March 26 1957

Bureau of Public Works staff gage station Gagekeeper has made readingsby measuring down from a nail since this section of gage was washed out by a flood Madlum River near Sibul Springs Bulacan April 25 1957

17

The only difficulty with counterpart financing is that it is

temporary and could conceivably leave the program stranded in a few

years when ICA aid is discontinued The necessity is recognized for

gradually obtaining regular Congressional appropriations to take the

place of counterpart funds An effort will also be made to have a

performance type of budget accepted because line items make the

program inflexible and prevent the best management and economy

It is recommended that other agencies desiring for their projects

certain stream flow records which cannot be financed from the regular

budget of the Hydrographic Section transfer funds annually (either in

advance or on a reimbursement basis) to the Hydrographic Section to

pay the extra costs required for the fulfilment of their requests

Design of the stream gaging program

As mentioned above the fiscal arrangements prevailing up to this

time have resulted in an almost total emphasis on project-type gaging

stations in the Philippines However I believe everyone is now in

agreement with the desirability or need for a nation-wide network of

index or runoff-per-square-kilometer type of stations which will sample

various runoff provinces such as those with different exposures to storms

and having different topography altitude geology type of land cover

etc The intensity of the network of stations in different regions

would vary depending upon the apparent future economic value or worth

of the water in each area This will be discussed in more detail in

the recommendations

18

In order to look over the existing program observe something of

the technical methods in use and see a variety of runoff and economic

types of areas in the islands to gain an idea of the type of stream

gaging network needed I have visited several regions accompanied most

of the time by Mr George Hargreaves It has been very helpful to me

to have him take such an interest in the detailed objectives of ry

assignment and I am sure it will facilitate Mrs Snellas work a great

deal to have available for consultation and guidance Mr Hargreaves

wide experience in water resources development and investigations

We were accompanied by Mr J C Regalado of the ydrographic Section

who made most of the advance contacts with field offices in connecshy

tion with our trips We usually travelled to central points by Philshy

ippine Air Lines and were then driven to nearby areas by field officials

of the Hydrographic Section and other agencies The hospitality and

cooperation of everyone toward us was exceptional and much appreciated

Besides a fairly detailed coverage of the Central Luzon area where an

intensified program is proposed our inspections included Northern

Luzon Southern Luzon (the Bicol region) Leyte Panay and several

parts of Mindanao In addition we made a special effort to observe

the country all along the routes of airplane flights taken and that

coupled with airplane stops made on other islands gave us a fairly

comprehensive view of the geography of the Philippines It is upon

this that my recommendations concerning the design of a stream gaging

program are based

19

Bquipment and technical methods-

The stream gaging equipment and methods used by the Hydrographic

Section since 1908 have been patterned mainly after those of the US

Geological Survey as described in the 1904 publication H4ydrographic

Manual Thus it appears likely that the methods and accuracy stanshy

dards have changed but little since the Philippine program was started

Stream gaging tecniques used by the other agencies are similar but

they have not had the advantage of some of the new ICA-furnished equipshy

ment This is expected to be remedied in the aid allocations for fiscal

year 1958

Although some use has been made of the 2-8 method of measuring

discharge present practice is limited almost entirely to the 6method

for low and medium stages and the sub-surface method for high stages

for the latter the meter is suspended over a 15-E weight and set 03

meter below the surface with a coefficient of 0915 applied

The number of verticals or measuring points taken in the cross

section usually is between 8 and 15 No bridge cranes or suspension

reels of any kind have been available all discharge work other than

with wading rod having been done by hand line All this is about to

be changed with the recent arrival of the first ICA-furnished sounding

reels weights and tag lines purchased from 1956 FY funds

Staff gages are read to the nearest centimeter (about 0033 foot)

Most of the gages would be difficult to read to any closer limit alshy

though a few stations have Leupold Stevens enameled gages with levelshy

rod type markings

20

The hydrographer records his discharge measurement notes in a

small bound pocket-size book which he carries until it is full After

each measurement is computed in the field a complete copy of the notes

is made on a card and mailed to the Manila office I am informed

that the bound notebooks are practically never lost or dropped in

the water With the increased amount of flood measuring expected to

be done in the future that situation might change

Rating curves are drawn to average large groups of discharge

measurements Large rectangular-scale cross section sheets are used

Percentage differences of the measured values with respect to the

rating table are not computed A minimum of use is made of Stoutshy

method shifts

The water-stage recorders furnished to date by the ICA have been

manufactured with time scales of either 03 inch per day (the FM

model) or 48 inches per day (the A-35 model) The former scale is

too small for satisfactory use in most stream gaging and the latter

is too large Thirty pairs of time scale gears have been ordered for

converting the A-35s from 48 to 24 inches per day Upon inquiry at

the factory it was learned that no conversion of the FM recorders is

possible An exchange of 25 of them is being made with the ground

water program for an equivalent value in A-35 recordero but the

remaining 65 will be used at the surface water stations They are

very satisfactory on lakes or spring-fed streams or large streams

whose fluctuations are not too sudden

21

Ipo dam on Angat River which diverts water to supply City of Manila and surrounding area March 13 1957 Reservoir is traversed by boat in reaching the gaging station upstream

Ready to leave Ipo Dam for gaging station 6 kilqmeters upstream B Ramos and J Regalado in oanca March 13 1957

4 ~ s~

B Ramos making discharge measurement by wading on Angat River above Ipo DamMarch 13 1957 Spacings between verticals were obtained from cable makings byline hanging from cable car

23

At non-recording gages it has been the custom to hire gagekeepers

at uniform or statutory rates of 025 or P30 per month (not related

to the distance traversed in going to the gage) to obtain readings

three times a day The pay has been the same even where the gage is

located several kilometers away from the gagekeepers home The system

has certain disadvantages which may affect the accuracy of the records

At some stations the pay is too high while at others it is too low

Three readings a day are not necessary most of the time for adequately

developing the hydrograph especially during the dry season and a

request for obviously unnecessary readings seems to put too severe a

test upon human nature It is practically an open invitation to a

certain amount of faking I doubt that it should be held against a

gagekeeper to put down some estimated readings under those circumstances

any more than it would be to blame children for taking candy or cookies

from a forbidden plate left openly in their midst The question then

becomes - what readings can be relied upon and what cannbt I sincerely

believe that a more accurate daily discharge record can be prepared in

the office from a few completely reliable gage readinrs per week by

means of hydrographic comparisons with recording-gage records from

nearby stations and with less expense than can be produced by proshy

cessing comparing and weeding out questionable parts from a complete

(on paper) record of three readings a day A gagekeepers habit

developed during the dry season of not going to the gage when it is

inconvenient or he doesnt feel like it is bound to crop up during

the high water season as well with the result that all his readings

24

must be looked at critically and considered reliAble only after

unusually extensive comparisons are made with weather records and

other stations

In regard to specialized stream gaging equipment listed below

are the amounts purchased by the ICA up to the present time

Ordered from Ordered from Being FY 1955 PPA 1956 PPA ordered Delivered in Delivered in from 1957

May 1956 May 1957 PPA

Canfield reels 0 6 8

Type A reels 0 6 2

Canfield tag lines 0 15 0

A-35 recorders 20 10 25

FM recorders 65 25 0

Enameled gage secs 400 600 200

Currer meter outfits inc ding rod headphonehanuline and 15-pound weight 11 10 0

Pygmy meters 0 0 10

Bridge cranes 0 3 0

Sounding wts 30-lb 0 0 10

50-lb 0 0 10

I i 75-lb 0 0 1

I 100-lb 0 0 1

Stopwatches 20 10 0

Being purchased as models for possible future use in procurement of

weights of local manufacture

25

~-

-~ ~- shy

~-

4rshy~~L~zu 1 - ~ A-

-~ - ~jj ~

~- k ~ ~

Helper and P Nubio National Power Corporationpreparing to make discharge measurement Tag marks of grass being tied to line Bantay River near Bokod Benguet Mountain Province March 26 1957

-- ~ 4

V

Helper holding meter in place suspended on a weight hanger while revolutions are counted oy hydrographer P Nubio E P Nbesamis is at extreme right March 26 1957

26

-p --shy

t-~-- - -

A ~

A~4 ~ 4

A -Y

- -

- - - -

gt~ ~ ~-

Z4z4a - ~z

- shy -~-~shy

4shy- --

I NPC discharge party on Bokod River at-Bokod BenguetMountain Province Helper and gagekeeper holding meter and 15-pound weight in position P Nubio on shore counting revolutions and recording notes March 26 1957

Ar 7

-~ I

0 I 15-pound weight used in discharge measurement work by the NPC hydrographer stationed at Ambuklao Dam March 26 1957

27

Recommendations

A sharp expansion in the stream gaging program of the Philippines

has occurred recently brought about not only by the ICAs economic and

technical aid program but also by the growing local demand for water

resources information It is inevitable that some organizational

changes would be required to accommodate such a sudden growth This

subject was discussed in conferences with Mr Saddam and Mr Regalado

and the following list of special objectives agreed upon They had a

number of these in mind or partly in effect already and were planning

to gradually adopt several others The items are listed here in order

to express my reasons for wanting to see them completely implemented

within the next two or three years They are as follows

A It is recommended that the district offices compute their own disshy

charge records and prepare them for publication for final review

in the central office in ranila

1 Additional engineers would be needed in each district office

and fewer engineers in the Manila office

2 At least the district hydrographer and preferably one other

engineer in addition should be trained in the office work in

Manila before the records were transferred to a district

3 Each engineer in a district office would be given a field area

which he would cover by a round of discharge measurements once

every 4 to 6 weeks each coverage taking about 2 weeks Betshy

ween trips he would do office work preferably on the same

stations that he covers in the field

28

4 Benefits of thissystem are believed to be as follows

a Records requested could be furnished more quickly to the

public especially to those in the district area

b This kind of a close tie between field and office work has

been found to greatly improve the quality of the records

the economy of operation and the performance and developshy

ment of the individual engineers

c The alternating of each person between field and office

work makes him (1) more competent in the field work and

also more competent in the office work than is possible

in segregated office and field groups and (2) permits

him to be home more of the time and lead a more normal

lifc thus increasing his morale and efficiency

5 Personnel arrangements recommended are

a Offer more rapid promotion to those who transfer like

from Manila to a field office or between field offices

b Encourage each man to transfer every few years with

faster promotions as an incentive It has been found

that this develops an engineers competence more rapidly

than if he stays in one office indefinitely Such ability

repays the government in added officiency and production

to an extent greater than its cost in extra salary

B Certain organization changes are recommended as follows

1 Appoint an Office Engineer a Field Engineer and (whenever

needed) a Construction Engineer They would be headquartered

__

V 29

2

~- ~

q

Ambuklao Dam on Agno River Generating capacity 75000 kw Powerplant is underground March 2557

7- t

-JI

Maria Cristina falls and power plant on Agus River River near Iligan Lanao Province Mindanao Present installed capacity 50000 kw May 1 1957

30

II I

Looking downstream at the Binga dam site on Agno River about 15 kilometers east of Baguio March 25 1957

Looking upstream at the Marikina dam site on Marikina River at Wawa near Montalban Rizal about 25 kilometers northeast of Manila April 5 1957

31

in the Manila office and act under the general supervision of

the head of the Section with the following responsibilities

to be included

a Office Engineer

(1) Be responsible for the discharge computations and

related office work in the Manila field district or

area

(2) Be responsible for review and final preparation for

publication of all records in the nation

(3) See that a progress chart of status-of-record compushy

tations is maintained in each district office and

that a summary statement concerning such progress is

sent to the central office at least quarterly

(4) Be responsible for research in office methods and

equipment (See footnote on next page)

b Field Engineer

(1) Act as first assistant to head of the Section of

Hydrography

(2) Be responsible for field operation vork throughout the

nation

(a) Make at least one annual field inspection in each

district

(b) Develop the system in every headquarters of keepshy

ing a running chronological chart of the discharge

measurements made at each gaging station or

32W

scheduled miscellaneous site A form in use in

Tacoma Washington has been found to be very conshy

venient for this purpose Such a chart gives the

supervisor a quick overall view of the status of

the field work and serves as a check at end of

the year to make sure all measurements have been

listed and counted

(3) Be responsible for the design of the stream gaging

network and the selection of sites for new gaging

stations

(4) Be responsible for research in field methods and

equipment

Construction Engineer

(1) Give general supervision and management to the conshy

struction program

(a) Obtain assignment of resident engineer or foreman

for each job

(b) See that the materials are made available Help

the foreman in every way possible in organizing

the job procuring emergency equipment or supplies

and making decisions about serious problems that

may arise on the job

If funds became available for considerable research it probably

would be better to appoint a special Research Engineer

33

~A

Cagayan River gaging station near Cagayan de OroMisamis Oriental Mindanao April 30 1957 Note how corrugated pipe recorder structure was bent by flood J C Regalado J J Ponco gagekeeper and G H Hargreaves in foreground

-

V

View of staff gage and control on Binakaan River at Tifigib near Pastrana Leyte Stream divided by a barand control excavated for unknown reason May 6 1957 J Regalado by the sign and G Hargreaves at right

Cable footbridge below Binga dam site Tree anchorage for cableway onformerly used by NPC in making Angat River above Ipo Damdischarge measurements P Nubio and March 13 1957E Abesamis of NPC on bridge March 25 1957

35

(c) Visit the major jobs occasionally to see that

they are proceding satisfactorily in all the

islands Make sure the stations are installed

according to instructions and plans An approved

sketch plan showing dimensions and elevations is

desirable for each construction job

(d) Prepare first draft of each new station description

(e) Prepare brief construction report including costs

A form in use at Tacoma Washington has been found

convenient for this purpose

C The following policies in regard to gagekeepers are recommended

1 Start a gradual change-over to paying each gagekeeper on basis

only of the hours he works plus a basic amount for taking the

responsibility This may result in increasing the pay of some

but it should reduce the pay of a much larger number

2 Convert most gagekeepers to two readings a day most of the time

with one or more additional readings during floods In some of

the drier parts of the Central Luzon area in cases where gages

are remote from habitation request only one reading a day

during the dry months such as from January through May inclushy

sive more than that are believed to cost more than they are

worth and are an open invitation to the reporting of estimated

readings

3 When a new recorder installation is at a barrio or bridge where

it appears unlikely to be vandalized try running the station

36

without hiring a gagekeeper If this system proves successful

discontinue the services of the gagekeepers at certain selected

recorders At all other recorders reduce the number of readshy

ings required to one per day and reduce their pay accordingly

If a gagekeeper prefers not to accept a lower monthly rate for

fewer readings it is suggested that he resign except in cases

where security of the station structures or right-of-way favors

may be involved

Proceed on the principle that a saving in public tax money from

the above reforms is more important than supporting gagekeepers

just because they depend on the income and need the money The

present dependence of a gagekeeper on his P300 or P360 a year

and the hardship he must undergo in adjusting to a lower rate

of pay for the job are not believed to be sufficient reasons

for continuing indefinitely to pay him more than necessary

However it is recommended that he be given 30 or 60 days

notice before a reduction in pay is placed in effect

D Vehicles

1 It is recommended that a gradual change-over be made from the

short-wheelbase open Jeep to the Jeep station wagon as a hydroshy

graphers car Benefits should be as follows

a The car can be locked leaving only the tires as attractive

to thieves

b The station wagon has more space As the hydrographers

became better equipped that space will be needed

37

Bamboo-and-grass shelters built and used by crew during construction of gaging station on Angat River above Ipo Dam March 13 1957

3

4

-Ti LP

Proposed site for new index-type gaging station selected on Baoas River near Mangatarem Pangasinan above all diversions by Regalado Romasanta dargreaves and Veatch April 15 1957 Photo by J S Romasanta

38

Taking Philippine Airlines plane at Legaspi Albayfor Manila on May 17 1957 Mount Mayon 7960 feet high in background

I

N 1 x

Y

I

Showing typical vehicle used on the reconnaissance and inspection trips over the Philippines

39

c For occasional errands or trips it will be feasible for

only oneman to take the car because he can lock the con

tents when the car is not attended

d It may possibly develop in some parts of the Philippines

that a hydrographer for a certain area will not need a

driver-helper and thereby a saving in funds can be made

However such a change should be made only on a trial

basis and is not recommended until conditions so warrant

and until the hydrographer involved is satisfied with the

change or else desires it

E Certain technical stream-gaging procedures are recommended to be

followed in the Philippine Islands hydrographic work at the average

gaging station by all agencies doing stream gaging as follows

1 Obtain a discharge measurement once every four to six weeks

throughout the year

2 Furnish the hydrographer with a print of the station descripshy

tion and of the rating curve and require him as a general rule

to compute and plot his discharge measurement in the field

3 Have the gage read both before and after each discharge measureshy

ment and the readings recorded on the field notes

4 Use a loose-leaf discharge-measurement note form or forms

containing a summary page patterned to some extent after the

forms in use by the USGS Bound notes make it too inconshy

venient or perhaps impossible for the office engineer to

examine the notes for a whole year when he analyzes a station

record

40

5 Gradually change to the use of ehameled steel gage plates

instead of painted gages because their initial cost is less

and they are more durable Plates graduated somewhat like

those of the US Geological Survey are believed much better

than those stocked by private companies While here I drew

up a suggested design for local manufacture which appealed

to the Hydrographic Section

6 Obtain levels at staff gages at least once a year especially

on the low section of gage Replace or repair each low secshy

tion soon after it becomes damaged or the markings become

indistinct

7 Continue as a general rule to use the 6-depth method with

the sub-surface method for deep swift water Obtain a comshy

plete cross section as soon as feasible after the high water

has subsided

8 Gradually change to the use of heavier sounding weights so

that the 6-depth method with soundings can be used at high

water in any event take soundings and velocities as far out

as practicable from each bank at flood stages then go across

deep part of channel with sub-surface method Check subshy

surface method coeficients whenever practicable by means of

vertical velocity curves Until such checks show otherwise

use a coefficient of 090

9 Compute discharge measurements by the mid-section method

This saves time (and money) and is at least as accurate as the

41

other method Request hydrographers to bear the method in mind

when selecting verticals near edges of channel or at breaks in

the cross section It is recommended that in the interests of

economy this change be made at an early date

10 Consider 20 as a desirable number of verticals in an average

stream cross section Continue to time the meter revolutions

for 40 to 60 seconds at each setting Someday if more accushy

racy is desired in hydrographic work in the Philippines it

would be appropriate to standardize on 30 verticals per measureshy

ment provided the 2-8 depth method were used and the gages

were read to fractions of a centimeter For the present it

seems consistent to take about 20 verticals when using the 6

method and with gages read only to the nearest centimeter

11 Use steel tag lines for wading measurements Paint bridge

rails and cables with markings sufficiently close together

that they can be used rapidly to determine stationing between

them When installing the paint marks use standard intervals

of either 1 meter 2 meters or 5 meters To avoid confusion

do not use intervals of 3 or 4 meters If measuring intervals

are to be 1 meter or less it is very convenient to have a

mark available every meter If intervals are between 1 and 5

meters use a mark every 2 meters A good system for making

the marks readily identifiable is to place 1 paint mark at

each basic interval like every 2 meters then put 2 marks every

10 meters 3 every 50 meters and 4 at 100 meters

42

use on12 Always tags the portion of the meter suspension line

that goes in the water The tags usually consist of small

pieces of colored cloth taped tightly to the line They

should be watched and checked occasionally against slippage

and error The tags should not be more than one meter apart

and should be spaced to give maximum convenience and speed in

measuring the discharge

13 As it may becoin feasible convert Type A current meters to

Type AA The more deeply recessed bearing of the Type AA

meter provides more durability of the pivot and bearing

because trapped air excludes most of the water and silt the

longer pivot results in a relatively lower center of gravity

of the bucke t wheel with respect to the point of bearing and

results in smoother performance

F Design of the stream gaging network

1 Everyone seem3 to agree with the objective of a network of

well-distributed long-term base stations for giving runoffshy

per-square-kilometer values representative of the general

area in which each station is located As rapidly as practishy

cable stations should be L d n the o ting netrk

and designated as base or index stations for permanent operashy

tion They should be the best stations both hydraulically

and as to equipment and should be free from upstream regushy

lation or diversion Where needed new base stations should

be installed as soon as they can be financed to appropriately

L11 out the network

43

2 In between such base stations it is desirable to sample smaller

basins with short-term records of various lengths which can be short term

correlated with the long records For this purpose thestashy

tion structures should be constructed so that they are as moveshy

able or salvageable as possiblej Often these movable stations

will be operated at or near specific project sites

3 It usually is more economical and satisfactory to gage a stream

at a highway crossing or other convenient place rather than

exactly at a project site later the data can be transferred

to the project site by means of drainage area proportions

checked by obtaining at the site e

two miscellaneous measurements or possibly in some cases a

whole year of record

4 A method for studying the existing network of stations to see

whether the intensity of coverage is satisfactory or not is to

plot correlations between the various station records prefershy

ably following the present methods of the USGS

5 It has been found advantageous to classify all gaging stations

that are in operation using categories somewhat like these

areal network base stations primary and secondary main stream

stations and water management stations This procedure is

helpful in planning how long various stations should be operated

Detailed information about station classification methods is

available from the U S Geological Survey for use as a guide

The Technical Training Program

Early plans

When this assignment was given to me it was anticipated that a

series of across-the-table discussions would be held with small groups

of hydrographers from the Philippine government bureaus engaging in

such work Detailed procedures would be discussed without formality

But when arrangements were initiated for such conferences I was inshy

formed that among those wanting to attend were many at the managerial

level as well as a number of representatives of agencies interested

more in water development projects than in resource investigations

These could not be turned down so it was necessary to revise the

agenda to include more of general interest

Later developments

In view of the wide experience and high rank of many prospective

attendants of the conference it did not seem appropriate to call it

a lecture series or school and the name Seminar On Water Resources

was decided upon The agenda is included in this report and will be

self-explanatory Registered attendance for each of the three weeks

was 68 72 and 70 persons respectively for a total of 210 The

setting for the Seminar can best be understood from the photographs

Conditions as a whole were good although the tape-recording of the

entire three weeks of proceedings and the need for a member to come

F M Veatch and Water Resources Seminar group week of April 8-12 1957 at Bureau of Public Highways conference building Manila

I y

rT

I

4

47

forward and use the microphone whenever he asked a question or made a

comment was somewhat of a dampener oh discussion When preparing the

agenda I assumed that few besides the hydrographers would attend the

sessions on technical details of stream gaging scheduled for Wednesday

to Friday yet the entire membership stayed through the full program

each week and so no small-group round-table discussions were practicable

It developed later that the language barrier was a little more

serious than first realized Also it was not evident at first that

many present did not know what a gaging station was One of the main

benefits gained from the field trip was to show them a typical station

along with some equipment Taken as a whole it is believed that the

Seminar was successful and worthwhile

The sending of trainees from the Hydrographic Section to the

United States by ICA is very effective in supplementing the technical

assistance rendered directly by American personnel in the Philippines

and it should be continued as long as possible

Acknowledgments

Announcements and invitations to attend the Seminar were sent to

numerous agencies and offices by the Hydrographic Section who also

made all arrangements such as for space registration loud speaker

system tape recordings and recess refreshments The Bureau of

Public Highways made their new conference building available and the

National Media Center furnished a slide projector screen and room

all of which were greatly appreciated The introductory talks by

48

several busy executives including Director J A Buendia and Messrs

A T Alano R R Lord P G Afable and D Rosell with Mr Tomas

Saddam acting as master of ceremonies contributed ideas and gave

each weeks session a good send-off

Publications

Copies of the following publications of the U S Geological

Survey (one by Bureau of Reclamation and one from ASCE) were disshyon

play at the Seminar at all times for inspection by the members Alshy

though they were requested not to take the publications away quite a

few copies gradually became missing

Irrigation Water Measurement Tables and Diagrams by U S

Bureau of Reclamation

ASCE Separate 413 - Backwater Effects of Open Channel

Constrictions

Stage-Fall Discharge Relation for Steady Flow in Prismatic

Channels Water-Supply Paper 1164

Topographic Characteristics of Drainage Basins W S P 968C

Weir Experiments Coefficients and Formulas WSP 200

Handbook for Hydrologists - Chapters 1 - 11

Chapter 1 -- Instructions for Flood Frequency Compilations

Chapter 2 -- ledian Discharge Computation Methods

Chapter 3 -- Instructions for Abstracting Topographic

Characteristics of Drainage Basins

i

-Imr- I

1 N

L

V10J~

C R Mirray explaining a ground water formula

Ii

17t

o

Water Resources Seminar group at gaging station on Marikina River near Montalban Rizal about an hours drive northeast of Manila April 12 1957

51

-- Channel Storage and Flood Routing

-- Extending Stream-flow Records

Chapter 6 -- Double Mass Curves

Chapter 7-A- Frequency Curves of Low Flows and Storage

Requirements

Chapter 8 -- Flood Frequency Analyses

Chapter 9 -- Small Stream Investigations

Chapter 10 - Hydrologic Definitions

Chapter 11 - Base-Flow Recession-Curves

Computation of Backwater at Open Channel Constrictions

Floods in Western Washington Frequency and Magnitude in

Relation to Drainage Basin Characteristics GS Circular 191

Floods in Georgia Frequency and Magnitude GS Circular 100

Stream-Gaging Procedure - A Manual Describing Methods and

Practice of the Geological Survey - WSP 888

Investigation of Methods and Equipment used in Stream Gaging

Part 2 Intakes For Gage Wells

Computation of Peak Discharge through Culverts

Computation of Backwater at Open-Channel Constrictions

Equipment for River Measurements Structures for Cableways

by Charles H Pierce

Computation of Peak Discharge at Contractions Circular 284

Care and Rating of Current Meters

Surface Water Supply o the United States 1950 Parts 1 - 14

52

In addition to the above publications a two-page single-spaced

memorandum entitled Plotting Flood Frequency Curves (Extracted from

U S Geological Survey publications) was prepared by me under date

of April 3 1957 and handed to each member of the Seminar each week

The program or agenda for the Seminar one copy of which was

given to each member follows on Pages 53 to 63 inclusive The

graphs on Page 63 were referred to during the talks

53

March 29 1957

AGENDA FOiR SEMINARZ ON WATER RESCURCES AND STAE4 GAGING

IN THE PHILIPPINES

PLACE Conference hoom 2nd Floor Bureau of Public Highways Building Second Street Port Area Manila

TIKE April 1-5 8-12 and 22-26 (same program each week)

CONDUCTED BY M1r i 1 Veatch District EngineerSurface WaterBranch Jater Aesources Division United States Geological Suver Thcoma ashington who is un three-month assignment with the ICA

Held in connoction with the Philippine Government-ICA water resources program

54

GENERAL PROGRAM MONDAY AND TUESDAY

honday morning 830

Opening remarks Mr Julian A Buendia Director Bureau of Fublic Works Mr R R Lord Chief Public Works Division ICA Mr G H Hargreaves Hydraulic Engineer ICA

Importance of water resources and their investigation

The hydrologic cycle Evaporation transpiration and precipitation Runoff

Daily discharge record and the hydrograph Storm runoff Base flow

Grou~nd Water Very brief description (this subject to be covered

iaore fully on Tuesday afternoon)

General characteristics of natural stream runoff in the Philippines Quantity

Adequacy Comparison with United States

Variations with time Day to day and year to year Long-term trends

Distributin by area General over the Philippine Islands Variations between nearby drainage basins

Effect of location elevation geology cover etc

Major uses of stream-flow data Many years of rccornds should be crnsidered Granting water r phts

Protect existing rights Prevent capital expenditures where water supply inadequate

Planning river basin developments including municipal supply irrigation pnwer flood control etc

Destping structures such as dams reservoirs dikes floodways canals pumping systems power plants bridges etc

Accuracy and extent of dat needed for minimizing underdesign or wasteful overdesign

Cost of water-supply data in relation to total cost of a project

Operating water projects Distribution of water on projects Operation of storage reservoirs and diversion dams

To make maximum use uf water supply Designing alterations or enlargements to existing projects

RECESS 1000 to 1015

55 -3-

Monday morning (Continued) 1015 aim

Management of the stream gaging program Foreseeing the needs for stream-flow records

Study population and industrial trends Keep inforned on water-development plans and

prgraIIs of all agencies Continuity of the records

Essential for wator-supply studies Regular financinp reouired

Annual appropriations a poundfccted by temporary econoidc or political conditions

Permanent type of financing needed Surcharge method License fee method

-Dissemination of the data Annual publication Occasional summary compilations Furnishing advance cupies of unpublished records Furnishing current data - daily weekly or munthly

wherever required Special water resources investigation agency desirable

Briefly dancribe United States organization Uniform tecnical standards Uniform ways of presenting data One series of publicatiens Distributial center for basic water data Genera l-coverage program requires close coordination

for economy of operation Personal requirements

Engineers Engir ring aids Computers Clerks

ADJOURN - 1145

Resume after lunch only if necessary for completing the above subjects

56

Tueday morning 830

Design of a comprehensive stream gjaging program General rrinciIlac

Represenkc tive runoff-type provinces should be sainpled with stations of various classes

Vary the intensity of coverage with probable intenshysity of water use

Follow tiie tcends variations with records fromand L sri etatiorns secondary

Correlate resultls one continually adjustnetwork Classification of ra-in stationa

Areal prinary and secondary viain strem priiary nd secondary Water-manmfciact stat-i ons Miscellanous dischaige mcasurements

Correlating the dat obttined in comprehensive program Logarithmic pajer Five years of lecord uscd What is a good corrclation

Analyses of data Flood frcouencjs

Annual serics Partial duration series

Low-flow frecuencies Low-flow duration hydrograph

Extending strewm-flow records Comparisons witi other gaging stations Rainfall-runoff correlations

Quality of water Temperature

Intermittent observations Recorders

Chemical gtuality Element -Dissolved solids

Suspended iaterial Time of cecurrence-floods Sampling

Methods Cost

RECESS - 1000 to 1015

57

- 5 -

Tuesday afternoon 130

Ground water (This subject conducted by Mr C R Murray) Occurrence

Water table Artesian Lakes

Movement Through the ground Into stream channels

Availability Geologic structure Aquifers Funing tests

Recharge Froa precipitation Artificial Froma induced lateral movement

Investigation Geology Springs Logs of dug and drilled wells Test wells

lecording Lanual

Quantitative studies Chemical quality analyses

Mincral ccontnt Sallt water intrusion

Drilling of wells for production use Ground water rirhts

Depletion of ground water reservoirs teyond rccharge capability

ADJOURN at 330

Geologist Ground Water Branch dater Resources Division U 6 Geological Survey who is on two-ywar assignment with ICA

58

PROGRAM ON STREMvi GAGING PROCEDURE WEDNESDAY TO FRIDAY

4ednesday morning 830

Establishing and constructing gaging stations Selection of site

Consider najor probable uses of the record Investigate extent of upstream diversion and

-egulation Utilize contour naps Obtain list of nmrjor water right applications

iydraulic conditicns Section control Shifting channel Overbank flow Dackwater

Accessibility Avoid too much expense Need to reach quickly to measure flash floods

Natural protection front flood damage Avoid excessively expensive construction conditions

Bed iock Quick sand Too-longintake pipes

For non-rccording gage choose site convenient to

one or more local gage readers

Survey of site Bank cross-prefile at gage Cross section at cable Plan

Right of way Oral pervrission ritten permission

Easement Land purchase

RECESS - 945 to 1000

- 7 - 59

Wednesday morning (Continued) 100)

Construction Select types and sizes of structures To fit purpose oi the record Plan later salva e (for secondary stations) For economy of operation (for example design cableway to

operat mesily) Adapt availabic standard plans to fit the site Keep costs to hclp in future estimating Make brief construction report for future assistance in

planninr sililar Jobs Prepare staLion descripLion

Road log distences etc for How to reach paragraph Descriptions of gages bench marks etc Dimensions cf structuis Gage datum elevations of portinent parts of structures

Operating and maintaining gaging stations Records of stage

Choice of dtum Arbitrcry local datum

Set gages so there will be no minus gage readings

Mean sea level datum May be used but has disadvantages

1hen later adjustments are made to level networks

Gages have to be reset or Equation must be published

Non-recording gages Types

Vertical staff Inclined staff

ire-weight Crest-stage gages

Refinement of graduations ake adequate for accuracy of record needed

Maintatling dat of gage Adequate number of local reference marks Take levels at least once a year

Work o- local gare reader Fy according to approx number of hours worked Do not roruire too many roadings for the

conditions Warm (with omphasis) against my guessed

readings Inform reader anv errors in reading will

show up in hydrogrq oic comtparisons Engineers obtain check readings whenever

possible Visit gage reader frequently a d show inshy

terest in his gage-height record Encourage reader to retain personal copy

ADJOURN at 1145

60

Thursday morning 800

Records of stage (continued) Recording gages

Select type of instrument and its scales to fit conditions at gaging station

Weekly or continuous recorder Recorder scales Range of stage Rate of change of stage Availability of someone to change weekly

chart Work of Cage inspector of keeper

Avoid resetting pen Repurt any trash or debris causing backwater

at gage Do not have a gage keeper unless needed

aintaining gage datum Check outside gae by levels annually Keep outside gage sections reset to datum

Standard reference gage Inside gage of soie sort preferable

Staff Float-tape Anchor type

Intake action Clean or flush pipes after floods Slot intakes Self-cleaning iitakes

For pipe gage wells For wells built into bridge piers

Draw-down (where excessive) Use bapfle or static tube

Elood marks at station Make record of well-defined high water

marks

AECESS - 945 to 1000

- 9 - 61

Thursday morning (Continudd) 1000

Discharge measuroments Current hmeters

Price Type A Type AA

Pygmpy Carc of inters

Sounding weights E-typc C-type

Lead Brono

Type of notebook Loose shects Loose-leaf book Bound booL

Measurement of depth aeding rod Tag-line nethod Vertical-nglc coofficients Sounding during floods

Ilacemont of mter Sub--surface method 2-depth n cthod 6-de-pth icthod 2- imetY od

Number of verticals Velocity -urgcs

Miscellaneous f-ctors Effect of bridge piers Horizontal angle of current Insufficient weight on current water

1Mean gage hoitht for a discharge measurement Special methods of (Itermining flood discharge

Floats Slope-area method

Rating curv- etonsion method Arca and velocity curves Loparithmic plottig

Contrqctd-opening mothod Flow ovcr dams

Report on condition of control Carry station description and rating curve in field

Ubtain another me asurement if needed If first indicates large shift If new station and stagc advantagoous for

defining blank part of rating curve

ADJOUffN - 1145 AI

Resumne atfter lunch only if necessary for comploting the above subjects

62

- 10 -

Friday morning S00

A few remarks about office methods Rating curves

Log-log paper Upward extonsions Dowmward extensions

Rectangular plotting Computing recorder charts

M-ark index correction and time correction for each inspection reading

Break midnight lines at raph Never oblitertte or mark over the original trace Nake office markings on chart distinctive from

those mad( At the gage Use of colored pencils by computer and checker is one good wa)y

Daily discharge record Flot hydrograph Compare over light box with other stations

This method preferable to plotting several station records on same sheet

Concluding discussions

RECESS - 945 to 1000

Projection of gaging station equipment Lnd scenic slides taken in the United States and Canada

ADJOURN - 1145

Field trip Cars will be available at the conference building to

take members to the raging station on arikina iRivei at ontalban about an hours drive from Manila where a brief demonstration of certain field equipment will be given

Return to noL later thanoanila 500 FL

---

- Ishy4 ~7L~

0F OllY LISCIiRE 4- 1 -shy

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- O 1 B -- 2r 2 ZZ 23 24 2 c 26 7 8 2717x I 2

_~ I 027 _d- 1 2 shy

7 -

n_ a t-i IZ

- _______________ Pnu~ OAgvhshy

-~ ~-r- 1 - V-shy- i-shytvkty--- in--a-- -~ ~Z2m7~ ~

- ~ ~-~-----~- V 1~5~ LTLL2P7o -4----4 1 -- I -- I I _ __ --- -- -- - - L - - I ----

~- ~y~-~ 64 4

N

A il

Seminar members observing demonshystrat-n of measurshying e -pment by F M Veatch at Marikina River gaging station April 12 1957

I

Water Resources Seminar members observing working model of proppsed Binga Dam at the hydraulics laboratory of University of the Philippines April 12 1957

65

Current meter rating flume mechanism Y 22 1957

Current meter rating flume mechanism May 22 1957

66

Current Meter Rating Station

The new current meter rating station at the University of the

Philippines (see photographs) was not quite ready for use before I

left the country The mechanism and instruments were manufactured

in Germanyobtained thru ICA-NEC procurement for the Water Resources

Program of the Department of Public Works and have been installed by

Professor Alberto Villares and his hydraulics laboratory staff under

Dean C A Ortigas of the College of Engineering with some guidance

by Professor Edward L Ericksen of the University of Michigan who is

a civil engineer on detail here with the Stanford Group Professor

Villares spent 18 months in the hydraulics laboratory of the Univershy

sity of Iowa

There is every evidence that this rating flume will with expeshy

rience do work accurate enough not only for determining differences

in ratings between current meters but also for preparing absolute or

independent ratings This can be reported on more fully at some

later date by Messrs Hargreaves and Snell

The Central Luzon Region Program

The Water Resources Development Committee is preparing a recomshy

mended plan for the expedited multiple-purpose development of the

water resources of the Central Luzon region The area contains oneshy

sixteenth of the land surface and one-fourth of the population of the

Philippines and is termed the rice granary of the nation It is to

be used as an example or experiment in water and land development

67

The Committee has requested member agencies to submit estimates

of the minimum amount of additional basic data needed for making a

useful report and for proceeding with development projects Such

estimates are to include mapping soil surveys dam and reservoir site

surveys water resources surveys and other items A preliminary

report is to be prepared soon summarizing the existing information

pointing out the need for additional dataand submitting estimates

of cost for the further investigations needed An outline for the

final report has been prepared and distributed so it will be availashy

ble as a guide and funds for the first years efforts are being

sought for fiscal year 1958 It appears reasonable that the report

on a comprehensive plan could be submitted to the President and

Congress of the Philippines in about five years

With the assistance of Mr Hargreaves I have prepared estimates

for a surface water measurement program to complement the existing

program It is designed to fill the worst gaps in the present netshy

work Details are subject to change as more reconnaissance informashy

tion becomes available as only five days were spent covering the area

by automobile Unit costs were provided by the Hydrographic Section

and they include cost of preparation of the records for publication

Estimates were submitted as given below They were supported by a

detailed list of stream names and locations which included desigshy

nations as to the primary purpose or type of each proposed new gaging

station and whether a recording or non-recording gage was recommended

It is available for reference in both the ydrographic Section and

ICA offices

68

New gaging stations

1 Daily discharge type

Installation (including cableways where needed)

Recording ------- 7 Pl650 11550

Non-recording --- 4 950 3800 15350

Operation 1st year -11 660 7260 P22610

2 High water type (flood records)

Installation

Gages (nonshy

recording) ----- 4 150 600

Measuring equipment 800 1400

Operation 1st year - 4 300 1200 2600

Total for new gaging stations ------------- 25210

Miscellaneous discharge measurements

1 4 or 5 during dry season Nov - April

4 sites x 5 per site = 20 30 ---------------- 600

2 1 or 2 during low part of year March and April

37 sites x l per site = 55 k30 ------------- 1650

Total for miscellaneous measurements ------ 2250

Total -------------- -2746o

69

Rainfall And Evaporation Stations

Existing network

A map examination of the existing network of rain gages was made

and a surprisingly large number were found to be in operation -- 2

recording and 115 manual stations or a total of 117 They are beshy

lieved to be fairly adequate in number and are well distributed

areally over the Philippines but like in the United States are conshy

fined largely to the lower altitudes where the agricultural and urban

population live In addition to these records are available for

various lengths of time from about 8 discontinued Weather Bureau

stations and from more than 300 haciendas reforestaion stations

and provincial rnrseries

Additional gages

The Weather Bureau and the Bureau of Public Works are cooperating

in the installation of some new rainfall stations at higher altitudes

part of which will utilize new instruments purchased with ICA aid

funds Some of the instruments will be installed at existing nonshy

recording stations Forty new installations are proposed for 1958

fiscal year It is now recognized that rainfall station coverage at

higher altitudes is needed in order to furnish records that can be

correlated with the long-term valley records and also with the gaging

station discharge records D

70

Weather station maintained by Bureau of Public WorksIrrigation Division near Tuguegarao Cagayan From left to right N Ciriaco District Hydrographer drivershyhelper observer J G Garcia hydrographer J C Regalado and G H Hargreaves May 13 1957

Weather station at Pototan Iloilo Panay A Lacuestadistrict bydro-rapher standing May 5 1957

71

Group luncheon at Tacloban Leyte typical of the hospitality received by us during inspection tour of the Philippines From left to right M Rico irrig distr engr G Hargreaves G Araos E N Salazar P Formilleza L Abella S Velasco JCRegalado V H Sydiongoo distr hydrographer I M Ortega Oscar de Venecia and N Oliver May 7 1957

ICA Public Works Division March 1957 From left to right C R Murray A A Ketchum asat Div head J B Delaney I J Silverstone Sofia Halili 0 H Hosmer R R Lord Div head B B Hill Betty Valdez G H Hargreaves J L Brenden FM Veatch

72

Evaporation stations

Fifteen double-pan (one open and one partially shaded) evaporation

stations with rainfall temperature wind and humidity instruments as

auxiliary are being operated in the Philippines and ten more are to

follow next year They are well distributed over the islands and

should furnish data of great value for reservoir design Thq reccrds

will be publish3d

Publication of rainfall data

All rainfall reccrds are published annually by the Weather Bureau

whose 1954 volume is the latest one printed The 1955 issue should be

released soon One excellent source of information for anyone studyshy

ing rainfall data in the Philippines is the publication The Distrishy

bution of Rainfall In The Philippines by Eugenio B Manalo Chief

Climatological Division Weather Bureau Manila This contains

valuable descriptive material tables of monthly and annual values

and mean monthly and annual isohyets in inches An inspection or

study of the monthly isohyetal maps shows clearly how storm patterns

change with the seasons in certain parts of the Philippines and that

73

in other areas the rain is almost evenly distributed throughout the

year The long dry season of Manila and the central Luzon plains is

graphically portrayed by the isohyets Mr Manalos publication

should be of great benefit to government agencies and private parties

or individuals in connection with agricultural and business activities

over the islands It is presumed that the isohyets will warrant some

revision after another 5 or 10 years as more records especially those

at higher altitudes become available

Sediment Measurement Stations

Practically no silt-sampling has been done in the Philippines

to date and no extensive program is believed possible because of the

lack of funds For the present it is recommended that every governshy

ment field hydrographer be equipped with a thermomater and a turbidity

stick and required to report a spot water temperature and turbidity

reading at time of each discharge measurement Thus without extra

cost a large amount of data can be accumulated which after several

years should make it possible to determine what streams are the

siltiest and where more detailed studies might be needed Whenever a

reservoir project reaches the intensive-investigation stage including

dam-site drilling detailed topography etc it is recommended that

a complete sediment sampling station be operated there for at least

one full flood season before the project feasibility report is

completed

74

Statement Before Water Resources Development Committee

On March 20 1957 I presented the following statement regarding

the streamflow measurement program in the Philippines

The Philippine Republic is blessed with an excellent supply of

water of good quality but much of it is wasted to the sea during the

rainy season The development of this resource is vitally important

to the nation and it involves the storing of flood waters for dryshy

season release Where investments are to be made for construction of

dams etc in the development of irrigation power production and

flood control large sums can easily be wasted through overdesign or

underdesign if enough engineering data are not available Conflicting

or competing uses for the water supplies will gradually develop in

your country the same as they have in the United States If water

rights are to be granted fairly with due regard for all prior users

many years of basic data are necessary so that the long-term water

supply can be estimated For this purpose a good network of stream

gaging records and ground water levels must be secured One would

not attempt to manage the money in a bank without bookkeeping and it

is just as important to have an accounting system when managing water

The sound economical procedure is to base all project designs on as

complete engineering information as can be obtained

The ICA is attempting to assist the Philippine Government in

planning the orderly development of its water resources and we are

concerned that too many structures may be built before accurate

9i

hydrologic data are available for their design For this reason we

strongly urge you to improve the basic data gathering program at the

earliest possible date as follows

(1) Review and publish the stream-flow records that have been

obtained since the war

(2) Finance an expanded program of stream-flow measurement and

ground water study

The Bureau of Public Works has prepared preliminary estimates of

the funds needed for bringing publication of basic data up to date and

for expanding the wiater resources investigation program The attached

copies of estimates are of course provisional and subject to revision

but it is suggested that they be placed in the files of this Committee

for future reference The figure of P56oooo for publication is a

fairly firm figure It is suggested that the Committee take immeshy

diate action to further the procurement of these funds

The procurement of water resources data is a specialized field

requiring engineers and other technical men with a high degree of

education Years must be spent in training them in such special

work The men must endure rigorous physical work corbatting the

elements and using resourcefulness and judgment It is very uneconoshy

mical and unsatisfactory to have a technical organization of that kind

subject to occasional and unpredictable severe cuts in appropriations

It is even more unsatisfactory to have the time sequence of basic

water data collection interrupted and valuable records lost forever

Status of post-war computations and publication

Daily discharge computations of the Hydrographic Section tbr 1944

to 1954 are practically coplete those for 1955 are about 40 per deb4t

complete and for 1956 about 15 per cent Office work has been delayed

considerably because of the heavy constructionfprogran which started

in 1956 using supplies and instruments furnished by the ICA All office

computations are made in the Manila office No discharge records have

been published since those of 1908-22 but steps are being taken as

explained later in this report to bring publication up to date It is

planned that the records which have been compuhed for the years 1944 to

1956 will be reviewed before their final preparation for publication

to make sure their standards of accuracy are reasonably consistent

with the slightly higher standards proposed to be instituted as a

result of recommendations made in this report About 1500 stationshy

years of stream-flow recordsless than 10 per cent of which are from

agencies other than the Hydrographic Section are proposed to be comshy

piled and printed in a single-volume publication of monthly and annual

data Tables of monthly minimum discharge are to be included

Organization and cooperation

The Hydrographic Section customarily assigns a district hydrographer

and his assistants as resident at each irrigation district office that

is situated a long distance from Manila Their headquarters are as

follows

District Province Town

Northern Luzon Isabela San Mateo

Bicol Region Luzon Camarines Sur Naga

Eastern Visayas Leyte Tacloban

Western Visayas Iloilo Iloilo

Mindanao Davao Davao

This district is presently being operated by hydrographers from

Manila the same as for the central part of Luzon

The above field hydrographers are each assigned a Jeep and a drivershy

helper Hydrographers pay scales range between about Y2400 and P4200

per annum and in addition they are granted a subsistence allowance of

Y2OO per unit or Y800 a day Driver-helpers receive an average pay

of P5 per day plus a subsistence allowance of P200 per day (which has

been reduced administratively from P450 a day because of lack of funds)

The field personnel send or deliver all basic records to Manila

where they are processed computed and filed Most of the office work

is done by office personnel with the field men doing but little of the

office work

9

New timber recorder structure including plank intake with Stevens A-35 recorder Pinagcanauan de Tuguegarao River near Tuguegarao Cagayan Jose G Garcia assistant hydrographer and Norberto Ciriaco District Hydrographer on walkway May 14 1957

Staff gage on Jalaur River at Passi Iloilo From left to right 2 boys A Lacuesta Distr HydrogrLher J CorderoIrrig Distr Engr G Hargreaves J Regalado gagekeeper (kneeling) and onlooker May 8 1957

I

--- S

F National Power Corporation staff gage on Angat River above Ipo Dam now beingreplaced by a Bureau of Public Works recorder installation March 13 1957

O~

~A F~ ~~ shy- ~

~

- --

I ------ ~

A -~ 1

~ -- gt I~-

5 shy

- ~- ~ U

amp~~ -

2r~ ~k- ~ ~

National Power Cororation painted staff gage Bantay River near Bokod BenguetMountain Province Hydrographers helperstanding March 26 1957 Note lower markings faded

11

Whether any other changes are made or not it is the expressed

plan of the Hydrographic Section to have the District-Hydrographer

who is in charge of the Northern Mindanao District headquartered at

Cagayan de Oro

A considerable portion of the pay of district hydrographers and

their staffs comes directly from the Irrigation Section district

office at which they are headquartered rather than through the

Hydrographic Section This has had the effect of limiting their

efforts somewhat to project work rather than to general or all-purpose

investigations

Some of the other agencies particularly the National Power

Corporation obtain the cooperation of the Hydrographic Section in

helping operate certain gaging stations where a duplication of travel

can thus be avoided However the discharge measurements so made by

the Hydrographic Section are turned over to the NPC who make their

own computations of daily discharge The latter also sometimes pays

directly the salaries of certain gagekeepers Usually this cooperashy

tion does not involve an exchange of funds but some change in that

situation is recommended as explained later in this report

All agencies make their daily discharge records available to the

Hydrographic Section upon request and the plan is to have the later

agency include all such records in their publications No reproduction

machine is available in any of the offices and all copies of records

must be made individually in typing or longhand A machine is under

order by the Hydrographic Section

-fiUMBER OI~ GAGIiG~STATIONS-eP-ERATED IN-PIILIPPINES -

CALENDAR YEAR

YEA HYOROGRAPHIC

STAGE NATIONAL

SECTION PO R0 P

RIVEl CONTROL SECTON

TOT AL

DISCHARGE NATIONAL

HYDROGRAPHIC SECTION ORHYTGRPI SECTION POR

TOTAL TOA

RECORDING NON-REC TOTAL NON-REC NON-REC RECORDING NON-REC TOTAL

1908-1922 265 265 265

1923-1944 3 3 9 12

1945 6 6 6 15 15 2 17

1946 2 12 14 14 28 28 4 32

1947 3 11 14 14 29 29 4 33

1948 3 18 21 5 26 45 45 5 50

1949 3 13 16 6 5 27 74 74 15 89

1950 3 9 12 10 4 26 91 91 20 111

1951 3 15 18 10 4 34 103 103 17 120

1952 3 13 16 10 4 30 111 111 17 128 1953 3 17 20 11 17 48 1 96 97 23 120

1954 4 18 22 11 26 49 1 145 146 22 168

1955 4 18 22 13 19 54 1 207 208 27 235

1956 6 12 15 1 25 52 40 189 26 5

13

Various agencies have submitted lists of proposed gaging stations

which they would like to have installed to provide data for their

projects It is apparent that this work will be well coordinated in

the future and that the other agencies will come to rely more and

more on the Hydrographic Section for most of their basic stream-flow

records But they probably will continue to have their own personnel

make certain types of hydrographic investigations for the detailed

study of specific projects such as river profiles tailwater rating

curves etc

Financing

The main difficulty in regard to financing has been lack of

stability and continuity to the program and insufficient generalshy

fund money to permit the establishment of an all-purpose gaging proshy

gram In 1956 and 1957 the Hydrographic Section rec3ived P120000

(less than half of their total funds) for such general use with all

other monies either from counterpart funds (explained below) in theor

form of contributions from other agencies to cover certain gaging

expenses Another difficulty has been the lack of enough funds to

properly carry out the sudden large construction program generated by

the new ICA-furnished materials and instruments Most of the regular

hydrographic force has been assigned to construction during the last

twelve months or so because separate construction foremen or substitute

hydrographers could not be hired As a result the regular field

operation of gaging stations has suffered considerable neglect This

- - -

14

wuld not have been necessary if the Hydrographic Sections funds had

been flexible and appropriated on basis of a performance budget As

it is the Section must adhere to line items which spell out exactly

how all money is to be spent

The financing of an expanded 1958 program now appears to be

progressing satisfactorily largely from the counterpart monies

This fund consists of pesos allocated by the Philippine government

in an amount equivalent to the dollar value of imports furnished by

the ICA It is administered by the National Economic Council with

allocations subject to approval of the ICA on budget recommendations

received from Philippine government agencies In the case of water

resources programs they are assisted by recommendations of the Water

Resources Development Committee an NEC administratively appointed

body composed of representatives of ten agencies interested or inshy

volved in water development A rougn breakdown of the Hydrographic

Sections budget proposed for the fiscal year starting July 1 1957

is as follows

General Fund Pesos

Annual appropriation - ------------ 120000

Counterpart Funds

For bringing up to date the publication of

annual records plus a compilation - - - - 56000

For an expanded program of surface-water

investigations----------- - 500000

TOTAL - - - - - - 676000

The total funds available in 1955 and 1956 fiscal years were 180000

and 280000 respectively

It

a 7~

IC

U

i

Staff gage out of water Labangan River at Bagbag Calumpit Bulacan March 1 1957

7lt 2

I

fr

Gagekeeper and staff Jalaur River at Calinog Iloilo He read 10 centimeters low today because markings on lower part of gage were illegible

I-J May 8 1957

16 8

hational Power Corp staff gage painted on streamward side of cliff Lower markings gone and gagekeeper determines gage heights three times a day by wading to gage and measuring down with rule as shown in this picture Bokod R at Boiod Benguet Mountain Province March 26 1957

Bureau of Public Works staff gage station Gagekeeper has made readingsby measuring down from a nail since this section of gage was washed out by a flood Madlum River near Sibul Springs Bulacan April 25 1957

17

The only difficulty with counterpart financing is that it is

temporary and could conceivably leave the program stranded in a few

years when ICA aid is discontinued The necessity is recognized for

gradually obtaining regular Congressional appropriations to take the

place of counterpart funds An effort will also be made to have a

performance type of budget accepted because line items make the

program inflexible and prevent the best management and economy

It is recommended that other agencies desiring for their projects

certain stream flow records which cannot be financed from the regular

budget of the Hydrographic Section transfer funds annually (either in

advance or on a reimbursement basis) to the Hydrographic Section to

pay the extra costs required for the fulfilment of their requests

Design of the stream gaging program

As mentioned above the fiscal arrangements prevailing up to this

time have resulted in an almost total emphasis on project-type gaging

stations in the Philippines However I believe everyone is now in

agreement with the desirability or need for a nation-wide network of

index or runoff-per-square-kilometer type of stations which will sample

various runoff provinces such as those with different exposures to storms

and having different topography altitude geology type of land cover

etc The intensity of the network of stations in different regions

would vary depending upon the apparent future economic value or worth

of the water in each area This will be discussed in more detail in

the recommendations

18

In order to look over the existing program observe something of

the technical methods in use and see a variety of runoff and economic

types of areas in the islands to gain an idea of the type of stream

gaging network needed I have visited several regions accompanied most

of the time by Mr George Hargreaves It has been very helpful to me

to have him take such an interest in the detailed objectives of ry

assignment and I am sure it will facilitate Mrs Snellas work a great

deal to have available for consultation and guidance Mr Hargreaves

wide experience in water resources development and investigations

We were accompanied by Mr J C Regalado of the ydrographic Section

who made most of the advance contacts with field offices in connecshy

tion with our trips We usually travelled to central points by Philshy

ippine Air Lines and were then driven to nearby areas by field officials

of the Hydrographic Section and other agencies The hospitality and

cooperation of everyone toward us was exceptional and much appreciated

Besides a fairly detailed coverage of the Central Luzon area where an

intensified program is proposed our inspections included Northern

Luzon Southern Luzon (the Bicol region) Leyte Panay and several

parts of Mindanao In addition we made a special effort to observe

the country all along the routes of airplane flights taken and that

coupled with airplane stops made on other islands gave us a fairly

comprehensive view of the geography of the Philippines It is upon

this that my recommendations concerning the design of a stream gaging

program are based

19

Bquipment and technical methods-

The stream gaging equipment and methods used by the Hydrographic

Section since 1908 have been patterned mainly after those of the US

Geological Survey as described in the 1904 publication H4ydrographic

Manual Thus it appears likely that the methods and accuracy stanshy

dards have changed but little since the Philippine program was started

Stream gaging tecniques used by the other agencies are similar but

they have not had the advantage of some of the new ICA-furnished equipshy

ment This is expected to be remedied in the aid allocations for fiscal

year 1958

Although some use has been made of the 2-8 method of measuring

discharge present practice is limited almost entirely to the 6method

for low and medium stages and the sub-surface method for high stages

for the latter the meter is suspended over a 15-E weight and set 03

meter below the surface with a coefficient of 0915 applied

The number of verticals or measuring points taken in the cross

section usually is between 8 and 15 No bridge cranes or suspension

reels of any kind have been available all discharge work other than

with wading rod having been done by hand line All this is about to

be changed with the recent arrival of the first ICA-furnished sounding

reels weights and tag lines purchased from 1956 FY funds

Staff gages are read to the nearest centimeter (about 0033 foot)

Most of the gages would be difficult to read to any closer limit alshy

though a few stations have Leupold Stevens enameled gages with levelshy

rod type markings

20

The hydrographer records his discharge measurement notes in a

small bound pocket-size book which he carries until it is full After

each measurement is computed in the field a complete copy of the notes

is made on a card and mailed to the Manila office I am informed

that the bound notebooks are practically never lost or dropped in

the water With the increased amount of flood measuring expected to

be done in the future that situation might change

Rating curves are drawn to average large groups of discharge

measurements Large rectangular-scale cross section sheets are used

Percentage differences of the measured values with respect to the

rating table are not computed A minimum of use is made of Stoutshy

method shifts

The water-stage recorders furnished to date by the ICA have been

manufactured with time scales of either 03 inch per day (the FM

model) or 48 inches per day (the A-35 model) The former scale is

too small for satisfactory use in most stream gaging and the latter

is too large Thirty pairs of time scale gears have been ordered for

converting the A-35s from 48 to 24 inches per day Upon inquiry at

the factory it was learned that no conversion of the FM recorders is

possible An exchange of 25 of them is being made with the ground

water program for an equivalent value in A-35 recordero but the

remaining 65 will be used at the surface water stations They are

very satisfactory on lakes or spring-fed streams or large streams

whose fluctuations are not too sudden

21

Ipo dam on Angat River which diverts water to supply City of Manila and surrounding area March 13 1957 Reservoir is traversed by boat in reaching the gaging station upstream

Ready to leave Ipo Dam for gaging station 6 kilqmeters upstream B Ramos and J Regalado in oanca March 13 1957

4 ~ s~

B Ramos making discharge measurement by wading on Angat River above Ipo DamMarch 13 1957 Spacings between verticals were obtained from cable makings byline hanging from cable car

23

At non-recording gages it has been the custom to hire gagekeepers

at uniform or statutory rates of 025 or P30 per month (not related

to the distance traversed in going to the gage) to obtain readings

three times a day The pay has been the same even where the gage is

located several kilometers away from the gagekeepers home The system

has certain disadvantages which may affect the accuracy of the records

At some stations the pay is too high while at others it is too low

Three readings a day are not necessary most of the time for adequately

developing the hydrograph especially during the dry season and a

request for obviously unnecessary readings seems to put too severe a

test upon human nature It is practically an open invitation to a

certain amount of faking I doubt that it should be held against a

gagekeeper to put down some estimated readings under those circumstances

any more than it would be to blame children for taking candy or cookies

from a forbidden plate left openly in their midst The question then

becomes - what readings can be relied upon and what cannbt I sincerely

believe that a more accurate daily discharge record can be prepared in

the office from a few completely reliable gage readinrs per week by

means of hydrographic comparisons with recording-gage records from

nearby stations and with less expense than can be produced by proshy

cessing comparing and weeding out questionable parts from a complete

(on paper) record of three readings a day A gagekeepers habit

developed during the dry season of not going to the gage when it is

inconvenient or he doesnt feel like it is bound to crop up during

the high water season as well with the result that all his readings

24

must be looked at critically and considered reliAble only after

unusually extensive comparisons are made with weather records and

other stations

In regard to specialized stream gaging equipment listed below

are the amounts purchased by the ICA up to the present time

Ordered from Ordered from Being FY 1955 PPA 1956 PPA ordered Delivered in Delivered in from 1957

May 1956 May 1957 PPA

Canfield reels 0 6 8

Type A reels 0 6 2

Canfield tag lines 0 15 0

A-35 recorders 20 10 25

FM recorders 65 25 0

Enameled gage secs 400 600 200

Currer meter outfits inc ding rod headphonehanuline and 15-pound weight 11 10 0

Pygmy meters 0 0 10

Bridge cranes 0 3 0

Sounding wts 30-lb 0 0 10

50-lb 0 0 10

I i 75-lb 0 0 1

I 100-lb 0 0 1

Stopwatches 20 10 0

Being purchased as models for possible future use in procurement of

weights of local manufacture

25

~-

-~ ~- shy

~-

4rshy~~L~zu 1 - ~ A-

-~ - ~jj ~

~- k ~ ~

Helper and P Nubio National Power Corporationpreparing to make discharge measurement Tag marks of grass being tied to line Bantay River near Bokod Benguet Mountain Province March 26 1957

-- ~ 4

V

Helper holding meter in place suspended on a weight hanger while revolutions are counted oy hydrographer P Nubio E P Nbesamis is at extreme right March 26 1957

26

-p --shy

t-~-- - -

A ~

A~4 ~ 4

A -Y

- -

- - - -

gt~ ~ ~-

Z4z4a - ~z

- shy -~-~shy

4shy- --

I NPC discharge party on Bokod River at-Bokod BenguetMountain Province Helper and gagekeeper holding meter and 15-pound weight in position P Nubio on shore counting revolutions and recording notes March 26 1957

Ar 7

-~ I

0 I 15-pound weight used in discharge measurement work by the NPC hydrographer stationed at Ambuklao Dam March 26 1957

27

Recommendations

A sharp expansion in the stream gaging program of the Philippines

has occurred recently brought about not only by the ICAs economic and

technical aid program but also by the growing local demand for water

resources information It is inevitable that some organizational

changes would be required to accommodate such a sudden growth This

subject was discussed in conferences with Mr Saddam and Mr Regalado

and the following list of special objectives agreed upon They had a

number of these in mind or partly in effect already and were planning

to gradually adopt several others The items are listed here in order

to express my reasons for wanting to see them completely implemented

within the next two or three years They are as follows

A It is recommended that the district offices compute their own disshy

charge records and prepare them for publication for final review

in the central office in ranila

1 Additional engineers would be needed in each district office

and fewer engineers in the Manila office

2 At least the district hydrographer and preferably one other

engineer in addition should be trained in the office work in

Manila before the records were transferred to a district

3 Each engineer in a district office would be given a field area

which he would cover by a round of discharge measurements once

every 4 to 6 weeks each coverage taking about 2 weeks Betshy

ween trips he would do office work preferably on the same

stations that he covers in the field

28

4 Benefits of thissystem are believed to be as follows

a Records requested could be furnished more quickly to the

public especially to those in the district area

b This kind of a close tie between field and office work has

been found to greatly improve the quality of the records

the economy of operation and the performance and developshy

ment of the individual engineers

c The alternating of each person between field and office

work makes him (1) more competent in the field work and

also more competent in the office work than is possible

in segregated office and field groups and (2) permits

him to be home more of the time and lead a more normal

lifc thus increasing his morale and efficiency

5 Personnel arrangements recommended are

a Offer more rapid promotion to those who transfer like

from Manila to a field office or between field offices

b Encourage each man to transfer every few years with

faster promotions as an incentive It has been found

that this develops an engineers competence more rapidly

than if he stays in one office indefinitely Such ability

repays the government in added officiency and production

to an extent greater than its cost in extra salary

B Certain organization changes are recommended as follows

1 Appoint an Office Engineer a Field Engineer and (whenever

needed) a Construction Engineer They would be headquartered

__

V 29

2

~- ~

q

Ambuklao Dam on Agno River Generating capacity 75000 kw Powerplant is underground March 2557

7- t

-JI

Maria Cristina falls and power plant on Agus River River near Iligan Lanao Province Mindanao Present installed capacity 50000 kw May 1 1957

30

II I

Looking downstream at the Binga dam site on Agno River about 15 kilometers east of Baguio March 25 1957

Looking upstream at the Marikina dam site on Marikina River at Wawa near Montalban Rizal about 25 kilometers northeast of Manila April 5 1957

31

in the Manila office and act under the general supervision of

the head of the Section with the following responsibilities

to be included

a Office Engineer

(1) Be responsible for the discharge computations and

related office work in the Manila field district or

area

(2) Be responsible for review and final preparation for

publication of all records in the nation

(3) See that a progress chart of status-of-record compushy

tations is maintained in each district office and

that a summary statement concerning such progress is

sent to the central office at least quarterly

(4) Be responsible for research in office methods and

equipment (See footnote on next page)

b Field Engineer

(1) Act as first assistant to head of the Section of

Hydrography

(2) Be responsible for field operation vork throughout the

nation

(a) Make at least one annual field inspection in each

district

(b) Develop the system in every headquarters of keepshy

ing a running chronological chart of the discharge

measurements made at each gaging station or

32W

scheduled miscellaneous site A form in use in

Tacoma Washington has been found to be very conshy

venient for this purpose Such a chart gives the

supervisor a quick overall view of the status of

the field work and serves as a check at end of

the year to make sure all measurements have been

listed and counted

(3) Be responsible for the design of the stream gaging

network and the selection of sites for new gaging

stations

(4) Be responsible for research in field methods and

equipment

Construction Engineer

(1) Give general supervision and management to the conshy

struction program

(a) Obtain assignment of resident engineer or foreman

for each job

(b) See that the materials are made available Help

the foreman in every way possible in organizing

the job procuring emergency equipment or supplies

and making decisions about serious problems that

may arise on the job

If funds became available for considerable research it probably

would be better to appoint a special Research Engineer

33

~A

Cagayan River gaging station near Cagayan de OroMisamis Oriental Mindanao April 30 1957 Note how corrugated pipe recorder structure was bent by flood J C Regalado J J Ponco gagekeeper and G H Hargreaves in foreground

-

V

View of staff gage and control on Binakaan River at Tifigib near Pastrana Leyte Stream divided by a barand control excavated for unknown reason May 6 1957 J Regalado by the sign and G Hargreaves at right

Cable footbridge below Binga dam site Tree anchorage for cableway onformerly used by NPC in making Angat River above Ipo Damdischarge measurements P Nubio and March 13 1957E Abesamis of NPC on bridge March 25 1957

35

(c) Visit the major jobs occasionally to see that

they are proceding satisfactorily in all the

islands Make sure the stations are installed

according to instructions and plans An approved

sketch plan showing dimensions and elevations is

desirable for each construction job

(d) Prepare first draft of each new station description

(e) Prepare brief construction report including costs

A form in use at Tacoma Washington has been found

convenient for this purpose

C The following policies in regard to gagekeepers are recommended

1 Start a gradual change-over to paying each gagekeeper on basis

only of the hours he works plus a basic amount for taking the

responsibility This may result in increasing the pay of some

but it should reduce the pay of a much larger number

2 Convert most gagekeepers to two readings a day most of the time

with one or more additional readings during floods In some of

the drier parts of the Central Luzon area in cases where gages

are remote from habitation request only one reading a day

during the dry months such as from January through May inclushy

sive more than that are believed to cost more than they are

worth and are an open invitation to the reporting of estimated

readings

3 When a new recorder installation is at a barrio or bridge where

it appears unlikely to be vandalized try running the station

36

without hiring a gagekeeper If this system proves successful

discontinue the services of the gagekeepers at certain selected

recorders At all other recorders reduce the number of readshy

ings required to one per day and reduce their pay accordingly

If a gagekeeper prefers not to accept a lower monthly rate for

fewer readings it is suggested that he resign except in cases

where security of the station structures or right-of-way favors

may be involved

Proceed on the principle that a saving in public tax money from

the above reforms is more important than supporting gagekeepers

just because they depend on the income and need the money The

present dependence of a gagekeeper on his P300 or P360 a year

and the hardship he must undergo in adjusting to a lower rate

of pay for the job are not believed to be sufficient reasons

for continuing indefinitely to pay him more than necessary

However it is recommended that he be given 30 or 60 days

notice before a reduction in pay is placed in effect

D Vehicles

1 It is recommended that a gradual change-over be made from the

short-wheelbase open Jeep to the Jeep station wagon as a hydroshy

graphers car Benefits should be as follows

a The car can be locked leaving only the tires as attractive

to thieves

b The station wagon has more space As the hydrographers

became better equipped that space will be needed

37

Bamboo-and-grass shelters built and used by crew during construction of gaging station on Angat River above Ipo Dam March 13 1957

3

4

-Ti LP

Proposed site for new index-type gaging station selected on Baoas River near Mangatarem Pangasinan above all diversions by Regalado Romasanta dargreaves and Veatch April 15 1957 Photo by J S Romasanta

38

Taking Philippine Airlines plane at Legaspi Albayfor Manila on May 17 1957 Mount Mayon 7960 feet high in background

I

N 1 x

Y

I

Showing typical vehicle used on the reconnaissance and inspection trips over the Philippines

39

c For occasional errands or trips it will be feasible for

only oneman to take the car because he can lock the con

tents when the car is not attended

d It may possibly develop in some parts of the Philippines

that a hydrographer for a certain area will not need a

driver-helper and thereby a saving in funds can be made

However such a change should be made only on a trial

basis and is not recommended until conditions so warrant

and until the hydrographer involved is satisfied with the

change or else desires it

E Certain technical stream-gaging procedures are recommended to be

followed in the Philippine Islands hydrographic work at the average

gaging station by all agencies doing stream gaging as follows

1 Obtain a discharge measurement once every four to six weeks

throughout the year

2 Furnish the hydrographer with a print of the station descripshy

tion and of the rating curve and require him as a general rule

to compute and plot his discharge measurement in the field

3 Have the gage read both before and after each discharge measureshy

ment and the readings recorded on the field notes

4 Use a loose-leaf discharge-measurement note form or forms

containing a summary page patterned to some extent after the

forms in use by the USGS Bound notes make it too inconshy

venient or perhaps impossible for the office engineer to

examine the notes for a whole year when he analyzes a station

record

40

5 Gradually change to the use of ehameled steel gage plates

instead of painted gages because their initial cost is less

and they are more durable Plates graduated somewhat like

those of the US Geological Survey are believed much better

than those stocked by private companies While here I drew

up a suggested design for local manufacture which appealed

to the Hydrographic Section

6 Obtain levels at staff gages at least once a year especially

on the low section of gage Replace or repair each low secshy

tion soon after it becomes damaged or the markings become

indistinct

7 Continue as a general rule to use the 6-depth method with

the sub-surface method for deep swift water Obtain a comshy

plete cross section as soon as feasible after the high water

has subsided

8 Gradually change to the use of heavier sounding weights so

that the 6-depth method with soundings can be used at high

water in any event take soundings and velocities as far out

as practicable from each bank at flood stages then go across

deep part of channel with sub-surface method Check subshy

surface method coeficients whenever practicable by means of

vertical velocity curves Until such checks show otherwise

use a coefficient of 090

9 Compute discharge measurements by the mid-section method

This saves time (and money) and is at least as accurate as the

41

other method Request hydrographers to bear the method in mind

when selecting verticals near edges of channel or at breaks in

the cross section It is recommended that in the interests of

economy this change be made at an early date

10 Consider 20 as a desirable number of verticals in an average

stream cross section Continue to time the meter revolutions

for 40 to 60 seconds at each setting Someday if more accushy

racy is desired in hydrographic work in the Philippines it

would be appropriate to standardize on 30 verticals per measureshy

ment provided the 2-8 depth method were used and the gages

were read to fractions of a centimeter For the present it

seems consistent to take about 20 verticals when using the 6

method and with gages read only to the nearest centimeter

11 Use steel tag lines for wading measurements Paint bridge

rails and cables with markings sufficiently close together

that they can be used rapidly to determine stationing between

them When installing the paint marks use standard intervals

of either 1 meter 2 meters or 5 meters To avoid confusion

do not use intervals of 3 or 4 meters If measuring intervals

are to be 1 meter or less it is very convenient to have a

mark available every meter If intervals are between 1 and 5

meters use a mark every 2 meters A good system for making

the marks readily identifiable is to place 1 paint mark at

each basic interval like every 2 meters then put 2 marks every

10 meters 3 every 50 meters and 4 at 100 meters

42

use on12 Always tags the portion of the meter suspension line

that goes in the water The tags usually consist of small

pieces of colored cloth taped tightly to the line They

should be watched and checked occasionally against slippage

and error The tags should not be more than one meter apart

and should be spaced to give maximum convenience and speed in

measuring the discharge

13 As it may becoin feasible convert Type A current meters to

Type AA The more deeply recessed bearing of the Type AA

meter provides more durability of the pivot and bearing

because trapped air excludes most of the water and silt the

longer pivot results in a relatively lower center of gravity

of the bucke t wheel with respect to the point of bearing and

results in smoother performance

F Design of the stream gaging network

1 Everyone seem3 to agree with the objective of a network of

well-distributed long-term base stations for giving runoffshy

per-square-kilometer values representative of the general

area in which each station is located As rapidly as practishy

cable stations should be L d n the o ting netrk

and designated as base or index stations for permanent operashy

tion They should be the best stations both hydraulically

and as to equipment and should be free from upstream regushy

lation or diversion Where needed new base stations should

be installed as soon as they can be financed to appropriately

L11 out the network

43

2 In between such base stations it is desirable to sample smaller

basins with short-term records of various lengths which can be short term

correlated with the long records For this purpose thestashy

tion structures should be constructed so that they are as moveshy

able or salvageable as possiblej Often these movable stations

will be operated at or near specific project sites

3 It usually is more economical and satisfactory to gage a stream

at a highway crossing or other convenient place rather than

exactly at a project site later the data can be transferred

to the project site by means of drainage area proportions

checked by obtaining at the site e

two miscellaneous measurements or possibly in some cases a

whole year of record

4 A method for studying the existing network of stations to see

whether the intensity of coverage is satisfactory or not is to

plot correlations between the various station records prefershy

ably following the present methods of the USGS

5 It has been found advantageous to classify all gaging stations

that are in operation using categories somewhat like these

areal network base stations primary and secondary main stream

stations and water management stations This procedure is

helpful in planning how long various stations should be operated

Detailed information about station classification methods is

available from the U S Geological Survey for use as a guide

The Technical Training Program

Early plans

When this assignment was given to me it was anticipated that a

series of across-the-table discussions would be held with small groups

of hydrographers from the Philippine government bureaus engaging in

such work Detailed procedures would be discussed without formality

But when arrangements were initiated for such conferences I was inshy

formed that among those wanting to attend were many at the managerial

level as well as a number of representatives of agencies interested

more in water development projects than in resource investigations

These could not be turned down so it was necessary to revise the

agenda to include more of general interest

Later developments

In view of the wide experience and high rank of many prospective

attendants of the conference it did not seem appropriate to call it

a lecture series or school and the name Seminar On Water Resources

was decided upon The agenda is included in this report and will be

self-explanatory Registered attendance for each of the three weeks

was 68 72 and 70 persons respectively for a total of 210 The

setting for the Seminar can best be understood from the photographs

Conditions as a whole were good although the tape-recording of the

entire three weeks of proceedings and the need for a member to come

F M Veatch and Water Resources Seminar group week of April 8-12 1957 at Bureau of Public Highways conference building Manila

I y

rT

I

4

47

forward and use the microphone whenever he asked a question or made a

comment was somewhat of a dampener oh discussion When preparing the

agenda I assumed that few besides the hydrographers would attend the

sessions on technical details of stream gaging scheduled for Wednesday

to Friday yet the entire membership stayed through the full program

each week and so no small-group round-table discussions were practicable

It developed later that the language barrier was a little more

serious than first realized Also it was not evident at first that

many present did not know what a gaging station was One of the main

benefits gained from the field trip was to show them a typical station

along with some equipment Taken as a whole it is believed that the

Seminar was successful and worthwhile

The sending of trainees from the Hydrographic Section to the

United States by ICA is very effective in supplementing the technical

assistance rendered directly by American personnel in the Philippines

and it should be continued as long as possible

Acknowledgments

Announcements and invitations to attend the Seminar were sent to

numerous agencies and offices by the Hydrographic Section who also

made all arrangements such as for space registration loud speaker

system tape recordings and recess refreshments The Bureau of

Public Highways made their new conference building available and the

National Media Center furnished a slide projector screen and room

all of which were greatly appreciated The introductory talks by

48

several busy executives including Director J A Buendia and Messrs

A T Alano R R Lord P G Afable and D Rosell with Mr Tomas

Saddam acting as master of ceremonies contributed ideas and gave

each weeks session a good send-off

Publications

Copies of the following publications of the U S Geological

Survey (one by Bureau of Reclamation and one from ASCE) were disshyon

play at the Seminar at all times for inspection by the members Alshy

though they were requested not to take the publications away quite a

few copies gradually became missing

Irrigation Water Measurement Tables and Diagrams by U S

Bureau of Reclamation

ASCE Separate 413 - Backwater Effects of Open Channel

Constrictions

Stage-Fall Discharge Relation for Steady Flow in Prismatic

Channels Water-Supply Paper 1164

Topographic Characteristics of Drainage Basins W S P 968C

Weir Experiments Coefficients and Formulas WSP 200

Handbook for Hydrologists - Chapters 1 - 11

Chapter 1 -- Instructions for Flood Frequency Compilations

Chapter 2 -- ledian Discharge Computation Methods

Chapter 3 -- Instructions for Abstracting Topographic

Characteristics of Drainage Basins

i

-Imr- I

1 N

L

V10J~

C R Mirray explaining a ground water formula

Ii

17t

o

Water Resources Seminar group at gaging station on Marikina River near Montalban Rizal about an hours drive northeast of Manila April 12 1957

51

-- Channel Storage and Flood Routing

-- Extending Stream-flow Records

Chapter 6 -- Double Mass Curves

Chapter 7-A- Frequency Curves of Low Flows and Storage

Requirements

Chapter 8 -- Flood Frequency Analyses

Chapter 9 -- Small Stream Investigations

Chapter 10 - Hydrologic Definitions

Chapter 11 - Base-Flow Recession-Curves

Computation of Backwater at Open Channel Constrictions

Floods in Western Washington Frequency and Magnitude in

Relation to Drainage Basin Characteristics GS Circular 191

Floods in Georgia Frequency and Magnitude GS Circular 100

Stream-Gaging Procedure - A Manual Describing Methods and

Practice of the Geological Survey - WSP 888

Investigation of Methods and Equipment used in Stream Gaging

Part 2 Intakes For Gage Wells

Computation of Peak Discharge through Culverts

Computation of Backwater at Open-Channel Constrictions

Equipment for River Measurements Structures for Cableways

by Charles H Pierce

Computation of Peak Discharge at Contractions Circular 284

Care and Rating of Current Meters

Surface Water Supply o the United States 1950 Parts 1 - 14

52

In addition to the above publications a two-page single-spaced

memorandum entitled Plotting Flood Frequency Curves (Extracted from

U S Geological Survey publications) was prepared by me under date

of April 3 1957 and handed to each member of the Seminar each week

The program or agenda for the Seminar one copy of which was

given to each member follows on Pages 53 to 63 inclusive The

graphs on Page 63 were referred to during the talks

53

March 29 1957

AGENDA FOiR SEMINARZ ON WATER RESCURCES AND STAE4 GAGING

IN THE PHILIPPINES

PLACE Conference hoom 2nd Floor Bureau of Public Highways Building Second Street Port Area Manila

TIKE April 1-5 8-12 and 22-26 (same program each week)

CONDUCTED BY M1r i 1 Veatch District EngineerSurface WaterBranch Jater Aesources Division United States Geological Suver Thcoma ashington who is un three-month assignment with the ICA

Held in connoction with the Philippine Government-ICA water resources program

54

GENERAL PROGRAM MONDAY AND TUESDAY

honday morning 830

Opening remarks Mr Julian A Buendia Director Bureau of Fublic Works Mr R R Lord Chief Public Works Division ICA Mr G H Hargreaves Hydraulic Engineer ICA

Importance of water resources and their investigation

The hydrologic cycle Evaporation transpiration and precipitation Runoff

Daily discharge record and the hydrograph Storm runoff Base flow

Grou~nd Water Very brief description (this subject to be covered

iaore fully on Tuesday afternoon)

General characteristics of natural stream runoff in the Philippines Quantity

Adequacy Comparison with United States

Variations with time Day to day and year to year Long-term trends

Distributin by area General over the Philippine Islands Variations between nearby drainage basins

Effect of location elevation geology cover etc

Major uses of stream-flow data Many years of rccornds should be crnsidered Granting water r phts

Protect existing rights Prevent capital expenditures where water supply inadequate

Planning river basin developments including municipal supply irrigation pnwer flood control etc

Destping structures such as dams reservoirs dikes floodways canals pumping systems power plants bridges etc

Accuracy and extent of dat needed for minimizing underdesign or wasteful overdesign

Cost of water-supply data in relation to total cost of a project

Operating water projects Distribution of water on projects Operation of storage reservoirs and diversion dams

To make maximum use uf water supply Designing alterations or enlargements to existing projects

RECESS 1000 to 1015

55 -3-

Monday morning (Continued) 1015 aim

Management of the stream gaging program Foreseeing the needs for stream-flow records

Study population and industrial trends Keep inforned on water-development plans and

prgraIIs of all agencies Continuity of the records

Essential for wator-supply studies Regular financinp reouired

Annual appropriations a poundfccted by temporary econoidc or political conditions

Permanent type of financing needed Surcharge method License fee method

-Dissemination of the data Annual publication Occasional summary compilations Furnishing advance cupies of unpublished records Furnishing current data - daily weekly or munthly

wherever required Special water resources investigation agency desirable

Briefly dancribe United States organization Uniform tecnical standards Uniform ways of presenting data One series of publicatiens Distributial center for basic water data Genera l-coverage program requires close coordination

for economy of operation Personal requirements

Engineers Engir ring aids Computers Clerks

ADJOURN - 1145

Resume after lunch only if necessary for completing the above subjects

56

Tueday morning 830

Design of a comprehensive stream gjaging program General rrinciIlac

Represenkc tive runoff-type provinces should be sainpled with stations of various classes

Vary the intensity of coverage with probable intenshysity of water use

Follow tiie tcends variations with records fromand L sri etatiorns secondary

Correlate resultls one continually adjustnetwork Classification of ra-in stationa

Areal prinary and secondary viain strem priiary nd secondary Water-manmfciact stat-i ons Miscellanous dischaige mcasurements

Correlating the dat obttined in comprehensive program Logarithmic pajer Five years of lecord uscd What is a good corrclation

Analyses of data Flood frcouencjs

Annual serics Partial duration series

Low-flow frecuencies Low-flow duration hydrograph

Extending strewm-flow records Comparisons witi other gaging stations Rainfall-runoff correlations

Quality of water Temperature

Intermittent observations Recorders

Chemical gtuality Element -Dissolved solids

Suspended iaterial Time of cecurrence-floods Sampling

Methods Cost

RECESS - 1000 to 1015

57

- 5 -

Tuesday afternoon 130

Ground water (This subject conducted by Mr C R Murray) Occurrence

Water table Artesian Lakes

Movement Through the ground Into stream channels

Availability Geologic structure Aquifers Funing tests

Recharge Froa precipitation Artificial Froma induced lateral movement

Investigation Geology Springs Logs of dug and drilled wells Test wells

lecording Lanual

Quantitative studies Chemical quality analyses

Mincral ccontnt Sallt water intrusion

Drilling of wells for production use Ground water rirhts

Depletion of ground water reservoirs teyond rccharge capability

ADJOURN at 330

Geologist Ground Water Branch dater Resources Division U 6 Geological Survey who is on two-ywar assignment with ICA

58

PROGRAM ON STREMvi GAGING PROCEDURE WEDNESDAY TO FRIDAY

4ednesday morning 830

Establishing and constructing gaging stations Selection of site

Consider najor probable uses of the record Investigate extent of upstream diversion and

-egulation Utilize contour naps Obtain list of nmrjor water right applications

iydraulic conditicns Section control Shifting channel Overbank flow Dackwater

Accessibility Avoid too much expense Need to reach quickly to measure flash floods

Natural protection front flood damage Avoid excessively expensive construction conditions

Bed iock Quick sand Too-longintake pipes

For non-rccording gage choose site convenient to

one or more local gage readers

Survey of site Bank cross-prefile at gage Cross section at cable Plan

Right of way Oral pervrission ritten permission

Easement Land purchase

RECESS - 945 to 1000

- 7 - 59

Wednesday morning (Continued) 100)

Construction Select types and sizes of structures To fit purpose oi the record Plan later salva e (for secondary stations) For economy of operation (for example design cableway to

operat mesily) Adapt availabic standard plans to fit the site Keep costs to hclp in future estimating Make brief construction report for future assistance in

planninr sililar Jobs Prepare staLion descripLion

Road log distences etc for How to reach paragraph Descriptions of gages bench marks etc Dimensions cf structuis Gage datum elevations of portinent parts of structures

Operating and maintaining gaging stations Records of stage

Choice of dtum Arbitrcry local datum

Set gages so there will be no minus gage readings

Mean sea level datum May be used but has disadvantages

1hen later adjustments are made to level networks

Gages have to be reset or Equation must be published

Non-recording gages Types

Vertical staff Inclined staff

ire-weight Crest-stage gages

Refinement of graduations ake adequate for accuracy of record needed

Maintatling dat of gage Adequate number of local reference marks Take levels at least once a year

Work o- local gare reader Fy according to approx number of hours worked Do not roruire too many roadings for the

conditions Warm (with omphasis) against my guessed

readings Inform reader anv errors in reading will

show up in hydrogrq oic comtparisons Engineers obtain check readings whenever

possible Visit gage reader frequently a d show inshy

terest in his gage-height record Encourage reader to retain personal copy

ADJOURN at 1145

60

Thursday morning 800

Records of stage (continued) Recording gages

Select type of instrument and its scales to fit conditions at gaging station

Weekly or continuous recorder Recorder scales Range of stage Rate of change of stage Availability of someone to change weekly

chart Work of Cage inspector of keeper

Avoid resetting pen Repurt any trash or debris causing backwater

at gage Do not have a gage keeper unless needed

aintaining gage datum Check outside gae by levels annually Keep outside gage sections reset to datum

Standard reference gage Inside gage of soie sort preferable

Staff Float-tape Anchor type

Intake action Clean or flush pipes after floods Slot intakes Self-cleaning iitakes

For pipe gage wells For wells built into bridge piers

Draw-down (where excessive) Use bapfle or static tube

Elood marks at station Make record of well-defined high water

marks

AECESS - 945 to 1000

- 9 - 61

Thursday morning (Continudd) 1000

Discharge measuroments Current hmeters

Price Type A Type AA

Pygmpy Carc of inters

Sounding weights E-typc C-type

Lead Brono

Type of notebook Loose shects Loose-leaf book Bound booL

Measurement of depth aeding rod Tag-line nethod Vertical-nglc coofficients Sounding during floods

Ilacemont of mter Sub--surface method 2-depth n cthod 6-de-pth icthod 2- imetY od

Number of verticals Velocity -urgcs

Miscellaneous f-ctors Effect of bridge piers Horizontal angle of current Insufficient weight on current water

1Mean gage hoitht for a discharge measurement Special methods of (Itermining flood discharge

Floats Slope-area method

Rating curv- etonsion method Arca and velocity curves Loparithmic plottig

Contrqctd-opening mothod Flow ovcr dams

Report on condition of control Carry station description and rating curve in field

Ubtain another me asurement if needed If first indicates large shift If new station and stagc advantagoous for

defining blank part of rating curve

ADJOUffN - 1145 AI

Resumne atfter lunch only if necessary for comploting the above subjects

62

- 10 -

Friday morning S00

A few remarks about office methods Rating curves

Log-log paper Upward extonsions Dowmward extensions

Rectangular plotting Computing recorder charts

M-ark index correction and time correction for each inspection reading

Break midnight lines at raph Never oblitertte or mark over the original trace Nake office markings on chart distinctive from

those mad( At the gage Use of colored pencils by computer and checker is one good wa)y

Daily discharge record Flot hydrograph Compare over light box with other stations

This method preferable to plotting several station records on same sheet

Concluding discussions

RECESS - 945 to 1000

Projection of gaging station equipment Lnd scenic slides taken in the United States and Canada

ADJOURN - 1145

Field trip Cars will be available at the conference building to

take members to the raging station on arikina iRivei at ontalban about an hours drive from Manila where a brief demonstration of certain field equipment will be given

Return to noL later thanoanila 500 FL

---

- Ishy4 ~7L~

0F OllY LISCIiRE 4- 1 -shy

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- O 1 B -- 2r 2 ZZ 23 24 2 c 26 7 8 2717x I 2

_~ I 027 _d- 1 2 shy

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- _______________ Pnu~ OAgvhshy

-~ ~-r- 1 - V-shy- i-shytvkty--- in--a-- -~ ~Z2m7~ ~

- ~ ~-~-----~- V 1~5~ LTLL2P7o -4----4 1 -- I -- I I _ __ --- -- -- - - L - - I ----

~- ~y~-~ 64 4

N

A il

Seminar members observing demonshystrat-n of measurshying e -pment by F M Veatch at Marikina River gaging station April 12 1957

I

Water Resources Seminar members observing working model of proppsed Binga Dam at the hydraulics laboratory of University of the Philippines April 12 1957

65

Current meter rating flume mechanism Y 22 1957

Current meter rating flume mechanism May 22 1957

66

Current Meter Rating Station

The new current meter rating station at the University of the

Philippines (see photographs) was not quite ready for use before I

left the country The mechanism and instruments were manufactured

in Germanyobtained thru ICA-NEC procurement for the Water Resources

Program of the Department of Public Works and have been installed by

Professor Alberto Villares and his hydraulics laboratory staff under

Dean C A Ortigas of the College of Engineering with some guidance

by Professor Edward L Ericksen of the University of Michigan who is

a civil engineer on detail here with the Stanford Group Professor

Villares spent 18 months in the hydraulics laboratory of the Univershy

sity of Iowa

There is every evidence that this rating flume will with expeshy

rience do work accurate enough not only for determining differences

in ratings between current meters but also for preparing absolute or

independent ratings This can be reported on more fully at some

later date by Messrs Hargreaves and Snell

The Central Luzon Region Program

The Water Resources Development Committee is preparing a recomshy

mended plan for the expedited multiple-purpose development of the

water resources of the Central Luzon region The area contains oneshy

sixteenth of the land surface and one-fourth of the population of the

Philippines and is termed the rice granary of the nation It is to

be used as an example or experiment in water and land development

67

The Committee has requested member agencies to submit estimates

of the minimum amount of additional basic data needed for making a

useful report and for proceeding with development projects Such

estimates are to include mapping soil surveys dam and reservoir site

surveys water resources surveys and other items A preliminary

report is to be prepared soon summarizing the existing information

pointing out the need for additional dataand submitting estimates

of cost for the further investigations needed An outline for the

final report has been prepared and distributed so it will be availashy

ble as a guide and funds for the first years efforts are being

sought for fiscal year 1958 It appears reasonable that the report

on a comprehensive plan could be submitted to the President and

Congress of the Philippines in about five years

With the assistance of Mr Hargreaves I have prepared estimates

for a surface water measurement program to complement the existing

program It is designed to fill the worst gaps in the present netshy

work Details are subject to change as more reconnaissance informashy

tion becomes available as only five days were spent covering the area

by automobile Unit costs were provided by the Hydrographic Section

and they include cost of preparation of the records for publication

Estimates were submitted as given below They were supported by a

detailed list of stream names and locations which included desigshy

nations as to the primary purpose or type of each proposed new gaging

station and whether a recording or non-recording gage was recommended

It is available for reference in both the ydrographic Section and

ICA offices

68

New gaging stations

1 Daily discharge type

Installation (including cableways where needed)

Recording ------- 7 Pl650 11550

Non-recording --- 4 950 3800 15350

Operation 1st year -11 660 7260 P22610

2 High water type (flood records)

Installation

Gages (nonshy

recording) ----- 4 150 600

Measuring equipment 800 1400

Operation 1st year - 4 300 1200 2600

Total for new gaging stations ------------- 25210

Miscellaneous discharge measurements

1 4 or 5 during dry season Nov - April

4 sites x 5 per site = 20 30 ---------------- 600

2 1 or 2 during low part of year March and April

37 sites x l per site = 55 k30 ------------- 1650

Total for miscellaneous measurements ------ 2250

Total -------------- -2746o

69

Rainfall And Evaporation Stations

Existing network

A map examination of the existing network of rain gages was made

and a surprisingly large number were found to be in operation -- 2

recording and 115 manual stations or a total of 117 They are beshy

lieved to be fairly adequate in number and are well distributed

areally over the Philippines but like in the United States are conshy

fined largely to the lower altitudes where the agricultural and urban

population live In addition to these records are available for

various lengths of time from about 8 discontinued Weather Bureau

stations and from more than 300 haciendas reforestaion stations

and provincial rnrseries

Additional gages

The Weather Bureau and the Bureau of Public Works are cooperating

in the installation of some new rainfall stations at higher altitudes

part of which will utilize new instruments purchased with ICA aid

funds Some of the instruments will be installed at existing nonshy

recording stations Forty new installations are proposed for 1958

fiscal year It is now recognized that rainfall station coverage at

higher altitudes is needed in order to furnish records that can be

correlated with the long-term valley records and also with the gaging

station discharge records D

70

Weather station maintained by Bureau of Public WorksIrrigation Division near Tuguegarao Cagayan From left to right N Ciriaco District Hydrographer drivershyhelper observer J G Garcia hydrographer J C Regalado and G H Hargreaves May 13 1957

Weather station at Pototan Iloilo Panay A Lacuestadistrict bydro-rapher standing May 5 1957

71

Group luncheon at Tacloban Leyte typical of the hospitality received by us during inspection tour of the Philippines From left to right M Rico irrig distr engr G Hargreaves G Araos E N Salazar P Formilleza L Abella S Velasco JCRegalado V H Sydiongoo distr hydrographer I M Ortega Oscar de Venecia and N Oliver May 7 1957

ICA Public Works Division March 1957 From left to right C R Murray A A Ketchum asat Div head J B Delaney I J Silverstone Sofia Halili 0 H Hosmer R R Lord Div head B B Hill Betty Valdez G H Hargreaves J L Brenden FM Veatch

72

Evaporation stations

Fifteen double-pan (one open and one partially shaded) evaporation

stations with rainfall temperature wind and humidity instruments as

auxiliary are being operated in the Philippines and ten more are to

follow next year They are well distributed over the islands and

should furnish data of great value for reservoir design Thq reccrds

will be publish3d

Publication of rainfall data

All rainfall reccrds are published annually by the Weather Bureau

whose 1954 volume is the latest one printed The 1955 issue should be

released soon One excellent source of information for anyone studyshy

ing rainfall data in the Philippines is the publication The Distrishy

bution of Rainfall In The Philippines by Eugenio B Manalo Chief

Climatological Division Weather Bureau Manila This contains

valuable descriptive material tables of monthly and annual values

and mean monthly and annual isohyets in inches An inspection or

study of the monthly isohyetal maps shows clearly how storm patterns

change with the seasons in certain parts of the Philippines and that

73

in other areas the rain is almost evenly distributed throughout the

year The long dry season of Manila and the central Luzon plains is

graphically portrayed by the isohyets Mr Manalos publication

should be of great benefit to government agencies and private parties

or individuals in connection with agricultural and business activities

over the islands It is presumed that the isohyets will warrant some

revision after another 5 or 10 years as more records especially those

at higher altitudes become available

Sediment Measurement Stations

Practically no silt-sampling has been done in the Philippines

to date and no extensive program is believed possible because of the

lack of funds For the present it is recommended that every governshy

ment field hydrographer be equipped with a thermomater and a turbidity

stick and required to report a spot water temperature and turbidity

reading at time of each discharge measurement Thus without extra

cost a large amount of data can be accumulated which after several

years should make it possible to determine what streams are the

siltiest and where more detailed studies might be needed Whenever a

reservoir project reaches the intensive-investigation stage including

dam-site drilling detailed topography etc it is recommended that

a complete sediment sampling station be operated there for at least

one full flood season before the project feasibility report is

completed

74

Statement Before Water Resources Development Committee

On March 20 1957 I presented the following statement regarding

the streamflow measurement program in the Philippines

The Philippine Republic is blessed with an excellent supply of

water of good quality but much of it is wasted to the sea during the

rainy season The development of this resource is vitally important

to the nation and it involves the storing of flood waters for dryshy

season release Where investments are to be made for construction of

dams etc in the development of irrigation power production and

flood control large sums can easily be wasted through overdesign or

underdesign if enough engineering data are not available Conflicting

or competing uses for the water supplies will gradually develop in

your country the same as they have in the United States If water

rights are to be granted fairly with due regard for all prior users

many years of basic data are necessary so that the long-term water

supply can be estimated For this purpose a good network of stream

gaging records and ground water levels must be secured One would

not attempt to manage the money in a bank without bookkeeping and it

is just as important to have an accounting system when managing water

The sound economical procedure is to base all project designs on as

complete engineering information as can be obtained

The ICA is attempting to assist the Philippine Government in

planning the orderly development of its water resources and we are

concerned that too many structures may be built before accurate

9i

hydrologic data are available for their design For this reason we

strongly urge you to improve the basic data gathering program at the

earliest possible date as follows

(1) Review and publish the stream-flow records that have been

obtained since the war

(2) Finance an expanded program of stream-flow measurement and

ground water study

The Bureau of Public Works has prepared preliminary estimates of

the funds needed for bringing publication of basic data up to date and

for expanding the wiater resources investigation program The attached

copies of estimates are of course provisional and subject to revision

but it is suggested that they be placed in the files of this Committee

for future reference The figure of P56oooo for publication is a

fairly firm figure It is suggested that the Committee take immeshy

diate action to further the procurement of these funds

The procurement of water resources data is a specialized field

requiring engineers and other technical men with a high degree of

education Years must be spent in training them in such special

work The men must endure rigorous physical work corbatting the

elements and using resourcefulness and judgment It is very uneconoshy

mical and unsatisfactory to have a technical organization of that kind

subject to occasional and unpredictable severe cuts in appropriations

It is even more unsatisfactory to have the time sequence of basic

water data collection interrupted and valuable records lost forever

Organization and cooperation

The Hydrographic Section customarily assigns a district hydrographer

and his assistants as resident at each irrigation district office that

is situated a long distance from Manila Their headquarters are as

follows

District Province Town

Northern Luzon Isabela San Mateo

Bicol Region Luzon Camarines Sur Naga

Eastern Visayas Leyte Tacloban

Western Visayas Iloilo Iloilo

Mindanao Davao Davao

This district is presently being operated by hydrographers from

Manila the same as for the central part of Luzon

The above field hydrographers are each assigned a Jeep and a drivershy

helper Hydrographers pay scales range between about Y2400 and P4200

per annum and in addition they are granted a subsistence allowance of

Y2OO per unit or Y800 a day Driver-helpers receive an average pay

of P5 per day plus a subsistence allowance of P200 per day (which has

been reduced administratively from P450 a day because of lack of funds)

The field personnel send or deliver all basic records to Manila

where they are processed computed and filed Most of the office work

is done by office personnel with the field men doing but little of the

office work

9

New timber recorder structure including plank intake with Stevens A-35 recorder Pinagcanauan de Tuguegarao River near Tuguegarao Cagayan Jose G Garcia assistant hydrographer and Norberto Ciriaco District Hydrographer on walkway May 14 1957

Staff gage on Jalaur River at Passi Iloilo From left to right 2 boys A Lacuesta Distr HydrogrLher J CorderoIrrig Distr Engr G Hargreaves J Regalado gagekeeper (kneeling) and onlooker May 8 1957

I

--- S

F National Power Corporation staff gage on Angat River above Ipo Dam now beingreplaced by a Bureau of Public Works recorder installation March 13 1957

O~

~A F~ ~~ shy- ~

~

- --

I ------ ~

A -~ 1

~ -- gt I~-

5 shy

- ~- ~ U

amp~~ -

2r~ ~k- ~ ~

National Power Cororation painted staff gage Bantay River near Bokod BenguetMountain Province Hydrographers helperstanding March 26 1957 Note lower markings faded

11

Whether any other changes are made or not it is the expressed

plan of the Hydrographic Section to have the District-Hydrographer

who is in charge of the Northern Mindanao District headquartered at

Cagayan de Oro

A considerable portion of the pay of district hydrographers and

their staffs comes directly from the Irrigation Section district

office at which they are headquartered rather than through the

Hydrographic Section This has had the effect of limiting their

efforts somewhat to project work rather than to general or all-purpose

investigations

Some of the other agencies particularly the National Power

Corporation obtain the cooperation of the Hydrographic Section in

helping operate certain gaging stations where a duplication of travel

can thus be avoided However the discharge measurements so made by

the Hydrographic Section are turned over to the NPC who make their

own computations of daily discharge The latter also sometimes pays

directly the salaries of certain gagekeepers Usually this cooperashy

tion does not involve an exchange of funds but some change in that

situation is recommended as explained later in this report

All agencies make their daily discharge records available to the

Hydrographic Section upon request and the plan is to have the later

agency include all such records in their publications No reproduction

machine is available in any of the offices and all copies of records

must be made individually in typing or longhand A machine is under

order by the Hydrographic Section

-fiUMBER OI~ GAGIiG~STATIONS-eP-ERATED IN-PIILIPPINES -

CALENDAR YEAR

YEA HYOROGRAPHIC

STAGE NATIONAL

SECTION PO R0 P

RIVEl CONTROL SECTON

TOT AL

DISCHARGE NATIONAL

HYDROGRAPHIC SECTION ORHYTGRPI SECTION POR

TOTAL TOA

RECORDING NON-REC TOTAL NON-REC NON-REC RECORDING NON-REC TOTAL

1908-1922 265 265 265

1923-1944 3 3 9 12

1945 6 6 6 15 15 2 17

1946 2 12 14 14 28 28 4 32

1947 3 11 14 14 29 29 4 33

1948 3 18 21 5 26 45 45 5 50

1949 3 13 16 6 5 27 74 74 15 89

1950 3 9 12 10 4 26 91 91 20 111

1951 3 15 18 10 4 34 103 103 17 120

1952 3 13 16 10 4 30 111 111 17 128 1953 3 17 20 11 17 48 1 96 97 23 120

1954 4 18 22 11 26 49 1 145 146 22 168

1955 4 18 22 13 19 54 1 207 208 27 235

1956 6 12 15 1 25 52 40 189 26 5

13

Various agencies have submitted lists of proposed gaging stations

which they would like to have installed to provide data for their

projects It is apparent that this work will be well coordinated in

the future and that the other agencies will come to rely more and

more on the Hydrographic Section for most of their basic stream-flow

records But they probably will continue to have their own personnel

make certain types of hydrographic investigations for the detailed

study of specific projects such as river profiles tailwater rating

curves etc

Financing

The main difficulty in regard to financing has been lack of

stability and continuity to the program and insufficient generalshy

fund money to permit the establishment of an all-purpose gaging proshy

gram In 1956 and 1957 the Hydrographic Section rec3ived P120000

(less than half of their total funds) for such general use with all

other monies either from counterpart funds (explained below) in theor

form of contributions from other agencies to cover certain gaging

expenses Another difficulty has been the lack of enough funds to

properly carry out the sudden large construction program generated by

the new ICA-furnished materials and instruments Most of the regular

hydrographic force has been assigned to construction during the last

twelve months or so because separate construction foremen or substitute

hydrographers could not be hired As a result the regular field

operation of gaging stations has suffered considerable neglect This

- - -

14

wuld not have been necessary if the Hydrographic Sections funds had

been flexible and appropriated on basis of a performance budget As

it is the Section must adhere to line items which spell out exactly

how all money is to be spent

The financing of an expanded 1958 program now appears to be

progressing satisfactorily largely from the counterpart monies

This fund consists of pesos allocated by the Philippine government

in an amount equivalent to the dollar value of imports furnished by

the ICA It is administered by the National Economic Council with

allocations subject to approval of the ICA on budget recommendations

received from Philippine government agencies In the case of water

resources programs they are assisted by recommendations of the Water

Resources Development Committee an NEC administratively appointed

body composed of representatives of ten agencies interested or inshy

volved in water development A rougn breakdown of the Hydrographic

Sections budget proposed for the fiscal year starting July 1 1957

is as follows

General Fund Pesos

Annual appropriation - ------------ 120000

Counterpart Funds

For bringing up to date the publication of

annual records plus a compilation - - - - 56000

For an expanded program of surface-water

investigations----------- - 500000

TOTAL - - - - - - 676000

The total funds available in 1955 and 1956 fiscal years were 180000

and 280000 respectively

It

a 7~

IC

U

i

Staff gage out of water Labangan River at Bagbag Calumpit Bulacan March 1 1957

7lt 2

I

fr

Gagekeeper and staff Jalaur River at Calinog Iloilo He read 10 centimeters low today because markings on lower part of gage were illegible

I-J May 8 1957

16 8

hational Power Corp staff gage painted on streamward side of cliff Lower markings gone and gagekeeper determines gage heights three times a day by wading to gage and measuring down with rule as shown in this picture Bokod R at Boiod Benguet Mountain Province March 26 1957

Bureau of Public Works staff gage station Gagekeeper has made readingsby measuring down from a nail since this section of gage was washed out by a flood Madlum River near Sibul Springs Bulacan April 25 1957

17

The only difficulty with counterpart financing is that it is

temporary and could conceivably leave the program stranded in a few

years when ICA aid is discontinued The necessity is recognized for

gradually obtaining regular Congressional appropriations to take the

place of counterpart funds An effort will also be made to have a

performance type of budget accepted because line items make the

program inflexible and prevent the best management and economy

It is recommended that other agencies desiring for their projects

certain stream flow records which cannot be financed from the regular

budget of the Hydrographic Section transfer funds annually (either in

advance or on a reimbursement basis) to the Hydrographic Section to

pay the extra costs required for the fulfilment of their requests

Design of the stream gaging program

As mentioned above the fiscal arrangements prevailing up to this

time have resulted in an almost total emphasis on project-type gaging

stations in the Philippines However I believe everyone is now in

agreement with the desirability or need for a nation-wide network of

index or runoff-per-square-kilometer type of stations which will sample

various runoff provinces such as those with different exposures to storms

and having different topography altitude geology type of land cover

etc The intensity of the network of stations in different regions

would vary depending upon the apparent future economic value or worth

of the water in each area This will be discussed in more detail in

the recommendations

18

In order to look over the existing program observe something of

the technical methods in use and see a variety of runoff and economic

types of areas in the islands to gain an idea of the type of stream

gaging network needed I have visited several regions accompanied most

of the time by Mr George Hargreaves It has been very helpful to me

to have him take such an interest in the detailed objectives of ry

assignment and I am sure it will facilitate Mrs Snellas work a great

deal to have available for consultation and guidance Mr Hargreaves

wide experience in water resources development and investigations

We were accompanied by Mr J C Regalado of the ydrographic Section

who made most of the advance contacts with field offices in connecshy

tion with our trips We usually travelled to central points by Philshy

ippine Air Lines and were then driven to nearby areas by field officials

of the Hydrographic Section and other agencies The hospitality and

cooperation of everyone toward us was exceptional and much appreciated

Besides a fairly detailed coverage of the Central Luzon area where an

intensified program is proposed our inspections included Northern

Luzon Southern Luzon (the Bicol region) Leyte Panay and several

parts of Mindanao In addition we made a special effort to observe

the country all along the routes of airplane flights taken and that

coupled with airplane stops made on other islands gave us a fairly

comprehensive view of the geography of the Philippines It is upon

this that my recommendations concerning the design of a stream gaging

program are based

19

Bquipment and technical methods-

The stream gaging equipment and methods used by the Hydrographic

Section since 1908 have been patterned mainly after those of the US

Geological Survey as described in the 1904 publication H4ydrographic

Manual Thus it appears likely that the methods and accuracy stanshy

dards have changed but little since the Philippine program was started

Stream gaging tecniques used by the other agencies are similar but

they have not had the advantage of some of the new ICA-furnished equipshy

ment This is expected to be remedied in the aid allocations for fiscal

year 1958

Although some use has been made of the 2-8 method of measuring

discharge present practice is limited almost entirely to the 6method

for low and medium stages and the sub-surface method for high stages

for the latter the meter is suspended over a 15-E weight and set 03

meter below the surface with a coefficient of 0915 applied

The number of verticals or measuring points taken in the cross

section usually is between 8 and 15 No bridge cranes or suspension

reels of any kind have been available all discharge work other than

with wading rod having been done by hand line All this is about to

be changed with the recent arrival of the first ICA-furnished sounding

reels weights and tag lines purchased from 1956 FY funds

Staff gages are read to the nearest centimeter (about 0033 foot)

Most of the gages would be difficult to read to any closer limit alshy

though a few stations have Leupold Stevens enameled gages with levelshy

rod type markings

20

The hydrographer records his discharge measurement notes in a

small bound pocket-size book which he carries until it is full After

each measurement is computed in the field a complete copy of the notes

is made on a card and mailed to the Manila office I am informed

that the bound notebooks are practically never lost or dropped in

the water With the increased amount of flood measuring expected to

be done in the future that situation might change

Rating curves are drawn to average large groups of discharge

measurements Large rectangular-scale cross section sheets are used

Percentage differences of the measured values with respect to the

rating table are not computed A minimum of use is made of Stoutshy

method shifts

The water-stage recorders furnished to date by the ICA have been

manufactured with time scales of either 03 inch per day (the FM

model) or 48 inches per day (the A-35 model) The former scale is

too small for satisfactory use in most stream gaging and the latter

is too large Thirty pairs of time scale gears have been ordered for

converting the A-35s from 48 to 24 inches per day Upon inquiry at

the factory it was learned that no conversion of the FM recorders is

possible An exchange of 25 of them is being made with the ground

water program for an equivalent value in A-35 recordero but the

remaining 65 will be used at the surface water stations They are

very satisfactory on lakes or spring-fed streams or large streams

whose fluctuations are not too sudden

21

Ipo dam on Angat River which diverts water to supply City of Manila and surrounding area March 13 1957 Reservoir is traversed by boat in reaching the gaging station upstream

Ready to leave Ipo Dam for gaging station 6 kilqmeters upstream B Ramos and J Regalado in oanca March 13 1957

4 ~ s~

B Ramos making discharge measurement by wading on Angat River above Ipo DamMarch 13 1957 Spacings between verticals were obtained from cable makings byline hanging from cable car

23

At non-recording gages it has been the custom to hire gagekeepers

at uniform or statutory rates of 025 or P30 per month (not related

to the distance traversed in going to the gage) to obtain readings

three times a day The pay has been the same even where the gage is

located several kilometers away from the gagekeepers home The system

has certain disadvantages which may affect the accuracy of the records

At some stations the pay is too high while at others it is too low

Three readings a day are not necessary most of the time for adequately

developing the hydrograph especially during the dry season and a

request for obviously unnecessary readings seems to put too severe a

test upon human nature It is practically an open invitation to a

certain amount of faking I doubt that it should be held against a

gagekeeper to put down some estimated readings under those circumstances

any more than it would be to blame children for taking candy or cookies

from a forbidden plate left openly in their midst The question then

becomes - what readings can be relied upon and what cannbt I sincerely

believe that a more accurate daily discharge record can be prepared in

the office from a few completely reliable gage readinrs per week by

means of hydrographic comparisons with recording-gage records from

nearby stations and with less expense than can be produced by proshy

cessing comparing and weeding out questionable parts from a complete

(on paper) record of three readings a day A gagekeepers habit

developed during the dry season of not going to the gage when it is

inconvenient or he doesnt feel like it is bound to crop up during

the high water season as well with the result that all his readings

24

must be looked at critically and considered reliAble only after

unusually extensive comparisons are made with weather records and

other stations

In regard to specialized stream gaging equipment listed below

are the amounts purchased by the ICA up to the present time

Ordered from Ordered from Being FY 1955 PPA 1956 PPA ordered Delivered in Delivered in from 1957

May 1956 May 1957 PPA

Canfield reels 0 6 8

Type A reels 0 6 2

Canfield tag lines 0 15 0

A-35 recorders 20 10 25

FM recorders 65 25 0

Enameled gage secs 400 600 200

Currer meter outfits inc ding rod headphonehanuline and 15-pound weight 11 10 0

Pygmy meters 0 0 10

Bridge cranes 0 3 0

Sounding wts 30-lb 0 0 10

50-lb 0 0 10

I i 75-lb 0 0 1

I 100-lb 0 0 1

Stopwatches 20 10 0

Being purchased as models for possible future use in procurement of

weights of local manufacture

25

~-

-~ ~- shy

~-

4rshy~~L~zu 1 - ~ A-

-~ - ~jj ~

~- k ~ ~

Helper and P Nubio National Power Corporationpreparing to make discharge measurement Tag marks of grass being tied to line Bantay River near Bokod Benguet Mountain Province March 26 1957

-- ~ 4

V

Helper holding meter in place suspended on a weight hanger while revolutions are counted oy hydrographer P Nubio E P Nbesamis is at extreme right March 26 1957

26

-p --shy

t-~-- - -

A ~

A~4 ~ 4

A -Y

- -

- - - -

gt~ ~ ~-

Z4z4a - ~z

- shy -~-~shy

4shy- --

I NPC discharge party on Bokod River at-Bokod BenguetMountain Province Helper and gagekeeper holding meter and 15-pound weight in position P Nubio on shore counting revolutions and recording notes March 26 1957

Ar 7

-~ I

0 I 15-pound weight used in discharge measurement work by the NPC hydrographer stationed at Ambuklao Dam March 26 1957

27

Recommendations

A sharp expansion in the stream gaging program of the Philippines

has occurred recently brought about not only by the ICAs economic and

technical aid program but also by the growing local demand for water

resources information It is inevitable that some organizational

changes would be required to accommodate such a sudden growth This

subject was discussed in conferences with Mr Saddam and Mr Regalado

and the following list of special objectives agreed upon They had a

number of these in mind or partly in effect already and were planning

to gradually adopt several others The items are listed here in order

to express my reasons for wanting to see them completely implemented

within the next two or three years They are as follows

A It is recommended that the district offices compute their own disshy

charge records and prepare them for publication for final review

in the central office in ranila

1 Additional engineers would be needed in each district office

and fewer engineers in the Manila office

2 At least the district hydrographer and preferably one other

engineer in addition should be trained in the office work in

Manila before the records were transferred to a district

3 Each engineer in a district office would be given a field area

which he would cover by a round of discharge measurements once

every 4 to 6 weeks each coverage taking about 2 weeks Betshy

ween trips he would do office work preferably on the same

stations that he covers in the field

28

4 Benefits of thissystem are believed to be as follows

a Records requested could be furnished more quickly to the

public especially to those in the district area

b This kind of a close tie between field and office work has

been found to greatly improve the quality of the records

the economy of operation and the performance and developshy

ment of the individual engineers

c The alternating of each person between field and office

work makes him (1) more competent in the field work and

also more competent in the office work than is possible

in segregated office and field groups and (2) permits

him to be home more of the time and lead a more normal

lifc thus increasing his morale and efficiency

5 Personnel arrangements recommended are

a Offer more rapid promotion to those who transfer like

from Manila to a field office or between field offices

b Encourage each man to transfer every few years with

faster promotions as an incentive It has been found

that this develops an engineers competence more rapidly

than if he stays in one office indefinitely Such ability

repays the government in added officiency and production

to an extent greater than its cost in extra salary

B Certain organization changes are recommended as follows

1 Appoint an Office Engineer a Field Engineer and (whenever

needed) a Construction Engineer They would be headquartered

__

V 29

2

~- ~

q

Ambuklao Dam on Agno River Generating capacity 75000 kw Powerplant is underground March 2557

7- t

-JI

Maria Cristina falls and power plant on Agus River River near Iligan Lanao Province Mindanao Present installed capacity 50000 kw May 1 1957

30

II I

Looking downstream at the Binga dam site on Agno River about 15 kilometers east of Baguio March 25 1957

Looking upstream at the Marikina dam site on Marikina River at Wawa near Montalban Rizal about 25 kilometers northeast of Manila April 5 1957

31

in the Manila office and act under the general supervision of

the head of the Section with the following responsibilities

to be included

a Office Engineer

(1) Be responsible for the discharge computations and

related office work in the Manila field district or

area

(2) Be responsible for review and final preparation for

publication of all records in the nation

(3) See that a progress chart of status-of-record compushy

tations is maintained in each district office and

that a summary statement concerning such progress is

sent to the central office at least quarterly

(4) Be responsible for research in office methods and

equipment (See footnote on next page)

b Field Engineer

(1) Act as first assistant to head of the Section of

Hydrography

(2) Be responsible for field operation vork throughout the

nation

(a) Make at least one annual field inspection in each

district

(b) Develop the system in every headquarters of keepshy

ing a running chronological chart of the discharge

measurements made at each gaging station or

32W

scheduled miscellaneous site A form in use in

Tacoma Washington has been found to be very conshy

venient for this purpose Such a chart gives the

supervisor a quick overall view of the status of

the field work and serves as a check at end of

the year to make sure all measurements have been

listed and counted

(3) Be responsible for the design of the stream gaging

network and the selection of sites for new gaging

stations

(4) Be responsible for research in field methods and

equipment

Construction Engineer

(1) Give general supervision and management to the conshy

struction program

(a) Obtain assignment of resident engineer or foreman

for each job

(b) See that the materials are made available Help

the foreman in every way possible in organizing

the job procuring emergency equipment or supplies

and making decisions about serious problems that

may arise on the job

If funds became available for considerable research it probably

would be better to appoint a special Research Engineer

33

~A

Cagayan River gaging station near Cagayan de OroMisamis Oriental Mindanao April 30 1957 Note how corrugated pipe recorder structure was bent by flood J C Regalado J J Ponco gagekeeper and G H Hargreaves in foreground

-

V

View of staff gage and control on Binakaan River at Tifigib near Pastrana Leyte Stream divided by a barand control excavated for unknown reason May 6 1957 J Regalado by the sign and G Hargreaves at right

Cable footbridge below Binga dam site Tree anchorage for cableway onformerly used by NPC in making Angat River above Ipo Damdischarge measurements P Nubio and March 13 1957E Abesamis of NPC on bridge March 25 1957

35

(c) Visit the major jobs occasionally to see that

they are proceding satisfactorily in all the

islands Make sure the stations are installed

according to instructions and plans An approved

sketch plan showing dimensions and elevations is

desirable for each construction job

(d) Prepare first draft of each new station description

(e) Prepare brief construction report including costs

A form in use at Tacoma Washington has been found

convenient for this purpose

C The following policies in regard to gagekeepers are recommended

1 Start a gradual change-over to paying each gagekeeper on basis

only of the hours he works plus a basic amount for taking the

responsibility This may result in increasing the pay of some

but it should reduce the pay of a much larger number

2 Convert most gagekeepers to two readings a day most of the time

with one or more additional readings during floods In some of

the drier parts of the Central Luzon area in cases where gages

are remote from habitation request only one reading a day

during the dry months such as from January through May inclushy

sive more than that are believed to cost more than they are

worth and are an open invitation to the reporting of estimated

readings

3 When a new recorder installation is at a barrio or bridge where

it appears unlikely to be vandalized try running the station

36

without hiring a gagekeeper If this system proves successful

discontinue the services of the gagekeepers at certain selected

recorders At all other recorders reduce the number of readshy

ings required to one per day and reduce their pay accordingly

If a gagekeeper prefers not to accept a lower monthly rate for

fewer readings it is suggested that he resign except in cases

where security of the station structures or right-of-way favors

may be involved

Proceed on the principle that a saving in public tax money from

the above reforms is more important than supporting gagekeepers

just because they depend on the income and need the money The

present dependence of a gagekeeper on his P300 or P360 a year

and the hardship he must undergo in adjusting to a lower rate

of pay for the job are not believed to be sufficient reasons

for continuing indefinitely to pay him more than necessary

However it is recommended that he be given 30 or 60 days

notice before a reduction in pay is placed in effect

D Vehicles

1 It is recommended that a gradual change-over be made from the

short-wheelbase open Jeep to the Jeep station wagon as a hydroshy

graphers car Benefits should be as follows

a The car can be locked leaving only the tires as attractive

to thieves

b The station wagon has more space As the hydrographers

became better equipped that space will be needed

37

Bamboo-and-grass shelters built and used by crew during construction of gaging station on Angat River above Ipo Dam March 13 1957

3

4

-Ti LP

Proposed site for new index-type gaging station selected on Baoas River near Mangatarem Pangasinan above all diversions by Regalado Romasanta dargreaves and Veatch April 15 1957 Photo by J S Romasanta

38

Taking Philippine Airlines plane at Legaspi Albayfor Manila on May 17 1957 Mount Mayon 7960 feet high in background

I

N 1 x

Y

I

Showing typical vehicle used on the reconnaissance and inspection trips over the Philippines

39

c For occasional errands or trips it will be feasible for

only oneman to take the car because he can lock the con

tents when the car is not attended

d It may possibly develop in some parts of the Philippines

that a hydrographer for a certain area will not need a

driver-helper and thereby a saving in funds can be made

However such a change should be made only on a trial

basis and is not recommended until conditions so warrant

and until the hydrographer involved is satisfied with the

change or else desires it

E Certain technical stream-gaging procedures are recommended to be

followed in the Philippine Islands hydrographic work at the average

gaging station by all agencies doing stream gaging as follows

1 Obtain a discharge measurement once every four to six weeks

throughout the year

2 Furnish the hydrographer with a print of the station descripshy

tion and of the rating curve and require him as a general rule

to compute and plot his discharge measurement in the field

3 Have the gage read both before and after each discharge measureshy

ment and the readings recorded on the field notes

4 Use a loose-leaf discharge-measurement note form or forms

containing a summary page patterned to some extent after the

forms in use by the USGS Bound notes make it too inconshy

venient or perhaps impossible for the office engineer to

examine the notes for a whole year when he analyzes a station

record

40

5 Gradually change to the use of ehameled steel gage plates

instead of painted gages because their initial cost is less

and they are more durable Plates graduated somewhat like

those of the US Geological Survey are believed much better

than those stocked by private companies While here I drew

up a suggested design for local manufacture which appealed

to the Hydrographic Section

6 Obtain levels at staff gages at least once a year especially

on the low section of gage Replace or repair each low secshy

tion soon after it becomes damaged or the markings become

indistinct

7 Continue as a general rule to use the 6-depth method with

the sub-surface method for deep swift water Obtain a comshy

plete cross section as soon as feasible after the high water

has subsided

8 Gradually change to the use of heavier sounding weights so

that the 6-depth method with soundings can be used at high

water in any event take soundings and velocities as far out

as practicable from each bank at flood stages then go across

deep part of channel with sub-surface method Check subshy

surface method coeficients whenever practicable by means of

vertical velocity curves Until such checks show otherwise

use a coefficient of 090

9 Compute discharge measurements by the mid-section method

This saves time (and money) and is at least as accurate as the

41

other method Request hydrographers to bear the method in mind

when selecting verticals near edges of channel or at breaks in

the cross section It is recommended that in the interests of

economy this change be made at an early date

10 Consider 20 as a desirable number of verticals in an average

stream cross section Continue to time the meter revolutions

for 40 to 60 seconds at each setting Someday if more accushy

racy is desired in hydrographic work in the Philippines it

would be appropriate to standardize on 30 verticals per measureshy

ment provided the 2-8 depth method were used and the gages

were read to fractions of a centimeter For the present it

seems consistent to take about 20 verticals when using the 6

method and with gages read only to the nearest centimeter

11 Use steel tag lines for wading measurements Paint bridge

rails and cables with markings sufficiently close together

that they can be used rapidly to determine stationing between

them When installing the paint marks use standard intervals

of either 1 meter 2 meters or 5 meters To avoid confusion

do not use intervals of 3 or 4 meters If measuring intervals

are to be 1 meter or less it is very convenient to have a

mark available every meter If intervals are between 1 and 5

meters use a mark every 2 meters A good system for making

the marks readily identifiable is to place 1 paint mark at

each basic interval like every 2 meters then put 2 marks every

10 meters 3 every 50 meters and 4 at 100 meters

42

use on12 Always tags the portion of the meter suspension line

that goes in the water The tags usually consist of small

pieces of colored cloth taped tightly to the line They

should be watched and checked occasionally against slippage

and error The tags should not be more than one meter apart

and should be spaced to give maximum convenience and speed in

measuring the discharge

13 As it may becoin feasible convert Type A current meters to

Type AA The more deeply recessed bearing of the Type AA

meter provides more durability of the pivot and bearing

because trapped air excludes most of the water and silt the

longer pivot results in a relatively lower center of gravity

of the bucke t wheel with respect to the point of bearing and

results in smoother performance

F Design of the stream gaging network

1 Everyone seem3 to agree with the objective of a network of

well-distributed long-term base stations for giving runoffshy

per-square-kilometer values representative of the general

area in which each station is located As rapidly as practishy

cable stations should be L d n the o ting netrk

and designated as base or index stations for permanent operashy

tion They should be the best stations both hydraulically

and as to equipment and should be free from upstream regushy

lation or diversion Where needed new base stations should

be installed as soon as they can be financed to appropriately

L11 out the network

43

2 In between such base stations it is desirable to sample smaller

basins with short-term records of various lengths which can be short term

correlated with the long records For this purpose thestashy

tion structures should be constructed so that they are as moveshy

able or salvageable as possiblej Often these movable stations

will be operated at or near specific project sites

3 It usually is more economical and satisfactory to gage a stream

at a highway crossing or other convenient place rather than

exactly at a project site later the data can be transferred

to the project site by means of drainage area proportions

checked by obtaining at the site e

two miscellaneous measurements or possibly in some cases a

whole year of record

4 A method for studying the existing network of stations to see

whether the intensity of coverage is satisfactory or not is to

plot correlations between the various station records prefershy

ably following the present methods of the USGS

5 It has been found advantageous to classify all gaging stations

that are in operation using categories somewhat like these

areal network base stations primary and secondary main stream

stations and water management stations This procedure is

helpful in planning how long various stations should be operated

Detailed information about station classification methods is

available from the U S Geological Survey for use as a guide

The Technical Training Program

Early plans

When this assignment was given to me it was anticipated that a

series of across-the-table discussions would be held with small groups

of hydrographers from the Philippine government bureaus engaging in

such work Detailed procedures would be discussed without formality

But when arrangements were initiated for such conferences I was inshy

formed that among those wanting to attend were many at the managerial

level as well as a number of representatives of agencies interested

more in water development projects than in resource investigations

These could not be turned down so it was necessary to revise the

agenda to include more of general interest

Later developments

In view of the wide experience and high rank of many prospective

attendants of the conference it did not seem appropriate to call it

a lecture series or school and the name Seminar On Water Resources

was decided upon The agenda is included in this report and will be

self-explanatory Registered attendance for each of the three weeks

was 68 72 and 70 persons respectively for a total of 210 The

setting for the Seminar can best be understood from the photographs

Conditions as a whole were good although the tape-recording of the

entire three weeks of proceedings and the need for a member to come

F M Veatch and Water Resources Seminar group week of April 8-12 1957 at Bureau of Public Highways conference building Manila

I y

rT

I

4

47

forward and use the microphone whenever he asked a question or made a

comment was somewhat of a dampener oh discussion When preparing the

agenda I assumed that few besides the hydrographers would attend the

sessions on technical details of stream gaging scheduled for Wednesday

to Friday yet the entire membership stayed through the full program

each week and so no small-group round-table discussions were practicable

It developed later that the language barrier was a little more

serious than first realized Also it was not evident at first that

many present did not know what a gaging station was One of the main

benefits gained from the field trip was to show them a typical station

along with some equipment Taken as a whole it is believed that the

Seminar was successful and worthwhile

The sending of trainees from the Hydrographic Section to the

United States by ICA is very effective in supplementing the technical

assistance rendered directly by American personnel in the Philippines

and it should be continued as long as possible

Acknowledgments

Announcements and invitations to attend the Seminar were sent to

numerous agencies and offices by the Hydrographic Section who also

made all arrangements such as for space registration loud speaker

system tape recordings and recess refreshments The Bureau of

Public Highways made their new conference building available and the

National Media Center furnished a slide projector screen and room

all of which were greatly appreciated The introductory talks by

48

several busy executives including Director J A Buendia and Messrs

A T Alano R R Lord P G Afable and D Rosell with Mr Tomas

Saddam acting as master of ceremonies contributed ideas and gave

each weeks session a good send-off

Publications

Copies of the following publications of the U S Geological

Survey (one by Bureau of Reclamation and one from ASCE) were disshyon

play at the Seminar at all times for inspection by the members Alshy

though they were requested not to take the publications away quite a

few copies gradually became missing

Irrigation Water Measurement Tables and Diagrams by U S

Bureau of Reclamation

ASCE Separate 413 - Backwater Effects of Open Channel

Constrictions

Stage-Fall Discharge Relation for Steady Flow in Prismatic

Channels Water-Supply Paper 1164

Topographic Characteristics of Drainage Basins W S P 968C

Weir Experiments Coefficients and Formulas WSP 200

Handbook for Hydrologists - Chapters 1 - 11

Chapter 1 -- Instructions for Flood Frequency Compilations

Chapter 2 -- ledian Discharge Computation Methods

Chapter 3 -- Instructions for Abstracting Topographic

Characteristics of Drainage Basins

i

-Imr- I

1 N

L

V10J~

C R Mirray explaining a ground water formula

Ii

17t

o

Water Resources Seminar group at gaging station on Marikina River near Montalban Rizal about an hours drive northeast of Manila April 12 1957

51

-- Channel Storage and Flood Routing

-- Extending Stream-flow Records

Chapter 6 -- Double Mass Curves

Chapter 7-A- Frequency Curves of Low Flows and Storage

Requirements

Chapter 8 -- Flood Frequency Analyses

Chapter 9 -- Small Stream Investigations

Chapter 10 - Hydrologic Definitions

Chapter 11 - Base-Flow Recession-Curves

Computation of Backwater at Open Channel Constrictions

Floods in Western Washington Frequency and Magnitude in

Relation to Drainage Basin Characteristics GS Circular 191

Floods in Georgia Frequency and Magnitude GS Circular 100

Stream-Gaging Procedure - A Manual Describing Methods and

Practice of the Geological Survey - WSP 888

Investigation of Methods and Equipment used in Stream Gaging

Part 2 Intakes For Gage Wells

Computation of Peak Discharge through Culverts

Computation of Backwater at Open-Channel Constrictions

Equipment for River Measurements Structures for Cableways

by Charles H Pierce

Computation of Peak Discharge at Contractions Circular 284

Care and Rating of Current Meters

Surface Water Supply o the United States 1950 Parts 1 - 14

52

In addition to the above publications a two-page single-spaced

memorandum entitled Plotting Flood Frequency Curves (Extracted from

U S Geological Survey publications) was prepared by me under date

of April 3 1957 and handed to each member of the Seminar each week

The program or agenda for the Seminar one copy of which was

given to each member follows on Pages 53 to 63 inclusive The

graphs on Page 63 were referred to during the talks

53

March 29 1957

AGENDA FOiR SEMINARZ ON WATER RESCURCES AND STAE4 GAGING

IN THE PHILIPPINES

PLACE Conference hoom 2nd Floor Bureau of Public Highways Building Second Street Port Area Manila

TIKE April 1-5 8-12 and 22-26 (same program each week)

CONDUCTED BY M1r i 1 Veatch District EngineerSurface WaterBranch Jater Aesources Division United States Geological Suver Thcoma ashington who is un three-month assignment with the ICA

Held in connoction with the Philippine Government-ICA water resources program

54

GENERAL PROGRAM MONDAY AND TUESDAY

honday morning 830

Opening remarks Mr Julian A Buendia Director Bureau of Fublic Works Mr R R Lord Chief Public Works Division ICA Mr G H Hargreaves Hydraulic Engineer ICA

Importance of water resources and their investigation

The hydrologic cycle Evaporation transpiration and precipitation Runoff

Daily discharge record and the hydrograph Storm runoff Base flow

Grou~nd Water Very brief description (this subject to be covered

iaore fully on Tuesday afternoon)

General characteristics of natural stream runoff in the Philippines Quantity

Adequacy Comparison with United States

Variations with time Day to day and year to year Long-term trends

Distributin by area General over the Philippine Islands Variations between nearby drainage basins

Effect of location elevation geology cover etc

Major uses of stream-flow data Many years of rccornds should be crnsidered Granting water r phts

Protect existing rights Prevent capital expenditures where water supply inadequate

Planning river basin developments including municipal supply irrigation pnwer flood control etc

Destping structures such as dams reservoirs dikes floodways canals pumping systems power plants bridges etc

Accuracy and extent of dat needed for minimizing underdesign or wasteful overdesign

Cost of water-supply data in relation to total cost of a project

Operating water projects Distribution of water on projects Operation of storage reservoirs and diversion dams

To make maximum use uf water supply Designing alterations or enlargements to existing projects

RECESS 1000 to 1015

55 -3-

Monday morning (Continued) 1015 aim

Management of the stream gaging program Foreseeing the needs for stream-flow records

Study population and industrial trends Keep inforned on water-development plans and

prgraIIs of all agencies Continuity of the records

Essential for wator-supply studies Regular financinp reouired

Annual appropriations a poundfccted by temporary econoidc or political conditions

Permanent type of financing needed Surcharge method License fee method

-Dissemination of the data Annual publication Occasional summary compilations Furnishing advance cupies of unpublished records Furnishing current data - daily weekly or munthly

wherever required Special water resources investigation agency desirable

Briefly dancribe United States organization Uniform tecnical standards Uniform ways of presenting data One series of publicatiens Distributial center for basic water data Genera l-coverage program requires close coordination

for economy of operation Personal requirements

Engineers Engir ring aids Computers Clerks

ADJOURN - 1145

Resume after lunch only if necessary for completing the above subjects

56

Tueday morning 830

Design of a comprehensive stream gjaging program General rrinciIlac

Represenkc tive runoff-type provinces should be sainpled with stations of various classes

Vary the intensity of coverage with probable intenshysity of water use

Follow tiie tcends variations with records fromand L sri etatiorns secondary

Correlate resultls one continually adjustnetwork Classification of ra-in stationa

Areal prinary and secondary viain strem priiary nd secondary Water-manmfciact stat-i ons Miscellanous dischaige mcasurements

Correlating the dat obttined in comprehensive program Logarithmic pajer Five years of lecord uscd What is a good corrclation

Analyses of data Flood frcouencjs

Annual serics Partial duration series

Low-flow frecuencies Low-flow duration hydrograph

Extending strewm-flow records Comparisons witi other gaging stations Rainfall-runoff correlations

Quality of water Temperature

Intermittent observations Recorders

Chemical gtuality Element -Dissolved solids

Suspended iaterial Time of cecurrence-floods Sampling

Methods Cost

RECESS - 1000 to 1015

57

- 5 -

Tuesday afternoon 130

Ground water (This subject conducted by Mr C R Murray) Occurrence

Water table Artesian Lakes

Movement Through the ground Into stream channels

Availability Geologic structure Aquifers Funing tests

Recharge Froa precipitation Artificial Froma induced lateral movement

Investigation Geology Springs Logs of dug and drilled wells Test wells

lecording Lanual

Quantitative studies Chemical quality analyses

Mincral ccontnt Sallt water intrusion

Drilling of wells for production use Ground water rirhts

Depletion of ground water reservoirs teyond rccharge capability

ADJOURN at 330

Geologist Ground Water Branch dater Resources Division U 6 Geological Survey who is on two-ywar assignment with ICA

58

PROGRAM ON STREMvi GAGING PROCEDURE WEDNESDAY TO FRIDAY

4ednesday morning 830

Establishing and constructing gaging stations Selection of site

Consider najor probable uses of the record Investigate extent of upstream diversion and

-egulation Utilize contour naps Obtain list of nmrjor water right applications

iydraulic conditicns Section control Shifting channel Overbank flow Dackwater

Accessibility Avoid too much expense Need to reach quickly to measure flash floods

Natural protection front flood damage Avoid excessively expensive construction conditions

Bed iock Quick sand Too-longintake pipes

For non-rccording gage choose site convenient to

one or more local gage readers

Survey of site Bank cross-prefile at gage Cross section at cable Plan

Right of way Oral pervrission ritten permission

Easement Land purchase

RECESS - 945 to 1000

- 7 - 59

Wednesday morning (Continued) 100)

Construction Select types and sizes of structures To fit purpose oi the record Plan later salva e (for secondary stations) For economy of operation (for example design cableway to

operat mesily) Adapt availabic standard plans to fit the site Keep costs to hclp in future estimating Make brief construction report for future assistance in

planninr sililar Jobs Prepare staLion descripLion

Road log distences etc for How to reach paragraph Descriptions of gages bench marks etc Dimensions cf structuis Gage datum elevations of portinent parts of structures

Operating and maintaining gaging stations Records of stage

Choice of dtum Arbitrcry local datum

Set gages so there will be no minus gage readings

Mean sea level datum May be used but has disadvantages

1hen later adjustments are made to level networks

Gages have to be reset or Equation must be published

Non-recording gages Types

Vertical staff Inclined staff

ire-weight Crest-stage gages

Refinement of graduations ake adequate for accuracy of record needed

Maintatling dat of gage Adequate number of local reference marks Take levels at least once a year

Work o- local gare reader Fy according to approx number of hours worked Do not roruire too many roadings for the

conditions Warm (with omphasis) against my guessed

readings Inform reader anv errors in reading will

show up in hydrogrq oic comtparisons Engineers obtain check readings whenever

possible Visit gage reader frequently a d show inshy

terest in his gage-height record Encourage reader to retain personal copy

ADJOURN at 1145

60

Thursday morning 800

Records of stage (continued) Recording gages

Select type of instrument and its scales to fit conditions at gaging station

Weekly or continuous recorder Recorder scales Range of stage Rate of change of stage Availability of someone to change weekly

chart Work of Cage inspector of keeper

Avoid resetting pen Repurt any trash or debris causing backwater

at gage Do not have a gage keeper unless needed

aintaining gage datum Check outside gae by levels annually Keep outside gage sections reset to datum

Standard reference gage Inside gage of soie sort preferable

Staff Float-tape Anchor type

Intake action Clean or flush pipes after floods Slot intakes Self-cleaning iitakes

For pipe gage wells For wells built into bridge piers

Draw-down (where excessive) Use bapfle or static tube

Elood marks at station Make record of well-defined high water

marks

AECESS - 945 to 1000

- 9 - 61

Thursday morning (Continudd) 1000

Discharge measuroments Current hmeters

Price Type A Type AA

Pygmpy Carc of inters

Sounding weights E-typc C-type

Lead Brono

Type of notebook Loose shects Loose-leaf book Bound booL

Measurement of depth aeding rod Tag-line nethod Vertical-nglc coofficients Sounding during floods

Ilacemont of mter Sub--surface method 2-depth n cthod 6-de-pth icthod 2- imetY od

Number of verticals Velocity -urgcs

Miscellaneous f-ctors Effect of bridge piers Horizontal angle of current Insufficient weight on current water

1Mean gage hoitht for a discharge measurement Special methods of (Itermining flood discharge

Floats Slope-area method

Rating curv- etonsion method Arca and velocity curves Loparithmic plottig

Contrqctd-opening mothod Flow ovcr dams

Report on condition of control Carry station description and rating curve in field

Ubtain another me asurement if needed If first indicates large shift If new station and stagc advantagoous for

defining blank part of rating curve

ADJOUffN - 1145 AI

Resumne atfter lunch only if necessary for comploting the above subjects

62

- 10 -

Friday morning S00

A few remarks about office methods Rating curves

Log-log paper Upward extonsions Dowmward extensions

Rectangular plotting Computing recorder charts

M-ark index correction and time correction for each inspection reading

Break midnight lines at raph Never oblitertte or mark over the original trace Nake office markings on chart distinctive from

those mad( At the gage Use of colored pencils by computer and checker is one good wa)y

Daily discharge record Flot hydrograph Compare over light box with other stations

This method preferable to plotting several station records on same sheet

Concluding discussions

RECESS - 945 to 1000

Projection of gaging station equipment Lnd scenic slides taken in the United States and Canada

ADJOURN - 1145

Field trip Cars will be available at the conference building to

take members to the raging station on arikina iRivei at ontalban about an hours drive from Manila where a brief demonstration of certain field equipment will be given

Return to noL later thanoanila 500 FL

---

- Ishy4 ~7L~

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- O 1 B -- 2r 2 ZZ 23 24 2 c 26 7 8 2717x I 2

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- _______________ Pnu~ OAgvhshy

-~ ~-r- 1 - V-shy- i-shytvkty--- in--a-- -~ ~Z2m7~ ~

- ~ ~-~-----~- V 1~5~ LTLL2P7o -4----4 1 -- I -- I I _ __ --- -- -- - - L - - I ----

~- ~y~-~ 64 4

N

A il

Seminar members observing demonshystrat-n of measurshying e -pment by F M Veatch at Marikina River gaging station April 12 1957

I

Water Resources Seminar members observing working model of proppsed Binga Dam at the hydraulics laboratory of University of the Philippines April 12 1957

65

Current meter rating flume mechanism Y 22 1957

Current meter rating flume mechanism May 22 1957

66

Current Meter Rating Station

The new current meter rating station at the University of the

Philippines (see photographs) was not quite ready for use before I

left the country The mechanism and instruments were manufactured

in Germanyobtained thru ICA-NEC procurement for the Water Resources

Program of the Department of Public Works and have been installed by

Professor Alberto Villares and his hydraulics laboratory staff under

Dean C A Ortigas of the College of Engineering with some guidance

by Professor Edward L Ericksen of the University of Michigan who is

a civil engineer on detail here with the Stanford Group Professor

Villares spent 18 months in the hydraulics laboratory of the Univershy

sity of Iowa

There is every evidence that this rating flume will with expeshy

rience do work accurate enough not only for determining differences

in ratings between current meters but also for preparing absolute or

independent ratings This can be reported on more fully at some

later date by Messrs Hargreaves and Snell

The Central Luzon Region Program

The Water Resources Development Committee is preparing a recomshy

mended plan for the expedited multiple-purpose development of the

water resources of the Central Luzon region The area contains oneshy

sixteenth of the land surface and one-fourth of the population of the

Philippines and is termed the rice granary of the nation It is to

be used as an example or experiment in water and land development

67

The Committee has requested member agencies to submit estimates

of the minimum amount of additional basic data needed for making a

useful report and for proceeding with development projects Such

estimates are to include mapping soil surveys dam and reservoir site

surveys water resources surveys and other items A preliminary

report is to be prepared soon summarizing the existing information

pointing out the need for additional dataand submitting estimates

of cost for the further investigations needed An outline for the

final report has been prepared and distributed so it will be availashy

ble as a guide and funds for the first years efforts are being

sought for fiscal year 1958 It appears reasonable that the report

on a comprehensive plan could be submitted to the President and

Congress of the Philippines in about five years

With the assistance of Mr Hargreaves I have prepared estimates

for a surface water measurement program to complement the existing

program It is designed to fill the worst gaps in the present netshy

work Details are subject to change as more reconnaissance informashy

tion becomes available as only five days were spent covering the area

by automobile Unit costs were provided by the Hydrographic Section

and they include cost of preparation of the records for publication

Estimates were submitted as given below They were supported by a

detailed list of stream names and locations which included desigshy

nations as to the primary purpose or type of each proposed new gaging

station and whether a recording or non-recording gage was recommended

It is available for reference in both the ydrographic Section and

ICA offices

68

New gaging stations

1 Daily discharge type

Installation (including cableways where needed)

Recording ------- 7 Pl650 11550

Non-recording --- 4 950 3800 15350

Operation 1st year -11 660 7260 P22610

2 High water type (flood records)

Installation

Gages (nonshy

recording) ----- 4 150 600

Measuring equipment 800 1400

Operation 1st year - 4 300 1200 2600

Total for new gaging stations ------------- 25210

Miscellaneous discharge measurements

1 4 or 5 during dry season Nov - April

4 sites x 5 per site = 20 30 ---------------- 600

2 1 or 2 during low part of year March and April

37 sites x l per site = 55 k30 ------------- 1650

Total for miscellaneous measurements ------ 2250

Total -------------- -2746o

69

Rainfall And Evaporation Stations

Existing network

A map examination of the existing network of rain gages was made

and a surprisingly large number were found to be in operation -- 2

recording and 115 manual stations or a total of 117 They are beshy

lieved to be fairly adequate in number and are well distributed

areally over the Philippines but like in the United States are conshy

fined largely to the lower altitudes where the agricultural and urban

population live In addition to these records are available for

various lengths of time from about 8 discontinued Weather Bureau

stations and from more than 300 haciendas reforestaion stations

and provincial rnrseries

Additional gages

The Weather Bureau and the Bureau of Public Works are cooperating

in the installation of some new rainfall stations at higher altitudes

part of which will utilize new instruments purchased with ICA aid

funds Some of the instruments will be installed at existing nonshy

recording stations Forty new installations are proposed for 1958

fiscal year It is now recognized that rainfall station coverage at

higher altitudes is needed in order to furnish records that can be

correlated with the long-term valley records and also with the gaging

station discharge records D

70

Weather station maintained by Bureau of Public WorksIrrigation Division near Tuguegarao Cagayan From left to right N Ciriaco District Hydrographer drivershyhelper observer J G Garcia hydrographer J C Regalado and G H Hargreaves May 13 1957

Weather station at Pototan Iloilo Panay A Lacuestadistrict bydro-rapher standing May 5 1957

71

Group luncheon at Tacloban Leyte typical of the hospitality received by us during inspection tour of the Philippines From left to right M Rico irrig distr engr G Hargreaves G Araos E N Salazar P Formilleza L Abella S Velasco JCRegalado V H Sydiongoo distr hydrographer I M Ortega Oscar de Venecia and N Oliver May 7 1957

ICA Public Works Division March 1957 From left to right C R Murray A A Ketchum asat Div head J B Delaney I J Silverstone Sofia Halili 0 H Hosmer R R Lord Div head B B Hill Betty Valdez G H Hargreaves J L Brenden FM Veatch

72

Evaporation stations

Fifteen double-pan (one open and one partially shaded) evaporation

stations with rainfall temperature wind and humidity instruments as

auxiliary are being operated in the Philippines and ten more are to

follow next year They are well distributed over the islands and

should furnish data of great value for reservoir design Thq reccrds

will be publish3d

Publication of rainfall data

All rainfall reccrds are published annually by the Weather Bureau

whose 1954 volume is the latest one printed The 1955 issue should be

released soon One excellent source of information for anyone studyshy

ing rainfall data in the Philippines is the publication The Distrishy

bution of Rainfall In The Philippines by Eugenio B Manalo Chief

Climatological Division Weather Bureau Manila This contains

valuable descriptive material tables of monthly and annual values

and mean monthly and annual isohyets in inches An inspection or

study of the monthly isohyetal maps shows clearly how storm patterns

change with the seasons in certain parts of the Philippines and that

73

in other areas the rain is almost evenly distributed throughout the

year The long dry season of Manila and the central Luzon plains is

graphically portrayed by the isohyets Mr Manalos publication

should be of great benefit to government agencies and private parties

or individuals in connection with agricultural and business activities

over the islands It is presumed that the isohyets will warrant some

revision after another 5 or 10 years as more records especially those

at higher altitudes become available

Sediment Measurement Stations

Practically no silt-sampling has been done in the Philippines

to date and no extensive program is believed possible because of the

lack of funds For the present it is recommended that every governshy

ment field hydrographer be equipped with a thermomater and a turbidity

stick and required to report a spot water temperature and turbidity

reading at time of each discharge measurement Thus without extra

cost a large amount of data can be accumulated which after several

years should make it possible to determine what streams are the

siltiest and where more detailed studies might be needed Whenever a

reservoir project reaches the intensive-investigation stage including

dam-site drilling detailed topography etc it is recommended that

a complete sediment sampling station be operated there for at least

one full flood season before the project feasibility report is

completed

74

Statement Before Water Resources Development Committee

On March 20 1957 I presented the following statement regarding

the streamflow measurement program in the Philippines

The Philippine Republic is blessed with an excellent supply of

water of good quality but much of it is wasted to the sea during the

rainy season The development of this resource is vitally important

to the nation and it involves the storing of flood waters for dryshy

season release Where investments are to be made for construction of

dams etc in the development of irrigation power production and

flood control large sums can easily be wasted through overdesign or

underdesign if enough engineering data are not available Conflicting

or competing uses for the water supplies will gradually develop in

your country the same as they have in the United States If water

rights are to be granted fairly with due regard for all prior users

many years of basic data are necessary so that the long-term water

supply can be estimated For this purpose a good network of stream

gaging records and ground water levels must be secured One would

not attempt to manage the money in a bank without bookkeeping and it

is just as important to have an accounting system when managing water

The sound economical procedure is to base all project designs on as

complete engineering information as can be obtained

The ICA is attempting to assist the Philippine Government in

planning the orderly development of its water resources and we are

concerned that too many structures may be built before accurate

9i

hydrologic data are available for their design For this reason we

strongly urge you to improve the basic data gathering program at the

earliest possible date as follows

(1) Review and publish the stream-flow records that have been

obtained since the war

(2) Finance an expanded program of stream-flow measurement and

ground water study

The Bureau of Public Works has prepared preliminary estimates of

the funds needed for bringing publication of basic data up to date and

for expanding the wiater resources investigation program The attached

copies of estimates are of course provisional and subject to revision

but it is suggested that they be placed in the files of this Committee

for future reference The figure of P56oooo for publication is a

fairly firm figure It is suggested that the Committee take immeshy

diate action to further the procurement of these funds

The procurement of water resources data is a specialized field

requiring engineers and other technical men with a high degree of

education Years must be spent in training them in such special

work The men must endure rigorous physical work corbatting the

elements and using resourcefulness and judgment It is very uneconoshy

mical and unsatisfactory to have a technical organization of that kind

subject to occasional and unpredictable severe cuts in appropriations

It is even more unsatisfactory to have the time sequence of basic

water data collection interrupted and valuable records lost forever

9

New timber recorder structure including plank intake with Stevens A-35 recorder Pinagcanauan de Tuguegarao River near Tuguegarao Cagayan Jose G Garcia assistant hydrographer and Norberto Ciriaco District Hydrographer on walkway May 14 1957

Staff gage on Jalaur River at Passi Iloilo From left to right 2 boys A Lacuesta Distr HydrogrLher J CorderoIrrig Distr Engr G Hargreaves J Regalado gagekeeper (kneeling) and onlooker May 8 1957

I

--- S

F National Power Corporation staff gage on Angat River above Ipo Dam now beingreplaced by a Bureau of Public Works recorder installation March 13 1957

O~

~A F~ ~~ shy- ~

~

- --

I ------ ~

A -~ 1

~ -- gt I~-

5 shy

- ~- ~ U

amp~~ -

2r~ ~k- ~ ~

National Power Cororation painted staff gage Bantay River near Bokod BenguetMountain Province Hydrographers helperstanding March 26 1957 Note lower markings faded

11

Whether any other changes are made or not it is the expressed

plan of the Hydrographic Section to have the District-Hydrographer

who is in charge of the Northern Mindanao District headquartered at

Cagayan de Oro

A considerable portion of the pay of district hydrographers and

their staffs comes directly from the Irrigation Section district

office at which they are headquartered rather than through the

Hydrographic Section This has had the effect of limiting their

efforts somewhat to project work rather than to general or all-purpose

investigations

Some of the other agencies particularly the National Power

Corporation obtain the cooperation of the Hydrographic Section in

helping operate certain gaging stations where a duplication of travel

can thus be avoided However the discharge measurements so made by

the Hydrographic Section are turned over to the NPC who make their

own computations of daily discharge The latter also sometimes pays

directly the salaries of certain gagekeepers Usually this cooperashy

tion does not involve an exchange of funds but some change in that

situation is recommended as explained later in this report

All agencies make their daily discharge records available to the

Hydrographic Section upon request and the plan is to have the later

agency include all such records in their publications No reproduction

machine is available in any of the offices and all copies of records

must be made individually in typing or longhand A machine is under

order by the Hydrographic Section

-fiUMBER OI~ GAGIiG~STATIONS-eP-ERATED IN-PIILIPPINES -

CALENDAR YEAR

YEA HYOROGRAPHIC

STAGE NATIONAL

SECTION PO R0 P

RIVEl CONTROL SECTON

TOT AL

DISCHARGE NATIONAL

HYDROGRAPHIC SECTION ORHYTGRPI SECTION POR

TOTAL TOA

RECORDING NON-REC TOTAL NON-REC NON-REC RECORDING NON-REC TOTAL

1908-1922 265 265 265

1923-1944 3 3 9 12

1945 6 6 6 15 15 2 17

1946 2 12 14 14 28 28 4 32

1947 3 11 14 14 29 29 4 33

1948 3 18 21 5 26 45 45 5 50

1949 3 13 16 6 5 27 74 74 15 89

1950 3 9 12 10 4 26 91 91 20 111

1951 3 15 18 10 4 34 103 103 17 120

1952 3 13 16 10 4 30 111 111 17 128 1953 3 17 20 11 17 48 1 96 97 23 120

1954 4 18 22 11 26 49 1 145 146 22 168

1955 4 18 22 13 19 54 1 207 208 27 235

1956 6 12 15 1 25 52 40 189 26 5

13

Various agencies have submitted lists of proposed gaging stations

which they would like to have installed to provide data for their

projects It is apparent that this work will be well coordinated in

the future and that the other agencies will come to rely more and

more on the Hydrographic Section for most of their basic stream-flow

records But they probably will continue to have their own personnel

make certain types of hydrographic investigations for the detailed

study of specific projects such as river profiles tailwater rating

curves etc

Financing

The main difficulty in regard to financing has been lack of

stability and continuity to the program and insufficient generalshy

fund money to permit the establishment of an all-purpose gaging proshy

gram In 1956 and 1957 the Hydrographic Section rec3ived P120000

(less than half of their total funds) for such general use with all

other monies either from counterpart funds (explained below) in theor

form of contributions from other agencies to cover certain gaging

expenses Another difficulty has been the lack of enough funds to

properly carry out the sudden large construction program generated by

the new ICA-furnished materials and instruments Most of the regular

hydrographic force has been assigned to construction during the last

twelve months or so because separate construction foremen or substitute

hydrographers could not be hired As a result the regular field

operation of gaging stations has suffered considerable neglect This

- - -

14

wuld not have been necessary if the Hydrographic Sections funds had

been flexible and appropriated on basis of a performance budget As

it is the Section must adhere to line items which spell out exactly

how all money is to be spent

The financing of an expanded 1958 program now appears to be

progressing satisfactorily largely from the counterpart monies

This fund consists of pesos allocated by the Philippine government

in an amount equivalent to the dollar value of imports furnished by

the ICA It is administered by the National Economic Council with

allocations subject to approval of the ICA on budget recommendations

received from Philippine government agencies In the case of water

resources programs they are assisted by recommendations of the Water

Resources Development Committee an NEC administratively appointed

body composed of representatives of ten agencies interested or inshy

volved in water development A rougn breakdown of the Hydrographic

Sections budget proposed for the fiscal year starting July 1 1957

is as follows

General Fund Pesos

Annual appropriation - ------------ 120000

Counterpart Funds

For bringing up to date the publication of

annual records plus a compilation - - - - 56000

For an expanded program of surface-water

investigations----------- - 500000

TOTAL - - - - - - 676000

The total funds available in 1955 and 1956 fiscal years were 180000

and 280000 respectively

It

a 7~

IC

U

i

Staff gage out of water Labangan River at Bagbag Calumpit Bulacan March 1 1957

7lt 2

I

fr

Gagekeeper and staff Jalaur River at Calinog Iloilo He read 10 centimeters low today because markings on lower part of gage were illegible

I-J May 8 1957

16 8

hational Power Corp staff gage painted on streamward side of cliff Lower markings gone and gagekeeper determines gage heights three times a day by wading to gage and measuring down with rule as shown in this picture Bokod R at Boiod Benguet Mountain Province March 26 1957

Bureau of Public Works staff gage station Gagekeeper has made readingsby measuring down from a nail since this section of gage was washed out by a flood Madlum River near Sibul Springs Bulacan April 25 1957

17

The only difficulty with counterpart financing is that it is

temporary and could conceivably leave the program stranded in a few

years when ICA aid is discontinued The necessity is recognized for

gradually obtaining regular Congressional appropriations to take the

place of counterpart funds An effort will also be made to have a

performance type of budget accepted because line items make the

program inflexible and prevent the best management and economy

It is recommended that other agencies desiring for their projects

certain stream flow records which cannot be financed from the regular

budget of the Hydrographic Section transfer funds annually (either in

advance or on a reimbursement basis) to the Hydrographic Section to

pay the extra costs required for the fulfilment of their requests

Design of the stream gaging program

As mentioned above the fiscal arrangements prevailing up to this

time have resulted in an almost total emphasis on project-type gaging

stations in the Philippines However I believe everyone is now in

agreement with the desirability or need for a nation-wide network of

index or runoff-per-square-kilometer type of stations which will sample

various runoff provinces such as those with different exposures to storms

and having different topography altitude geology type of land cover

etc The intensity of the network of stations in different regions

would vary depending upon the apparent future economic value or worth

of the water in each area This will be discussed in more detail in

the recommendations

18

In order to look over the existing program observe something of

the technical methods in use and see a variety of runoff and economic

types of areas in the islands to gain an idea of the type of stream

gaging network needed I have visited several regions accompanied most

of the time by Mr George Hargreaves It has been very helpful to me

to have him take such an interest in the detailed objectives of ry

assignment and I am sure it will facilitate Mrs Snellas work a great

deal to have available for consultation and guidance Mr Hargreaves

wide experience in water resources development and investigations

We were accompanied by Mr J C Regalado of the ydrographic Section

who made most of the advance contacts with field offices in connecshy

tion with our trips We usually travelled to central points by Philshy

ippine Air Lines and were then driven to nearby areas by field officials

of the Hydrographic Section and other agencies The hospitality and

cooperation of everyone toward us was exceptional and much appreciated

Besides a fairly detailed coverage of the Central Luzon area where an

intensified program is proposed our inspections included Northern

Luzon Southern Luzon (the Bicol region) Leyte Panay and several

parts of Mindanao In addition we made a special effort to observe

the country all along the routes of airplane flights taken and that

coupled with airplane stops made on other islands gave us a fairly

comprehensive view of the geography of the Philippines It is upon

this that my recommendations concerning the design of a stream gaging

program are based

19

Bquipment and technical methods-

The stream gaging equipment and methods used by the Hydrographic

Section since 1908 have been patterned mainly after those of the US

Geological Survey as described in the 1904 publication H4ydrographic

Manual Thus it appears likely that the methods and accuracy stanshy

dards have changed but little since the Philippine program was started

Stream gaging tecniques used by the other agencies are similar but

they have not had the advantage of some of the new ICA-furnished equipshy

ment This is expected to be remedied in the aid allocations for fiscal

year 1958

Although some use has been made of the 2-8 method of measuring

discharge present practice is limited almost entirely to the 6method

for low and medium stages and the sub-surface method for high stages

for the latter the meter is suspended over a 15-E weight and set 03

meter below the surface with a coefficient of 0915 applied

The number of verticals or measuring points taken in the cross

section usually is between 8 and 15 No bridge cranes or suspension

reels of any kind have been available all discharge work other than

with wading rod having been done by hand line All this is about to

be changed with the recent arrival of the first ICA-furnished sounding

reels weights and tag lines purchased from 1956 FY funds

Staff gages are read to the nearest centimeter (about 0033 foot)

Most of the gages would be difficult to read to any closer limit alshy

though a few stations have Leupold Stevens enameled gages with levelshy

rod type markings

20

The hydrographer records his discharge measurement notes in a

small bound pocket-size book which he carries until it is full After

each measurement is computed in the field a complete copy of the notes

is made on a card and mailed to the Manila office I am informed

that the bound notebooks are practically never lost or dropped in

the water With the increased amount of flood measuring expected to

be done in the future that situation might change

Rating curves are drawn to average large groups of discharge

measurements Large rectangular-scale cross section sheets are used

Percentage differences of the measured values with respect to the

rating table are not computed A minimum of use is made of Stoutshy

method shifts

The water-stage recorders furnished to date by the ICA have been

manufactured with time scales of either 03 inch per day (the FM

model) or 48 inches per day (the A-35 model) The former scale is

too small for satisfactory use in most stream gaging and the latter

is too large Thirty pairs of time scale gears have been ordered for

converting the A-35s from 48 to 24 inches per day Upon inquiry at

the factory it was learned that no conversion of the FM recorders is

possible An exchange of 25 of them is being made with the ground

water program for an equivalent value in A-35 recordero but the

remaining 65 will be used at the surface water stations They are

very satisfactory on lakes or spring-fed streams or large streams

whose fluctuations are not too sudden

21

Ipo dam on Angat River which diverts water to supply City of Manila and surrounding area March 13 1957 Reservoir is traversed by boat in reaching the gaging station upstream

Ready to leave Ipo Dam for gaging station 6 kilqmeters upstream B Ramos and J Regalado in oanca March 13 1957

4 ~ s~

B Ramos making discharge measurement by wading on Angat River above Ipo DamMarch 13 1957 Spacings between verticals were obtained from cable makings byline hanging from cable car

23

At non-recording gages it has been the custom to hire gagekeepers

at uniform or statutory rates of 025 or P30 per month (not related

to the distance traversed in going to the gage) to obtain readings

three times a day The pay has been the same even where the gage is

located several kilometers away from the gagekeepers home The system

has certain disadvantages which may affect the accuracy of the records

At some stations the pay is too high while at others it is too low

Three readings a day are not necessary most of the time for adequately

developing the hydrograph especially during the dry season and a

request for obviously unnecessary readings seems to put too severe a

test upon human nature It is practically an open invitation to a

certain amount of faking I doubt that it should be held against a

gagekeeper to put down some estimated readings under those circumstances

any more than it would be to blame children for taking candy or cookies

from a forbidden plate left openly in their midst The question then

becomes - what readings can be relied upon and what cannbt I sincerely

believe that a more accurate daily discharge record can be prepared in

the office from a few completely reliable gage readinrs per week by

means of hydrographic comparisons with recording-gage records from

nearby stations and with less expense than can be produced by proshy

cessing comparing and weeding out questionable parts from a complete

(on paper) record of three readings a day A gagekeepers habit

developed during the dry season of not going to the gage when it is

inconvenient or he doesnt feel like it is bound to crop up during

the high water season as well with the result that all his readings

24

must be looked at critically and considered reliAble only after

unusually extensive comparisons are made with weather records and

other stations

In regard to specialized stream gaging equipment listed below

are the amounts purchased by the ICA up to the present time

Ordered from Ordered from Being FY 1955 PPA 1956 PPA ordered Delivered in Delivered in from 1957

May 1956 May 1957 PPA

Canfield reels 0 6 8

Type A reels 0 6 2

Canfield tag lines 0 15 0

A-35 recorders 20 10 25

FM recorders 65 25 0

Enameled gage secs 400 600 200

Currer meter outfits inc ding rod headphonehanuline and 15-pound weight 11 10 0

Pygmy meters 0 0 10

Bridge cranes 0 3 0

Sounding wts 30-lb 0 0 10

50-lb 0 0 10

I i 75-lb 0 0 1

I 100-lb 0 0 1

Stopwatches 20 10 0

Being purchased as models for possible future use in procurement of

weights of local manufacture

25

~-

-~ ~- shy

~-

4rshy~~L~zu 1 - ~ A-

-~ - ~jj ~

~- k ~ ~

Helper and P Nubio National Power Corporationpreparing to make discharge measurement Tag marks of grass being tied to line Bantay River near Bokod Benguet Mountain Province March 26 1957

-- ~ 4

V

Helper holding meter in place suspended on a weight hanger while revolutions are counted oy hydrographer P Nubio E P Nbesamis is at extreme right March 26 1957

26

-p --shy

t-~-- - -

A ~

A~4 ~ 4

A -Y

- -

- - - -

gt~ ~ ~-

Z4z4a - ~z

- shy -~-~shy

4shy- --

I NPC discharge party on Bokod River at-Bokod BenguetMountain Province Helper and gagekeeper holding meter and 15-pound weight in position P Nubio on shore counting revolutions and recording notes March 26 1957

Ar 7

-~ I

0 I 15-pound weight used in discharge measurement work by the NPC hydrographer stationed at Ambuklao Dam March 26 1957

27

Recommendations

A sharp expansion in the stream gaging program of the Philippines

has occurred recently brought about not only by the ICAs economic and

technical aid program but also by the growing local demand for water

resources information It is inevitable that some organizational

changes would be required to accommodate such a sudden growth This

subject was discussed in conferences with Mr Saddam and Mr Regalado

and the following list of special objectives agreed upon They had a

number of these in mind or partly in effect already and were planning

to gradually adopt several others The items are listed here in order

to express my reasons for wanting to see them completely implemented

within the next two or three years They are as follows

A It is recommended that the district offices compute their own disshy

charge records and prepare them for publication for final review

in the central office in ranila

1 Additional engineers would be needed in each district office

and fewer engineers in the Manila office

2 At least the district hydrographer and preferably one other

engineer in addition should be trained in the office work in

Manila before the records were transferred to a district

3 Each engineer in a district office would be given a field area

which he would cover by a round of discharge measurements once

every 4 to 6 weeks each coverage taking about 2 weeks Betshy

ween trips he would do office work preferably on the same

stations that he covers in the field

28

4 Benefits of thissystem are believed to be as follows

a Records requested could be furnished more quickly to the

public especially to those in the district area

b This kind of a close tie between field and office work has

been found to greatly improve the quality of the records

the economy of operation and the performance and developshy

ment of the individual engineers

c The alternating of each person between field and office

work makes him (1) more competent in the field work and

also more competent in the office work than is possible

in segregated office and field groups and (2) permits

him to be home more of the time and lead a more normal

lifc thus increasing his morale and efficiency

5 Personnel arrangements recommended are

a Offer more rapid promotion to those who transfer like

from Manila to a field office or between field offices

b Encourage each man to transfer every few years with

faster promotions as an incentive It has been found

that this develops an engineers competence more rapidly

than if he stays in one office indefinitely Such ability

repays the government in added officiency and production

to an extent greater than its cost in extra salary

B Certain organization changes are recommended as follows

1 Appoint an Office Engineer a Field Engineer and (whenever

needed) a Construction Engineer They would be headquartered

__

V 29

2

~- ~

q

Ambuklao Dam on Agno River Generating capacity 75000 kw Powerplant is underground March 2557

7- t

-JI

Maria Cristina falls and power plant on Agus River River near Iligan Lanao Province Mindanao Present installed capacity 50000 kw May 1 1957

30

II I

Looking downstream at the Binga dam site on Agno River about 15 kilometers east of Baguio March 25 1957

Looking upstream at the Marikina dam site on Marikina River at Wawa near Montalban Rizal about 25 kilometers northeast of Manila April 5 1957

31

in the Manila office and act under the general supervision of

the head of the Section with the following responsibilities

to be included

a Office Engineer

(1) Be responsible for the discharge computations and

related office work in the Manila field district or

area

(2) Be responsible for review and final preparation for

publication of all records in the nation

(3) See that a progress chart of status-of-record compushy

tations is maintained in each district office and

that a summary statement concerning such progress is

sent to the central office at least quarterly

(4) Be responsible for research in office methods and

equipment (See footnote on next page)

b Field Engineer

(1) Act as first assistant to head of the Section of

Hydrography

(2) Be responsible for field operation vork throughout the

nation

(a) Make at least one annual field inspection in each

district

(b) Develop the system in every headquarters of keepshy

ing a running chronological chart of the discharge

measurements made at each gaging station or

32W

scheduled miscellaneous site A form in use in

Tacoma Washington has been found to be very conshy

venient for this purpose Such a chart gives the

supervisor a quick overall view of the status of

the field work and serves as a check at end of

the year to make sure all measurements have been

listed and counted

(3) Be responsible for the design of the stream gaging

network and the selection of sites for new gaging

stations

(4) Be responsible for research in field methods and

equipment

Construction Engineer

(1) Give general supervision and management to the conshy

struction program

(a) Obtain assignment of resident engineer or foreman

for each job

(b) See that the materials are made available Help

the foreman in every way possible in organizing

the job procuring emergency equipment or supplies

and making decisions about serious problems that

may arise on the job

If funds became available for considerable research it probably

would be better to appoint a special Research Engineer

33

~A

Cagayan River gaging station near Cagayan de OroMisamis Oriental Mindanao April 30 1957 Note how corrugated pipe recorder structure was bent by flood J C Regalado J J Ponco gagekeeper and G H Hargreaves in foreground

-

V

View of staff gage and control on Binakaan River at Tifigib near Pastrana Leyte Stream divided by a barand control excavated for unknown reason May 6 1957 J Regalado by the sign and G Hargreaves at right

Cable footbridge below Binga dam site Tree anchorage for cableway onformerly used by NPC in making Angat River above Ipo Damdischarge measurements P Nubio and March 13 1957E Abesamis of NPC on bridge March 25 1957

35

(c) Visit the major jobs occasionally to see that

they are proceding satisfactorily in all the

islands Make sure the stations are installed

according to instructions and plans An approved

sketch plan showing dimensions and elevations is

desirable for each construction job

(d) Prepare first draft of each new station description

(e) Prepare brief construction report including costs

A form in use at Tacoma Washington has been found

convenient for this purpose

C The following policies in regard to gagekeepers are recommended

1 Start a gradual change-over to paying each gagekeeper on basis

only of the hours he works plus a basic amount for taking the

responsibility This may result in increasing the pay of some

but it should reduce the pay of a much larger number

2 Convert most gagekeepers to two readings a day most of the time

with one or more additional readings during floods In some of

the drier parts of the Central Luzon area in cases where gages

are remote from habitation request only one reading a day

during the dry months such as from January through May inclushy

sive more than that are believed to cost more than they are

worth and are an open invitation to the reporting of estimated

readings

3 When a new recorder installation is at a barrio or bridge where

it appears unlikely to be vandalized try running the station

36

without hiring a gagekeeper If this system proves successful

discontinue the services of the gagekeepers at certain selected

recorders At all other recorders reduce the number of readshy

ings required to one per day and reduce their pay accordingly

If a gagekeeper prefers not to accept a lower monthly rate for

fewer readings it is suggested that he resign except in cases

where security of the station structures or right-of-way favors

may be involved

Proceed on the principle that a saving in public tax money from

the above reforms is more important than supporting gagekeepers

just because they depend on the income and need the money The

present dependence of a gagekeeper on his P300 or P360 a year

and the hardship he must undergo in adjusting to a lower rate

of pay for the job are not believed to be sufficient reasons

for continuing indefinitely to pay him more than necessary

However it is recommended that he be given 30 or 60 days

notice before a reduction in pay is placed in effect

D Vehicles

1 It is recommended that a gradual change-over be made from the

short-wheelbase open Jeep to the Jeep station wagon as a hydroshy

graphers car Benefits should be as follows

a The car can be locked leaving only the tires as attractive

to thieves

b The station wagon has more space As the hydrographers

became better equipped that space will be needed

37

Bamboo-and-grass shelters built and used by crew during construction of gaging station on Angat River above Ipo Dam March 13 1957

3

4

-Ti LP

Proposed site for new index-type gaging station selected on Baoas River near Mangatarem Pangasinan above all diversions by Regalado Romasanta dargreaves and Veatch April 15 1957 Photo by J S Romasanta

38

Taking Philippine Airlines plane at Legaspi Albayfor Manila on May 17 1957 Mount Mayon 7960 feet high in background

I

N 1 x

Y

I

Showing typical vehicle used on the reconnaissance and inspection trips over the Philippines

39

c For occasional errands or trips it will be feasible for

only oneman to take the car because he can lock the con

tents when the car is not attended

d It may possibly develop in some parts of the Philippines

that a hydrographer for a certain area will not need a

driver-helper and thereby a saving in funds can be made

However such a change should be made only on a trial

basis and is not recommended until conditions so warrant

and until the hydrographer involved is satisfied with the

change or else desires it

E Certain technical stream-gaging procedures are recommended to be

followed in the Philippine Islands hydrographic work at the average

gaging station by all agencies doing stream gaging as follows

1 Obtain a discharge measurement once every four to six weeks

throughout the year

2 Furnish the hydrographer with a print of the station descripshy

tion and of the rating curve and require him as a general rule

to compute and plot his discharge measurement in the field

3 Have the gage read both before and after each discharge measureshy

ment and the readings recorded on the field notes

4 Use a loose-leaf discharge-measurement note form or forms

containing a summary page patterned to some extent after the

forms in use by the USGS Bound notes make it too inconshy

venient or perhaps impossible for the office engineer to

examine the notes for a whole year when he analyzes a station

record

40

5 Gradually change to the use of ehameled steel gage plates

instead of painted gages because their initial cost is less

and they are more durable Plates graduated somewhat like

those of the US Geological Survey are believed much better

than those stocked by private companies While here I drew

up a suggested design for local manufacture which appealed

to the Hydrographic Section

6 Obtain levels at staff gages at least once a year especially

on the low section of gage Replace or repair each low secshy

tion soon after it becomes damaged or the markings become

indistinct

7 Continue as a general rule to use the 6-depth method with

the sub-surface method for deep swift water Obtain a comshy

plete cross section as soon as feasible after the high water

has subsided

8 Gradually change to the use of heavier sounding weights so

that the 6-depth method with soundings can be used at high

water in any event take soundings and velocities as far out

as practicable from each bank at flood stages then go across

deep part of channel with sub-surface method Check subshy

surface method coeficients whenever practicable by means of

vertical velocity curves Until such checks show otherwise

use a coefficient of 090

9 Compute discharge measurements by the mid-section method

This saves time (and money) and is at least as accurate as the

41

other method Request hydrographers to bear the method in mind

when selecting verticals near edges of channel or at breaks in

the cross section It is recommended that in the interests of

economy this change be made at an early date

10 Consider 20 as a desirable number of verticals in an average

stream cross section Continue to time the meter revolutions

for 40 to 60 seconds at each setting Someday if more accushy

racy is desired in hydrographic work in the Philippines it

would be appropriate to standardize on 30 verticals per measureshy

ment provided the 2-8 depth method were used and the gages

were read to fractions of a centimeter For the present it

seems consistent to take about 20 verticals when using the 6

method and with gages read only to the nearest centimeter

11 Use steel tag lines for wading measurements Paint bridge

rails and cables with markings sufficiently close together

that they can be used rapidly to determine stationing between

them When installing the paint marks use standard intervals

of either 1 meter 2 meters or 5 meters To avoid confusion

do not use intervals of 3 or 4 meters If measuring intervals

are to be 1 meter or less it is very convenient to have a

mark available every meter If intervals are between 1 and 5

meters use a mark every 2 meters A good system for making

the marks readily identifiable is to place 1 paint mark at

each basic interval like every 2 meters then put 2 marks every

10 meters 3 every 50 meters and 4 at 100 meters

42

use on12 Always tags the portion of the meter suspension line

that goes in the water The tags usually consist of small

pieces of colored cloth taped tightly to the line They

should be watched and checked occasionally against slippage

and error The tags should not be more than one meter apart

and should be spaced to give maximum convenience and speed in

measuring the discharge

13 As it may becoin feasible convert Type A current meters to

Type AA The more deeply recessed bearing of the Type AA

meter provides more durability of the pivot and bearing

because trapped air excludes most of the water and silt the

longer pivot results in a relatively lower center of gravity

of the bucke t wheel with respect to the point of bearing and

results in smoother performance

F Design of the stream gaging network

1 Everyone seem3 to agree with the objective of a network of

well-distributed long-term base stations for giving runoffshy

per-square-kilometer values representative of the general

area in which each station is located As rapidly as practishy

cable stations should be L d n the o ting netrk

and designated as base or index stations for permanent operashy

tion They should be the best stations both hydraulically

and as to equipment and should be free from upstream regushy

lation or diversion Where needed new base stations should

be installed as soon as they can be financed to appropriately

L11 out the network

43

2 In between such base stations it is desirable to sample smaller

basins with short-term records of various lengths which can be short term

correlated with the long records For this purpose thestashy

tion structures should be constructed so that they are as moveshy

able or salvageable as possiblej Often these movable stations

will be operated at or near specific project sites

3 It usually is more economical and satisfactory to gage a stream

at a highway crossing or other convenient place rather than

exactly at a project site later the data can be transferred

to the project site by means of drainage area proportions

checked by obtaining at the site e

two miscellaneous measurements or possibly in some cases a

whole year of record

4 A method for studying the existing network of stations to see

whether the intensity of coverage is satisfactory or not is to

plot correlations between the various station records prefershy

ably following the present methods of the USGS

5 It has been found advantageous to classify all gaging stations

that are in operation using categories somewhat like these

areal network base stations primary and secondary main stream

stations and water management stations This procedure is

helpful in planning how long various stations should be operated

Detailed information about station classification methods is

available from the U S Geological Survey for use as a guide

The Technical Training Program

Early plans

When this assignment was given to me it was anticipated that a

series of across-the-table discussions would be held with small groups

of hydrographers from the Philippine government bureaus engaging in

such work Detailed procedures would be discussed without formality

But when arrangements were initiated for such conferences I was inshy

formed that among those wanting to attend were many at the managerial

level as well as a number of representatives of agencies interested

more in water development projects than in resource investigations

These could not be turned down so it was necessary to revise the

agenda to include more of general interest

Later developments

In view of the wide experience and high rank of many prospective

attendants of the conference it did not seem appropriate to call it

a lecture series or school and the name Seminar On Water Resources

was decided upon The agenda is included in this report and will be

self-explanatory Registered attendance for each of the three weeks

was 68 72 and 70 persons respectively for a total of 210 The

setting for the Seminar can best be understood from the photographs

Conditions as a whole were good although the tape-recording of the

entire three weeks of proceedings and the need for a member to come

F M Veatch and Water Resources Seminar group week of April 8-12 1957 at Bureau of Public Highways conference building Manila

I y

rT

I

4

47

forward and use the microphone whenever he asked a question or made a

comment was somewhat of a dampener oh discussion When preparing the

agenda I assumed that few besides the hydrographers would attend the

sessions on technical details of stream gaging scheduled for Wednesday

to Friday yet the entire membership stayed through the full program

each week and so no small-group round-table discussions were practicable

It developed later that the language barrier was a little more

serious than first realized Also it was not evident at first that

many present did not know what a gaging station was One of the main

benefits gained from the field trip was to show them a typical station

along with some equipment Taken as a whole it is believed that the

Seminar was successful and worthwhile

The sending of trainees from the Hydrographic Section to the

United States by ICA is very effective in supplementing the technical

assistance rendered directly by American personnel in the Philippines

and it should be continued as long as possible

Acknowledgments

Announcements and invitations to attend the Seminar were sent to

numerous agencies and offices by the Hydrographic Section who also

made all arrangements such as for space registration loud speaker

system tape recordings and recess refreshments The Bureau of

Public Highways made their new conference building available and the

National Media Center furnished a slide projector screen and room

all of which were greatly appreciated The introductory talks by

48

several busy executives including Director J A Buendia and Messrs

A T Alano R R Lord P G Afable and D Rosell with Mr Tomas

Saddam acting as master of ceremonies contributed ideas and gave

each weeks session a good send-off

Publications

Copies of the following publications of the U S Geological

Survey (one by Bureau of Reclamation and one from ASCE) were disshyon

play at the Seminar at all times for inspection by the members Alshy

though they were requested not to take the publications away quite a

few copies gradually became missing

Irrigation Water Measurement Tables and Diagrams by U S

Bureau of Reclamation

ASCE Separate 413 - Backwater Effects of Open Channel

Constrictions

Stage-Fall Discharge Relation for Steady Flow in Prismatic

Channels Water-Supply Paper 1164

Topographic Characteristics of Drainage Basins W S P 968C

Weir Experiments Coefficients and Formulas WSP 200

Handbook for Hydrologists - Chapters 1 - 11

Chapter 1 -- Instructions for Flood Frequency Compilations

Chapter 2 -- ledian Discharge Computation Methods

Chapter 3 -- Instructions for Abstracting Topographic

Characteristics of Drainage Basins

i

-Imr- I

1 N

L

V10J~

C R Mirray explaining a ground water formula

Ii

17t

o

Water Resources Seminar group at gaging station on Marikina River near Montalban Rizal about an hours drive northeast of Manila April 12 1957

51

-- Channel Storage and Flood Routing

-- Extending Stream-flow Records

Chapter 6 -- Double Mass Curves

Chapter 7-A- Frequency Curves of Low Flows and Storage

Requirements

Chapter 8 -- Flood Frequency Analyses

Chapter 9 -- Small Stream Investigations

Chapter 10 - Hydrologic Definitions

Chapter 11 - Base-Flow Recession-Curves

Computation of Backwater at Open Channel Constrictions

Floods in Western Washington Frequency and Magnitude in

Relation to Drainage Basin Characteristics GS Circular 191

Floods in Georgia Frequency and Magnitude GS Circular 100

Stream-Gaging Procedure - A Manual Describing Methods and

Practice of the Geological Survey - WSP 888

Investigation of Methods and Equipment used in Stream Gaging

Part 2 Intakes For Gage Wells

Computation of Peak Discharge through Culverts

Computation of Backwater at Open-Channel Constrictions

Equipment for River Measurements Structures for Cableways

by Charles H Pierce

Computation of Peak Discharge at Contractions Circular 284

Care and Rating of Current Meters

Surface Water Supply o the United States 1950 Parts 1 - 14

52

In addition to the above publications a two-page single-spaced

memorandum entitled Plotting Flood Frequency Curves (Extracted from

U S Geological Survey publications) was prepared by me under date

of April 3 1957 and handed to each member of the Seminar each week

The program or agenda for the Seminar one copy of which was

given to each member follows on Pages 53 to 63 inclusive The

graphs on Page 63 were referred to during the talks

53

March 29 1957

AGENDA FOiR SEMINARZ ON WATER RESCURCES AND STAE4 GAGING

IN THE PHILIPPINES

PLACE Conference hoom 2nd Floor Bureau of Public Highways Building Second Street Port Area Manila

TIKE April 1-5 8-12 and 22-26 (same program each week)

CONDUCTED BY M1r i 1 Veatch District EngineerSurface WaterBranch Jater Aesources Division United States Geological Suver Thcoma ashington who is un three-month assignment with the ICA

Held in connoction with the Philippine Government-ICA water resources program

54

GENERAL PROGRAM MONDAY AND TUESDAY

honday morning 830

Opening remarks Mr Julian A Buendia Director Bureau of Fublic Works Mr R R Lord Chief Public Works Division ICA Mr G H Hargreaves Hydraulic Engineer ICA

Importance of water resources and their investigation

The hydrologic cycle Evaporation transpiration and precipitation Runoff

Daily discharge record and the hydrograph Storm runoff Base flow

Grou~nd Water Very brief description (this subject to be covered

iaore fully on Tuesday afternoon)

General characteristics of natural stream runoff in the Philippines Quantity

Adequacy Comparison with United States

Variations with time Day to day and year to year Long-term trends

Distributin by area General over the Philippine Islands Variations between nearby drainage basins

Effect of location elevation geology cover etc

Major uses of stream-flow data Many years of rccornds should be crnsidered Granting water r phts

Protect existing rights Prevent capital expenditures where water supply inadequate

Planning river basin developments including municipal supply irrigation pnwer flood control etc

Destping structures such as dams reservoirs dikes floodways canals pumping systems power plants bridges etc

Accuracy and extent of dat needed for minimizing underdesign or wasteful overdesign

Cost of water-supply data in relation to total cost of a project

Operating water projects Distribution of water on projects Operation of storage reservoirs and diversion dams

To make maximum use uf water supply Designing alterations or enlargements to existing projects

RECESS 1000 to 1015

55 -3-

Monday morning (Continued) 1015 aim

Management of the stream gaging program Foreseeing the needs for stream-flow records

Study population and industrial trends Keep inforned on water-development plans and

prgraIIs of all agencies Continuity of the records

Essential for wator-supply studies Regular financinp reouired

Annual appropriations a poundfccted by temporary econoidc or political conditions

Permanent type of financing needed Surcharge method License fee method

-Dissemination of the data Annual publication Occasional summary compilations Furnishing advance cupies of unpublished records Furnishing current data - daily weekly or munthly

wherever required Special water resources investigation agency desirable

Briefly dancribe United States organization Uniform tecnical standards Uniform ways of presenting data One series of publicatiens Distributial center for basic water data Genera l-coverage program requires close coordination

for economy of operation Personal requirements

Engineers Engir ring aids Computers Clerks

ADJOURN - 1145

Resume after lunch only if necessary for completing the above subjects

56

Tueday morning 830

Design of a comprehensive stream gjaging program General rrinciIlac

Represenkc tive runoff-type provinces should be sainpled with stations of various classes

Vary the intensity of coverage with probable intenshysity of water use

Follow tiie tcends variations with records fromand L sri etatiorns secondary

Correlate resultls one continually adjustnetwork Classification of ra-in stationa

Areal prinary and secondary viain strem priiary nd secondary Water-manmfciact stat-i ons Miscellanous dischaige mcasurements

Correlating the dat obttined in comprehensive program Logarithmic pajer Five years of lecord uscd What is a good corrclation

Analyses of data Flood frcouencjs

Annual serics Partial duration series

Low-flow frecuencies Low-flow duration hydrograph

Extending strewm-flow records Comparisons witi other gaging stations Rainfall-runoff correlations

Quality of water Temperature

Intermittent observations Recorders

Chemical gtuality Element -Dissolved solids

Suspended iaterial Time of cecurrence-floods Sampling

Methods Cost

RECESS - 1000 to 1015

57

- 5 -

Tuesday afternoon 130

Ground water (This subject conducted by Mr C R Murray) Occurrence

Water table Artesian Lakes

Movement Through the ground Into stream channels

Availability Geologic structure Aquifers Funing tests

Recharge Froa precipitation Artificial Froma induced lateral movement

Investigation Geology Springs Logs of dug and drilled wells Test wells

lecording Lanual

Quantitative studies Chemical quality analyses

Mincral ccontnt Sallt water intrusion

Drilling of wells for production use Ground water rirhts

Depletion of ground water reservoirs teyond rccharge capability

ADJOURN at 330

Geologist Ground Water Branch dater Resources Division U 6 Geological Survey who is on two-ywar assignment with ICA

58

PROGRAM ON STREMvi GAGING PROCEDURE WEDNESDAY TO FRIDAY

4ednesday morning 830

Establishing and constructing gaging stations Selection of site

Consider najor probable uses of the record Investigate extent of upstream diversion and

-egulation Utilize contour naps Obtain list of nmrjor water right applications

iydraulic conditicns Section control Shifting channel Overbank flow Dackwater

Accessibility Avoid too much expense Need to reach quickly to measure flash floods

Natural protection front flood damage Avoid excessively expensive construction conditions

Bed iock Quick sand Too-longintake pipes

For non-rccording gage choose site convenient to

one or more local gage readers

Survey of site Bank cross-prefile at gage Cross section at cable Plan

Right of way Oral pervrission ritten permission

Easement Land purchase

RECESS - 945 to 1000

- 7 - 59

Wednesday morning (Continued) 100)

Construction Select types and sizes of structures To fit purpose oi the record Plan later salva e (for secondary stations) For economy of operation (for example design cableway to

operat mesily) Adapt availabic standard plans to fit the site Keep costs to hclp in future estimating Make brief construction report for future assistance in

planninr sililar Jobs Prepare staLion descripLion

Road log distences etc for How to reach paragraph Descriptions of gages bench marks etc Dimensions cf structuis Gage datum elevations of portinent parts of structures

Operating and maintaining gaging stations Records of stage

Choice of dtum Arbitrcry local datum

Set gages so there will be no minus gage readings

Mean sea level datum May be used but has disadvantages

1hen later adjustments are made to level networks

Gages have to be reset or Equation must be published

Non-recording gages Types

Vertical staff Inclined staff

ire-weight Crest-stage gages

Refinement of graduations ake adequate for accuracy of record needed

Maintatling dat of gage Adequate number of local reference marks Take levels at least once a year

Work o- local gare reader Fy according to approx number of hours worked Do not roruire too many roadings for the

conditions Warm (with omphasis) against my guessed

readings Inform reader anv errors in reading will

show up in hydrogrq oic comtparisons Engineers obtain check readings whenever

possible Visit gage reader frequently a d show inshy

terest in his gage-height record Encourage reader to retain personal copy

ADJOURN at 1145

60

Thursday morning 800

Records of stage (continued) Recording gages

Select type of instrument and its scales to fit conditions at gaging station

Weekly or continuous recorder Recorder scales Range of stage Rate of change of stage Availability of someone to change weekly

chart Work of Cage inspector of keeper

Avoid resetting pen Repurt any trash or debris causing backwater

at gage Do not have a gage keeper unless needed

aintaining gage datum Check outside gae by levels annually Keep outside gage sections reset to datum

Standard reference gage Inside gage of soie sort preferable

Staff Float-tape Anchor type

Intake action Clean or flush pipes after floods Slot intakes Self-cleaning iitakes

For pipe gage wells For wells built into bridge piers

Draw-down (where excessive) Use bapfle or static tube

Elood marks at station Make record of well-defined high water

marks

AECESS - 945 to 1000

- 9 - 61

Thursday morning (Continudd) 1000

Discharge measuroments Current hmeters

Price Type A Type AA

Pygmpy Carc of inters

Sounding weights E-typc C-type

Lead Brono

Type of notebook Loose shects Loose-leaf book Bound booL

Measurement of depth aeding rod Tag-line nethod Vertical-nglc coofficients Sounding during floods

Ilacemont of mter Sub--surface method 2-depth n cthod 6-de-pth icthod 2- imetY od

Number of verticals Velocity -urgcs

Miscellaneous f-ctors Effect of bridge piers Horizontal angle of current Insufficient weight on current water

1Mean gage hoitht for a discharge measurement Special methods of (Itermining flood discharge

Floats Slope-area method

Rating curv- etonsion method Arca and velocity curves Loparithmic plottig

Contrqctd-opening mothod Flow ovcr dams

Report on condition of control Carry station description and rating curve in field

Ubtain another me asurement if needed If first indicates large shift If new station and stagc advantagoous for

defining blank part of rating curve

ADJOUffN - 1145 AI

Resumne atfter lunch only if necessary for comploting the above subjects

62

- 10 -

Friday morning S00

A few remarks about office methods Rating curves

Log-log paper Upward extonsions Dowmward extensions

Rectangular plotting Computing recorder charts

M-ark index correction and time correction for each inspection reading

Break midnight lines at raph Never oblitertte or mark over the original trace Nake office markings on chart distinctive from

those mad( At the gage Use of colored pencils by computer and checker is one good wa)y

Daily discharge record Flot hydrograph Compare over light box with other stations

This method preferable to plotting several station records on same sheet

Concluding discussions

RECESS - 945 to 1000

Projection of gaging station equipment Lnd scenic slides taken in the United States and Canada

ADJOURN - 1145

Field trip Cars will be available at the conference building to

take members to the raging station on arikina iRivei at ontalban about an hours drive from Manila where a brief demonstration of certain field equipment will be given

Return to noL later thanoanila 500 FL

---

- Ishy4 ~7L~

0F OllY LISCIiRE 4- 1 -shy

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- O 1 B -- 2r 2 ZZ 23 24 2 c 26 7 8 2717x I 2

_~ I 027 _d- 1 2 shy

7 -

n_ a t-i IZ

- _______________ Pnu~ OAgvhshy

-~ ~-r- 1 - V-shy- i-shytvkty--- in--a-- -~ ~Z2m7~ ~

- ~ ~-~-----~- V 1~5~ LTLL2P7o -4----4 1 -- I -- I I _ __ --- -- -- - - L - - I ----

~- ~y~-~ 64 4

N

A il

Seminar members observing demonshystrat-n of measurshying e -pment by F M Veatch at Marikina River gaging station April 12 1957

I

Water Resources Seminar members observing working model of proppsed Binga Dam at the hydraulics laboratory of University of the Philippines April 12 1957

65

Current meter rating flume mechanism Y 22 1957

Current meter rating flume mechanism May 22 1957

66

Current Meter Rating Station

The new current meter rating station at the University of the

Philippines (see photographs) was not quite ready for use before I

left the country The mechanism and instruments were manufactured

in Germanyobtained thru ICA-NEC procurement for the Water Resources

Program of the Department of Public Works and have been installed by

Professor Alberto Villares and his hydraulics laboratory staff under

Dean C A Ortigas of the College of Engineering with some guidance

by Professor Edward L Ericksen of the University of Michigan who is

a civil engineer on detail here with the Stanford Group Professor

Villares spent 18 months in the hydraulics laboratory of the Univershy

sity of Iowa

There is every evidence that this rating flume will with expeshy

rience do work accurate enough not only for determining differences

in ratings between current meters but also for preparing absolute or

independent ratings This can be reported on more fully at some

later date by Messrs Hargreaves and Snell

The Central Luzon Region Program

The Water Resources Development Committee is preparing a recomshy

mended plan for the expedited multiple-purpose development of the

water resources of the Central Luzon region The area contains oneshy

sixteenth of the land surface and one-fourth of the population of the

Philippines and is termed the rice granary of the nation It is to

be used as an example or experiment in water and land development

67

The Committee has requested member agencies to submit estimates

of the minimum amount of additional basic data needed for making a

useful report and for proceeding with development projects Such

estimates are to include mapping soil surveys dam and reservoir site

surveys water resources surveys and other items A preliminary

report is to be prepared soon summarizing the existing information

pointing out the need for additional dataand submitting estimates

of cost for the further investigations needed An outline for the

final report has been prepared and distributed so it will be availashy

ble as a guide and funds for the first years efforts are being

sought for fiscal year 1958 It appears reasonable that the report

on a comprehensive plan could be submitted to the President and

Congress of the Philippines in about five years

With the assistance of Mr Hargreaves I have prepared estimates

for a surface water measurement program to complement the existing

program It is designed to fill the worst gaps in the present netshy

work Details are subject to change as more reconnaissance informashy

tion becomes available as only five days were spent covering the area

by automobile Unit costs were provided by the Hydrographic Section

and they include cost of preparation of the records for publication

Estimates were submitted as given below They were supported by a

detailed list of stream names and locations which included desigshy

nations as to the primary purpose or type of each proposed new gaging

station and whether a recording or non-recording gage was recommended

It is available for reference in both the ydrographic Section and

ICA offices

68

New gaging stations

1 Daily discharge type

Installation (including cableways where needed)

Recording ------- 7 Pl650 11550

Non-recording --- 4 950 3800 15350

Operation 1st year -11 660 7260 P22610

2 High water type (flood records)

Installation

Gages (nonshy

recording) ----- 4 150 600

Measuring equipment 800 1400

Operation 1st year - 4 300 1200 2600

Total for new gaging stations ------------- 25210

Miscellaneous discharge measurements

1 4 or 5 during dry season Nov - April

4 sites x 5 per site = 20 30 ---------------- 600

2 1 or 2 during low part of year March and April

37 sites x l per site = 55 k30 ------------- 1650

Total for miscellaneous measurements ------ 2250

Total -------------- -2746o

69

Rainfall And Evaporation Stations

Existing network

A map examination of the existing network of rain gages was made

and a surprisingly large number were found to be in operation -- 2

recording and 115 manual stations or a total of 117 They are beshy

lieved to be fairly adequate in number and are well distributed

areally over the Philippines but like in the United States are conshy

fined largely to the lower altitudes where the agricultural and urban

population live In addition to these records are available for

various lengths of time from about 8 discontinued Weather Bureau

stations and from more than 300 haciendas reforestaion stations

and provincial rnrseries

Additional gages

The Weather Bureau and the Bureau of Public Works are cooperating

in the installation of some new rainfall stations at higher altitudes

part of which will utilize new instruments purchased with ICA aid

funds Some of the instruments will be installed at existing nonshy

recording stations Forty new installations are proposed for 1958

fiscal year It is now recognized that rainfall station coverage at

higher altitudes is needed in order to furnish records that can be

correlated with the long-term valley records and also with the gaging

station discharge records D

70

Weather station maintained by Bureau of Public WorksIrrigation Division near Tuguegarao Cagayan From left to right N Ciriaco District Hydrographer drivershyhelper observer J G Garcia hydrographer J C Regalado and G H Hargreaves May 13 1957

Weather station at Pototan Iloilo Panay A Lacuestadistrict bydro-rapher standing May 5 1957

71

Group luncheon at Tacloban Leyte typical of the hospitality received by us during inspection tour of the Philippines From left to right M Rico irrig distr engr G Hargreaves G Araos E N Salazar P Formilleza L Abella S Velasco JCRegalado V H Sydiongoo distr hydrographer I M Ortega Oscar de Venecia and N Oliver May 7 1957

ICA Public Works Division March 1957 From left to right C R Murray A A Ketchum asat Div head J B Delaney I J Silverstone Sofia Halili 0 H Hosmer R R Lord Div head B B Hill Betty Valdez G H Hargreaves J L Brenden FM Veatch

72

Evaporation stations

Fifteen double-pan (one open and one partially shaded) evaporation

stations with rainfall temperature wind and humidity instruments as

auxiliary are being operated in the Philippines and ten more are to

follow next year They are well distributed over the islands and

should furnish data of great value for reservoir design Thq reccrds

will be publish3d

Publication of rainfall data

All rainfall reccrds are published annually by the Weather Bureau

whose 1954 volume is the latest one printed The 1955 issue should be

released soon One excellent source of information for anyone studyshy

ing rainfall data in the Philippines is the publication The Distrishy

bution of Rainfall In The Philippines by Eugenio B Manalo Chief

Climatological Division Weather Bureau Manila This contains

valuable descriptive material tables of monthly and annual values

and mean monthly and annual isohyets in inches An inspection or

study of the monthly isohyetal maps shows clearly how storm patterns

change with the seasons in certain parts of the Philippines and that

73

in other areas the rain is almost evenly distributed throughout the

year The long dry season of Manila and the central Luzon plains is

graphically portrayed by the isohyets Mr Manalos publication

should be of great benefit to government agencies and private parties

or individuals in connection with agricultural and business activities

over the islands It is presumed that the isohyets will warrant some

revision after another 5 or 10 years as more records especially those

at higher altitudes become available

Sediment Measurement Stations

Practically no silt-sampling has been done in the Philippines

to date and no extensive program is believed possible because of the

lack of funds For the present it is recommended that every governshy

ment field hydrographer be equipped with a thermomater and a turbidity

stick and required to report a spot water temperature and turbidity

reading at time of each discharge measurement Thus without extra

cost a large amount of data can be accumulated which after several

years should make it possible to determine what streams are the

siltiest and where more detailed studies might be needed Whenever a

reservoir project reaches the intensive-investigation stage including

dam-site drilling detailed topography etc it is recommended that

a complete sediment sampling station be operated there for at least

one full flood season before the project feasibility report is

completed

74

Statement Before Water Resources Development Committee

On March 20 1957 I presented the following statement regarding

the streamflow measurement program in the Philippines

The Philippine Republic is blessed with an excellent supply of

water of good quality but much of it is wasted to the sea during the

rainy season The development of this resource is vitally important

to the nation and it involves the storing of flood waters for dryshy

season release Where investments are to be made for construction of

dams etc in the development of irrigation power production and

flood control large sums can easily be wasted through overdesign or

underdesign if enough engineering data are not available Conflicting

or competing uses for the water supplies will gradually develop in

your country the same as they have in the United States If water

rights are to be granted fairly with due regard for all prior users

many years of basic data are necessary so that the long-term water

supply can be estimated For this purpose a good network of stream

gaging records and ground water levels must be secured One would

not attempt to manage the money in a bank without bookkeeping and it

is just as important to have an accounting system when managing water

The sound economical procedure is to base all project designs on as

complete engineering information as can be obtained

The ICA is attempting to assist the Philippine Government in

planning the orderly development of its water resources and we are

concerned that too many structures may be built before accurate

9i

hydrologic data are available for their design For this reason we

strongly urge you to improve the basic data gathering program at the

earliest possible date as follows

(1) Review and publish the stream-flow records that have been

obtained since the war

(2) Finance an expanded program of stream-flow measurement and

ground water study

The Bureau of Public Works has prepared preliminary estimates of

the funds needed for bringing publication of basic data up to date and

for expanding the wiater resources investigation program The attached

copies of estimates are of course provisional and subject to revision

but it is suggested that they be placed in the files of this Committee

for future reference The figure of P56oooo for publication is a

fairly firm figure It is suggested that the Committee take immeshy

diate action to further the procurement of these funds

The procurement of water resources data is a specialized field

requiring engineers and other technical men with a high degree of

education Years must be spent in training them in such special

work The men must endure rigorous physical work corbatting the

elements and using resourcefulness and judgment It is very uneconoshy

mical and unsatisfactory to have a technical organization of that kind

subject to occasional and unpredictable severe cuts in appropriations

It is even more unsatisfactory to have the time sequence of basic

water data collection interrupted and valuable records lost forever

I

--- S

F National Power Corporation staff gage on Angat River above Ipo Dam now beingreplaced by a Bureau of Public Works recorder installation March 13 1957

O~

~A F~ ~~ shy- ~

~

- --

I ------ ~

A -~ 1

~ -- gt I~-

5 shy

- ~- ~ U

amp~~ -

2r~ ~k- ~ ~

National Power Cororation painted staff gage Bantay River near Bokod BenguetMountain Province Hydrographers helperstanding March 26 1957 Note lower markings faded

11

Whether any other changes are made or not it is the expressed

plan of the Hydrographic Section to have the District-Hydrographer

who is in charge of the Northern Mindanao District headquartered at

Cagayan de Oro

A considerable portion of the pay of district hydrographers and

their staffs comes directly from the Irrigation Section district

office at which they are headquartered rather than through the

Hydrographic Section This has had the effect of limiting their

efforts somewhat to project work rather than to general or all-purpose

investigations

Some of the other agencies particularly the National Power

Corporation obtain the cooperation of the Hydrographic Section in

helping operate certain gaging stations where a duplication of travel

can thus be avoided However the discharge measurements so made by

the Hydrographic Section are turned over to the NPC who make their

own computations of daily discharge The latter also sometimes pays

directly the salaries of certain gagekeepers Usually this cooperashy

tion does not involve an exchange of funds but some change in that

situation is recommended as explained later in this report

All agencies make their daily discharge records available to the

Hydrographic Section upon request and the plan is to have the later

agency include all such records in their publications No reproduction

machine is available in any of the offices and all copies of records

must be made individually in typing or longhand A machine is under

order by the Hydrographic Section

-fiUMBER OI~ GAGIiG~STATIONS-eP-ERATED IN-PIILIPPINES -

CALENDAR YEAR

YEA HYOROGRAPHIC

STAGE NATIONAL

SECTION PO R0 P

RIVEl CONTROL SECTON

TOT AL

DISCHARGE NATIONAL

HYDROGRAPHIC SECTION ORHYTGRPI SECTION POR

TOTAL TOA

RECORDING NON-REC TOTAL NON-REC NON-REC RECORDING NON-REC TOTAL

1908-1922 265 265 265

1923-1944 3 3 9 12

1945 6 6 6 15 15 2 17

1946 2 12 14 14 28 28 4 32

1947 3 11 14 14 29 29 4 33

1948 3 18 21 5 26 45 45 5 50

1949 3 13 16 6 5 27 74 74 15 89

1950 3 9 12 10 4 26 91 91 20 111

1951 3 15 18 10 4 34 103 103 17 120

1952 3 13 16 10 4 30 111 111 17 128 1953 3 17 20 11 17 48 1 96 97 23 120

1954 4 18 22 11 26 49 1 145 146 22 168

1955 4 18 22 13 19 54 1 207 208 27 235

1956 6 12 15 1 25 52 40 189 26 5

13

Various agencies have submitted lists of proposed gaging stations

which they would like to have installed to provide data for their

projects It is apparent that this work will be well coordinated in

the future and that the other agencies will come to rely more and

more on the Hydrographic Section for most of their basic stream-flow

records But they probably will continue to have their own personnel

make certain types of hydrographic investigations for the detailed

study of specific projects such as river profiles tailwater rating

curves etc

Financing

The main difficulty in regard to financing has been lack of

stability and continuity to the program and insufficient generalshy

fund money to permit the establishment of an all-purpose gaging proshy

gram In 1956 and 1957 the Hydrographic Section rec3ived P120000

(less than half of their total funds) for such general use with all

other monies either from counterpart funds (explained below) in theor

form of contributions from other agencies to cover certain gaging

expenses Another difficulty has been the lack of enough funds to

properly carry out the sudden large construction program generated by

the new ICA-furnished materials and instruments Most of the regular

hydrographic force has been assigned to construction during the last

twelve months or so because separate construction foremen or substitute

hydrographers could not be hired As a result the regular field

operation of gaging stations has suffered considerable neglect This

- - -

14

wuld not have been necessary if the Hydrographic Sections funds had

been flexible and appropriated on basis of a performance budget As

it is the Section must adhere to line items which spell out exactly

how all money is to be spent

The financing of an expanded 1958 program now appears to be

progressing satisfactorily largely from the counterpart monies

This fund consists of pesos allocated by the Philippine government

in an amount equivalent to the dollar value of imports furnished by

the ICA It is administered by the National Economic Council with

allocations subject to approval of the ICA on budget recommendations

received from Philippine government agencies In the case of water

resources programs they are assisted by recommendations of the Water

Resources Development Committee an NEC administratively appointed

body composed of representatives of ten agencies interested or inshy

volved in water development A rougn breakdown of the Hydrographic

Sections budget proposed for the fiscal year starting July 1 1957

is as follows

General Fund Pesos

Annual appropriation - ------------ 120000

Counterpart Funds

For bringing up to date the publication of

annual records plus a compilation - - - - 56000

For an expanded program of surface-water

investigations----------- - 500000

TOTAL - - - - - - 676000

The total funds available in 1955 and 1956 fiscal years were 180000

and 280000 respectively

It

a 7~

IC

U

i

Staff gage out of water Labangan River at Bagbag Calumpit Bulacan March 1 1957

7lt 2

I

fr

Gagekeeper and staff Jalaur River at Calinog Iloilo He read 10 centimeters low today because markings on lower part of gage were illegible

I-J May 8 1957

16 8

hational Power Corp staff gage painted on streamward side of cliff Lower markings gone and gagekeeper determines gage heights three times a day by wading to gage and measuring down with rule as shown in this picture Bokod R at Boiod Benguet Mountain Province March 26 1957

Bureau of Public Works staff gage station Gagekeeper has made readingsby measuring down from a nail since this section of gage was washed out by a flood Madlum River near Sibul Springs Bulacan April 25 1957

17

The only difficulty with counterpart financing is that it is

temporary and could conceivably leave the program stranded in a few

years when ICA aid is discontinued The necessity is recognized for

gradually obtaining regular Congressional appropriations to take the

place of counterpart funds An effort will also be made to have a

performance type of budget accepted because line items make the

program inflexible and prevent the best management and economy

It is recommended that other agencies desiring for their projects

certain stream flow records which cannot be financed from the regular

budget of the Hydrographic Section transfer funds annually (either in

advance or on a reimbursement basis) to the Hydrographic Section to

pay the extra costs required for the fulfilment of their requests

Design of the stream gaging program

As mentioned above the fiscal arrangements prevailing up to this

time have resulted in an almost total emphasis on project-type gaging

stations in the Philippines However I believe everyone is now in

agreement with the desirability or need for a nation-wide network of

index or runoff-per-square-kilometer type of stations which will sample

various runoff provinces such as those with different exposures to storms

and having different topography altitude geology type of land cover

etc The intensity of the network of stations in different regions

would vary depending upon the apparent future economic value or worth

of the water in each area This will be discussed in more detail in

the recommendations

18

In order to look over the existing program observe something of

the technical methods in use and see a variety of runoff and economic

types of areas in the islands to gain an idea of the type of stream

gaging network needed I have visited several regions accompanied most

of the time by Mr George Hargreaves It has been very helpful to me

to have him take such an interest in the detailed objectives of ry

assignment and I am sure it will facilitate Mrs Snellas work a great

deal to have available for consultation and guidance Mr Hargreaves

wide experience in water resources development and investigations

We were accompanied by Mr J C Regalado of the ydrographic Section

who made most of the advance contacts with field offices in connecshy

tion with our trips We usually travelled to central points by Philshy

ippine Air Lines and were then driven to nearby areas by field officials

of the Hydrographic Section and other agencies The hospitality and

cooperation of everyone toward us was exceptional and much appreciated

Besides a fairly detailed coverage of the Central Luzon area where an

intensified program is proposed our inspections included Northern

Luzon Southern Luzon (the Bicol region) Leyte Panay and several

parts of Mindanao In addition we made a special effort to observe

the country all along the routes of airplane flights taken and that

coupled with airplane stops made on other islands gave us a fairly

comprehensive view of the geography of the Philippines It is upon

this that my recommendations concerning the design of a stream gaging

program are based

19

Bquipment and technical methods-

The stream gaging equipment and methods used by the Hydrographic

Section since 1908 have been patterned mainly after those of the US

Geological Survey as described in the 1904 publication H4ydrographic

Manual Thus it appears likely that the methods and accuracy stanshy

dards have changed but little since the Philippine program was started

Stream gaging tecniques used by the other agencies are similar but

they have not had the advantage of some of the new ICA-furnished equipshy

ment This is expected to be remedied in the aid allocations for fiscal

year 1958

Although some use has been made of the 2-8 method of measuring

discharge present practice is limited almost entirely to the 6method

for low and medium stages and the sub-surface method for high stages

for the latter the meter is suspended over a 15-E weight and set 03

meter below the surface with a coefficient of 0915 applied

The number of verticals or measuring points taken in the cross

section usually is between 8 and 15 No bridge cranes or suspension

reels of any kind have been available all discharge work other than

with wading rod having been done by hand line All this is about to

be changed with the recent arrival of the first ICA-furnished sounding

reels weights and tag lines purchased from 1956 FY funds

Staff gages are read to the nearest centimeter (about 0033 foot)

Most of the gages would be difficult to read to any closer limit alshy

though a few stations have Leupold Stevens enameled gages with levelshy

rod type markings

20

The hydrographer records his discharge measurement notes in a

small bound pocket-size book which he carries until it is full After

each measurement is computed in the field a complete copy of the notes

is made on a card and mailed to the Manila office I am informed

that the bound notebooks are practically never lost or dropped in

the water With the increased amount of flood measuring expected to

be done in the future that situation might change

Rating curves are drawn to average large groups of discharge

measurements Large rectangular-scale cross section sheets are used

Percentage differences of the measured values with respect to the

rating table are not computed A minimum of use is made of Stoutshy

method shifts

The water-stage recorders furnished to date by the ICA have been

manufactured with time scales of either 03 inch per day (the FM

model) or 48 inches per day (the A-35 model) The former scale is

too small for satisfactory use in most stream gaging and the latter

is too large Thirty pairs of time scale gears have been ordered for

converting the A-35s from 48 to 24 inches per day Upon inquiry at

the factory it was learned that no conversion of the FM recorders is

possible An exchange of 25 of them is being made with the ground

water program for an equivalent value in A-35 recordero but the

remaining 65 will be used at the surface water stations They are

very satisfactory on lakes or spring-fed streams or large streams

whose fluctuations are not too sudden

21

Ipo dam on Angat River which diverts water to supply City of Manila and surrounding area March 13 1957 Reservoir is traversed by boat in reaching the gaging station upstream

Ready to leave Ipo Dam for gaging station 6 kilqmeters upstream B Ramos and J Regalado in oanca March 13 1957

4 ~ s~

B Ramos making discharge measurement by wading on Angat River above Ipo DamMarch 13 1957 Spacings between verticals were obtained from cable makings byline hanging from cable car

23

At non-recording gages it has been the custom to hire gagekeepers

at uniform or statutory rates of 025 or P30 per month (not related

to the distance traversed in going to the gage) to obtain readings

three times a day The pay has been the same even where the gage is

located several kilometers away from the gagekeepers home The system

has certain disadvantages which may affect the accuracy of the records

At some stations the pay is too high while at others it is too low

Three readings a day are not necessary most of the time for adequately

developing the hydrograph especially during the dry season and a

request for obviously unnecessary readings seems to put too severe a

test upon human nature It is practically an open invitation to a

certain amount of faking I doubt that it should be held against a

gagekeeper to put down some estimated readings under those circumstances

any more than it would be to blame children for taking candy or cookies

from a forbidden plate left openly in their midst The question then

becomes - what readings can be relied upon and what cannbt I sincerely

believe that a more accurate daily discharge record can be prepared in

the office from a few completely reliable gage readinrs per week by

means of hydrographic comparisons with recording-gage records from

nearby stations and with less expense than can be produced by proshy

cessing comparing and weeding out questionable parts from a complete

(on paper) record of three readings a day A gagekeepers habit

developed during the dry season of not going to the gage when it is

inconvenient or he doesnt feel like it is bound to crop up during

the high water season as well with the result that all his readings

24

must be looked at critically and considered reliAble only after

unusually extensive comparisons are made with weather records and

other stations

In regard to specialized stream gaging equipment listed below

are the amounts purchased by the ICA up to the present time

Ordered from Ordered from Being FY 1955 PPA 1956 PPA ordered Delivered in Delivered in from 1957

May 1956 May 1957 PPA

Canfield reels 0 6 8

Type A reels 0 6 2

Canfield tag lines 0 15 0

A-35 recorders 20 10 25

FM recorders 65 25 0

Enameled gage secs 400 600 200

Currer meter outfits inc ding rod headphonehanuline and 15-pound weight 11 10 0

Pygmy meters 0 0 10

Bridge cranes 0 3 0

Sounding wts 30-lb 0 0 10

50-lb 0 0 10

I i 75-lb 0 0 1

I 100-lb 0 0 1

Stopwatches 20 10 0

Being purchased as models for possible future use in procurement of

weights of local manufacture

25

~-

-~ ~- shy

~-

4rshy~~L~zu 1 - ~ A-

-~ - ~jj ~

~- k ~ ~

Helper and P Nubio National Power Corporationpreparing to make discharge measurement Tag marks of grass being tied to line Bantay River near Bokod Benguet Mountain Province March 26 1957

-- ~ 4

V

Helper holding meter in place suspended on a weight hanger while revolutions are counted oy hydrographer P Nubio E P Nbesamis is at extreme right March 26 1957

26

-p --shy

t-~-- - -

A ~

A~4 ~ 4

A -Y

- -

- - - -

gt~ ~ ~-

Z4z4a - ~z

- shy -~-~shy

4shy- --

I NPC discharge party on Bokod River at-Bokod BenguetMountain Province Helper and gagekeeper holding meter and 15-pound weight in position P Nubio on shore counting revolutions and recording notes March 26 1957

Ar 7

-~ I

0 I 15-pound weight used in discharge measurement work by the NPC hydrographer stationed at Ambuklao Dam March 26 1957

27

Recommendations

A sharp expansion in the stream gaging program of the Philippines

has occurred recently brought about not only by the ICAs economic and

technical aid program but also by the growing local demand for water

resources information It is inevitable that some organizational

changes would be required to accommodate such a sudden growth This

subject was discussed in conferences with Mr Saddam and Mr Regalado

and the following list of special objectives agreed upon They had a

number of these in mind or partly in effect already and were planning

to gradually adopt several others The items are listed here in order

to express my reasons for wanting to see them completely implemented

within the next two or three years They are as follows

A It is recommended that the district offices compute their own disshy

charge records and prepare them for publication for final review

in the central office in ranila

1 Additional engineers would be needed in each district office

and fewer engineers in the Manila office

2 At least the district hydrographer and preferably one other

engineer in addition should be trained in the office work in

Manila before the records were transferred to a district

3 Each engineer in a district office would be given a field area

which he would cover by a round of discharge measurements once

every 4 to 6 weeks each coverage taking about 2 weeks Betshy

ween trips he would do office work preferably on the same

stations that he covers in the field

28

4 Benefits of thissystem are believed to be as follows

a Records requested could be furnished more quickly to the

public especially to those in the district area

b This kind of a close tie between field and office work has

been found to greatly improve the quality of the records

the economy of operation and the performance and developshy

ment of the individual engineers

c The alternating of each person between field and office

work makes him (1) more competent in the field work and

also more competent in the office work than is possible

in segregated office and field groups and (2) permits

him to be home more of the time and lead a more normal

lifc thus increasing his morale and efficiency

5 Personnel arrangements recommended are

a Offer more rapid promotion to those who transfer like

from Manila to a field office or between field offices

b Encourage each man to transfer every few years with

faster promotions as an incentive It has been found

that this develops an engineers competence more rapidly

than if he stays in one office indefinitely Such ability

repays the government in added officiency and production

to an extent greater than its cost in extra salary

B Certain organization changes are recommended as follows

1 Appoint an Office Engineer a Field Engineer and (whenever

needed) a Construction Engineer They would be headquartered

__

V 29

2

~- ~

q

Ambuklao Dam on Agno River Generating capacity 75000 kw Powerplant is underground March 2557

7- t

-JI

Maria Cristina falls and power plant on Agus River River near Iligan Lanao Province Mindanao Present installed capacity 50000 kw May 1 1957

30

II I

Looking downstream at the Binga dam site on Agno River about 15 kilometers east of Baguio March 25 1957

Looking upstream at the Marikina dam site on Marikina River at Wawa near Montalban Rizal about 25 kilometers northeast of Manila April 5 1957

31

in the Manila office and act under the general supervision of

the head of the Section with the following responsibilities

to be included

a Office Engineer

(1) Be responsible for the discharge computations and

related office work in the Manila field district or

area

(2) Be responsible for review and final preparation for

publication of all records in the nation

(3) See that a progress chart of status-of-record compushy

tations is maintained in each district office and

that a summary statement concerning such progress is

sent to the central office at least quarterly

(4) Be responsible for research in office methods and

equipment (See footnote on next page)

b Field Engineer

(1) Act as first assistant to head of the Section of

Hydrography

(2) Be responsible for field operation vork throughout the

nation

(a) Make at least one annual field inspection in each

district

(b) Develop the system in every headquarters of keepshy

ing a running chronological chart of the discharge

measurements made at each gaging station or

32W

scheduled miscellaneous site A form in use in

Tacoma Washington has been found to be very conshy

venient for this purpose Such a chart gives the

supervisor a quick overall view of the status of

the field work and serves as a check at end of

the year to make sure all measurements have been

listed and counted

(3) Be responsible for the design of the stream gaging

network and the selection of sites for new gaging

stations

(4) Be responsible for research in field methods and

equipment

Construction Engineer

(1) Give general supervision and management to the conshy

struction program

(a) Obtain assignment of resident engineer or foreman

for each job

(b) See that the materials are made available Help

the foreman in every way possible in organizing

the job procuring emergency equipment or supplies

and making decisions about serious problems that

may arise on the job

If funds became available for considerable research it probably

would be better to appoint a special Research Engineer

33

~A

Cagayan River gaging station near Cagayan de OroMisamis Oriental Mindanao April 30 1957 Note how corrugated pipe recorder structure was bent by flood J C Regalado J J Ponco gagekeeper and G H Hargreaves in foreground

-

V

View of staff gage and control on Binakaan River at Tifigib near Pastrana Leyte Stream divided by a barand control excavated for unknown reason May 6 1957 J Regalado by the sign and G Hargreaves at right

Cable footbridge below Binga dam site Tree anchorage for cableway onformerly used by NPC in making Angat River above Ipo Damdischarge measurements P Nubio and March 13 1957E Abesamis of NPC on bridge March 25 1957

35

(c) Visit the major jobs occasionally to see that

they are proceding satisfactorily in all the

islands Make sure the stations are installed

according to instructions and plans An approved

sketch plan showing dimensions and elevations is

desirable for each construction job

(d) Prepare first draft of each new station description

(e) Prepare brief construction report including costs

A form in use at Tacoma Washington has been found

convenient for this purpose

C The following policies in regard to gagekeepers are recommended

1 Start a gradual change-over to paying each gagekeeper on basis

only of the hours he works plus a basic amount for taking the

responsibility This may result in increasing the pay of some

but it should reduce the pay of a much larger number

2 Convert most gagekeepers to two readings a day most of the time

with one or more additional readings during floods In some of

the drier parts of the Central Luzon area in cases where gages

are remote from habitation request only one reading a day

during the dry months such as from January through May inclushy

sive more than that are believed to cost more than they are

worth and are an open invitation to the reporting of estimated

readings

3 When a new recorder installation is at a barrio or bridge where

it appears unlikely to be vandalized try running the station

36

without hiring a gagekeeper If this system proves successful

discontinue the services of the gagekeepers at certain selected

recorders At all other recorders reduce the number of readshy

ings required to one per day and reduce their pay accordingly

If a gagekeeper prefers not to accept a lower monthly rate for

fewer readings it is suggested that he resign except in cases

where security of the station structures or right-of-way favors

may be involved

Proceed on the principle that a saving in public tax money from

the above reforms is more important than supporting gagekeepers

just because they depend on the income and need the money The

present dependence of a gagekeeper on his P300 or P360 a year

and the hardship he must undergo in adjusting to a lower rate

of pay for the job are not believed to be sufficient reasons

for continuing indefinitely to pay him more than necessary

However it is recommended that he be given 30 or 60 days

notice before a reduction in pay is placed in effect

D Vehicles

1 It is recommended that a gradual change-over be made from the

short-wheelbase open Jeep to the Jeep station wagon as a hydroshy

graphers car Benefits should be as follows

a The car can be locked leaving only the tires as attractive

to thieves

b The station wagon has more space As the hydrographers

became better equipped that space will be needed

37

Bamboo-and-grass shelters built and used by crew during construction of gaging station on Angat River above Ipo Dam March 13 1957

3

4

-Ti LP

Proposed site for new index-type gaging station selected on Baoas River near Mangatarem Pangasinan above all diversions by Regalado Romasanta dargreaves and Veatch April 15 1957 Photo by J S Romasanta

38

Taking Philippine Airlines plane at Legaspi Albayfor Manila on May 17 1957 Mount Mayon 7960 feet high in background

I

N 1 x

Y

I

Showing typical vehicle used on the reconnaissance and inspection trips over the Philippines

39

c For occasional errands or trips it will be feasible for

only oneman to take the car because he can lock the con

tents when the car is not attended

d It may possibly develop in some parts of the Philippines

that a hydrographer for a certain area will not need a

driver-helper and thereby a saving in funds can be made

However such a change should be made only on a trial

basis and is not recommended until conditions so warrant

and until the hydrographer involved is satisfied with the

change or else desires it

E Certain technical stream-gaging procedures are recommended to be

followed in the Philippine Islands hydrographic work at the average

gaging station by all agencies doing stream gaging as follows

1 Obtain a discharge measurement once every four to six weeks

throughout the year

2 Furnish the hydrographer with a print of the station descripshy

tion and of the rating curve and require him as a general rule

to compute and plot his discharge measurement in the field

3 Have the gage read both before and after each discharge measureshy

ment and the readings recorded on the field notes

4 Use a loose-leaf discharge-measurement note form or forms

containing a summary page patterned to some extent after the

forms in use by the USGS Bound notes make it too inconshy

venient or perhaps impossible for the office engineer to

examine the notes for a whole year when he analyzes a station

record

40

5 Gradually change to the use of ehameled steel gage plates

instead of painted gages because their initial cost is less

and they are more durable Plates graduated somewhat like

those of the US Geological Survey are believed much better

than those stocked by private companies While here I drew

up a suggested design for local manufacture which appealed

to the Hydrographic Section

6 Obtain levels at staff gages at least once a year especially

on the low section of gage Replace or repair each low secshy

tion soon after it becomes damaged or the markings become

indistinct

7 Continue as a general rule to use the 6-depth method with

the sub-surface method for deep swift water Obtain a comshy

plete cross section as soon as feasible after the high water

has subsided

8 Gradually change to the use of heavier sounding weights so

that the 6-depth method with soundings can be used at high

water in any event take soundings and velocities as far out

as practicable from each bank at flood stages then go across

deep part of channel with sub-surface method Check subshy

surface method coeficients whenever practicable by means of

vertical velocity curves Until such checks show otherwise

use a coefficient of 090

9 Compute discharge measurements by the mid-section method

This saves time (and money) and is at least as accurate as the

41

other method Request hydrographers to bear the method in mind

when selecting verticals near edges of channel or at breaks in

the cross section It is recommended that in the interests of

economy this change be made at an early date

10 Consider 20 as a desirable number of verticals in an average

stream cross section Continue to time the meter revolutions

for 40 to 60 seconds at each setting Someday if more accushy

racy is desired in hydrographic work in the Philippines it

would be appropriate to standardize on 30 verticals per measureshy

ment provided the 2-8 depth method were used and the gages

were read to fractions of a centimeter For the present it

seems consistent to take about 20 verticals when using the 6

method and with gages read only to the nearest centimeter

11 Use steel tag lines for wading measurements Paint bridge

rails and cables with markings sufficiently close together

that they can be used rapidly to determine stationing between

them When installing the paint marks use standard intervals

of either 1 meter 2 meters or 5 meters To avoid confusion

do not use intervals of 3 or 4 meters If measuring intervals

are to be 1 meter or less it is very convenient to have a

mark available every meter If intervals are between 1 and 5

meters use a mark every 2 meters A good system for making

the marks readily identifiable is to place 1 paint mark at

each basic interval like every 2 meters then put 2 marks every

10 meters 3 every 50 meters and 4 at 100 meters

42

use on12 Always tags the portion of the meter suspension line

that goes in the water The tags usually consist of small

pieces of colored cloth taped tightly to the line They

should be watched and checked occasionally against slippage

and error The tags should not be more than one meter apart

and should be spaced to give maximum convenience and speed in

measuring the discharge

13 As it may becoin feasible convert Type A current meters to

Type AA The more deeply recessed bearing of the Type AA

meter provides more durability of the pivot and bearing

because trapped air excludes most of the water and silt the

longer pivot results in a relatively lower center of gravity

of the bucke t wheel with respect to the point of bearing and

results in smoother performance

F Design of the stream gaging network

1 Everyone seem3 to agree with the objective of a network of

well-distributed long-term base stations for giving runoffshy

per-square-kilometer values representative of the general

area in which each station is located As rapidly as practishy

cable stations should be L d n the o ting netrk

and designated as base or index stations for permanent operashy

tion They should be the best stations both hydraulically

and as to equipment and should be free from upstream regushy

lation or diversion Where needed new base stations should

be installed as soon as they can be financed to appropriately

L11 out the network

43

2 In between such base stations it is desirable to sample smaller

basins with short-term records of various lengths which can be short term

correlated with the long records For this purpose thestashy

tion structures should be constructed so that they are as moveshy

able or salvageable as possiblej Often these movable stations

will be operated at or near specific project sites

3 It usually is more economical and satisfactory to gage a stream

at a highway crossing or other convenient place rather than

exactly at a project site later the data can be transferred

to the project site by means of drainage area proportions

checked by obtaining at the site e

two miscellaneous measurements or possibly in some cases a

whole year of record

4 A method for studying the existing network of stations to see

whether the intensity of coverage is satisfactory or not is to

plot correlations between the various station records prefershy

ably following the present methods of the USGS

5 It has been found advantageous to classify all gaging stations

that are in operation using categories somewhat like these

areal network base stations primary and secondary main stream

stations and water management stations This procedure is

helpful in planning how long various stations should be operated

Detailed information about station classification methods is

available from the U S Geological Survey for use as a guide

The Technical Training Program

Early plans

When this assignment was given to me it was anticipated that a

series of across-the-table discussions would be held with small groups

of hydrographers from the Philippine government bureaus engaging in

such work Detailed procedures would be discussed without formality

But when arrangements were initiated for such conferences I was inshy

formed that among those wanting to attend were many at the managerial

level as well as a number of representatives of agencies interested

more in water development projects than in resource investigations

These could not be turned down so it was necessary to revise the

agenda to include more of general interest

Later developments

In view of the wide experience and high rank of many prospective

attendants of the conference it did not seem appropriate to call it

a lecture series or school and the name Seminar On Water Resources

was decided upon The agenda is included in this report and will be

self-explanatory Registered attendance for each of the three weeks

was 68 72 and 70 persons respectively for a total of 210 The

setting for the Seminar can best be understood from the photographs

Conditions as a whole were good although the tape-recording of the

entire three weeks of proceedings and the need for a member to come

F M Veatch and Water Resources Seminar group week of April 8-12 1957 at Bureau of Public Highways conference building Manila

I y

rT

I

4

47

forward and use the microphone whenever he asked a question or made a

comment was somewhat of a dampener oh discussion When preparing the

agenda I assumed that few besides the hydrographers would attend the

sessions on technical details of stream gaging scheduled for Wednesday

to Friday yet the entire membership stayed through the full program

each week and so no small-group round-table discussions were practicable

It developed later that the language barrier was a little more

serious than first realized Also it was not evident at first that

many present did not know what a gaging station was One of the main

benefits gained from the field trip was to show them a typical station

along with some equipment Taken as a whole it is believed that the

Seminar was successful and worthwhile

The sending of trainees from the Hydrographic Section to the

United States by ICA is very effective in supplementing the technical

assistance rendered directly by American personnel in the Philippines

and it should be continued as long as possible

Acknowledgments

Announcements and invitations to attend the Seminar were sent to

numerous agencies and offices by the Hydrographic Section who also

made all arrangements such as for space registration loud speaker

system tape recordings and recess refreshments The Bureau of

Public Highways made their new conference building available and the

National Media Center furnished a slide projector screen and room

all of which were greatly appreciated The introductory talks by

48

several busy executives including Director J A Buendia and Messrs

A T Alano R R Lord P G Afable and D Rosell with Mr Tomas

Saddam acting as master of ceremonies contributed ideas and gave

each weeks session a good send-off

Publications

Copies of the following publications of the U S Geological

Survey (one by Bureau of Reclamation and one from ASCE) were disshyon

play at the Seminar at all times for inspection by the members Alshy

though they were requested not to take the publications away quite a

few copies gradually became missing

Irrigation Water Measurement Tables and Diagrams by U S

Bureau of Reclamation

ASCE Separate 413 - Backwater Effects of Open Channel

Constrictions

Stage-Fall Discharge Relation for Steady Flow in Prismatic

Channels Water-Supply Paper 1164

Topographic Characteristics of Drainage Basins W S P 968C

Weir Experiments Coefficients and Formulas WSP 200

Handbook for Hydrologists - Chapters 1 - 11

Chapter 1 -- Instructions for Flood Frequency Compilations

Chapter 2 -- ledian Discharge Computation Methods

Chapter 3 -- Instructions for Abstracting Topographic

Characteristics of Drainage Basins

i

-Imr- I

1 N

L

V10J~

C R Mirray explaining a ground water formula

Ii

17t

o

Water Resources Seminar group at gaging station on Marikina River near Montalban Rizal about an hours drive northeast of Manila April 12 1957

51

-- Channel Storage and Flood Routing

-- Extending Stream-flow Records

Chapter 6 -- Double Mass Curves

Chapter 7-A- Frequency Curves of Low Flows and Storage

Requirements

Chapter 8 -- Flood Frequency Analyses

Chapter 9 -- Small Stream Investigations

Chapter 10 - Hydrologic Definitions

Chapter 11 - Base-Flow Recession-Curves

Computation of Backwater at Open Channel Constrictions

Floods in Western Washington Frequency and Magnitude in

Relation to Drainage Basin Characteristics GS Circular 191

Floods in Georgia Frequency and Magnitude GS Circular 100

Stream-Gaging Procedure - A Manual Describing Methods and

Practice of the Geological Survey - WSP 888

Investigation of Methods and Equipment used in Stream Gaging

Part 2 Intakes For Gage Wells

Computation of Peak Discharge through Culverts

Computation of Backwater at Open-Channel Constrictions

Equipment for River Measurements Structures for Cableways

by Charles H Pierce

Computation of Peak Discharge at Contractions Circular 284

Care and Rating of Current Meters

Surface Water Supply o the United States 1950 Parts 1 - 14

52

In addition to the above publications a two-page single-spaced

memorandum entitled Plotting Flood Frequency Curves (Extracted from

U S Geological Survey publications) was prepared by me under date

of April 3 1957 and handed to each member of the Seminar each week

The program or agenda for the Seminar one copy of which was

given to each member follows on Pages 53 to 63 inclusive The

graphs on Page 63 were referred to during the talks

53

March 29 1957

AGENDA FOiR SEMINARZ ON WATER RESCURCES AND STAE4 GAGING

IN THE PHILIPPINES

PLACE Conference hoom 2nd Floor Bureau of Public Highways Building Second Street Port Area Manila

TIKE April 1-5 8-12 and 22-26 (same program each week)

CONDUCTED BY M1r i 1 Veatch District EngineerSurface WaterBranch Jater Aesources Division United States Geological Suver Thcoma ashington who is un three-month assignment with the ICA

Held in connoction with the Philippine Government-ICA water resources program

54

GENERAL PROGRAM MONDAY AND TUESDAY

honday morning 830

Opening remarks Mr Julian A Buendia Director Bureau of Fublic Works Mr R R Lord Chief Public Works Division ICA Mr G H Hargreaves Hydraulic Engineer ICA

Importance of water resources and their investigation

The hydrologic cycle Evaporation transpiration and precipitation Runoff

Daily discharge record and the hydrograph Storm runoff Base flow

Grou~nd Water Very brief description (this subject to be covered

iaore fully on Tuesday afternoon)

General characteristics of natural stream runoff in the Philippines Quantity

Adequacy Comparison with United States

Variations with time Day to day and year to year Long-term trends

Distributin by area General over the Philippine Islands Variations between nearby drainage basins

Effect of location elevation geology cover etc

Major uses of stream-flow data Many years of rccornds should be crnsidered Granting water r phts

Protect existing rights Prevent capital expenditures where water supply inadequate

Planning river basin developments including municipal supply irrigation pnwer flood control etc

Destping structures such as dams reservoirs dikes floodways canals pumping systems power plants bridges etc

Accuracy and extent of dat needed for minimizing underdesign or wasteful overdesign

Cost of water-supply data in relation to total cost of a project

Operating water projects Distribution of water on projects Operation of storage reservoirs and diversion dams

To make maximum use uf water supply Designing alterations or enlargements to existing projects

RECESS 1000 to 1015

55 -3-

Monday morning (Continued) 1015 aim

Management of the stream gaging program Foreseeing the needs for stream-flow records

Study population and industrial trends Keep inforned on water-development plans and

prgraIIs of all agencies Continuity of the records

Essential for wator-supply studies Regular financinp reouired

Annual appropriations a poundfccted by temporary econoidc or political conditions

Permanent type of financing needed Surcharge method License fee method

-Dissemination of the data Annual publication Occasional summary compilations Furnishing advance cupies of unpublished records Furnishing current data - daily weekly or munthly

wherever required Special water resources investigation agency desirable

Briefly dancribe United States organization Uniform tecnical standards Uniform ways of presenting data One series of publicatiens Distributial center for basic water data Genera l-coverage program requires close coordination

for economy of operation Personal requirements

Engineers Engir ring aids Computers Clerks

ADJOURN - 1145

Resume after lunch only if necessary for completing the above subjects

56

Tueday morning 830

Design of a comprehensive stream gjaging program General rrinciIlac

Represenkc tive runoff-type provinces should be sainpled with stations of various classes

Vary the intensity of coverage with probable intenshysity of water use

Follow tiie tcends variations with records fromand L sri etatiorns secondary

Correlate resultls one continually adjustnetwork Classification of ra-in stationa

Areal prinary and secondary viain strem priiary nd secondary Water-manmfciact stat-i ons Miscellanous dischaige mcasurements

Correlating the dat obttined in comprehensive program Logarithmic pajer Five years of lecord uscd What is a good corrclation

Analyses of data Flood frcouencjs

Annual serics Partial duration series

Low-flow frecuencies Low-flow duration hydrograph

Extending strewm-flow records Comparisons witi other gaging stations Rainfall-runoff correlations

Quality of water Temperature

Intermittent observations Recorders

Chemical gtuality Element -Dissolved solids

Suspended iaterial Time of cecurrence-floods Sampling

Methods Cost

RECESS - 1000 to 1015

57

- 5 -

Tuesday afternoon 130

Ground water (This subject conducted by Mr C R Murray) Occurrence

Water table Artesian Lakes

Movement Through the ground Into stream channels

Availability Geologic structure Aquifers Funing tests

Recharge Froa precipitation Artificial Froma induced lateral movement

Investigation Geology Springs Logs of dug and drilled wells Test wells

lecording Lanual

Quantitative studies Chemical quality analyses

Mincral ccontnt Sallt water intrusion

Drilling of wells for production use Ground water rirhts

Depletion of ground water reservoirs teyond rccharge capability

ADJOURN at 330

Geologist Ground Water Branch dater Resources Division U 6 Geological Survey who is on two-ywar assignment with ICA

58

PROGRAM ON STREMvi GAGING PROCEDURE WEDNESDAY TO FRIDAY

4ednesday morning 830

Establishing and constructing gaging stations Selection of site

Consider najor probable uses of the record Investigate extent of upstream diversion and

-egulation Utilize contour naps Obtain list of nmrjor water right applications

iydraulic conditicns Section control Shifting channel Overbank flow Dackwater

Accessibility Avoid too much expense Need to reach quickly to measure flash floods

Natural protection front flood damage Avoid excessively expensive construction conditions

Bed iock Quick sand Too-longintake pipes

For non-rccording gage choose site convenient to

one or more local gage readers

Survey of site Bank cross-prefile at gage Cross section at cable Plan

Right of way Oral pervrission ritten permission

Easement Land purchase

RECESS - 945 to 1000

- 7 - 59

Wednesday morning (Continued) 100)

Construction Select types and sizes of structures To fit purpose oi the record Plan later salva e (for secondary stations) For economy of operation (for example design cableway to

operat mesily) Adapt availabic standard plans to fit the site Keep costs to hclp in future estimating Make brief construction report for future assistance in

planninr sililar Jobs Prepare staLion descripLion

Road log distences etc for How to reach paragraph Descriptions of gages bench marks etc Dimensions cf structuis Gage datum elevations of portinent parts of structures

Operating and maintaining gaging stations Records of stage

Choice of dtum Arbitrcry local datum

Set gages so there will be no minus gage readings

Mean sea level datum May be used but has disadvantages

1hen later adjustments are made to level networks

Gages have to be reset or Equation must be published

Non-recording gages Types

Vertical staff Inclined staff

ire-weight Crest-stage gages

Refinement of graduations ake adequate for accuracy of record needed

Maintatling dat of gage Adequate number of local reference marks Take levels at least once a year

Work o- local gare reader Fy according to approx number of hours worked Do not roruire too many roadings for the

conditions Warm (with omphasis) against my guessed

readings Inform reader anv errors in reading will

show up in hydrogrq oic comtparisons Engineers obtain check readings whenever

possible Visit gage reader frequently a d show inshy

terest in his gage-height record Encourage reader to retain personal copy

ADJOURN at 1145

60

Thursday morning 800

Records of stage (continued) Recording gages

Select type of instrument and its scales to fit conditions at gaging station

Weekly or continuous recorder Recorder scales Range of stage Rate of change of stage Availability of someone to change weekly

chart Work of Cage inspector of keeper

Avoid resetting pen Repurt any trash or debris causing backwater

at gage Do not have a gage keeper unless needed

aintaining gage datum Check outside gae by levels annually Keep outside gage sections reset to datum

Standard reference gage Inside gage of soie sort preferable

Staff Float-tape Anchor type

Intake action Clean or flush pipes after floods Slot intakes Self-cleaning iitakes

For pipe gage wells For wells built into bridge piers

Draw-down (where excessive) Use bapfle or static tube

Elood marks at station Make record of well-defined high water

marks

AECESS - 945 to 1000

- 9 - 61

Thursday morning (Continudd) 1000

Discharge measuroments Current hmeters

Price Type A Type AA

Pygmpy Carc of inters

Sounding weights E-typc C-type

Lead Brono

Type of notebook Loose shects Loose-leaf book Bound booL

Measurement of depth aeding rod Tag-line nethod Vertical-nglc coofficients Sounding during floods

Ilacemont of mter Sub--surface method 2-depth n cthod 6-de-pth icthod 2- imetY od

Number of verticals Velocity -urgcs

Miscellaneous f-ctors Effect of bridge piers Horizontal angle of current Insufficient weight on current water

1Mean gage hoitht for a discharge measurement Special methods of (Itermining flood discharge

Floats Slope-area method

Rating curv- etonsion method Arca and velocity curves Loparithmic plottig

Contrqctd-opening mothod Flow ovcr dams

Report on condition of control Carry station description and rating curve in field

Ubtain another me asurement if needed If first indicates large shift If new station and stagc advantagoous for

defining blank part of rating curve

ADJOUffN - 1145 AI

Resumne atfter lunch only if necessary for comploting the above subjects

62

- 10 -

Friday morning S00

A few remarks about office methods Rating curves

Log-log paper Upward extonsions Dowmward extensions

Rectangular plotting Computing recorder charts

M-ark index correction and time correction for each inspection reading

Break midnight lines at raph Never oblitertte or mark over the original trace Nake office markings on chart distinctive from

those mad( At the gage Use of colored pencils by computer and checker is one good wa)y

Daily discharge record Flot hydrograph Compare over light box with other stations

This method preferable to plotting several station records on same sheet

Concluding discussions

RECESS - 945 to 1000

Projection of gaging station equipment Lnd scenic slides taken in the United States and Canada

ADJOURN - 1145

Field trip Cars will be available at the conference building to

take members to the raging station on arikina iRivei at ontalban about an hours drive from Manila where a brief demonstration of certain field equipment will be given

Return to noL later thanoanila 500 FL

---

- Ishy4 ~7L~

0F OllY LISCIiRE 4- 1 -shy

__L TaI- er A6v-a cca

- O 1 B -- 2r 2 ZZ 23 24 2 c 26 7 8 2717x I 2

_~ I 027 _d- 1 2 shy

7 -

n_ a t-i IZ

- _______________ Pnu~ OAgvhshy

-~ ~-r- 1 - V-shy- i-shytvkty--- in--a-- -~ ~Z2m7~ ~

- ~ ~-~-----~- V 1~5~ LTLL2P7o -4----4 1 -- I -- I I _ __ --- -- -- - - L - - I ----

~- ~y~-~ 64 4

N

A il

Seminar members observing demonshystrat-n of measurshying e -pment by F M Veatch at Marikina River gaging station April 12 1957

I

Water Resources Seminar members observing working model of proppsed Binga Dam at the hydraulics laboratory of University of the Philippines April 12 1957

65

Current meter rating flume mechanism Y 22 1957

Current meter rating flume mechanism May 22 1957

66

Current Meter Rating Station

The new current meter rating station at the University of the

Philippines (see photographs) was not quite ready for use before I

left the country The mechanism and instruments were manufactured

in Germanyobtained thru ICA-NEC procurement for the Water Resources

Program of the Department of Public Works and have been installed by

Professor Alberto Villares and his hydraulics laboratory staff under

Dean C A Ortigas of the College of Engineering with some guidance

by Professor Edward L Ericksen of the University of Michigan who is

a civil engineer on detail here with the Stanford Group Professor

Villares spent 18 months in the hydraulics laboratory of the Univershy

sity of Iowa

There is every evidence that this rating flume will with expeshy

rience do work accurate enough not only for determining differences

in ratings between current meters but also for preparing absolute or

independent ratings This can be reported on more fully at some

later date by Messrs Hargreaves and Snell

The Central Luzon Region Program

The Water Resources Development Committee is preparing a recomshy

mended plan for the expedited multiple-purpose development of the

water resources of the Central Luzon region The area contains oneshy

sixteenth of the land surface and one-fourth of the population of the

Philippines and is termed the rice granary of the nation It is to

be used as an example or experiment in water and land development

67

The Committee has requested member agencies to submit estimates

of the minimum amount of additional basic data needed for making a

useful report and for proceeding with development projects Such

estimates are to include mapping soil surveys dam and reservoir site

surveys water resources surveys and other items A preliminary

report is to be prepared soon summarizing the existing information

pointing out the need for additional dataand submitting estimates

of cost for the further investigations needed An outline for the

final report has been prepared and distributed so it will be availashy

ble as a guide and funds for the first years efforts are being

sought for fiscal year 1958 It appears reasonable that the report

on a comprehensive plan could be submitted to the President and

Congress of the Philippines in about five years

With the assistance of Mr Hargreaves I have prepared estimates

for a surface water measurement program to complement the existing

program It is designed to fill the worst gaps in the present netshy

work Details are subject to change as more reconnaissance informashy

tion becomes available as only five days were spent covering the area

by automobile Unit costs were provided by the Hydrographic Section

and they include cost of preparation of the records for publication

Estimates were submitted as given below They were supported by a

detailed list of stream names and locations which included desigshy

nations as to the primary purpose or type of each proposed new gaging

station and whether a recording or non-recording gage was recommended

It is available for reference in both the ydrographic Section and

ICA offices

68

New gaging stations

1 Daily discharge type

Installation (including cableways where needed)

Recording ------- 7 Pl650 11550

Non-recording --- 4 950 3800 15350

Operation 1st year -11 660 7260 P22610

2 High water type (flood records)

Installation

Gages (nonshy

recording) ----- 4 150 600

Measuring equipment 800 1400

Operation 1st year - 4 300 1200 2600

Total for new gaging stations ------------- 25210

Miscellaneous discharge measurements

1 4 or 5 during dry season Nov - April

4 sites x 5 per site = 20 30 ---------------- 600

2 1 or 2 during low part of year March and April

37 sites x l per site = 55 k30 ------------- 1650

Total for miscellaneous measurements ------ 2250

Total -------------- -2746o

69

Rainfall And Evaporation Stations

Existing network

A map examination of the existing network of rain gages was made

and a surprisingly large number were found to be in operation -- 2

recording and 115 manual stations or a total of 117 They are beshy

lieved to be fairly adequate in number and are well distributed

areally over the Philippines but like in the United States are conshy

fined largely to the lower altitudes where the agricultural and urban

population live In addition to these records are available for

various lengths of time from about 8 discontinued Weather Bureau

stations and from more than 300 haciendas reforestaion stations

and provincial rnrseries

Additional gages

The Weather Bureau and the Bureau of Public Works are cooperating

in the installation of some new rainfall stations at higher altitudes

part of which will utilize new instruments purchased with ICA aid

funds Some of the instruments will be installed at existing nonshy

recording stations Forty new installations are proposed for 1958

fiscal year It is now recognized that rainfall station coverage at

higher altitudes is needed in order to furnish records that can be

correlated with the long-term valley records and also with the gaging

station discharge records D

70

Weather station maintained by Bureau of Public WorksIrrigation Division near Tuguegarao Cagayan From left to right N Ciriaco District Hydrographer drivershyhelper observer J G Garcia hydrographer J C Regalado and G H Hargreaves May 13 1957

Weather station at Pototan Iloilo Panay A Lacuestadistrict bydro-rapher standing May 5 1957

71

Group luncheon at Tacloban Leyte typical of the hospitality received by us during inspection tour of the Philippines From left to right M Rico irrig distr engr G Hargreaves G Araos E N Salazar P Formilleza L Abella S Velasco JCRegalado V H Sydiongoo distr hydrographer I M Ortega Oscar de Venecia and N Oliver May 7 1957

ICA Public Works Division March 1957 From left to right C R Murray A A Ketchum asat Div head J B Delaney I J Silverstone Sofia Halili 0 H Hosmer R R Lord Div head B B Hill Betty Valdez G H Hargreaves J L Brenden FM Veatch

72

Evaporation stations

Fifteen double-pan (one open and one partially shaded) evaporation

stations with rainfall temperature wind and humidity instruments as

auxiliary are being operated in the Philippines and ten more are to

follow next year They are well distributed over the islands and

should furnish data of great value for reservoir design Thq reccrds

will be publish3d

Publication of rainfall data

All rainfall reccrds are published annually by the Weather Bureau

whose 1954 volume is the latest one printed The 1955 issue should be

released soon One excellent source of information for anyone studyshy

ing rainfall data in the Philippines is the publication The Distrishy

bution of Rainfall In The Philippines by Eugenio B Manalo Chief

Climatological Division Weather Bureau Manila This contains

valuable descriptive material tables of monthly and annual values

and mean monthly and annual isohyets in inches An inspection or

study of the monthly isohyetal maps shows clearly how storm patterns

change with the seasons in certain parts of the Philippines and that

73

in other areas the rain is almost evenly distributed throughout the

year The long dry season of Manila and the central Luzon plains is

graphically portrayed by the isohyets Mr Manalos publication

should be of great benefit to government agencies and private parties

or individuals in connection with agricultural and business activities

over the islands It is presumed that the isohyets will warrant some

revision after another 5 or 10 years as more records especially those

at higher altitudes become available

Sediment Measurement Stations

Practically no silt-sampling has been done in the Philippines

to date and no extensive program is believed possible because of the

lack of funds For the present it is recommended that every governshy

ment field hydrographer be equipped with a thermomater and a turbidity

stick and required to report a spot water temperature and turbidity

reading at time of each discharge measurement Thus without extra

cost a large amount of data can be accumulated which after several

years should make it possible to determine what streams are the

siltiest and where more detailed studies might be needed Whenever a

reservoir project reaches the intensive-investigation stage including

dam-site drilling detailed topography etc it is recommended that

a complete sediment sampling station be operated there for at least

one full flood season before the project feasibility report is

completed

74

Statement Before Water Resources Development Committee

On March 20 1957 I presented the following statement regarding

the streamflow measurement program in the Philippines

The Philippine Republic is blessed with an excellent supply of

water of good quality but much of it is wasted to the sea during the

rainy season The development of this resource is vitally important

to the nation and it involves the storing of flood waters for dryshy

season release Where investments are to be made for construction of

dams etc in the development of irrigation power production and

flood control large sums can easily be wasted through overdesign or

underdesign if enough engineering data are not available Conflicting

or competing uses for the water supplies will gradually develop in

your country the same as they have in the United States If water

rights are to be granted fairly with due regard for all prior users

many years of basic data are necessary so that the long-term water

supply can be estimated For this purpose a good network of stream

gaging records and ground water levels must be secured One would

not attempt to manage the money in a bank without bookkeeping and it

is just as important to have an accounting system when managing water

The sound economical procedure is to base all project designs on as

complete engineering information as can be obtained

The ICA is attempting to assist the Philippine Government in

planning the orderly development of its water resources and we are

concerned that too many structures may be built before accurate

9i

hydrologic data are available for their design For this reason we

strongly urge you to improve the basic data gathering program at the

earliest possible date as follows

(1) Review and publish the stream-flow records that have been

obtained since the war

(2) Finance an expanded program of stream-flow measurement and

ground water study

The Bureau of Public Works has prepared preliminary estimates of

the funds needed for bringing publication of basic data up to date and

for expanding the wiater resources investigation program The attached

copies of estimates are of course provisional and subject to revision

but it is suggested that they be placed in the files of this Committee

for future reference The figure of P56oooo for publication is a

fairly firm figure It is suggested that the Committee take immeshy

diate action to further the procurement of these funds

The procurement of water resources data is a specialized field

requiring engineers and other technical men with a high degree of

education Years must be spent in training them in such special

work The men must endure rigorous physical work corbatting the

elements and using resourcefulness and judgment It is very uneconoshy

mical and unsatisfactory to have a technical organization of that kind

subject to occasional and unpredictable severe cuts in appropriations

It is even more unsatisfactory to have the time sequence of basic

water data collection interrupted and valuable records lost forever

11

Whether any other changes are made or not it is the expressed

plan of the Hydrographic Section to have the District-Hydrographer

who is in charge of the Northern Mindanao District headquartered at

Cagayan de Oro

A considerable portion of the pay of district hydrographers and

their staffs comes directly from the Irrigation Section district

office at which they are headquartered rather than through the

Hydrographic Section This has had the effect of limiting their

efforts somewhat to project work rather than to general or all-purpose

investigations

Some of the other agencies particularly the National Power

Corporation obtain the cooperation of the Hydrographic Section in

helping operate certain gaging stations where a duplication of travel

can thus be avoided However the discharge measurements so made by

the Hydrographic Section are turned over to the NPC who make their

own computations of daily discharge The latter also sometimes pays

directly the salaries of certain gagekeepers Usually this cooperashy

tion does not involve an exchange of funds but some change in that

situation is recommended as explained later in this report

All agencies make their daily discharge records available to the

Hydrographic Section upon request and the plan is to have the later

agency include all such records in their publications No reproduction

machine is available in any of the offices and all copies of records

must be made individually in typing or longhand A machine is under

order by the Hydrographic Section

-fiUMBER OI~ GAGIiG~STATIONS-eP-ERATED IN-PIILIPPINES -

CALENDAR YEAR

YEA HYOROGRAPHIC

STAGE NATIONAL

SECTION PO R0 P

RIVEl CONTROL SECTON

TOT AL

DISCHARGE NATIONAL

HYDROGRAPHIC SECTION ORHYTGRPI SECTION POR

TOTAL TOA

RECORDING NON-REC TOTAL NON-REC NON-REC RECORDING NON-REC TOTAL

1908-1922 265 265 265

1923-1944 3 3 9 12

1945 6 6 6 15 15 2 17

1946 2 12 14 14 28 28 4 32

1947 3 11 14 14 29 29 4 33

1948 3 18 21 5 26 45 45 5 50

1949 3 13 16 6 5 27 74 74 15 89

1950 3 9 12 10 4 26 91 91 20 111

1951 3 15 18 10 4 34 103 103 17 120

1952 3 13 16 10 4 30 111 111 17 128 1953 3 17 20 11 17 48 1 96 97 23 120

1954 4 18 22 11 26 49 1 145 146 22 168

1955 4 18 22 13 19 54 1 207 208 27 235

1956 6 12 15 1 25 52 40 189 26 5

13

Various agencies have submitted lists of proposed gaging stations

which they would like to have installed to provide data for their

projects It is apparent that this work will be well coordinated in

the future and that the other agencies will come to rely more and

more on the Hydrographic Section for most of their basic stream-flow

records But they probably will continue to have their own personnel

make certain types of hydrographic investigations for the detailed

study of specific projects such as river profiles tailwater rating

curves etc

Financing

The main difficulty in regard to financing has been lack of

stability and continuity to the program and insufficient generalshy

fund money to permit the establishment of an all-purpose gaging proshy

gram In 1956 and 1957 the Hydrographic Section rec3ived P120000

(less than half of their total funds) for such general use with all

other monies either from counterpart funds (explained below) in theor

form of contributions from other agencies to cover certain gaging

expenses Another difficulty has been the lack of enough funds to

properly carry out the sudden large construction program generated by

the new ICA-furnished materials and instruments Most of the regular

hydrographic force has been assigned to construction during the last

twelve months or so because separate construction foremen or substitute

hydrographers could not be hired As a result the regular field

operation of gaging stations has suffered considerable neglect This

- - -

14

wuld not have been necessary if the Hydrographic Sections funds had

been flexible and appropriated on basis of a performance budget As

it is the Section must adhere to line items which spell out exactly

how all money is to be spent

The financing of an expanded 1958 program now appears to be

progressing satisfactorily largely from the counterpart monies

This fund consists of pesos allocated by the Philippine government

in an amount equivalent to the dollar value of imports furnished by

the ICA It is administered by the National Economic Council with

allocations subject to approval of the ICA on budget recommendations

received from Philippine government agencies In the case of water

resources programs they are assisted by recommendations of the Water

Resources Development Committee an NEC administratively appointed

body composed of representatives of ten agencies interested or inshy

volved in water development A rougn breakdown of the Hydrographic

Sections budget proposed for the fiscal year starting July 1 1957

is as follows

General Fund Pesos

Annual appropriation - ------------ 120000

Counterpart Funds

For bringing up to date the publication of

annual records plus a compilation - - - - 56000

For an expanded program of surface-water

investigations----------- - 500000

TOTAL - - - - - - 676000

The total funds available in 1955 and 1956 fiscal years were 180000

and 280000 respectively

It

a 7~

IC

U

i

Staff gage out of water Labangan River at Bagbag Calumpit Bulacan March 1 1957

7lt 2

I

fr

Gagekeeper and staff Jalaur River at Calinog Iloilo He read 10 centimeters low today because markings on lower part of gage were illegible

I-J May 8 1957

16 8

hational Power Corp staff gage painted on streamward side of cliff Lower markings gone and gagekeeper determines gage heights three times a day by wading to gage and measuring down with rule as shown in this picture Bokod R at Boiod Benguet Mountain Province March 26 1957

Bureau of Public Works staff gage station Gagekeeper has made readingsby measuring down from a nail since this section of gage was washed out by a flood Madlum River near Sibul Springs Bulacan April 25 1957

17

The only difficulty with counterpart financing is that it is

temporary and could conceivably leave the program stranded in a few

years when ICA aid is discontinued The necessity is recognized for

gradually obtaining regular Congressional appropriations to take the

place of counterpart funds An effort will also be made to have a

performance type of budget accepted because line items make the

program inflexible and prevent the best management and economy

It is recommended that other agencies desiring for their projects

certain stream flow records which cannot be financed from the regular

budget of the Hydrographic Section transfer funds annually (either in

advance or on a reimbursement basis) to the Hydrographic Section to

pay the extra costs required for the fulfilment of their requests

Design of the stream gaging program

As mentioned above the fiscal arrangements prevailing up to this

time have resulted in an almost total emphasis on project-type gaging

stations in the Philippines However I believe everyone is now in

agreement with the desirability or need for a nation-wide network of

index or runoff-per-square-kilometer type of stations which will sample

various runoff provinces such as those with different exposures to storms

and having different topography altitude geology type of land cover

etc The intensity of the network of stations in different regions

would vary depending upon the apparent future economic value or worth

of the water in each area This will be discussed in more detail in

the recommendations

18

In order to look over the existing program observe something of

the technical methods in use and see a variety of runoff and economic

types of areas in the islands to gain an idea of the type of stream

gaging network needed I have visited several regions accompanied most

of the time by Mr George Hargreaves It has been very helpful to me

to have him take such an interest in the detailed objectives of ry

assignment and I am sure it will facilitate Mrs Snellas work a great

deal to have available for consultation and guidance Mr Hargreaves

wide experience in water resources development and investigations

We were accompanied by Mr J C Regalado of the ydrographic Section

who made most of the advance contacts with field offices in connecshy

tion with our trips We usually travelled to central points by Philshy

ippine Air Lines and were then driven to nearby areas by field officials

of the Hydrographic Section and other agencies The hospitality and

cooperation of everyone toward us was exceptional and much appreciated

Besides a fairly detailed coverage of the Central Luzon area where an

intensified program is proposed our inspections included Northern

Luzon Southern Luzon (the Bicol region) Leyte Panay and several

parts of Mindanao In addition we made a special effort to observe

the country all along the routes of airplane flights taken and that

coupled with airplane stops made on other islands gave us a fairly

comprehensive view of the geography of the Philippines It is upon

this that my recommendations concerning the design of a stream gaging

program are based

19

Bquipment and technical methods-

The stream gaging equipment and methods used by the Hydrographic

Section since 1908 have been patterned mainly after those of the US

Geological Survey as described in the 1904 publication H4ydrographic

Manual Thus it appears likely that the methods and accuracy stanshy

dards have changed but little since the Philippine program was started

Stream gaging tecniques used by the other agencies are similar but

they have not had the advantage of some of the new ICA-furnished equipshy

ment This is expected to be remedied in the aid allocations for fiscal

year 1958

Although some use has been made of the 2-8 method of measuring

discharge present practice is limited almost entirely to the 6method

for low and medium stages and the sub-surface method for high stages

for the latter the meter is suspended over a 15-E weight and set 03

meter below the surface with a coefficient of 0915 applied

The number of verticals or measuring points taken in the cross

section usually is between 8 and 15 No bridge cranes or suspension

reels of any kind have been available all discharge work other than

with wading rod having been done by hand line All this is about to

be changed with the recent arrival of the first ICA-furnished sounding

reels weights and tag lines purchased from 1956 FY funds

Staff gages are read to the nearest centimeter (about 0033 foot)

Most of the gages would be difficult to read to any closer limit alshy

though a few stations have Leupold Stevens enameled gages with levelshy

rod type markings

20

The hydrographer records his discharge measurement notes in a

small bound pocket-size book which he carries until it is full After

each measurement is computed in the field a complete copy of the notes

is made on a card and mailed to the Manila office I am informed

that the bound notebooks are practically never lost or dropped in

the water With the increased amount of flood measuring expected to

be done in the future that situation might change

Rating curves are drawn to average large groups of discharge

measurements Large rectangular-scale cross section sheets are used

Percentage differences of the measured values with respect to the

rating table are not computed A minimum of use is made of Stoutshy

method shifts

The water-stage recorders furnished to date by the ICA have been

manufactured with time scales of either 03 inch per day (the FM

model) or 48 inches per day (the A-35 model) The former scale is

too small for satisfactory use in most stream gaging and the latter

is too large Thirty pairs of time scale gears have been ordered for

converting the A-35s from 48 to 24 inches per day Upon inquiry at

the factory it was learned that no conversion of the FM recorders is

possible An exchange of 25 of them is being made with the ground

water program for an equivalent value in A-35 recordero but the

remaining 65 will be used at the surface water stations They are

very satisfactory on lakes or spring-fed streams or large streams

whose fluctuations are not too sudden

21

Ipo dam on Angat River which diverts water to supply City of Manila and surrounding area March 13 1957 Reservoir is traversed by boat in reaching the gaging station upstream

Ready to leave Ipo Dam for gaging station 6 kilqmeters upstream B Ramos and J Regalado in oanca March 13 1957

4 ~ s~

B Ramos making discharge measurement by wading on Angat River above Ipo DamMarch 13 1957 Spacings between verticals were obtained from cable makings byline hanging from cable car

23

At non-recording gages it has been the custom to hire gagekeepers

at uniform or statutory rates of 025 or P30 per month (not related

to the distance traversed in going to the gage) to obtain readings

three times a day The pay has been the same even where the gage is

located several kilometers away from the gagekeepers home The system

has certain disadvantages which may affect the accuracy of the records

At some stations the pay is too high while at others it is too low

Three readings a day are not necessary most of the time for adequately

developing the hydrograph especially during the dry season and a

request for obviously unnecessary readings seems to put too severe a

test upon human nature It is practically an open invitation to a

certain amount of faking I doubt that it should be held against a

gagekeeper to put down some estimated readings under those circumstances

any more than it would be to blame children for taking candy or cookies

from a forbidden plate left openly in their midst The question then

becomes - what readings can be relied upon and what cannbt I sincerely

believe that a more accurate daily discharge record can be prepared in

the office from a few completely reliable gage readinrs per week by

means of hydrographic comparisons with recording-gage records from

nearby stations and with less expense than can be produced by proshy

cessing comparing and weeding out questionable parts from a complete

(on paper) record of three readings a day A gagekeepers habit

developed during the dry season of not going to the gage when it is

inconvenient or he doesnt feel like it is bound to crop up during

the high water season as well with the result that all his readings

24

must be looked at critically and considered reliAble only after

unusually extensive comparisons are made with weather records and

other stations

In regard to specialized stream gaging equipment listed below

are the amounts purchased by the ICA up to the present time

Ordered from Ordered from Being FY 1955 PPA 1956 PPA ordered Delivered in Delivered in from 1957

May 1956 May 1957 PPA

Canfield reels 0 6 8

Type A reels 0 6 2

Canfield tag lines 0 15 0

A-35 recorders 20 10 25

FM recorders 65 25 0

Enameled gage secs 400 600 200

Currer meter outfits inc ding rod headphonehanuline and 15-pound weight 11 10 0

Pygmy meters 0 0 10

Bridge cranes 0 3 0

Sounding wts 30-lb 0 0 10

50-lb 0 0 10

I i 75-lb 0 0 1

I 100-lb 0 0 1

Stopwatches 20 10 0

Being purchased as models for possible future use in procurement of

weights of local manufacture

25

~-

-~ ~- shy

~-

4rshy~~L~zu 1 - ~ A-

-~ - ~jj ~

~- k ~ ~

Helper and P Nubio National Power Corporationpreparing to make discharge measurement Tag marks of grass being tied to line Bantay River near Bokod Benguet Mountain Province March 26 1957

-- ~ 4

V

Helper holding meter in place suspended on a weight hanger while revolutions are counted oy hydrographer P Nubio E P Nbesamis is at extreme right March 26 1957

26

-p --shy

t-~-- - -

A ~

A~4 ~ 4

A -Y

- -

- - - -

gt~ ~ ~-

Z4z4a - ~z

- shy -~-~shy

4shy- --

I NPC discharge party on Bokod River at-Bokod BenguetMountain Province Helper and gagekeeper holding meter and 15-pound weight in position P Nubio on shore counting revolutions and recording notes March 26 1957

Ar 7

-~ I

0 I 15-pound weight used in discharge measurement work by the NPC hydrographer stationed at Ambuklao Dam March 26 1957

27

Recommendations

A sharp expansion in the stream gaging program of the Philippines

has occurred recently brought about not only by the ICAs economic and

technical aid program but also by the growing local demand for water

resources information It is inevitable that some organizational

changes would be required to accommodate such a sudden growth This

subject was discussed in conferences with Mr Saddam and Mr Regalado

and the following list of special objectives agreed upon They had a

number of these in mind or partly in effect already and were planning

to gradually adopt several others The items are listed here in order

to express my reasons for wanting to see them completely implemented

within the next two or three years They are as follows

A It is recommended that the district offices compute their own disshy

charge records and prepare them for publication for final review

in the central office in ranila

1 Additional engineers would be needed in each district office

and fewer engineers in the Manila office

2 At least the district hydrographer and preferably one other

engineer in addition should be trained in the office work in

Manila before the records were transferred to a district

3 Each engineer in a district office would be given a field area

which he would cover by a round of discharge measurements once

every 4 to 6 weeks each coverage taking about 2 weeks Betshy

ween trips he would do office work preferably on the same

stations that he covers in the field

28

4 Benefits of thissystem are believed to be as follows

a Records requested could be furnished more quickly to the

public especially to those in the district area

b This kind of a close tie between field and office work has

been found to greatly improve the quality of the records

the economy of operation and the performance and developshy

ment of the individual engineers

c The alternating of each person between field and office

work makes him (1) more competent in the field work and

also more competent in the office work than is possible

in segregated office and field groups and (2) permits

him to be home more of the time and lead a more normal

lifc thus increasing his morale and efficiency

5 Personnel arrangements recommended are

a Offer more rapid promotion to those who transfer like

from Manila to a field office or between field offices

b Encourage each man to transfer every few years with

faster promotions as an incentive It has been found

that this develops an engineers competence more rapidly

than if he stays in one office indefinitely Such ability

repays the government in added officiency and production

to an extent greater than its cost in extra salary

B Certain organization changes are recommended as follows

1 Appoint an Office Engineer a Field Engineer and (whenever

needed) a Construction Engineer They would be headquartered

__

V 29

2

~- ~

q

Ambuklao Dam on Agno River Generating capacity 75000 kw Powerplant is underground March 2557

7- t

-JI

Maria Cristina falls and power plant on Agus River River near Iligan Lanao Province Mindanao Present installed capacity 50000 kw May 1 1957

30

II I

Looking downstream at the Binga dam site on Agno River about 15 kilometers east of Baguio March 25 1957

Looking upstream at the Marikina dam site on Marikina River at Wawa near Montalban Rizal about 25 kilometers northeast of Manila April 5 1957

31

in the Manila office and act under the general supervision of

the head of the Section with the following responsibilities

to be included

a Office Engineer

(1) Be responsible for the discharge computations and

related office work in the Manila field district or

area

(2) Be responsible for review and final preparation for

publication of all records in the nation

(3) See that a progress chart of status-of-record compushy

tations is maintained in each district office and

that a summary statement concerning such progress is

sent to the central office at least quarterly

(4) Be responsible for research in office methods and

equipment (See footnote on next page)

b Field Engineer

(1) Act as first assistant to head of the Section of

Hydrography

(2) Be responsible for field operation vork throughout the

nation

(a) Make at least one annual field inspection in each

district

(b) Develop the system in every headquarters of keepshy

ing a running chronological chart of the discharge

measurements made at each gaging station or

32W

scheduled miscellaneous site A form in use in

Tacoma Washington has been found to be very conshy

venient for this purpose Such a chart gives the

supervisor a quick overall view of the status of

the field work and serves as a check at end of

the year to make sure all measurements have been

listed and counted

(3) Be responsible for the design of the stream gaging

network and the selection of sites for new gaging

stations

(4) Be responsible for research in field methods and

equipment

Construction Engineer

(1) Give general supervision and management to the conshy

struction program

(a) Obtain assignment of resident engineer or foreman

for each job

(b) See that the materials are made available Help

the foreman in every way possible in organizing

the job procuring emergency equipment or supplies

and making decisions about serious problems that

may arise on the job

If funds became available for considerable research it probably

would be better to appoint a special Research Engineer

33

~A

Cagayan River gaging station near Cagayan de OroMisamis Oriental Mindanao April 30 1957 Note how corrugated pipe recorder structure was bent by flood J C Regalado J J Ponco gagekeeper and G H Hargreaves in foreground

-

V

View of staff gage and control on Binakaan River at Tifigib near Pastrana Leyte Stream divided by a barand control excavated for unknown reason May 6 1957 J Regalado by the sign and G Hargreaves at right

Cable footbridge below Binga dam site Tree anchorage for cableway onformerly used by NPC in making Angat River above Ipo Damdischarge measurements P Nubio and March 13 1957E Abesamis of NPC on bridge March 25 1957

35

(c) Visit the major jobs occasionally to see that

they are proceding satisfactorily in all the

islands Make sure the stations are installed

according to instructions and plans An approved

sketch plan showing dimensions and elevations is

desirable for each construction job

(d) Prepare first draft of each new station description

(e) Prepare brief construction report including costs

A form in use at Tacoma Washington has been found

convenient for this purpose

C The following policies in regard to gagekeepers are recommended

1 Start a gradual change-over to paying each gagekeeper on basis

only of the hours he works plus a basic amount for taking the

responsibility This may result in increasing the pay of some

but it should reduce the pay of a much larger number

2 Convert most gagekeepers to two readings a day most of the time

with one or more additional readings during floods In some of

the drier parts of the Central Luzon area in cases where gages

are remote from habitation request only one reading a day

during the dry months such as from January through May inclushy

sive more than that are believed to cost more than they are

worth and are an open invitation to the reporting of estimated

readings

3 When a new recorder installation is at a barrio or bridge where

it appears unlikely to be vandalized try running the station

36

without hiring a gagekeeper If this system proves successful

discontinue the services of the gagekeepers at certain selected

recorders At all other recorders reduce the number of readshy

ings required to one per day and reduce their pay accordingly

If a gagekeeper prefers not to accept a lower monthly rate for

fewer readings it is suggested that he resign except in cases

where security of the station structures or right-of-way favors

may be involved

Proceed on the principle that a saving in public tax money from

the above reforms is more important than supporting gagekeepers

just because they depend on the income and need the money The

present dependence of a gagekeeper on his P300 or P360 a year

and the hardship he must undergo in adjusting to a lower rate

of pay for the job are not believed to be sufficient reasons

for continuing indefinitely to pay him more than necessary

However it is recommended that he be given 30 or 60 days

notice before a reduction in pay is placed in effect

D Vehicles

1 It is recommended that a gradual change-over be made from the

short-wheelbase open Jeep to the Jeep station wagon as a hydroshy

graphers car Benefits should be as follows

a The car can be locked leaving only the tires as attractive

to thieves

b The station wagon has more space As the hydrographers

became better equipped that space will be needed

37

Bamboo-and-grass shelters built and used by crew during construction of gaging station on Angat River above Ipo Dam March 13 1957

3

4

-Ti LP

Proposed site for new index-type gaging station selected on Baoas River near Mangatarem Pangasinan above all diversions by Regalado Romasanta dargreaves and Veatch April 15 1957 Photo by J S Romasanta

38

Taking Philippine Airlines plane at Legaspi Albayfor Manila on May 17 1957 Mount Mayon 7960 feet high in background

I

N 1 x

Y

I

Showing typical vehicle used on the reconnaissance and inspection trips over the Philippines

39

c For occasional errands or trips it will be feasible for

only oneman to take the car because he can lock the con

tents when the car is not attended

d It may possibly develop in some parts of the Philippines

that a hydrographer for a certain area will not need a

driver-helper and thereby a saving in funds can be made

However such a change should be made only on a trial

basis and is not recommended until conditions so warrant

and until the hydrographer involved is satisfied with the

change or else desires it

E Certain technical stream-gaging procedures are recommended to be

followed in the Philippine Islands hydrographic work at the average

gaging station by all agencies doing stream gaging as follows

1 Obtain a discharge measurement once every four to six weeks

throughout the year

2 Furnish the hydrographer with a print of the station descripshy

tion and of the rating curve and require him as a general rule

to compute and plot his discharge measurement in the field

3 Have the gage read both before and after each discharge measureshy

ment and the readings recorded on the field notes

4 Use a loose-leaf discharge-measurement note form or forms

containing a summary page patterned to some extent after the

forms in use by the USGS Bound notes make it too inconshy

venient or perhaps impossible for the office engineer to

examine the notes for a whole year when he analyzes a station

record

40

5 Gradually change to the use of ehameled steel gage plates

instead of painted gages because their initial cost is less

and they are more durable Plates graduated somewhat like

those of the US Geological Survey are believed much better

than those stocked by private companies While here I drew

up a suggested design for local manufacture which appealed

to the Hydrographic Section

6 Obtain levels at staff gages at least once a year especially

on the low section of gage Replace or repair each low secshy

tion soon after it becomes damaged or the markings become

indistinct

7 Continue as a general rule to use the 6-depth method with

the sub-surface method for deep swift water Obtain a comshy

plete cross section as soon as feasible after the high water

has subsided

8 Gradually change to the use of heavier sounding weights so

that the 6-depth method with soundings can be used at high

water in any event take soundings and velocities as far out

as practicable from each bank at flood stages then go across

deep part of channel with sub-surface method Check subshy

surface method coeficients whenever practicable by means of

vertical velocity curves Until such checks show otherwise

use a coefficient of 090

9 Compute discharge measurements by the mid-section method

This saves time (and money) and is at least as accurate as the

41

other method Request hydrographers to bear the method in mind

when selecting verticals near edges of channel or at breaks in

the cross section It is recommended that in the interests of

economy this change be made at an early date

10 Consider 20 as a desirable number of verticals in an average

stream cross section Continue to time the meter revolutions

for 40 to 60 seconds at each setting Someday if more accushy

racy is desired in hydrographic work in the Philippines it

would be appropriate to standardize on 30 verticals per measureshy

ment provided the 2-8 depth method were used and the gages

were read to fractions of a centimeter For the present it

seems consistent to take about 20 verticals when using the 6

method and with gages read only to the nearest centimeter

11 Use steel tag lines for wading measurements Paint bridge

rails and cables with markings sufficiently close together

that they can be used rapidly to determine stationing between

them When installing the paint marks use standard intervals

of either 1 meter 2 meters or 5 meters To avoid confusion

do not use intervals of 3 or 4 meters If measuring intervals

are to be 1 meter or less it is very convenient to have a

mark available every meter If intervals are between 1 and 5

meters use a mark every 2 meters A good system for making

the marks readily identifiable is to place 1 paint mark at

each basic interval like every 2 meters then put 2 marks every

10 meters 3 every 50 meters and 4 at 100 meters

42

use on12 Always tags the portion of the meter suspension line

that goes in the water The tags usually consist of small

pieces of colored cloth taped tightly to the line They

should be watched and checked occasionally against slippage

and error The tags should not be more than one meter apart

and should be spaced to give maximum convenience and speed in

measuring the discharge

13 As it may becoin feasible convert Type A current meters to

Type AA The more deeply recessed bearing of the Type AA

meter provides more durability of the pivot and bearing

because trapped air excludes most of the water and silt the

longer pivot results in a relatively lower center of gravity

of the bucke t wheel with respect to the point of bearing and

results in smoother performance

F Design of the stream gaging network

1 Everyone seem3 to agree with the objective of a network of

well-distributed long-term base stations for giving runoffshy

per-square-kilometer values representative of the general

area in which each station is located As rapidly as practishy

cable stations should be L d n the o ting netrk

and designated as base or index stations for permanent operashy

tion They should be the best stations both hydraulically

and as to equipment and should be free from upstream regushy

lation or diversion Where needed new base stations should

be installed as soon as they can be financed to appropriately

L11 out the network

43

2 In between such base stations it is desirable to sample smaller

basins with short-term records of various lengths which can be short term

correlated with the long records For this purpose thestashy

tion structures should be constructed so that they are as moveshy

able or salvageable as possiblej Often these movable stations

will be operated at or near specific project sites

3 It usually is more economical and satisfactory to gage a stream

at a highway crossing or other convenient place rather than

exactly at a project site later the data can be transferred

to the project site by means of drainage area proportions

checked by obtaining at the site e

two miscellaneous measurements or possibly in some cases a

whole year of record

4 A method for studying the existing network of stations to see

whether the intensity of coverage is satisfactory or not is to

plot correlations between the various station records prefershy

ably following the present methods of the USGS

5 It has been found advantageous to classify all gaging stations

that are in operation using categories somewhat like these

areal network base stations primary and secondary main stream

stations and water management stations This procedure is

helpful in planning how long various stations should be operated

Detailed information about station classification methods is

available from the U S Geological Survey for use as a guide

The Technical Training Program

Early plans

When this assignment was given to me it was anticipated that a

series of across-the-table discussions would be held with small groups

of hydrographers from the Philippine government bureaus engaging in

such work Detailed procedures would be discussed without formality

But when arrangements were initiated for such conferences I was inshy

formed that among those wanting to attend were many at the managerial

level as well as a number of representatives of agencies interested

more in water development projects than in resource investigations

These could not be turned down so it was necessary to revise the

agenda to include more of general interest

Later developments

In view of the wide experience and high rank of many prospective

attendants of the conference it did not seem appropriate to call it

a lecture series or school and the name Seminar On Water Resources

was decided upon The agenda is included in this report and will be

self-explanatory Registered attendance for each of the three weeks

was 68 72 and 70 persons respectively for a total of 210 The

setting for the Seminar can best be understood from the photographs

Conditions as a whole were good although the tape-recording of the

entire three weeks of proceedings and the need for a member to come

F M Veatch and Water Resources Seminar group week of April 8-12 1957 at Bureau of Public Highways conference building Manila

I y

rT

I

4

47

forward and use the microphone whenever he asked a question or made a

comment was somewhat of a dampener oh discussion When preparing the

agenda I assumed that few besides the hydrographers would attend the

sessions on technical details of stream gaging scheduled for Wednesday

to Friday yet the entire membership stayed through the full program

each week and so no small-group round-table discussions were practicable

It developed later that the language barrier was a little more

serious than first realized Also it was not evident at first that

many present did not know what a gaging station was One of the main

benefits gained from the field trip was to show them a typical station

along with some equipment Taken as a whole it is believed that the

Seminar was successful and worthwhile

The sending of trainees from the Hydrographic Section to the

United States by ICA is very effective in supplementing the technical

assistance rendered directly by American personnel in the Philippines

and it should be continued as long as possible

Acknowledgments

Announcements and invitations to attend the Seminar were sent to

numerous agencies and offices by the Hydrographic Section who also

made all arrangements such as for space registration loud speaker

system tape recordings and recess refreshments The Bureau of

Public Highways made their new conference building available and the

National Media Center furnished a slide projector screen and room

all of which were greatly appreciated The introductory talks by

48

several busy executives including Director J A Buendia and Messrs

A T Alano R R Lord P G Afable and D Rosell with Mr Tomas

Saddam acting as master of ceremonies contributed ideas and gave

each weeks session a good send-off

Publications

Copies of the following publications of the U S Geological

Survey (one by Bureau of Reclamation and one from ASCE) were disshyon

play at the Seminar at all times for inspection by the members Alshy

though they were requested not to take the publications away quite a

few copies gradually became missing

Irrigation Water Measurement Tables and Diagrams by U S

Bureau of Reclamation

ASCE Separate 413 - Backwater Effects of Open Channel

Constrictions

Stage-Fall Discharge Relation for Steady Flow in Prismatic

Channels Water-Supply Paper 1164

Topographic Characteristics of Drainage Basins W S P 968C

Weir Experiments Coefficients and Formulas WSP 200

Handbook for Hydrologists - Chapters 1 - 11

Chapter 1 -- Instructions for Flood Frequency Compilations

Chapter 2 -- ledian Discharge Computation Methods

Chapter 3 -- Instructions for Abstracting Topographic

Characteristics of Drainage Basins

i

-Imr- I

1 N

L

V10J~

C R Mirray explaining a ground water formula

Ii

17t

o

Water Resources Seminar group at gaging station on Marikina River near Montalban Rizal about an hours drive northeast of Manila April 12 1957

51

-- Channel Storage and Flood Routing

-- Extending Stream-flow Records

Chapter 6 -- Double Mass Curves

Chapter 7-A- Frequency Curves of Low Flows and Storage

Requirements

Chapter 8 -- Flood Frequency Analyses

Chapter 9 -- Small Stream Investigations

Chapter 10 - Hydrologic Definitions

Chapter 11 - Base-Flow Recession-Curves

Computation of Backwater at Open Channel Constrictions

Floods in Western Washington Frequency and Magnitude in

Relation to Drainage Basin Characteristics GS Circular 191

Floods in Georgia Frequency and Magnitude GS Circular 100

Stream-Gaging Procedure - A Manual Describing Methods and

Practice of the Geological Survey - WSP 888

Investigation of Methods and Equipment used in Stream Gaging

Part 2 Intakes For Gage Wells

Computation of Peak Discharge through Culverts

Computation of Backwater at Open-Channel Constrictions

Equipment for River Measurements Structures for Cableways

by Charles H Pierce

Computation of Peak Discharge at Contractions Circular 284

Care and Rating of Current Meters

Surface Water Supply o the United States 1950 Parts 1 - 14

52

In addition to the above publications a two-page single-spaced

memorandum entitled Plotting Flood Frequency Curves (Extracted from

U S Geological Survey publications) was prepared by me under date

of April 3 1957 and handed to each member of the Seminar each week

The program or agenda for the Seminar one copy of which was

given to each member follows on Pages 53 to 63 inclusive The

graphs on Page 63 were referred to during the talks

53

March 29 1957

AGENDA FOiR SEMINARZ ON WATER RESCURCES AND STAE4 GAGING

IN THE PHILIPPINES

PLACE Conference hoom 2nd Floor Bureau of Public Highways Building Second Street Port Area Manila

TIKE April 1-5 8-12 and 22-26 (same program each week)

CONDUCTED BY M1r i 1 Veatch District EngineerSurface WaterBranch Jater Aesources Division United States Geological Suver Thcoma ashington who is un three-month assignment with the ICA

Held in connoction with the Philippine Government-ICA water resources program

54

GENERAL PROGRAM MONDAY AND TUESDAY

honday morning 830

Opening remarks Mr Julian A Buendia Director Bureau of Fublic Works Mr R R Lord Chief Public Works Division ICA Mr G H Hargreaves Hydraulic Engineer ICA

Importance of water resources and their investigation

The hydrologic cycle Evaporation transpiration and precipitation Runoff

Daily discharge record and the hydrograph Storm runoff Base flow

Grou~nd Water Very brief description (this subject to be covered

iaore fully on Tuesday afternoon)

General characteristics of natural stream runoff in the Philippines Quantity

Adequacy Comparison with United States

Variations with time Day to day and year to year Long-term trends

Distributin by area General over the Philippine Islands Variations between nearby drainage basins

Effect of location elevation geology cover etc

Major uses of stream-flow data Many years of rccornds should be crnsidered Granting water r phts

Protect existing rights Prevent capital expenditures where water supply inadequate

Planning river basin developments including municipal supply irrigation pnwer flood control etc

Destping structures such as dams reservoirs dikes floodways canals pumping systems power plants bridges etc

Accuracy and extent of dat needed for minimizing underdesign or wasteful overdesign

Cost of water-supply data in relation to total cost of a project

Operating water projects Distribution of water on projects Operation of storage reservoirs and diversion dams

To make maximum use uf water supply Designing alterations or enlargements to existing projects

RECESS 1000 to 1015

55 -3-

Monday morning (Continued) 1015 aim

Management of the stream gaging program Foreseeing the needs for stream-flow records

Study population and industrial trends Keep inforned on water-development plans and

prgraIIs of all agencies Continuity of the records

Essential for wator-supply studies Regular financinp reouired

Annual appropriations a poundfccted by temporary econoidc or political conditions

Permanent type of financing needed Surcharge method License fee method

-Dissemination of the data Annual publication Occasional summary compilations Furnishing advance cupies of unpublished records Furnishing current data - daily weekly or munthly

wherever required Special water resources investigation agency desirable

Briefly dancribe United States organization Uniform tecnical standards Uniform ways of presenting data One series of publicatiens Distributial center for basic water data Genera l-coverage program requires close coordination

for economy of operation Personal requirements

Engineers Engir ring aids Computers Clerks

ADJOURN - 1145

Resume after lunch only if necessary for completing the above subjects

56

Tueday morning 830

Design of a comprehensive stream gjaging program General rrinciIlac

Represenkc tive runoff-type provinces should be sainpled with stations of various classes

Vary the intensity of coverage with probable intenshysity of water use

Follow tiie tcends variations with records fromand L sri etatiorns secondary

Correlate resultls one continually adjustnetwork Classification of ra-in stationa

Areal prinary and secondary viain strem priiary nd secondary Water-manmfciact stat-i ons Miscellanous dischaige mcasurements

Correlating the dat obttined in comprehensive program Logarithmic pajer Five years of lecord uscd What is a good corrclation

Analyses of data Flood frcouencjs

Annual serics Partial duration series

Low-flow frecuencies Low-flow duration hydrograph

Extending strewm-flow records Comparisons witi other gaging stations Rainfall-runoff correlations

Quality of water Temperature

Intermittent observations Recorders

Chemical gtuality Element -Dissolved solids

Suspended iaterial Time of cecurrence-floods Sampling

Methods Cost

RECESS - 1000 to 1015

57

- 5 -

Tuesday afternoon 130

Ground water (This subject conducted by Mr C R Murray) Occurrence

Water table Artesian Lakes

Movement Through the ground Into stream channels

Availability Geologic structure Aquifers Funing tests

Recharge Froa precipitation Artificial Froma induced lateral movement

Investigation Geology Springs Logs of dug and drilled wells Test wells

lecording Lanual

Quantitative studies Chemical quality analyses

Mincral ccontnt Sallt water intrusion

Drilling of wells for production use Ground water rirhts

Depletion of ground water reservoirs teyond rccharge capability

ADJOURN at 330

Geologist Ground Water Branch dater Resources Division U 6 Geological Survey who is on two-ywar assignment with ICA

58

PROGRAM ON STREMvi GAGING PROCEDURE WEDNESDAY TO FRIDAY

4ednesday morning 830

Establishing and constructing gaging stations Selection of site

Consider najor probable uses of the record Investigate extent of upstream diversion and

-egulation Utilize contour naps Obtain list of nmrjor water right applications

iydraulic conditicns Section control Shifting channel Overbank flow Dackwater

Accessibility Avoid too much expense Need to reach quickly to measure flash floods

Natural protection front flood damage Avoid excessively expensive construction conditions

Bed iock Quick sand Too-longintake pipes

For non-rccording gage choose site convenient to

one or more local gage readers

Survey of site Bank cross-prefile at gage Cross section at cable Plan

Right of way Oral pervrission ritten permission

Easement Land purchase

RECESS - 945 to 1000

- 7 - 59

Wednesday morning (Continued) 100)

Construction Select types and sizes of structures To fit purpose oi the record Plan later salva e (for secondary stations) For economy of operation (for example design cableway to

operat mesily) Adapt availabic standard plans to fit the site Keep costs to hclp in future estimating Make brief construction report for future assistance in

planninr sililar Jobs Prepare staLion descripLion

Road log distences etc for How to reach paragraph Descriptions of gages bench marks etc Dimensions cf structuis Gage datum elevations of portinent parts of structures

Operating and maintaining gaging stations Records of stage

Choice of dtum Arbitrcry local datum

Set gages so there will be no minus gage readings

Mean sea level datum May be used but has disadvantages

1hen later adjustments are made to level networks

Gages have to be reset or Equation must be published

Non-recording gages Types

Vertical staff Inclined staff

ire-weight Crest-stage gages

Refinement of graduations ake adequate for accuracy of record needed

Maintatling dat of gage Adequate number of local reference marks Take levels at least once a year

Work o- local gare reader Fy according to approx number of hours worked Do not roruire too many roadings for the

conditions Warm (with omphasis) against my guessed

readings Inform reader anv errors in reading will

show up in hydrogrq oic comtparisons Engineers obtain check readings whenever

possible Visit gage reader frequently a d show inshy

terest in his gage-height record Encourage reader to retain personal copy

ADJOURN at 1145

60

Thursday morning 800

Records of stage (continued) Recording gages

Select type of instrument and its scales to fit conditions at gaging station

Weekly or continuous recorder Recorder scales Range of stage Rate of change of stage Availability of someone to change weekly

chart Work of Cage inspector of keeper

Avoid resetting pen Repurt any trash or debris causing backwater

at gage Do not have a gage keeper unless needed

aintaining gage datum Check outside gae by levels annually Keep outside gage sections reset to datum

Standard reference gage Inside gage of soie sort preferable

Staff Float-tape Anchor type

Intake action Clean or flush pipes after floods Slot intakes Self-cleaning iitakes

For pipe gage wells For wells built into bridge piers

Draw-down (where excessive) Use bapfle or static tube

Elood marks at station Make record of well-defined high water

marks

AECESS - 945 to 1000

- 9 - 61

Thursday morning (Continudd) 1000

Discharge measuroments Current hmeters

Price Type A Type AA

Pygmpy Carc of inters

Sounding weights E-typc C-type

Lead Brono

Type of notebook Loose shects Loose-leaf book Bound booL

Measurement of depth aeding rod Tag-line nethod Vertical-nglc coofficients Sounding during floods

Ilacemont of mter Sub--surface method 2-depth n cthod 6-de-pth icthod 2- imetY od

Number of verticals Velocity -urgcs

Miscellaneous f-ctors Effect of bridge piers Horizontal angle of current Insufficient weight on current water

1Mean gage hoitht for a discharge measurement Special methods of (Itermining flood discharge

Floats Slope-area method

Rating curv- etonsion method Arca and velocity curves Loparithmic plottig

Contrqctd-opening mothod Flow ovcr dams

Report on condition of control Carry station description and rating curve in field

Ubtain another me asurement if needed If first indicates large shift If new station and stagc advantagoous for

defining blank part of rating curve

ADJOUffN - 1145 AI

Resumne atfter lunch only if necessary for comploting the above subjects

62

- 10 -

Friday morning S00

A few remarks about office methods Rating curves

Log-log paper Upward extonsions Dowmward extensions

Rectangular plotting Computing recorder charts

M-ark index correction and time correction for each inspection reading

Break midnight lines at raph Never oblitertte or mark over the original trace Nake office markings on chart distinctive from

those mad( At the gage Use of colored pencils by computer and checker is one good wa)y

Daily discharge record Flot hydrograph Compare over light box with other stations

This method preferable to plotting several station records on same sheet

Concluding discussions

RECESS - 945 to 1000

Projection of gaging station equipment Lnd scenic slides taken in the United States and Canada

ADJOURN - 1145

Field trip Cars will be available at the conference building to

take members to the raging station on arikina iRivei at ontalban about an hours drive from Manila where a brief demonstration of certain field equipment will be given

Return to noL later thanoanila 500 FL

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N

A il

Seminar members observing demonshystrat-n of measurshying e -pment by F M Veatch at Marikina River gaging station April 12 1957

I

Water Resources Seminar members observing working model of proppsed Binga Dam at the hydraulics laboratory of University of the Philippines April 12 1957

65

Current meter rating flume mechanism Y 22 1957

Current meter rating flume mechanism May 22 1957

66

Current Meter Rating Station

The new current meter rating station at the University of the

Philippines (see photographs) was not quite ready for use before I

left the country The mechanism and instruments were manufactured

in Germanyobtained thru ICA-NEC procurement for the Water Resources

Program of the Department of Public Works and have been installed by

Professor Alberto Villares and his hydraulics laboratory staff under

Dean C A Ortigas of the College of Engineering with some guidance

by Professor Edward L Ericksen of the University of Michigan who is

a civil engineer on detail here with the Stanford Group Professor

Villares spent 18 months in the hydraulics laboratory of the Univershy

sity of Iowa

There is every evidence that this rating flume will with expeshy

rience do work accurate enough not only for determining differences

in ratings between current meters but also for preparing absolute or

independent ratings This can be reported on more fully at some

later date by Messrs Hargreaves and Snell

The Central Luzon Region Program

The Water Resources Development Committee is preparing a recomshy

mended plan for the expedited multiple-purpose development of the

water resources of the Central Luzon region The area contains oneshy

sixteenth of the land surface and one-fourth of the population of the

Philippines and is termed the rice granary of the nation It is to

be used as an example or experiment in water and land development

67

The Committee has requested member agencies to submit estimates

of the minimum amount of additional basic data needed for making a

useful report and for proceeding with development projects Such

estimates are to include mapping soil surveys dam and reservoir site

surveys water resources surveys and other items A preliminary

report is to be prepared soon summarizing the existing information

pointing out the need for additional dataand submitting estimates

of cost for the further investigations needed An outline for the

final report has been prepared and distributed so it will be availashy

ble as a guide and funds for the first years efforts are being

sought for fiscal year 1958 It appears reasonable that the report

on a comprehensive plan could be submitted to the President and

Congress of the Philippines in about five years

With the assistance of Mr Hargreaves I have prepared estimates

for a surface water measurement program to complement the existing

program It is designed to fill the worst gaps in the present netshy

work Details are subject to change as more reconnaissance informashy

tion becomes available as only five days were spent covering the area

by automobile Unit costs were provided by the Hydrographic Section

and they include cost of preparation of the records for publication

Estimates were submitted as given below They were supported by a

detailed list of stream names and locations which included desigshy

nations as to the primary purpose or type of each proposed new gaging

station and whether a recording or non-recording gage was recommended

It is available for reference in both the ydrographic Section and

ICA offices

68

New gaging stations

1 Daily discharge type

Installation (including cableways where needed)

Recording ------- 7 Pl650 11550

Non-recording --- 4 950 3800 15350

Operation 1st year -11 660 7260 P22610

2 High water type (flood records)

Installation

Gages (nonshy

recording) ----- 4 150 600

Measuring equipment 800 1400

Operation 1st year - 4 300 1200 2600

Total for new gaging stations ------------- 25210

Miscellaneous discharge measurements

1 4 or 5 during dry season Nov - April

4 sites x 5 per site = 20 30 ---------------- 600

2 1 or 2 during low part of year March and April

37 sites x l per site = 55 k30 ------------- 1650

Total for miscellaneous measurements ------ 2250

Total -------------- -2746o

69

Rainfall And Evaporation Stations

Existing network

A map examination of the existing network of rain gages was made

and a surprisingly large number were found to be in operation -- 2

recording and 115 manual stations or a total of 117 They are beshy

lieved to be fairly adequate in number and are well distributed

areally over the Philippines but like in the United States are conshy

fined largely to the lower altitudes where the agricultural and urban

population live In addition to these records are available for

various lengths of time from about 8 discontinued Weather Bureau

stations and from more than 300 haciendas reforestaion stations

and provincial rnrseries

Additional gages

The Weather Bureau and the Bureau of Public Works are cooperating

in the installation of some new rainfall stations at higher altitudes

part of which will utilize new instruments purchased with ICA aid

funds Some of the instruments will be installed at existing nonshy

recording stations Forty new installations are proposed for 1958

fiscal year It is now recognized that rainfall station coverage at

higher altitudes is needed in order to furnish records that can be

correlated with the long-term valley records and also with the gaging

station discharge records D

70

Weather station maintained by Bureau of Public WorksIrrigation Division near Tuguegarao Cagayan From left to right N Ciriaco District Hydrographer drivershyhelper observer J G Garcia hydrographer J C Regalado and G H Hargreaves May 13 1957

Weather station at Pototan Iloilo Panay A Lacuestadistrict bydro-rapher standing May 5 1957

71

Group luncheon at Tacloban Leyte typical of the hospitality received by us during inspection tour of the Philippines From left to right M Rico irrig distr engr G Hargreaves G Araos E N Salazar P Formilleza L Abella S Velasco JCRegalado V H Sydiongoo distr hydrographer I M Ortega Oscar de Venecia and N Oliver May 7 1957

ICA Public Works Division March 1957 From left to right C R Murray A A Ketchum asat Div head J B Delaney I J Silverstone Sofia Halili 0 H Hosmer R R Lord Div head B B Hill Betty Valdez G H Hargreaves J L Brenden FM Veatch

72

Evaporation stations

Fifteen double-pan (one open and one partially shaded) evaporation

stations with rainfall temperature wind and humidity instruments as

auxiliary are being operated in the Philippines and ten more are to

follow next year They are well distributed over the islands and

should furnish data of great value for reservoir design Thq reccrds

will be publish3d

Publication of rainfall data

All rainfall reccrds are published annually by the Weather Bureau

whose 1954 volume is the latest one printed The 1955 issue should be

released soon One excellent source of information for anyone studyshy

ing rainfall data in the Philippines is the publication The Distrishy

bution of Rainfall In The Philippines by Eugenio B Manalo Chief

Climatological Division Weather Bureau Manila This contains

valuable descriptive material tables of monthly and annual values

and mean monthly and annual isohyets in inches An inspection or

study of the monthly isohyetal maps shows clearly how storm patterns

change with the seasons in certain parts of the Philippines and that

73

in other areas the rain is almost evenly distributed throughout the

year The long dry season of Manila and the central Luzon plains is

graphically portrayed by the isohyets Mr Manalos publication

should be of great benefit to government agencies and private parties

or individuals in connection with agricultural and business activities

over the islands It is presumed that the isohyets will warrant some

revision after another 5 or 10 years as more records especially those

at higher altitudes become available

Sediment Measurement Stations

Practically no silt-sampling has been done in the Philippines

to date and no extensive program is believed possible because of the

lack of funds For the present it is recommended that every governshy

ment field hydrographer be equipped with a thermomater and a turbidity

stick and required to report a spot water temperature and turbidity

reading at time of each discharge measurement Thus without extra

cost a large amount of data can be accumulated which after several

years should make it possible to determine what streams are the

siltiest and where more detailed studies might be needed Whenever a

reservoir project reaches the intensive-investigation stage including

dam-site drilling detailed topography etc it is recommended that

a complete sediment sampling station be operated there for at least

one full flood season before the project feasibility report is

completed

74

Statement Before Water Resources Development Committee

On March 20 1957 I presented the following statement regarding

the streamflow measurement program in the Philippines

The Philippine Republic is blessed with an excellent supply of

water of good quality but much of it is wasted to the sea during the

rainy season The development of this resource is vitally important

to the nation and it involves the storing of flood waters for dryshy

season release Where investments are to be made for construction of

dams etc in the development of irrigation power production and

flood control large sums can easily be wasted through overdesign or

underdesign if enough engineering data are not available Conflicting

or competing uses for the water supplies will gradually develop in

your country the same as they have in the United States If water

rights are to be granted fairly with due regard for all prior users

many years of basic data are necessary so that the long-term water

supply can be estimated For this purpose a good network of stream

gaging records and ground water levels must be secured One would

not attempt to manage the money in a bank without bookkeeping and it

is just as important to have an accounting system when managing water

The sound economical procedure is to base all project designs on as

complete engineering information as can be obtained

The ICA is attempting to assist the Philippine Government in

planning the orderly development of its water resources and we are

concerned that too many structures may be built before accurate

9i

hydrologic data are available for their design For this reason we

strongly urge you to improve the basic data gathering program at the

earliest possible date as follows

(1) Review and publish the stream-flow records that have been

obtained since the war

(2) Finance an expanded program of stream-flow measurement and

ground water study

The Bureau of Public Works has prepared preliminary estimates of

the funds needed for bringing publication of basic data up to date and

for expanding the wiater resources investigation program The attached

copies of estimates are of course provisional and subject to revision

but it is suggested that they be placed in the files of this Committee

for future reference The figure of P56oooo for publication is a

fairly firm figure It is suggested that the Committee take immeshy

diate action to further the procurement of these funds

The procurement of water resources data is a specialized field

requiring engineers and other technical men with a high degree of

education Years must be spent in training them in such special

work The men must endure rigorous physical work corbatting the

elements and using resourcefulness and judgment It is very uneconoshy

mical and unsatisfactory to have a technical organization of that kind

subject to occasional and unpredictable severe cuts in appropriations

It is even more unsatisfactory to have the time sequence of basic

water data collection interrupted and valuable records lost forever

-fiUMBER OI~ GAGIiG~STATIONS-eP-ERATED IN-PIILIPPINES -

CALENDAR YEAR

YEA HYOROGRAPHIC

STAGE NATIONAL

SECTION PO R0 P

RIVEl CONTROL SECTON

TOT AL

DISCHARGE NATIONAL

HYDROGRAPHIC SECTION ORHYTGRPI SECTION POR

TOTAL TOA

RECORDING NON-REC TOTAL NON-REC NON-REC RECORDING NON-REC TOTAL

1908-1922 265 265 265

1923-1944 3 3 9 12

1945 6 6 6 15 15 2 17

1946 2 12 14 14 28 28 4 32

1947 3 11 14 14 29 29 4 33

1948 3 18 21 5 26 45 45 5 50

1949 3 13 16 6 5 27 74 74 15 89

1950 3 9 12 10 4 26 91 91 20 111

1951 3 15 18 10 4 34 103 103 17 120

1952 3 13 16 10 4 30 111 111 17 128 1953 3 17 20 11 17 48 1 96 97 23 120

1954 4 18 22 11 26 49 1 145 146 22 168

1955 4 18 22 13 19 54 1 207 208 27 235

1956 6 12 15 1 25 52 40 189 26 5

13

Various agencies have submitted lists of proposed gaging stations

which they would like to have installed to provide data for their

projects It is apparent that this work will be well coordinated in

the future and that the other agencies will come to rely more and

more on the Hydrographic Section for most of their basic stream-flow

records But they probably will continue to have their own personnel

make certain types of hydrographic investigations for the detailed

study of specific projects such as river profiles tailwater rating

curves etc

Financing

The main difficulty in regard to financing has been lack of

stability and continuity to the program and insufficient generalshy

fund money to permit the establishment of an all-purpose gaging proshy

gram In 1956 and 1957 the Hydrographic Section rec3ived P120000

(less than half of their total funds) for such general use with all

other monies either from counterpart funds (explained below) in theor

form of contributions from other agencies to cover certain gaging

expenses Another difficulty has been the lack of enough funds to

properly carry out the sudden large construction program generated by

the new ICA-furnished materials and instruments Most of the regular

hydrographic force has been assigned to construction during the last

twelve months or so because separate construction foremen or substitute

hydrographers could not be hired As a result the regular field

operation of gaging stations has suffered considerable neglect This

- - -

14

wuld not have been necessary if the Hydrographic Sections funds had

been flexible and appropriated on basis of a performance budget As

it is the Section must adhere to line items which spell out exactly

how all money is to be spent

The financing of an expanded 1958 program now appears to be

progressing satisfactorily largely from the counterpart monies

This fund consists of pesos allocated by the Philippine government

in an amount equivalent to the dollar value of imports furnished by

the ICA It is administered by the National Economic Council with

allocations subject to approval of the ICA on budget recommendations

received from Philippine government agencies In the case of water

resources programs they are assisted by recommendations of the Water

Resources Development Committee an NEC administratively appointed

body composed of representatives of ten agencies interested or inshy

volved in water development A rougn breakdown of the Hydrographic

Sections budget proposed for the fiscal year starting July 1 1957

is as follows

General Fund Pesos

Annual appropriation - ------------ 120000

Counterpart Funds

For bringing up to date the publication of

annual records plus a compilation - - - - 56000

For an expanded program of surface-water

investigations----------- - 500000

TOTAL - - - - - - 676000

The total funds available in 1955 and 1956 fiscal years were 180000

and 280000 respectively

It

a 7~

IC

U

i

Staff gage out of water Labangan River at Bagbag Calumpit Bulacan March 1 1957

7lt 2

I

fr

Gagekeeper and staff Jalaur River at Calinog Iloilo He read 10 centimeters low today because markings on lower part of gage were illegible

I-J May 8 1957

16 8

hational Power Corp staff gage painted on streamward side of cliff Lower markings gone and gagekeeper determines gage heights three times a day by wading to gage and measuring down with rule as shown in this picture Bokod R at Boiod Benguet Mountain Province March 26 1957

Bureau of Public Works staff gage station Gagekeeper has made readingsby measuring down from a nail since this section of gage was washed out by a flood Madlum River near Sibul Springs Bulacan April 25 1957

17

The only difficulty with counterpart financing is that it is

temporary and could conceivably leave the program stranded in a few

years when ICA aid is discontinued The necessity is recognized for

gradually obtaining regular Congressional appropriations to take the

place of counterpart funds An effort will also be made to have a

performance type of budget accepted because line items make the

program inflexible and prevent the best management and economy

It is recommended that other agencies desiring for their projects

certain stream flow records which cannot be financed from the regular

budget of the Hydrographic Section transfer funds annually (either in

advance or on a reimbursement basis) to the Hydrographic Section to

pay the extra costs required for the fulfilment of their requests

Design of the stream gaging program

As mentioned above the fiscal arrangements prevailing up to this

time have resulted in an almost total emphasis on project-type gaging

stations in the Philippines However I believe everyone is now in

agreement with the desirability or need for a nation-wide network of

index or runoff-per-square-kilometer type of stations which will sample

various runoff provinces such as those with different exposures to storms

and having different topography altitude geology type of land cover

etc The intensity of the network of stations in different regions

would vary depending upon the apparent future economic value or worth

of the water in each area This will be discussed in more detail in

the recommendations

18

In order to look over the existing program observe something of

the technical methods in use and see a variety of runoff and economic

types of areas in the islands to gain an idea of the type of stream

gaging network needed I have visited several regions accompanied most

of the time by Mr George Hargreaves It has been very helpful to me

to have him take such an interest in the detailed objectives of ry

assignment and I am sure it will facilitate Mrs Snellas work a great

deal to have available for consultation and guidance Mr Hargreaves

wide experience in water resources development and investigations

We were accompanied by Mr J C Regalado of the ydrographic Section

who made most of the advance contacts with field offices in connecshy

tion with our trips We usually travelled to central points by Philshy

ippine Air Lines and were then driven to nearby areas by field officials

of the Hydrographic Section and other agencies The hospitality and

cooperation of everyone toward us was exceptional and much appreciated

Besides a fairly detailed coverage of the Central Luzon area where an

intensified program is proposed our inspections included Northern

Luzon Southern Luzon (the Bicol region) Leyte Panay and several

parts of Mindanao In addition we made a special effort to observe

the country all along the routes of airplane flights taken and that

coupled with airplane stops made on other islands gave us a fairly

comprehensive view of the geography of the Philippines It is upon

this that my recommendations concerning the design of a stream gaging

program are based

19

Bquipment and technical methods-

The stream gaging equipment and methods used by the Hydrographic

Section since 1908 have been patterned mainly after those of the US

Geological Survey as described in the 1904 publication H4ydrographic

Manual Thus it appears likely that the methods and accuracy stanshy

dards have changed but little since the Philippine program was started

Stream gaging tecniques used by the other agencies are similar but

they have not had the advantage of some of the new ICA-furnished equipshy

ment This is expected to be remedied in the aid allocations for fiscal

year 1958

Although some use has been made of the 2-8 method of measuring

discharge present practice is limited almost entirely to the 6method

for low and medium stages and the sub-surface method for high stages

for the latter the meter is suspended over a 15-E weight and set 03

meter below the surface with a coefficient of 0915 applied

The number of verticals or measuring points taken in the cross

section usually is between 8 and 15 No bridge cranes or suspension

reels of any kind have been available all discharge work other than

with wading rod having been done by hand line All this is about to

be changed with the recent arrival of the first ICA-furnished sounding

reels weights and tag lines purchased from 1956 FY funds

Staff gages are read to the nearest centimeter (about 0033 foot)

Most of the gages would be difficult to read to any closer limit alshy

though a few stations have Leupold Stevens enameled gages with levelshy

rod type markings

20

The hydrographer records his discharge measurement notes in a

small bound pocket-size book which he carries until it is full After

each measurement is computed in the field a complete copy of the notes

is made on a card and mailed to the Manila office I am informed

that the bound notebooks are practically never lost or dropped in

the water With the increased amount of flood measuring expected to

be done in the future that situation might change

Rating curves are drawn to average large groups of discharge

measurements Large rectangular-scale cross section sheets are used

Percentage differences of the measured values with respect to the

rating table are not computed A minimum of use is made of Stoutshy

method shifts

The water-stage recorders furnished to date by the ICA have been

manufactured with time scales of either 03 inch per day (the FM

model) or 48 inches per day (the A-35 model) The former scale is

too small for satisfactory use in most stream gaging and the latter

is too large Thirty pairs of time scale gears have been ordered for

converting the A-35s from 48 to 24 inches per day Upon inquiry at

the factory it was learned that no conversion of the FM recorders is

possible An exchange of 25 of them is being made with the ground

water program for an equivalent value in A-35 recordero but the

remaining 65 will be used at the surface water stations They are

very satisfactory on lakes or spring-fed streams or large streams

whose fluctuations are not too sudden

21

Ipo dam on Angat River which diverts water to supply City of Manila and surrounding area March 13 1957 Reservoir is traversed by boat in reaching the gaging station upstream

Ready to leave Ipo Dam for gaging station 6 kilqmeters upstream B Ramos and J Regalado in oanca March 13 1957

4 ~ s~

B Ramos making discharge measurement by wading on Angat River above Ipo DamMarch 13 1957 Spacings between verticals were obtained from cable makings byline hanging from cable car

23

At non-recording gages it has been the custom to hire gagekeepers

at uniform or statutory rates of 025 or P30 per month (not related

to the distance traversed in going to the gage) to obtain readings

three times a day The pay has been the same even where the gage is

located several kilometers away from the gagekeepers home The system

has certain disadvantages which may affect the accuracy of the records

At some stations the pay is too high while at others it is too low

Three readings a day are not necessary most of the time for adequately

developing the hydrograph especially during the dry season and a

request for obviously unnecessary readings seems to put too severe a

test upon human nature It is practically an open invitation to a

certain amount of faking I doubt that it should be held against a

gagekeeper to put down some estimated readings under those circumstances

any more than it would be to blame children for taking candy or cookies

from a forbidden plate left openly in their midst The question then

becomes - what readings can be relied upon and what cannbt I sincerely

believe that a more accurate daily discharge record can be prepared in

the office from a few completely reliable gage readinrs per week by

means of hydrographic comparisons with recording-gage records from

nearby stations and with less expense than can be produced by proshy

cessing comparing and weeding out questionable parts from a complete

(on paper) record of three readings a day A gagekeepers habit

developed during the dry season of not going to the gage when it is

inconvenient or he doesnt feel like it is bound to crop up during

the high water season as well with the result that all his readings

24

must be looked at critically and considered reliAble only after

unusually extensive comparisons are made with weather records and

other stations

In regard to specialized stream gaging equipment listed below

are the amounts purchased by the ICA up to the present time

Ordered from Ordered from Being FY 1955 PPA 1956 PPA ordered Delivered in Delivered in from 1957

May 1956 May 1957 PPA

Canfield reels 0 6 8

Type A reels 0 6 2

Canfield tag lines 0 15 0

A-35 recorders 20 10 25

FM recorders 65 25 0

Enameled gage secs 400 600 200

Currer meter outfits inc ding rod headphonehanuline and 15-pound weight 11 10 0

Pygmy meters 0 0 10

Bridge cranes 0 3 0

Sounding wts 30-lb 0 0 10

50-lb 0 0 10

I i 75-lb 0 0 1

I 100-lb 0 0 1

Stopwatches 20 10 0

Being purchased as models for possible future use in procurement of

weights of local manufacture

25

~-

-~ ~- shy

~-

4rshy~~L~zu 1 - ~ A-

-~ - ~jj ~

~- k ~ ~

Helper and P Nubio National Power Corporationpreparing to make discharge measurement Tag marks of grass being tied to line Bantay River near Bokod Benguet Mountain Province March 26 1957

-- ~ 4

V

Helper holding meter in place suspended on a weight hanger while revolutions are counted oy hydrographer P Nubio E P Nbesamis is at extreme right March 26 1957

26

-p --shy

t-~-- - -

A ~

A~4 ~ 4

A -Y

- -

- - - -

gt~ ~ ~-

Z4z4a - ~z

- shy -~-~shy

4shy- --

I NPC discharge party on Bokod River at-Bokod BenguetMountain Province Helper and gagekeeper holding meter and 15-pound weight in position P Nubio on shore counting revolutions and recording notes March 26 1957

Ar 7

-~ I

0 I 15-pound weight used in discharge measurement work by the NPC hydrographer stationed at Ambuklao Dam March 26 1957

27

Recommendations

A sharp expansion in the stream gaging program of the Philippines

has occurred recently brought about not only by the ICAs economic and

technical aid program but also by the growing local demand for water

resources information It is inevitable that some organizational

changes would be required to accommodate such a sudden growth This

subject was discussed in conferences with Mr Saddam and Mr Regalado

and the following list of special objectives agreed upon They had a

number of these in mind or partly in effect already and were planning

to gradually adopt several others The items are listed here in order

to express my reasons for wanting to see them completely implemented

within the next two or three years They are as follows

A It is recommended that the district offices compute their own disshy

charge records and prepare them for publication for final review

in the central office in ranila

1 Additional engineers would be needed in each district office

and fewer engineers in the Manila office

2 At least the district hydrographer and preferably one other

engineer in addition should be trained in the office work in

Manila before the records were transferred to a district

3 Each engineer in a district office would be given a field area

which he would cover by a round of discharge measurements once

every 4 to 6 weeks each coverage taking about 2 weeks Betshy

ween trips he would do office work preferably on the same

stations that he covers in the field

28

4 Benefits of thissystem are believed to be as follows

a Records requested could be furnished more quickly to the

public especially to those in the district area

b This kind of a close tie between field and office work has

been found to greatly improve the quality of the records

the economy of operation and the performance and developshy

ment of the individual engineers

c The alternating of each person between field and office

work makes him (1) more competent in the field work and

also more competent in the office work than is possible

in segregated office and field groups and (2) permits

him to be home more of the time and lead a more normal

lifc thus increasing his morale and efficiency

5 Personnel arrangements recommended are

a Offer more rapid promotion to those who transfer like

from Manila to a field office or between field offices

b Encourage each man to transfer every few years with

faster promotions as an incentive It has been found

that this develops an engineers competence more rapidly

than if he stays in one office indefinitely Such ability

repays the government in added officiency and production

to an extent greater than its cost in extra salary

B Certain organization changes are recommended as follows

1 Appoint an Office Engineer a Field Engineer and (whenever

needed) a Construction Engineer They would be headquartered

__

V 29

2

~- ~

q

Ambuklao Dam on Agno River Generating capacity 75000 kw Powerplant is underground March 2557

7- t

-JI

Maria Cristina falls and power plant on Agus River River near Iligan Lanao Province Mindanao Present installed capacity 50000 kw May 1 1957

30

II I

Looking downstream at the Binga dam site on Agno River about 15 kilometers east of Baguio March 25 1957

Looking upstream at the Marikina dam site on Marikina River at Wawa near Montalban Rizal about 25 kilometers northeast of Manila April 5 1957

31

in the Manila office and act under the general supervision of

the head of the Section with the following responsibilities

to be included

a Office Engineer

(1) Be responsible for the discharge computations and

related office work in the Manila field district or

area

(2) Be responsible for review and final preparation for

publication of all records in the nation

(3) See that a progress chart of status-of-record compushy

tations is maintained in each district office and

that a summary statement concerning such progress is

sent to the central office at least quarterly

(4) Be responsible for research in office methods and

equipment (See footnote on next page)

b Field Engineer

(1) Act as first assistant to head of the Section of

Hydrography

(2) Be responsible for field operation vork throughout the

nation

(a) Make at least one annual field inspection in each

district

(b) Develop the system in every headquarters of keepshy

ing a running chronological chart of the discharge

measurements made at each gaging station or

32W

scheduled miscellaneous site A form in use in

Tacoma Washington has been found to be very conshy

venient for this purpose Such a chart gives the

supervisor a quick overall view of the status of

the field work and serves as a check at end of

the year to make sure all measurements have been

listed and counted

(3) Be responsible for the design of the stream gaging

network and the selection of sites for new gaging

stations

(4) Be responsible for research in field methods and

equipment

Construction Engineer

(1) Give general supervision and management to the conshy

struction program

(a) Obtain assignment of resident engineer or foreman

for each job

(b) See that the materials are made available Help

the foreman in every way possible in organizing

the job procuring emergency equipment or supplies

and making decisions about serious problems that

may arise on the job

If funds became available for considerable research it probably

would be better to appoint a special Research Engineer

33

~A

Cagayan River gaging station near Cagayan de OroMisamis Oriental Mindanao April 30 1957 Note how corrugated pipe recorder structure was bent by flood J C Regalado J J Ponco gagekeeper and G H Hargreaves in foreground

-

V

View of staff gage and control on Binakaan River at Tifigib near Pastrana Leyte Stream divided by a barand control excavated for unknown reason May 6 1957 J Regalado by the sign and G Hargreaves at right

Cable footbridge below Binga dam site Tree anchorage for cableway onformerly used by NPC in making Angat River above Ipo Damdischarge measurements P Nubio and March 13 1957E Abesamis of NPC on bridge March 25 1957

35

(c) Visit the major jobs occasionally to see that

they are proceding satisfactorily in all the

islands Make sure the stations are installed

according to instructions and plans An approved

sketch plan showing dimensions and elevations is

desirable for each construction job

(d) Prepare first draft of each new station description

(e) Prepare brief construction report including costs

A form in use at Tacoma Washington has been found

convenient for this purpose

C The following policies in regard to gagekeepers are recommended

1 Start a gradual change-over to paying each gagekeeper on basis

only of the hours he works plus a basic amount for taking the

responsibility This may result in increasing the pay of some

but it should reduce the pay of a much larger number

2 Convert most gagekeepers to two readings a day most of the time

with one or more additional readings during floods In some of

the drier parts of the Central Luzon area in cases where gages

are remote from habitation request only one reading a day

during the dry months such as from January through May inclushy

sive more than that are believed to cost more than they are

worth and are an open invitation to the reporting of estimated

readings

3 When a new recorder installation is at a barrio or bridge where

it appears unlikely to be vandalized try running the station

36

without hiring a gagekeeper If this system proves successful

discontinue the services of the gagekeepers at certain selected

recorders At all other recorders reduce the number of readshy

ings required to one per day and reduce their pay accordingly

If a gagekeeper prefers not to accept a lower monthly rate for

fewer readings it is suggested that he resign except in cases

where security of the station structures or right-of-way favors

may be involved

Proceed on the principle that a saving in public tax money from

the above reforms is more important than supporting gagekeepers

just because they depend on the income and need the money The

present dependence of a gagekeeper on his P300 or P360 a year

and the hardship he must undergo in adjusting to a lower rate

of pay for the job are not believed to be sufficient reasons

for continuing indefinitely to pay him more than necessary

However it is recommended that he be given 30 or 60 days

notice before a reduction in pay is placed in effect

D Vehicles

1 It is recommended that a gradual change-over be made from the

short-wheelbase open Jeep to the Jeep station wagon as a hydroshy

graphers car Benefits should be as follows

a The car can be locked leaving only the tires as attractive

to thieves

b The station wagon has more space As the hydrographers

became better equipped that space will be needed

37

Bamboo-and-grass shelters built and used by crew during construction of gaging station on Angat River above Ipo Dam March 13 1957

3

4

-Ti LP

Proposed site for new index-type gaging station selected on Baoas River near Mangatarem Pangasinan above all diversions by Regalado Romasanta dargreaves and Veatch April 15 1957 Photo by J S Romasanta

38

Taking Philippine Airlines plane at Legaspi Albayfor Manila on May 17 1957 Mount Mayon 7960 feet high in background

I

N 1 x

Y

I

Showing typical vehicle used on the reconnaissance and inspection trips over the Philippines

39

c For occasional errands or trips it will be feasible for

only oneman to take the car because he can lock the con

tents when the car is not attended

d It may possibly develop in some parts of the Philippines

that a hydrographer for a certain area will not need a

driver-helper and thereby a saving in funds can be made

However such a change should be made only on a trial

basis and is not recommended until conditions so warrant

and until the hydrographer involved is satisfied with the

change or else desires it

E Certain technical stream-gaging procedures are recommended to be

followed in the Philippine Islands hydrographic work at the average

gaging station by all agencies doing stream gaging as follows

1 Obtain a discharge measurement once every four to six weeks

throughout the year

2 Furnish the hydrographer with a print of the station descripshy

tion and of the rating curve and require him as a general rule

to compute and plot his discharge measurement in the field

3 Have the gage read both before and after each discharge measureshy

ment and the readings recorded on the field notes

4 Use a loose-leaf discharge-measurement note form or forms

containing a summary page patterned to some extent after the

forms in use by the USGS Bound notes make it too inconshy

venient or perhaps impossible for the office engineer to

examine the notes for a whole year when he analyzes a station

record

40

5 Gradually change to the use of ehameled steel gage plates

instead of painted gages because their initial cost is less

and they are more durable Plates graduated somewhat like

those of the US Geological Survey are believed much better

than those stocked by private companies While here I drew

up a suggested design for local manufacture which appealed

to the Hydrographic Section

6 Obtain levels at staff gages at least once a year especially

on the low section of gage Replace or repair each low secshy

tion soon after it becomes damaged or the markings become

indistinct

7 Continue as a general rule to use the 6-depth method with

the sub-surface method for deep swift water Obtain a comshy

plete cross section as soon as feasible after the high water

has subsided

8 Gradually change to the use of heavier sounding weights so

that the 6-depth method with soundings can be used at high

water in any event take soundings and velocities as far out

as practicable from each bank at flood stages then go across

deep part of channel with sub-surface method Check subshy

surface method coeficients whenever practicable by means of

vertical velocity curves Until such checks show otherwise

use a coefficient of 090

9 Compute discharge measurements by the mid-section method

This saves time (and money) and is at least as accurate as the

41

other method Request hydrographers to bear the method in mind

when selecting verticals near edges of channel or at breaks in

the cross section It is recommended that in the interests of

economy this change be made at an early date

10 Consider 20 as a desirable number of verticals in an average

stream cross section Continue to time the meter revolutions

for 40 to 60 seconds at each setting Someday if more accushy

racy is desired in hydrographic work in the Philippines it

would be appropriate to standardize on 30 verticals per measureshy

ment provided the 2-8 depth method were used and the gages

were read to fractions of a centimeter For the present it

seems consistent to take about 20 verticals when using the 6

method and with gages read only to the nearest centimeter

11 Use steel tag lines for wading measurements Paint bridge

rails and cables with markings sufficiently close together

that they can be used rapidly to determine stationing between

them When installing the paint marks use standard intervals

of either 1 meter 2 meters or 5 meters To avoid confusion

do not use intervals of 3 or 4 meters If measuring intervals

are to be 1 meter or less it is very convenient to have a

mark available every meter If intervals are between 1 and 5

meters use a mark every 2 meters A good system for making

the marks readily identifiable is to place 1 paint mark at

each basic interval like every 2 meters then put 2 marks every

10 meters 3 every 50 meters and 4 at 100 meters

42

use on12 Always tags the portion of the meter suspension line

that goes in the water The tags usually consist of small

pieces of colored cloth taped tightly to the line They

should be watched and checked occasionally against slippage

and error The tags should not be more than one meter apart

and should be spaced to give maximum convenience and speed in

measuring the discharge

13 As it may becoin feasible convert Type A current meters to

Type AA The more deeply recessed bearing of the Type AA

meter provides more durability of the pivot and bearing

because trapped air excludes most of the water and silt the

longer pivot results in a relatively lower center of gravity

of the bucke t wheel with respect to the point of bearing and

results in smoother performance

F Design of the stream gaging network

1 Everyone seem3 to agree with the objective of a network of

well-distributed long-term base stations for giving runoffshy

per-square-kilometer values representative of the general

area in which each station is located As rapidly as practishy

cable stations should be L d n the o ting netrk

and designated as base or index stations for permanent operashy

tion They should be the best stations both hydraulically

and as to equipment and should be free from upstream regushy

lation or diversion Where needed new base stations should

be installed as soon as they can be financed to appropriately

L11 out the network

43

2 In between such base stations it is desirable to sample smaller

basins with short-term records of various lengths which can be short term

correlated with the long records For this purpose thestashy

tion structures should be constructed so that they are as moveshy

able or salvageable as possiblej Often these movable stations

will be operated at or near specific project sites

3 It usually is more economical and satisfactory to gage a stream

at a highway crossing or other convenient place rather than

exactly at a project site later the data can be transferred

to the project site by means of drainage area proportions

checked by obtaining at the site e

two miscellaneous measurements or possibly in some cases a

whole year of record

4 A method for studying the existing network of stations to see

whether the intensity of coverage is satisfactory or not is to

plot correlations between the various station records prefershy

ably following the present methods of the USGS

5 It has been found advantageous to classify all gaging stations

that are in operation using categories somewhat like these

areal network base stations primary and secondary main stream

stations and water management stations This procedure is

helpful in planning how long various stations should be operated

Detailed information about station classification methods is

available from the U S Geological Survey for use as a guide

The Technical Training Program

Early plans

When this assignment was given to me it was anticipated that a

series of across-the-table discussions would be held with small groups

of hydrographers from the Philippine government bureaus engaging in

such work Detailed procedures would be discussed without formality

But when arrangements were initiated for such conferences I was inshy

formed that among those wanting to attend were many at the managerial

level as well as a number of representatives of agencies interested

more in water development projects than in resource investigations

These could not be turned down so it was necessary to revise the

agenda to include more of general interest

Later developments

In view of the wide experience and high rank of many prospective

attendants of the conference it did not seem appropriate to call it

a lecture series or school and the name Seminar On Water Resources

was decided upon The agenda is included in this report and will be

self-explanatory Registered attendance for each of the three weeks

was 68 72 and 70 persons respectively for a total of 210 The

setting for the Seminar can best be understood from the photographs

Conditions as a whole were good although the tape-recording of the

entire three weeks of proceedings and the need for a member to come

F M Veatch and Water Resources Seminar group week of April 8-12 1957 at Bureau of Public Highways conference building Manila

I y

rT

I

4

47

forward and use the microphone whenever he asked a question or made a

comment was somewhat of a dampener oh discussion When preparing the

agenda I assumed that few besides the hydrographers would attend the

sessions on technical details of stream gaging scheduled for Wednesday

to Friday yet the entire membership stayed through the full program

each week and so no small-group round-table discussions were practicable

It developed later that the language barrier was a little more

serious than first realized Also it was not evident at first that

many present did not know what a gaging station was One of the main

benefits gained from the field trip was to show them a typical station

along with some equipment Taken as a whole it is believed that the

Seminar was successful and worthwhile

The sending of trainees from the Hydrographic Section to the

United States by ICA is very effective in supplementing the technical

assistance rendered directly by American personnel in the Philippines

and it should be continued as long as possible

Acknowledgments

Announcements and invitations to attend the Seminar were sent to

numerous agencies and offices by the Hydrographic Section who also

made all arrangements such as for space registration loud speaker

system tape recordings and recess refreshments The Bureau of

Public Highways made their new conference building available and the

National Media Center furnished a slide projector screen and room

all of which were greatly appreciated The introductory talks by

48

several busy executives including Director J A Buendia and Messrs

A T Alano R R Lord P G Afable and D Rosell with Mr Tomas

Saddam acting as master of ceremonies contributed ideas and gave

each weeks session a good send-off

Publications

Copies of the following publications of the U S Geological

Survey (one by Bureau of Reclamation and one from ASCE) were disshyon

play at the Seminar at all times for inspection by the members Alshy

though they were requested not to take the publications away quite a

few copies gradually became missing

Irrigation Water Measurement Tables and Diagrams by U S

Bureau of Reclamation

ASCE Separate 413 - Backwater Effects of Open Channel

Constrictions

Stage-Fall Discharge Relation for Steady Flow in Prismatic

Channels Water-Supply Paper 1164

Topographic Characteristics of Drainage Basins W S P 968C

Weir Experiments Coefficients and Formulas WSP 200

Handbook for Hydrologists - Chapters 1 - 11

Chapter 1 -- Instructions for Flood Frequency Compilations

Chapter 2 -- ledian Discharge Computation Methods

Chapter 3 -- Instructions for Abstracting Topographic

Characteristics of Drainage Basins

i

-Imr- I

1 N

L

V10J~

C R Mirray explaining a ground water formula

Ii

17t

o

Water Resources Seminar group at gaging station on Marikina River near Montalban Rizal about an hours drive northeast of Manila April 12 1957

51

-- Channel Storage and Flood Routing

-- Extending Stream-flow Records

Chapter 6 -- Double Mass Curves

Chapter 7-A- Frequency Curves of Low Flows and Storage

Requirements

Chapter 8 -- Flood Frequency Analyses

Chapter 9 -- Small Stream Investigations

Chapter 10 - Hydrologic Definitions

Chapter 11 - Base-Flow Recession-Curves

Computation of Backwater at Open Channel Constrictions

Floods in Western Washington Frequency and Magnitude in

Relation to Drainage Basin Characteristics GS Circular 191

Floods in Georgia Frequency and Magnitude GS Circular 100

Stream-Gaging Procedure - A Manual Describing Methods and

Practice of the Geological Survey - WSP 888

Investigation of Methods and Equipment used in Stream Gaging

Part 2 Intakes For Gage Wells

Computation of Peak Discharge through Culverts

Computation of Backwater at Open-Channel Constrictions

Equipment for River Measurements Structures for Cableways

by Charles H Pierce

Computation of Peak Discharge at Contractions Circular 284

Care and Rating of Current Meters

Surface Water Supply o the United States 1950 Parts 1 - 14

52

In addition to the above publications a two-page single-spaced

memorandum entitled Plotting Flood Frequency Curves (Extracted from

U S Geological Survey publications) was prepared by me under date

of April 3 1957 and handed to each member of the Seminar each week

The program or agenda for the Seminar one copy of which was

given to each member follows on Pages 53 to 63 inclusive The

graphs on Page 63 were referred to during the talks

53

March 29 1957

AGENDA FOiR SEMINARZ ON WATER RESCURCES AND STAE4 GAGING

IN THE PHILIPPINES

PLACE Conference hoom 2nd Floor Bureau of Public Highways Building Second Street Port Area Manila

TIKE April 1-5 8-12 and 22-26 (same program each week)

CONDUCTED BY M1r i 1 Veatch District EngineerSurface WaterBranch Jater Aesources Division United States Geological Suver Thcoma ashington who is un three-month assignment with the ICA

Held in connoction with the Philippine Government-ICA water resources program

54

GENERAL PROGRAM MONDAY AND TUESDAY

honday morning 830

Opening remarks Mr Julian A Buendia Director Bureau of Fublic Works Mr R R Lord Chief Public Works Division ICA Mr G H Hargreaves Hydraulic Engineer ICA

Importance of water resources and their investigation

The hydrologic cycle Evaporation transpiration and precipitation Runoff

Daily discharge record and the hydrograph Storm runoff Base flow

Grou~nd Water Very brief description (this subject to be covered

iaore fully on Tuesday afternoon)

General characteristics of natural stream runoff in the Philippines Quantity

Adequacy Comparison with United States

Variations with time Day to day and year to year Long-term trends

Distributin by area General over the Philippine Islands Variations between nearby drainage basins

Effect of location elevation geology cover etc

Major uses of stream-flow data Many years of rccornds should be crnsidered Granting water r phts

Protect existing rights Prevent capital expenditures where water supply inadequate

Planning river basin developments including municipal supply irrigation pnwer flood control etc

Destping structures such as dams reservoirs dikes floodways canals pumping systems power plants bridges etc

Accuracy and extent of dat needed for minimizing underdesign or wasteful overdesign

Cost of water-supply data in relation to total cost of a project

Operating water projects Distribution of water on projects Operation of storage reservoirs and diversion dams

To make maximum use uf water supply Designing alterations or enlargements to existing projects

RECESS 1000 to 1015

55 -3-

Monday morning (Continued) 1015 aim

Management of the stream gaging program Foreseeing the needs for stream-flow records

Study population and industrial trends Keep inforned on water-development plans and

prgraIIs of all agencies Continuity of the records

Essential for wator-supply studies Regular financinp reouired

Annual appropriations a poundfccted by temporary econoidc or political conditions

Permanent type of financing needed Surcharge method License fee method

-Dissemination of the data Annual publication Occasional summary compilations Furnishing advance cupies of unpublished records Furnishing current data - daily weekly or munthly

wherever required Special water resources investigation agency desirable

Briefly dancribe United States organization Uniform tecnical standards Uniform ways of presenting data One series of publicatiens Distributial center for basic water data Genera l-coverage program requires close coordination

for economy of operation Personal requirements

Engineers Engir ring aids Computers Clerks

ADJOURN - 1145

Resume after lunch only if necessary for completing the above subjects

56

Tueday morning 830

Design of a comprehensive stream gjaging program General rrinciIlac

Represenkc tive runoff-type provinces should be sainpled with stations of various classes

Vary the intensity of coverage with probable intenshysity of water use

Follow tiie tcends variations with records fromand L sri etatiorns secondary

Correlate resultls one continually adjustnetwork Classification of ra-in stationa

Areal prinary and secondary viain strem priiary nd secondary Water-manmfciact stat-i ons Miscellanous dischaige mcasurements

Correlating the dat obttined in comprehensive program Logarithmic pajer Five years of lecord uscd What is a good corrclation

Analyses of data Flood frcouencjs

Annual serics Partial duration series

Low-flow frecuencies Low-flow duration hydrograph

Extending strewm-flow records Comparisons witi other gaging stations Rainfall-runoff correlations

Quality of water Temperature

Intermittent observations Recorders

Chemical gtuality Element -Dissolved solids

Suspended iaterial Time of cecurrence-floods Sampling

Methods Cost

RECESS - 1000 to 1015

57

- 5 -

Tuesday afternoon 130

Ground water (This subject conducted by Mr C R Murray) Occurrence

Water table Artesian Lakes

Movement Through the ground Into stream channels

Availability Geologic structure Aquifers Funing tests

Recharge Froa precipitation Artificial Froma induced lateral movement

Investigation Geology Springs Logs of dug and drilled wells Test wells

lecording Lanual

Quantitative studies Chemical quality analyses

Mincral ccontnt Sallt water intrusion

Drilling of wells for production use Ground water rirhts

Depletion of ground water reservoirs teyond rccharge capability

ADJOURN at 330

Geologist Ground Water Branch dater Resources Division U 6 Geological Survey who is on two-ywar assignment with ICA

58

PROGRAM ON STREMvi GAGING PROCEDURE WEDNESDAY TO FRIDAY

4ednesday morning 830

Establishing and constructing gaging stations Selection of site

Consider najor probable uses of the record Investigate extent of upstream diversion and

-egulation Utilize contour naps Obtain list of nmrjor water right applications

iydraulic conditicns Section control Shifting channel Overbank flow Dackwater

Accessibility Avoid too much expense Need to reach quickly to measure flash floods

Natural protection front flood damage Avoid excessively expensive construction conditions

Bed iock Quick sand Too-longintake pipes

For non-rccording gage choose site convenient to

one or more local gage readers

Survey of site Bank cross-prefile at gage Cross section at cable Plan

Right of way Oral pervrission ritten permission

Easement Land purchase

RECESS - 945 to 1000

- 7 - 59

Wednesday morning (Continued) 100)

Construction Select types and sizes of structures To fit purpose oi the record Plan later salva e (for secondary stations) For economy of operation (for example design cableway to

operat mesily) Adapt availabic standard plans to fit the site Keep costs to hclp in future estimating Make brief construction report for future assistance in

planninr sililar Jobs Prepare staLion descripLion

Road log distences etc for How to reach paragraph Descriptions of gages bench marks etc Dimensions cf structuis Gage datum elevations of portinent parts of structures

Operating and maintaining gaging stations Records of stage

Choice of dtum Arbitrcry local datum

Set gages so there will be no minus gage readings

Mean sea level datum May be used but has disadvantages

1hen later adjustments are made to level networks

Gages have to be reset or Equation must be published

Non-recording gages Types

Vertical staff Inclined staff

ire-weight Crest-stage gages

Refinement of graduations ake adequate for accuracy of record needed

Maintatling dat of gage Adequate number of local reference marks Take levels at least once a year

Work o- local gare reader Fy according to approx number of hours worked Do not roruire too many roadings for the

conditions Warm (with omphasis) against my guessed

readings Inform reader anv errors in reading will

show up in hydrogrq oic comtparisons Engineers obtain check readings whenever

possible Visit gage reader frequently a d show inshy

terest in his gage-height record Encourage reader to retain personal copy

ADJOURN at 1145

60

Thursday morning 800

Records of stage (continued) Recording gages

Select type of instrument and its scales to fit conditions at gaging station

Weekly or continuous recorder Recorder scales Range of stage Rate of change of stage Availability of someone to change weekly

chart Work of Cage inspector of keeper

Avoid resetting pen Repurt any trash or debris causing backwater

at gage Do not have a gage keeper unless needed

aintaining gage datum Check outside gae by levels annually Keep outside gage sections reset to datum

Standard reference gage Inside gage of soie sort preferable

Staff Float-tape Anchor type

Intake action Clean or flush pipes after floods Slot intakes Self-cleaning iitakes

For pipe gage wells For wells built into bridge piers

Draw-down (where excessive) Use bapfle or static tube

Elood marks at station Make record of well-defined high water

marks

AECESS - 945 to 1000

- 9 - 61

Thursday morning (Continudd) 1000

Discharge measuroments Current hmeters

Price Type A Type AA

Pygmpy Carc of inters

Sounding weights E-typc C-type

Lead Brono

Type of notebook Loose shects Loose-leaf book Bound booL

Measurement of depth aeding rod Tag-line nethod Vertical-nglc coofficients Sounding during floods

Ilacemont of mter Sub--surface method 2-depth n cthod 6-de-pth icthod 2- imetY od

Number of verticals Velocity -urgcs

Miscellaneous f-ctors Effect of bridge piers Horizontal angle of current Insufficient weight on current water

1Mean gage hoitht for a discharge measurement Special methods of (Itermining flood discharge

Floats Slope-area method

Rating curv- etonsion method Arca and velocity curves Loparithmic plottig

Contrqctd-opening mothod Flow ovcr dams

Report on condition of control Carry station description and rating curve in field

Ubtain another me asurement if needed If first indicates large shift If new station and stagc advantagoous for

defining blank part of rating curve

ADJOUffN - 1145 AI

Resumne atfter lunch only if necessary for comploting the above subjects

62

- 10 -

Friday morning S00

A few remarks about office methods Rating curves

Log-log paper Upward extonsions Dowmward extensions

Rectangular plotting Computing recorder charts

M-ark index correction and time correction for each inspection reading

Break midnight lines at raph Never oblitertte or mark over the original trace Nake office markings on chart distinctive from

those mad( At the gage Use of colored pencils by computer and checker is one good wa)y

Daily discharge record Flot hydrograph Compare over light box with other stations

This method preferable to plotting several station records on same sheet

Concluding discussions

RECESS - 945 to 1000

Projection of gaging station equipment Lnd scenic slides taken in the United States and Canada

ADJOURN - 1145

Field trip Cars will be available at the conference building to

take members to the raging station on arikina iRivei at ontalban about an hours drive from Manila where a brief demonstration of certain field equipment will be given

Return to noL later thanoanila 500 FL

---

- Ishy4 ~7L~

0F OllY LISCIiRE 4- 1 -shy

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- O 1 B -- 2r 2 ZZ 23 24 2 c 26 7 8 2717x I 2

_~ I 027 _d- 1 2 shy

7 -

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- _______________ Pnu~ OAgvhshy

-~ ~-r- 1 - V-shy- i-shytvkty--- in--a-- -~ ~Z2m7~ ~

- ~ ~-~-----~- V 1~5~ LTLL2P7o -4----4 1 -- I -- I I _ __ --- -- -- - - L - - I ----

~- ~y~-~ 64 4

N

A il

Seminar members observing demonshystrat-n of measurshying e -pment by F M Veatch at Marikina River gaging station April 12 1957

I

Water Resources Seminar members observing working model of proppsed Binga Dam at the hydraulics laboratory of University of the Philippines April 12 1957

65

Current meter rating flume mechanism Y 22 1957

Current meter rating flume mechanism May 22 1957

66

Current Meter Rating Station

The new current meter rating station at the University of the

Philippines (see photographs) was not quite ready for use before I

left the country The mechanism and instruments were manufactured

in Germanyobtained thru ICA-NEC procurement for the Water Resources

Program of the Department of Public Works and have been installed by

Professor Alberto Villares and his hydraulics laboratory staff under

Dean C A Ortigas of the College of Engineering with some guidance

by Professor Edward L Ericksen of the University of Michigan who is

a civil engineer on detail here with the Stanford Group Professor

Villares spent 18 months in the hydraulics laboratory of the Univershy

sity of Iowa

There is every evidence that this rating flume will with expeshy

rience do work accurate enough not only for determining differences

in ratings between current meters but also for preparing absolute or

independent ratings This can be reported on more fully at some

later date by Messrs Hargreaves and Snell

The Central Luzon Region Program

The Water Resources Development Committee is preparing a recomshy

mended plan for the expedited multiple-purpose development of the

water resources of the Central Luzon region The area contains oneshy

sixteenth of the land surface and one-fourth of the population of the

Philippines and is termed the rice granary of the nation It is to

be used as an example or experiment in water and land development

67

The Committee has requested member agencies to submit estimates

of the minimum amount of additional basic data needed for making a

useful report and for proceeding with development projects Such

estimates are to include mapping soil surveys dam and reservoir site

surveys water resources surveys and other items A preliminary

report is to be prepared soon summarizing the existing information

pointing out the need for additional dataand submitting estimates

of cost for the further investigations needed An outline for the

final report has been prepared and distributed so it will be availashy

ble as a guide and funds for the first years efforts are being

sought for fiscal year 1958 It appears reasonable that the report

on a comprehensive plan could be submitted to the President and

Congress of the Philippines in about five years

With the assistance of Mr Hargreaves I have prepared estimates

for a surface water measurement program to complement the existing

program It is designed to fill the worst gaps in the present netshy

work Details are subject to change as more reconnaissance informashy

tion becomes available as only five days were spent covering the area

by automobile Unit costs were provided by the Hydrographic Section

and they include cost of preparation of the records for publication

Estimates were submitted as given below They were supported by a

detailed list of stream names and locations which included desigshy

nations as to the primary purpose or type of each proposed new gaging

station and whether a recording or non-recording gage was recommended

It is available for reference in both the ydrographic Section and

ICA offices

68

New gaging stations

1 Daily discharge type

Installation (including cableways where needed)

Recording ------- 7 Pl650 11550

Non-recording --- 4 950 3800 15350

Operation 1st year -11 660 7260 P22610

2 High water type (flood records)

Installation

Gages (nonshy

recording) ----- 4 150 600

Measuring equipment 800 1400

Operation 1st year - 4 300 1200 2600

Total for new gaging stations ------------- 25210

Miscellaneous discharge measurements

1 4 or 5 during dry season Nov - April

4 sites x 5 per site = 20 30 ---------------- 600

2 1 or 2 during low part of year March and April

37 sites x l per site = 55 k30 ------------- 1650

Total for miscellaneous measurements ------ 2250

Total -------------- -2746o

69

Rainfall And Evaporation Stations

Existing network

A map examination of the existing network of rain gages was made

and a surprisingly large number were found to be in operation -- 2

recording and 115 manual stations or a total of 117 They are beshy

lieved to be fairly adequate in number and are well distributed

areally over the Philippines but like in the United States are conshy

fined largely to the lower altitudes where the agricultural and urban

population live In addition to these records are available for

various lengths of time from about 8 discontinued Weather Bureau

stations and from more than 300 haciendas reforestaion stations

and provincial rnrseries

Additional gages

The Weather Bureau and the Bureau of Public Works are cooperating

in the installation of some new rainfall stations at higher altitudes

part of which will utilize new instruments purchased with ICA aid

funds Some of the instruments will be installed at existing nonshy

recording stations Forty new installations are proposed for 1958

fiscal year It is now recognized that rainfall station coverage at

higher altitudes is needed in order to furnish records that can be

correlated with the long-term valley records and also with the gaging

station discharge records D

70

Weather station maintained by Bureau of Public WorksIrrigation Division near Tuguegarao Cagayan From left to right N Ciriaco District Hydrographer drivershyhelper observer J G Garcia hydrographer J C Regalado and G H Hargreaves May 13 1957

Weather station at Pototan Iloilo Panay A Lacuestadistrict bydro-rapher standing May 5 1957

71

Group luncheon at Tacloban Leyte typical of the hospitality received by us during inspection tour of the Philippines From left to right M Rico irrig distr engr G Hargreaves G Araos E N Salazar P Formilleza L Abella S Velasco JCRegalado V H Sydiongoo distr hydrographer I M Ortega Oscar de Venecia and N Oliver May 7 1957

ICA Public Works Division March 1957 From left to right C R Murray A A Ketchum asat Div head J B Delaney I J Silverstone Sofia Halili 0 H Hosmer R R Lord Div head B B Hill Betty Valdez G H Hargreaves J L Brenden FM Veatch

72

Evaporation stations

Fifteen double-pan (one open and one partially shaded) evaporation

stations with rainfall temperature wind and humidity instruments as

auxiliary are being operated in the Philippines and ten more are to

follow next year They are well distributed over the islands and

should furnish data of great value for reservoir design Thq reccrds

will be publish3d

Publication of rainfall data

All rainfall reccrds are published annually by the Weather Bureau

whose 1954 volume is the latest one printed The 1955 issue should be

released soon One excellent source of information for anyone studyshy

ing rainfall data in the Philippines is the publication The Distrishy

bution of Rainfall In The Philippines by Eugenio B Manalo Chief

Climatological Division Weather Bureau Manila This contains

valuable descriptive material tables of monthly and annual values

and mean monthly and annual isohyets in inches An inspection or

study of the monthly isohyetal maps shows clearly how storm patterns

change with the seasons in certain parts of the Philippines and that

73

in other areas the rain is almost evenly distributed throughout the

year The long dry season of Manila and the central Luzon plains is

graphically portrayed by the isohyets Mr Manalos publication

should be of great benefit to government agencies and private parties

or individuals in connection with agricultural and business activities

over the islands It is presumed that the isohyets will warrant some

revision after another 5 or 10 years as more records especially those

at higher altitudes become available

Sediment Measurement Stations

Practically no silt-sampling has been done in the Philippines

to date and no extensive program is believed possible because of the

lack of funds For the present it is recommended that every governshy

ment field hydrographer be equipped with a thermomater and a turbidity

stick and required to report a spot water temperature and turbidity

reading at time of each discharge measurement Thus without extra

cost a large amount of data can be accumulated which after several

years should make it possible to determine what streams are the

siltiest and where more detailed studies might be needed Whenever a

reservoir project reaches the intensive-investigation stage including

dam-site drilling detailed topography etc it is recommended that

a complete sediment sampling station be operated there for at least

one full flood season before the project feasibility report is

completed

74

Statement Before Water Resources Development Committee

On March 20 1957 I presented the following statement regarding

the streamflow measurement program in the Philippines

The Philippine Republic is blessed with an excellent supply of

water of good quality but much of it is wasted to the sea during the

rainy season The development of this resource is vitally important

to the nation and it involves the storing of flood waters for dryshy

season release Where investments are to be made for construction of

dams etc in the development of irrigation power production and

flood control large sums can easily be wasted through overdesign or

underdesign if enough engineering data are not available Conflicting

or competing uses for the water supplies will gradually develop in

your country the same as they have in the United States If water

rights are to be granted fairly with due regard for all prior users

many years of basic data are necessary so that the long-term water

supply can be estimated For this purpose a good network of stream

gaging records and ground water levels must be secured One would

not attempt to manage the money in a bank without bookkeeping and it

is just as important to have an accounting system when managing water

The sound economical procedure is to base all project designs on as

complete engineering information as can be obtained

The ICA is attempting to assist the Philippine Government in

planning the orderly development of its water resources and we are

concerned that too many structures may be built before accurate

9i

hydrologic data are available for their design For this reason we

strongly urge you to improve the basic data gathering program at the

earliest possible date as follows

(1) Review and publish the stream-flow records that have been

obtained since the war

(2) Finance an expanded program of stream-flow measurement and

ground water study

The Bureau of Public Works has prepared preliminary estimates of

the funds needed for bringing publication of basic data up to date and

for expanding the wiater resources investigation program The attached

copies of estimates are of course provisional and subject to revision

but it is suggested that they be placed in the files of this Committee

for future reference The figure of P56oooo for publication is a

fairly firm figure It is suggested that the Committee take immeshy

diate action to further the procurement of these funds

The procurement of water resources data is a specialized field

requiring engineers and other technical men with a high degree of

education Years must be spent in training them in such special

work The men must endure rigorous physical work corbatting the

elements and using resourcefulness and judgment It is very uneconoshy

mical and unsatisfactory to have a technical organization of that kind

subject to occasional and unpredictable severe cuts in appropriations

It is even more unsatisfactory to have the time sequence of basic

water data collection interrupted and valuable records lost forever

13

Various agencies have submitted lists of proposed gaging stations

which they would like to have installed to provide data for their

projects It is apparent that this work will be well coordinated in

the future and that the other agencies will come to rely more and

more on the Hydrographic Section for most of their basic stream-flow

records But they probably will continue to have their own personnel

make certain types of hydrographic investigations for the detailed

study of specific projects such as river profiles tailwater rating

curves etc

Financing

The main difficulty in regard to financing has been lack of

stability and continuity to the program and insufficient generalshy

fund money to permit the establishment of an all-purpose gaging proshy

gram In 1956 and 1957 the Hydrographic Section rec3ived P120000

(less than half of their total funds) for such general use with all

other monies either from counterpart funds (explained below) in theor

form of contributions from other agencies to cover certain gaging

expenses Another difficulty has been the lack of enough funds to

properly carry out the sudden large construction program generated by

the new ICA-furnished materials and instruments Most of the regular

hydrographic force has been assigned to construction during the last

twelve months or so because separate construction foremen or substitute

hydrographers could not be hired As a result the regular field

operation of gaging stations has suffered considerable neglect This

- - -

14

wuld not have been necessary if the Hydrographic Sections funds had

been flexible and appropriated on basis of a performance budget As

it is the Section must adhere to line items which spell out exactly

how all money is to be spent

The financing of an expanded 1958 program now appears to be

progressing satisfactorily largely from the counterpart monies

This fund consists of pesos allocated by the Philippine government

in an amount equivalent to the dollar value of imports furnished by

the ICA It is administered by the National Economic Council with

allocations subject to approval of the ICA on budget recommendations

received from Philippine government agencies In the case of water

resources programs they are assisted by recommendations of the Water

Resources Development Committee an NEC administratively appointed

body composed of representatives of ten agencies interested or inshy

volved in water development A rougn breakdown of the Hydrographic

Sections budget proposed for the fiscal year starting July 1 1957

is as follows

General Fund Pesos

Annual appropriation - ------------ 120000

Counterpart Funds

For bringing up to date the publication of

annual records plus a compilation - - - - 56000

For an expanded program of surface-water

investigations----------- - 500000

TOTAL - - - - - - 676000

The total funds available in 1955 and 1956 fiscal years were 180000

and 280000 respectively

It

a 7~

IC

U

i

Staff gage out of water Labangan River at Bagbag Calumpit Bulacan March 1 1957

7lt 2

I

fr

Gagekeeper and staff Jalaur River at Calinog Iloilo He read 10 centimeters low today because markings on lower part of gage were illegible

I-J May 8 1957

16 8

hational Power Corp staff gage painted on streamward side of cliff Lower markings gone and gagekeeper determines gage heights three times a day by wading to gage and measuring down with rule as shown in this picture Bokod R at Boiod Benguet Mountain Province March 26 1957

Bureau of Public Works staff gage station Gagekeeper has made readingsby measuring down from a nail since this section of gage was washed out by a flood Madlum River near Sibul Springs Bulacan April 25 1957

17

The only difficulty with counterpart financing is that it is

temporary and could conceivably leave the program stranded in a few

years when ICA aid is discontinued The necessity is recognized for

gradually obtaining regular Congressional appropriations to take the

place of counterpart funds An effort will also be made to have a

performance type of budget accepted because line items make the

program inflexible and prevent the best management and economy

It is recommended that other agencies desiring for their projects

certain stream flow records which cannot be financed from the regular

budget of the Hydrographic Section transfer funds annually (either in

advance or on a reimbursement basis) to the Hydrographic Section to

pay the extra costs required for the fulfilment of their requests

Design of the stream gaging program

As mentioned above the fiscal arrangements prevailing up to this

time have resulted in an almost total emphasis on project-type gaging

stations in the Philippines However I believe everyone is now in

agreement with the desirability or need for a nation-wide network of

index or runoff-per-square-kilometer type of stations which will sample

various runoff provinces such as those with different exposures to storms

and having different topography altitude geology type of land cover

etc The intensity of the network of stations in different regions

would vary depending upon the apparent future economic value or worth

of the water in each area This will be discussed in more detail in

the recommendations

18

In order to look over the existing program observe something of

the technical methods in use and see a variety of runoff and economic

types of areas in the islands to gain an idea of the type of stream

gaging network needed I have visited several regions accompanied most

of the time by Mr George Hargreaves It has been very helpful to me

to have him take such an interest in the detailed objectives of ry

assignment and I am sure it will facilitate Mrs Snellas work a great

deal to have available for consultation and guidance Mr Hargreaves

wide experience in water resources development and investigations

We were accompanied by Mr J C Regalado of the ydrographic Section

who made most of the advance contacts with field offices in connecshy

tion with our trips We usually travelled to central points by Philshy

ippine Air Lines and were then driven to nearby areas by field officials

of the Hydrographic Section and other agencies The hospitality and

cooperation of everyone toward us was exceptional and much appreciated

Besides a fairly detailed coverage of the Central Luzon area where an

intensified program is proposed our inspections included Northern

Luzon Southern Luzon (the Bicol region) Leyte Panay and several

parts of Mindanao In addition we made a special effort to observe

the country all along the routes of airplane flights taken and that

coupled with airplane stops made on other islands gave us a fairly

comprehensive view of the geography of the Philippines It is upon

this that my recommendations concerning the design of a stream gaging

program are based

19

Bquipment and technical methods-

The stream gaging equipment and methods used by the Hydrographic

Section since 1908 have been patterned mainly after those of the US

Geological Survey as described in the 1904 publication H4ydrographic

Manual Thus it appears likely that the methods and accuracy stanshy

dards have changed but little since the Philippine program was started

Stream gaging tecniques used by the other agencies are similar but

they have not had the advantage of some of the new ICA-furnished equipshy

ment This is expected to be remedied in the aid allocations for fiscal

year 1958

Although some use has been made of the 2-8 method of measuring

discharge present practice is limited almost entirely to the 6method

for low and medium stages and the sub-surface method for high stages

for the latter the meter is suspended over a 15-E weight and set 03

meter below the surface with a coefficient of 0915 applied

The number of verticals or measuring points taken in the cross

section usually is between 8 and 15 No bridge cranes or suspension

reels of any kind have been available all discharge work other than

with wading rod having been done by hand line All this is about to

be changed with the recent arrival of the first ICA-furnished sounding

reels weights and tag lines purchased from 1956 FY funds

Staff gages are read to the nearest centimeter (about 0033 foot)

Most of the gages would be difficult to read to any closer limit alshy

though a few stations have Leupold Stevens enameled gages with levelshy

rod type markings

20

The hydrographer records his discharge measurement notes in a

small bound pocket-size book which he carries until it is full After

each measurement is computed in the field a complete copy of the notes

is made on a card and mailed to the Manila office I am informed

that the bound notebooks are practically never lost or dropped in

the water With the increased amount of flood measuring expected to

be done in the future that situation might change

Rating curves are drawn to average large groups of discharge

measurements Large rectangular-scale cross section sheets are used

Percentage differences of the measured values with respect to the

rating table are not computed A minimum of use is made of Stoutshy

method shifts

The water-stage recorders furnished to date by the ICA have been

manufactured with time scales of either 03 inch per day (the FM

model) or 48 inches per day (the A-35 model) The former scale is

too small for satisfactory use in most stream gaging and the latter

is too large Thirty pairs of time scale gears have been ordered for

converting the A-35s from 48 to 24 inches per day Upon inquiry at

the factory it was learned that no conversion of the FM recorders is

possible An exchange of 25 of them is being made with the ground

water program for an equivalent value in A-35 recordero but the

remaining 65 will be used at the surface water stations They are

very satisfactory on lakes or spring-fed streams or large streams

whose fluctuations are not too sudden

21

Ipo dam on Angat River which diverts water to supply City of Manila and surrounding area March 13 1957 Reservoir is traversed by boat in reaching the gaging station upstream

Ready to leave Ipo Dam for gaging station 6 kilqmeters upstream B Ramos and J Regalado in oanca March 13 1957

4 ~ s~

B Ramos making discharge measurement by wading on Angat River above Ipo DamMarch 13 1957 Spacings between verticals were obtained from cable makings byline hanging from cable car

23

At non-recording gages it has been the custom to hire gagekeepers

at uniform or statutory rates of 025 or P30 per month (not related

to the distance traversed in going to the gage) to obtain readings

three times a day The pay has been the same even where the gage is

located several kilometers away from the gagekeepers home The system

has certain disadvantages which may affect the accuracy of the records

At some stations the pay is too high while at others it is too low

Three readings a day are not necessary most of the time for adequately

developing the hydrograph especially during the dry season and a

request for obviously unnecessary readings seems to put too severe a

test upon human nature It is practically an open invitation to a

certain amount of faking I doubt that it should be held against a

gagekeeper to put down some estimated readings under those circumstances

any more than it would be to blame children for taking candy or cookies

from a forbidden plate left openly in their midst The question then

becomes - what readings can be relied upon and what cannbt I sincerely

believe that a more accurate daily discharge record can be prepared in

the office from a few completely reliable gage readinrs per week by

means of hydrographic comparisons with recording-gage records from

nearby stations and with less expense than can be produced by proshy

cessing comparing and weeding out questionable parts from a complete

(on paper) record of three readings a day A gagekeepers habit

developed during the dry season of not going to the gage when it is

inconvenient or he doesnt feel like it is bound to crop up during

the high water season as well with the result that all his readings

24

must be looked at critically and considered reliAble only after

unusually extensive comparisons are made with weather records and

other stations

In regard to specialized stream gaging equipment listed below

are the amounts purchased by the ICA up to the present time

Ordered from Ordered from Being FY 1955 PPA 1956 PPA ordered Delivered in Delivered in from 1957

May 1956 May 1957 PPA

Canfield reels 0 6 8

Type A reels 0 6 2

Canfield tag lines 0 15 0

A-35 recorders 20 10 25

FM recorders 65 25 0

Enameled gage secs 400 600 200

Currer meter outfits inc ding rod headphonehanuline and 15-pound weight 11 10 0

Pygmy meters 0 0 10

Bridge cranes 0 3 0

Sounding wts 30-lb 0 0 10

50-lb 0 0 10

I i 75-lb 0 0 1

I 100-lb 0 0 1

Stopwatches 20 10 0

Being purchased as models for possible future use in procurement of

weights of local manufacture

25

~-

-~ ~- shy

~-

4rshy~~L~zu 1 - ~ A-

-~ - ~jj ~

~- k ~ ~

Helper and P Nubio National Power Corporationpreparing to make discharge measurement Tag marks of grass being tied to line Bantay River near Bokod Benguet Mountain Province March 26 1957

-- ~ 4

V

Helper holding meter in place suspended on a weight hanger while revolutions are counted oy hydrographer P Nubio E P Nbesamis is at extreme right March 26 1957

26

-p --shy

t-~-- - -

A ~

A~4 ~ 4

A -Y

- -

- - - -

gt~ ~ ~-

Z4z4a - ~z

- shy -~-~shy

4shy- --

I NPC discharge party on Bokod River at-Bokod BenguetMountain Province Helper and gagekeeper holding meter and 15-pound weight in position P Nubio on shore counting revolutions and recording notes March 26 1957

Ar 7

-~ I

0 I 15-pound weight used in discharge measurement work by the NPC hydrographer stationed at Ambuklao Dam March 26 1957

27

Recommendations

A sharp expansion in the stream gaging program of the Philippines

has occurred recently brought about not only by the ICAs economic and

technical aid program but also by the growing local demand for water

resources information It is inevitable that some organizational

changes would be required to accommodate such a sudden growth This

subject was discussed in conferences with Mr Saddam and Mr Regalado

and the following list of special objectives agreed upon They had a

number of these in mind or partly in effect already and were planning

to gradually adopt several others The items are listed here in order

to express my reasons for wanting to see them completely implemented

within the next two or three years They are as follows

A It is recommended that the district offices compute their own disshy

charge records and prepare them for publication for final review

in the central office in ranila

1 Additional engineers would be needed in each district office

and fewer engineers in the Manila office

2 At least the district hydrographer and preferably one other

engineer in addition should be trained in the office work in

Manila before the records were transferred to a district

3 Each engineer in a district office would be given a field area

which he would cover by a round of discharge measurements once

every 4 to 6 weeks each coverage taking about 2 weeks Betshy

ween trips he would do office work preferably on the same

stations that he covers in the field

28

4 Benefits of thissystem are believed to be as follows

a Records requested could be furnished more quickly to the

public especially to those in the district area

b This kind of a close tie between field and office work has

been found to greatly improve the quality of the records

the economy of operation and the performance and developshy

ment of the individual engineers

c The alternating of each person between field and office

work makes him (1) more competent in the field work and

also more competent in the office work than is possible

in segregated office and field groups and (2) permits

him to be home more of the time and lead a more normal

lifc thus increasing his morale and efficiency

5 Personnel arrangements recommended are

a Offer more rapid promotion to those who transfer like

from Manila to a field office or between field offices

b Encourage each man to transfer every few years with

faster promotions as an incentive It has been found

that this develops an engineers competence more rapidly

than if he stays in one office indefinitely Such ability

repays the government in added officiency and production

to an extent greater than its cost in extra salary

B Certain organization changes are recommended as follows

1 Appoint an Office Engineer a Field Engineer and (whenever

needed) a Construction Engineer They would be headquartered

__

V 29

2

~- ~

q

Ambuklao Dam on Agno River Generating capacity 75000 kw Powerplant is underground March 2557

7- t

-JI

Maria Cristina falls and power plant on Agus River River near Iligan Lanao Province Mindanao Present installed capacity 50000 kw May 1 1957

30

II I

Looking downstream at the Binga dam site on Agno River about 15 kilometers east of Baguio March 25 1957

Looking upstream at the Marikina dam site on Marikina River at Wawa near Montalban Rizal about 25 kilometers northeast of Manila April 5 1957

31

in the Manila office and act under the general supervision of

the head of the Section with the following responsibilities

to be included

a Office Engineer

(1) Be responsible for the discharge computations and

related office work in the Manila field district or

area

(2) Be responsible for review and final preparation for

publication of all records in the nation

(3) See that a progress chart of status-of-record compushy

tations is maintained in each district office and

that a summary statement concerning such progress is

sent to the central office at least quarterly

(4) Be responsible for research in office methods and

equipment (See footnote on next page)

b Field Engineer

(1) Act as first assistant to head of the Section of

Hydrography

(2) Be responsible for field operation vork throughout the

nation

(a) Make at least one annual field inspection in each

district

(b) Develop the system in every headquarters of keepshy

ing a running chronological chart of the discharge

measurements made at each gaging station or

32W

scheduled miscellaneous site A form in use in

Tacoma Washington has been found to be very conshy

venient for this purpose Such a chart gives the

supervisor a quick overall view of the status of

the field work and serves as a check at end of

the year to make sure all measurements have been

listed and counted

(3) Be responsible for the design of the stream gaging

network and the selection of sites for new gaging

stations

(4) Be responsible for research in field methods and

equipment

Construction Engineer

(1) Give general supervision and management to the conshy

struction program

(a) Obtain assignment of resident engineer or foreman

for each job

(b) See that the materials are made available Help

the foreman in every way possible in organizing

the job procuring emergency equipment or supplies

and making decisions about serious problems that

may arise on the job

If funds became available for considerable research it probably

would be better to appoint a special Research Engineer

33

~A

Cagayan River gaging station near Cagayan de OroMisamis Oriental Mindanao April 30 1957 Note how corrugated pipe recorder structure was bent by flood J C Regalado J J Ponco gagekeeper and G H Hargreaves in foreground

-

V

View of staff gage and control on Binakaan River at Tifigib near Pastrana Leyte Stream divided by a barand control excavated for unknown reason May 6 1957 J Regalado by the sign and G Hargreaves at right

Cable footbridge below Binga dam site Tree anchorage for cableway onformerly used by NPC in making Angat River above Ipo Damdischarge measurements P Nubio and March 13 1957E Abesamis of NPC on bridge March 25 1957

35

(c) Visit the major jobs occasionally to see that

they are proceding satisfactorily in all the

islands Make sure the stations are installed

according to instructions and plans An approved

sketch plan showing dimensions and elevations is

desirable for each construction job

(d) Prepare first draft of each new station description

(e) Prepare brief construction report including costs

A form in use at Tacoma Washington has been found

convenient for this purpose

C The following policies in regard to gagekeepers are recommended

1 Start a gradual change-over to paying each gagekeeper on basis

only of the hours he works plus a basic amount for taking the

responsibility This may result in increasing the pay of some

but it should reduce the pay of a much larger number

2 Convert most gagekeepers to two readings a day most of the time

with one or more additional readings during floods In some of

the drier parts of the Central Luzon area in cases where gages

are remote from habitation request only one reading a day

during the dry months such as from January through May inclushy

sive more than that are believed to cost more than they are

worth and are an open invitation to the reporting of estimated

readings

3 When a new recorder installation is at a barrio or bridge where

it appears unlikely to be vandalized try running the station

36

without hiring a gagekeeper If this system proves successful

discontinue the services of the gagekeepers at certain selected

recorders At all other recorders reduce the number of readshy

ings required to one per day and reduce their pay accordingly

If a gagekeeper prefers not to accept a lower monthly rate for

fewer readings it is suggested that he resign except in cases

where security of the station structures or right-of-way favors

may be involved

Proceed on the principle that a saving in public tax money from

the above reforms is more important than supporting gagekeepers

just because they depend on the income and need the money The

present dependence of a gagekeeper on his P300 or P360 a year

and the hardship he must undergo in adjusting to a lower rate

of pay for the job are not believed to be sufficient reasons

for continuing indefinitely to pay him more than necessary

However it is recommended that he be given 30 or 60 days

notice before a reduction in pay is placed in effect

D Vehicles

1 It is recommended that a gradual change-over be made from the

short-wheelbase open Jeep to the Jeep station wagon as a hydroshy

graphers car Benefits should be as follows

a The car can be locked leaving only the tires as attractive

to thieves

b The station wagon has more space As the hydrographers

became better equipped that space will be needed

37

Bamboo-and-grass shelters built and used by crew during construction of gaging station on Angat River above Ipo Dam March 13 1957

3

4

-Ti LP

Proposed site for new index-type gaging station selected on Baoas River near Mangatarem Pangasinan above all diversions by Regalado Romasanta dargreaves and Veatch April 15 1957 Photo by J S Romasanta

38

Taking Philippine Airlines plane at Legaspi Albayfor Manila on May 17 1957 Mount Mayon 7960 feet high in background

I

N 1 x

Y

I

Showing typical vehicle used on the reconnaissance and inspection trips over the Philippines

39

c For occasional errands or trips it will be feasible for

only oneman to take the car because he can lock the con

tents when the car is not attended

d It may possibly develop in some parts of the Philippines

that a hydrographer for a certain area will not need a

driver-helper and thereby a saving in funds can be made

However such a change should be made only on a trial

basis and is not recommended until conditions so warrant

and until the hydrographer involved is satisfied with the

change or else desires it

E Certain technical stream-gaging procedures are recommended to be

followed in the Philippine Islands hydrographic work at the average

gaging station by all agencies doing stream gaging as follows

1 Obtain a discharge measurement once every four to six weeks

throughout the year

2 Furnish the hydrographer with a print of the station descripshy

tion and of the rating curve and require him as a general rule

to compute and plot his discharge measurement in the field

3 Have the gage read both before and after each discharge measureshy

ment and the readings recorded on the field notes

4 Use a loose-leaf discharge-measurement note form or forms

containing a summary page patterned to some extent after the

forms in use by the USGS Bound notes make it too inconshy

venient or perhaps impossible for the office engineer to

examine the notes for a whole year when he analyzes a station

record

40

5 Gradually change to the use of ehameled steel gage plates

instead of painted gages because their initial cost is less

and they are more durable Plates graduated somewhat like

those of the US Geological Survey are believed much better

than those stocked by private companies While here I drew

up a suggested design for local manufacture which appealed

to the Hydrographic Section

6 Obtain levels at staff gages at least once a year especially

on the low section of gage Replace or repair each low secshy

tion soon after it becomes damaged or the markings become

indistinct

7 Continue as a general rule to use the 6-depth method with

the sub-surface method for deep swift water Obtain a comshy

plete cross section as soon as feasible after the high water

has subsided

8 Gradually change to the use of heavier sounding weights so

that the 6-depth method with soundings can be used at high

water in any event take soundings and velocities as far out

as practicable from each bank at flood stages then go across

deep part of channel with sub-surface method Check subshy

surface method coeficients whenever practicable by means of

vertical velocity curves Until such checks show otherwise

use a coefficient of 090

9 Compute discharge measurements by the mid-section method

This saves time (and money) and is at least as accurate as the

41

other method Request hydrographers to bear the method in mind

when selecting verticals near edges of channel or at breaks in

the cross section It is recommended that in the interests of

economy this change be made at an early date

10 Consider 20 as a desirable number of verticals in an average

stream cross section Continue to time the meter revolutions

for 40 to 60 seconds at each setting Someday if more accushy

racy is desired in hydrographic work in the Philippines it

would be appropriate to standardize on 30 verticals per measureshy

ment provided the 2-8 depth method were used and the gages

were read to fractions of a centimeter For the present it

seems consistent to take about 20 verticals when using the 6

method and with gages read only to the nearest centimeter

11 Use steel tag lines for wading measurements Paint bridge

rails and cables with markings sufficiently close together

that they can be used rapidly to determine stationing between

them When installing the paint marks use standard intervals

of either 1 meter 2 meters or 5 meters To avoid confusion

do not use intervals of 3 or 4 meters If measuring intervals

are to be 1 meter or less it is very convenient to have a

mark available every meter If intervals are between 1 and 5

meters use a mark every 2 meters A good system for making

the marks readily identifiable is to place 1 paint mark at

each basic interval like every 2 meters then put 2 marks every

10 meters 3 every 50 meters and 4 at 100 meters

42

use on12 Always tags the portion of the meter suspension line

that goes in the water The tags usually consist of small

pieces of colored cloth taped tightly to the line They

should be watched and checked occasionally against slippage

and error The tags should not be more than one meter apart

and should be spaced to give maximum convenience and speed in

measuring the discharge

13 As it may becoin feasible convert Type A current meters to

Type AA The more deeply recessed bearing of the Type AA

meter provides more durability of the pivot and bearing

because trapped air excludes most of the water and silt the

longer pivot results in a relatively lower center of gravity

of the bucke t wheel with respect to the point of bearing and

results in smoother performance

F Design of the stream gaging network

1 Everyone seem3 to agree with the objective of a network of

well-distributed long-term base stations for giving runoffshy

per-square-kilometer values representative of the general

area in which each station is located As rapidly as practishy

cable stations should be L d n the o ting netrk

and designated as base or index stations for permanent operashy

tion They should be the best stations both hydraulically

and as to equipment and should be free from upstream regushy

lation or diversion Where needed new base stations should

be installed as soon as they can be financed to appropriately

L11 out the network

43

2 In between such base stations it is desirable to sample smaller

basins with short-term records of various lengths which can be short term

correlated with the long records For this purpose thestashy

tion structures should be constructed so that they are as moveshy

able or salvageable as possiblej Often these movable stations

will be operated at or near specific project sites

3 It usually is more economical and satisfactory to gage a stream

at a highway crossing or other convenient place rather than

exactly at a project site later the data can be transferred

to the project site by means of drainage area proportions

checked by obtaining at the site e

two miscellaneous measurements or possibly in some cases a

whole year of record

4 A method for studying the existing network of stations to see

whether the intensity of coverage is satisfactory or not is to

plot correlations between the various station records prefershy

ably following the present methods of the USGS

5 It has been found advantageous to classify all gaging stations

that are in operation using categories somewhat like these

areal network base stations primary and secondary main stream

stations and water management stations This procedure is

helpful in planning how long various stations should be operated

Detailed information about station classification methods is

available from the U S Geological Survey for use as a guide

The Technical Training Program

Early plans

When this assignment was given to me it was anticipated that a

series of across-the-table discussions would be held with small groups

of hydrographers from the Philippine government bureaus engaging in

such work Detailed procedures would be discussed without formality

But when arrangements were initiated for such conferences I was inshy

formed that among those wanting to attend were many at the managerial

level as well as a number of representatives of agencies interested

more in water development projects than in resource investigations

These could not be turned down so it was necessary to revise the

agenda to include more of general interest

Later developments

In view of the wide experience and high rank of many prospective

attendants of the conference it did not seem appropriate to call it

a lecture series or school and the name Seminar On Water Resources

was decided upon The agenda is included in this report and will be

self-explanatory Registered attendance for each of the three weeks

was 68 72 and 70 persons respectively for a total of 210 The

setting for the Seminar can best be understood from the photographs

Conditions as a whole were good although the tape-recording of the

entire three weeks of proceedings and the need for a member to come

F M Veatch and Water Resources Seminar group week of April 8-12 1957 at Bureau of Public Highways conference building Manila

I y

rT

I

4

47

forward and use the microphone whenever he asked a question or made a

comment was somewhat of a dampener oh discussion When preparing the

agenda I assumed that few besides the hydrographers would attend the

sessions on technical details of stream gaging scheduled for Wednesday

to Friday yet the entire membership stayed through the full program

each week and so no small-group round-table discussions were practicable

It developed later that the language barrier was a little more

serious than first realized Also it was not evident at first that

many present did not know what a gaging station was One of the main

benefits gained from the field trip was to show them a typical station

along with some equipment Taken as a whole it is believed that the

Seminar was successful and worthwhile

The sending of trainees from the Hydrographic Section to the

United States by ICA is very effective in supplementing the technical

assistance rendered directly by American personnel in the Philippines

and it should be continued as long as possible

Acknowledgments

Announcements and invitations to attend the Seminar were sent to

numerous agencies and offices by the Hydrographic Section who also

made all arrangements such as for space registration loud speaker

system tape recordings and recess refreshments The Bureau of

Public Highways made their new conference building available and the

National Media Center furnished a slide projector screen and room

all of which were greatly appreciated The introductory talks by

48

several busy executives including Director J A Buendia and Messrs

A T Alano R R Lord P G Afable and D Rosell with Mr Tomas

Saddam acting as master of ceremonies contributed ideas and gave

each weeks session a good send-off

Publications

Copies of the following publications of the U S Geological

Survey (one by Bureau of Reclamation and one from ASCE) were disshyon

play at the Seminar at all times for inspection by the members Alshy

though they were requested not to take the publications away quite a

few copies gradually became missing

Irrigation Water Measurement Tables and Diagrams by U S

Bureau of Reclamation

ASCE Separate 413 - Backwater Effects of Open Channel

Constrictions

Stage-Fall Discharge Relation for Steady Flow in Prismatic

Channels Water-Supply Paper 1164

Topographic Characteristics of Drainage Basins W S P 968C

Weir Experiments Coefficients and Formulas WSP 200

Handbook for Hydrologists - Chapters 1 - 11

Chapter 1 -- Instructions for Flood Frequency Compilations

Chapter 2 -- ledian Discharge Computation Methods

Chapter 3 -- Instructions for Abstracting Topographic

Characteristics of Drainage Basins

i

-Imr- I

1 N

L

V10J~

C R Mirray explaining a ground water formula

Ii

17t

o

Water Resources Seminar group at gaging station on Marikina River near Montalban Rizal about an hours drive northeast of Manila April 12 1957

51

-- Channel Storage and Flood Routing

-- Extending Stream-flow Records

Chapter 6 -- Double Mass Curves

Chapter 7-A- Frequency Curves of Low Flows and Storage

Requirements

Chapter 8 -- Flood Frequency Analyses

Chapter 9 -- Small Stream Investigations

Chapter 10 - Hydrologic Definitions

Chapter 11 - Base-Flow Recession-Curves

Computation of Backwater at Open Channel Constrictions

Floods in Western Washington Frequency and Magnitude in

Relation to Drainage Basin Characteristics GS Circular 191

Floods in Georgia Frequency and Magnitude GS Circular 100

Stream-Gaging Procedure - A Manual Describing Methods and

Practice of the Geological Survey - WSP 888

Investigation of Methods and Equipment used in Stream Gaging

Part 2 Intakes For Gage Wells

Computation of Peak Discharge through Culverts

Computation of Backwater at Open-Channel Constrictions

Equipment for River Measurements Structures for Cableways

by Charles H Pierce

Computation of Peak Discharge at Contractions Circular 284

Care and Rating of Current Meters

Surface Water Supply o the United States 1950 Parts 1 - 14

52

In addition to the above publications a two-page single-spaced

memorandum entitled Plotting Flood Frequency Curves (Extracted from

U S Geological Survey publications) was prepared by me under date

of April 3 1957 and handed to each member of the Seminar each week

The program or agenda for the Seminar one copy of which was

given to each member follows on Pages 53 to 63 inclusive The

graphs on Page 63 were referred to during the talks

53

March 29 1957

AGENDA FOiR SEMINARZ ON WATER RESCURCES AND STAE4 GAGING

IN THE PHILIPPINES

PLACE Conference hoom 2nd Floor Bureau of Public Highways Building Second Street Port Area Manila

TIKE April 1-5 8-12 and 22-26 (same program each week)

CONDUCTED BY M1r i 1 Veatch District EngineerSurface WaterBranch Jater Aesources Division United States Geological Suver Thcoma ashington who is un three-month assignment with the ICA

Held in connoction with the Philippine Government-ICA water resources program

54

GENERAL PROGRAM MONDAY AND TUESDAY

honday morning 830

Opening remarks Mr Julian A Buendia Director Bureau of Fublic Works Mr R R Lord Chief Public Works Division ICA Mr G H Hargreaves Hydraulic Engineer ICA

Importance of water resources and their investigation

The hydrologic cycle Evaporation transpiration and precipitation Runoff

Daily discharge record and the hydrograph Storm runoff Base flow

Grou~nd Water Very brief description (this subject to be covered

iaore fully on Tuesday afternoon)

General characteristics of natural stream runoff in the Philippines Quantity

Adequacy Comparison with United States

Variations with time Day to day and year to year Long-term trends

Distributin by area General over the Philippine Islands Variations between nearby drainage basins

Effect of location elevation geology cover etc

Major uses of stream-flow data Many years of rccornds should be crnsidered Granting water r phts

Protect existing rights Prevent capital expenditures where water supply inadequate

Planning river basin developments including municipal supply irrigation pnwer flood control etc

Destping structures such as dams reservoirs dikes floodways canals pumping systems power plants bridges etc

Accuracy and extent of dat needed for minimizing underdesign or wasteful overdesign

Cost of water-supply data in relation to total cost of a project

Operating water projects Distribution of water on projects Operation of storage reservoirs and diversion dams

To make maximum use uf water supply Designing alterations or enlargements to existing projects

RECESS 1000 to 1015

55 -3-

Monday morning (Continued) 1015 aim

Management of the stream gaging program Foreseeing the needs for stream-flow records

Study population and industrial trends Keep inforned on water-development plans and

prgraIIs of all agencies Continuity of the records

Essential for wator-supply studies Regular financinp reouired

Annual appropriations a poundfccted by temporary econoidc or political conditions

Permanent type of financing needed Surcharge method License fee method

-Dissemination of the data Annual publication Occasional summary compilations Furnishing advance cupies of unpublished records Furnishing current data - daily weekly or munthly

wherever required Special water resources investigation agency desirable

Briefly dancribe United States organization Uniform tecnical standards Uniform ways of presenting data One series of publicatiens Distributial center for basic water data Genera l-coverage program requires close coordination

for economy of operation Personal requirements

Engineers Engir ring aids Computers Clerks

ADJOURN - 1145

Resume after lunch only if necessary for completing the above subjects

56

Tueday morning 830

Design of a comprehensive stream gjaging program General rrinciIlac

Represenkc tive runoff-type provinces should be sainpled with stations of various classes

Vary the intensity of coverage with probable intenshysity of water use

Follow tiie tcends variations with records fromand L sri etatiorns secondary

Correlate resultls one continually adjustnetwork Classification of ra-in stationa

Areal prinary and secondary viain strem priiary nd secondary Water-manmfciact stat-i ons Miscellanous dischaige mcasurements

Correlating the dat obttined in comprehensive program Logarithmic pajer Five years of lecord uscd What is a good corrclation

Analyses of data Flood frcouencjs

Annual serics Partial duration series

Low-flow frecuencies Low-flow duration hydrograph

Extending strewm-flow records Comparisons witi other gaging stations Rainfall-runoff correlations

Quality of water Temperature

Intermittent observations Recorders

Chemical gtuality Element -Dissolved solids

Suspended iaterial Time of cecurrence-floods Sampling

Methods Cost

RECESS - 1000 to 1015

57

- 5 -

Tuesday afternoon 130

Ground water (This subject conducted by Mr C R Murray) Occurrence

Water table Artesian Lakes

Movement Through the ground Into stream channels

Availability Geologic structure Aquifers Funing tests

Recharge Froa precipitation Artificial Froma induced lateral movement

Investigation Geology Springs Logs of dug and drilled wells Test wells

lecording Lanual

Quantitative studies Chemical quality analyses

Mincral ccontnt Sallt water intrusion

Drilling of wells for production use Ground water rirhts

Depletion of ground water reservoirs teyond rccharge capability

ADJOURN at 330

Geologist Ground Water Branch dater Resources Division U 6 Geological Survey who is on two-ywar assignment with ICA

58

PROGRAM ON STREMvi GAGING PROCEDURE WEDNESDAY TO FRIDAY

4ednesday morning 830

Establishing and constructing gaging stations Selection of site

Consider najor probable uses of the record Investigate extent of upstream diversion and

-egulation Utilize contour naps Obtain list of nmrjor water right applications

iydraulic conditicns Section control Shifting channel Overbank flow Dackwater

Accessibility Avoid too much expense Need to reach quickly to measure flash floods

Natural protection front flood damage Avoid excessively expensive construction conditions

Bed iock Quick sand Too-longintake pipes

For non-rccording gage choose site convenient to

one or more local gage readers

Survey of site Bank cross-prefile at gage Cross section at cable Plan

Right of way Oral pervrission ritten permission

Easement Land purchase

RECESS - 945 to 1000

- 7 - 59

Wednesday morning (Continued) 100)

Construction Select types and sizes of structures To fit purpose oi the record Plan later salva e (for secondary stations) For economy of operation (for example design cableway to

operat mesily) Adapt availabic standard plans to fit the site Keep costs to hclp in future estimating Make brief construction report for future assistance in

planninr sililar Jobs Prepare staLion descripLion

Road log distences etc for How to reach paragraph Descriptions of gages bench marks etc Dimensions cf structuis Gage datum elevations of portinent parts of structures

Operating and maintaining gaging stations Records of stage

Choice of dtum Arbitrcry local datum

Set gages so there will be no minus gage readings

Mean sea level datum May be used but has disadvantages

1hen later adjustments are made to level networks

Gages have to be reset or Equation must be published

Non-recording gages Types

Vertical staff Inclined staff

ire-weight Crest-stage gages

Refinement of graduations ake adequate for accuracy of record needed

Maintatling dat of gage Adequate number of local reference marks Take levels at least once a year

Work o- local gare reader Fy according to approx number of hours worked Do not roruire too many roadings for the

conditions Warm (with omphasis) against my guessed

readings Inform reader anv errors in reading will

show up in hydrogrq oic comtparisons Engineers obtain check readings whenever

possible Visit gage reader frequently a d show inshy

terest in his gage-height record Encourage reader to retain personal copy

ADJOURN at 1145

60

Thursday morning 800

Records of stage (continued) Recording gages

Select type of instrument and its scales to fit conditions at gaging station

Weekly or continuous recorder Recorder scales Range of stage Rate of change of stage Availability of someone to change weekly

chart Work of Cage inspector of keeper

Avoid resetting pen Repurt any trash or debris causing backwater

at gage Do not have a gage keeper unless needed

aintaining gage datum Check outside gae by levels annually Keep outside gage sections reset to datum

Standard reference gage Inside gage of soie sort preferable

Staff Float-tape Anchor type

Intake action Clean or flush pipes after floods Slot intakes Self-cleaning iitakes

For pipe gage wells For wells built into bridge piers

Draw-down (where excessive) Use bapfle or static tube

Elood marks at station Make record of well-defined high water

marks

AECESS - 945 to 1000

- 9 - 61

Thursday morning (Continudd) 1000

Discharge measuroments Current hmeters

Price Type A Type AA

Pygmpy Carc of inters

Sounding weights E-typc C-type

Lead Brono

Type of notebook Loose shects Loose-leaf book Bound booL

Measurement of depth aeding rod Tag-line nethod Vertical-nglc coofficients Sounding during floods

Ilacemont of mter Sub--surface method 2-depth n cthod 6-de-pth icthod 2- imetY od

Number of verticals Velocity -urgcs

Miscellaneous f-ctors Effect of bridge piers Horizontal angle of current Insufficient weight on current water

1Mean gage hoitht for a discharge measurement Special methods of (Itermining flood discharge

Floats Slope-area method

Rating curv- etonsion method Arca and velocity curves Loparithmic plottig

Contrqctd-opening mothod Flow ovcr dams

Report on condition of control Carry station description and rating curve in field

Ubtain another me asurement if needed If first indicates large shift If new station and stagc advantagoous for

defining blank part of rating curve

ADJOUffN - 1145 AI

Resumne atfter lunch only if necessary for comploting the above subjects

62

- 10 -

Friday morning S00

A few remarks about office methods Rating curves

Log-log paper Upward extonsions Dowmward extensions

Rectangular plotting Computing recorder charts

M-ark index correction and time correction for each inspection reading

Break midnight lines at raph Never oblitertte or mark over the original trace Nake office markings on chart distinctive from

those mad( At the gage Use of colored pencils by computer and checker is one good wa)y

Daily discharge record Flot hydrograph Compare over light box with other stations

This method preferable to plotting several station records on same sheet

Concluding discussions

RECESS - 945 to 1000

Projection of gaging station equipment Lnd scenic slides taken in the United States and Canada

ADJOURN - 1145

Field trip Cars will be available at the conference building to

take members to the raging station on arikina iRivei at ontalban about an hours drive from Manila where a brief demonstration of certain field equipment will be given

Return to noL later thanoanila 500 FL

---

- Ishy4 ~7L~

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- _______________ Pnu~ OAgvhshy

-~ ~-r- 1 - V-shy- i-shytvkty--- in--a-- -~ ~Z2m7~ ~

- ~ ~-~-----~- V 1~5~ LTLL2P7o -4----4 1 -- I -- I I _ __ --- -- -- - - L - - I ----

~- ~y~-~ 64 4

N

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Seminar members observing demonshystrat-n of measurshying e -pment by F M Veatch at Marikina River gaging station April 12 1957

I

Water Resources Seminar members observing working model of proppsed Binga Dam at the hydraulics laboratory of University of the Philippines April 12 1957

65

Current meter rating flume mechanism Y 22 1957

Current meter rating flume mechanism May 22 1957

66

Current Meter Rating Station

The new current meter rating station at the University of the

Philippines (see photographs) was not quite ready for use before I

left the country The mechanism and instruments were manufactured

in Germanyobtained thru ICA-NEC procurement for the Water Resources

Program of the Department of Public Works and have been installed by

Professor Alberto Villares and his hydraulics laboratory staff under

Dean C A Ortigas of the College of Engineering with some guidance

by Professor Edward L Ericksen of the University of Michigan who is

a civil engineer on detail here with the Stanford Group Professor

Villares spent 18 months in the hydraulics laboratory of the Univershy

sity of Iowa

There is every evidence that this rating flume will with expeshy

rience do work accurate enough not only for determining differences

in ratings between current meters but also for preparing absolute or

independent ratings This can be reported on more fully at some

later date by Messrs Hargreaves and Snell

The Central Luzon Region Program

The Water Resources Development Committee is preparing a recomshy

mended plan for the expedited multiple-purpose development of the

water resources of the Central Luzon region The area contains oneshy

sixteenth of the land surface and one-fourth of the population of the

Philippines and is termed the rice granary of the nation It is to

be used as an example or experiment in water and land development

67

The Committee has requested member agencies to submit estimates

of the minimum amount of additional basic data needed for making a

useful report and for proceeding with development projects Such

estimates are to include mapping soil surveys dam and reservoir site

surveys water resources surveys and other items A preliminary

report is to be prepared soon summarizing the existing information

pointing out the need for additional dataand submitting estimates

of cost for the further investigations needed An outline for the

final report has been prepared and distributed so it will be availashy

ble as a guide and funds for the first years efforts are being

sought for fiscal year 1958 It appears reasonable that the report

on a comprehensive plan could be submitted to the President and

Congress of the Philippines in about five years

With the assistance of Mr Hargreaves I have prepared estimates

for a surface water measurement program to complement the existing

program It is designed to fill the worst gaps in the present netshy

work Details are subject to change as more reconnaissance informashy

tion becomes available as only five days were spent covering the area

by automobile Unit costs were provided by the Hydrographic Section

and they include cost of preparation of the records for publication

Estimates were submitted as given below They were supported by a

detailed list of stream names and locations which included desigshy

nations as to the primary purpose or type of each proposed new gaging

station and whether a recording or non-recording gage was recommended

It is available for reference in both the ydrographic Section and

ICA offices

68

New gaging stations

1 Daily discharge type

Installation (including cableways where needed)

Recording ------- 7 Pl650 11550

Non-recording --- 4 950 3800 15350

Operation 1st year -11 660 7260 P22610

2 High water type (flood records)

Installation

Gages (nonshy

recording) ----- 4 150 600

Measuring equipment 800 1400

Operation 1st year - 4 300 1200 2600

Total for new gaging stations ------------- 25210

Miscellaneous discharge measurements

1 4 or 5 during dry season Nov - April

4 sites x 5 per site = 20 30 ---------------- 600

2 1 or 2 during low part of year March and April

37 sites x l per site = 55 k30 ------------- 1650

Total for miscellaneous measurements ------ 2250

Total -------------- -2746o

69

Rainfall And Evaporation Stations

Existing network

A map examination of the existing network of rain gages was made

and a surprisingly large number were found to be in operation -- 2

recording and 115 manual stations or a total of 117 They are beshy

lieved to be fairly adequate in number and are well distributed

areally over the Philippines but like in the United States are conshy

fined largely to the lower altitudes where the agricultural and urban

population live In addition to these records are available for

various lengths of time from about 8 discontinued Weather Bureau

stations and from more than 300 haciendas reforestaion stations

and provincial rnrseries

Additional gages

The Weather Bureau and the Bureau of Public Works are cooperating

in the installation of some new rainfall stations at higher altitudes

part of which will utilize new instruments purchased with ICA aid

funds Some of the instruments will be installed at existing nonshy

recording stations Forty new installations are proposed for 1958

fiscal year It is now recognized that rainfall station coverage at

higher altitudes is needed in order to furnish records that can be

correlated with the long-term valley records and also with the gaging

station discharge records D

70

Weather station maintained by Bureau of Public WorksIrrigation Division near Tuguegarao Cagayan From left to right N Ciriaco District Hydrographer drivershyhelper observer J G Garcia hydrographer J C Regalado and G H Hargreaves May 13 1957

Weather station at Pototan Iloilo Panay A Lacuestadistrict bydro-rapher standing May 5 1957

71

Group luncheon at Tacloban Leyte typical of the hospitality received by us during inspection tour of the Philippines From left to right M Rico irrig distr engr G Hargreaves G Araos E N Salazar P Formilleza L Abella S Velasco JCRegalado V H Sydiongoo distr hydrographer I M Ortega Oscar de Venecia and N Oliver May 7 1957

ICA Public Works Division March 1957 From left to right C R Murray A A Ketchum asat Div head J B Delaney I J Silverstone Sofia Halili 0 H Hosmer R R Lord Div head B B Hill Betty Valdez G H Hargreaves J L Brenden FM Veatch

72

Evaporation stations

Fifteen double-pan (one open and one partially shaded) evaporation

stations with rainfall temperature wind and humidity instruments as

auxiliary are being operated in the Philippines and ten more are to

follow next year They are well distributed over the islands and

should furnish data of great value for reservoir design Thq reccrds

will be publish3d

Publication of rainfall data

All rainfall reccrds are published annually by the Weather Bureau

whose 1954 volume is the latest one printed The 1955 issue should be

released soon One excellent source of information for anyone studyshy

ing rainfall data in the Philippines is the publication The Distrishy

bution of Rainfall In The Philippines by Eugenio B Manalo Chief

Climatological Division Weather Bureau Manila This contains

valuable descriptive material tables of monthly and annual values

and mean monthly and annual isohyets in inches An inspection or

study of the monthly isohyetal maps shows clearly how storm patterns

change with the seasons in certain parts of the Philippines and that

73

in other areas the rain is almost evenly distributed throughout the

year The long dry season of Manila and the central Luzon plains is

graphically portrayed by the isohyets Mr Manalos publication

should be of great benefit to government agencies and private parties

or individuals in connection with agricultural and business activities

over the islands It is presumed that the isohyets will warrant some

revision after another 5 or 10 years as more records especially those

at higher altitudes become available

Sediment Measurement Stations

Practically no silt-sampling has been done in the Philippines

to date and no extensive program is believed possible because of the

lack of funds For the present it is recommended that every governshy

ment field hydrographer be equipped with a thermomater and a turbidity

stick and required to report a spot water temperature and turbidity

reading at time of each discharge measurement Thus without extra

cost a large amount of data can be accumulated which after several

years should make it possible to determine what streams are the

siltiest and where more detailed studies might be needed Whenever a

reservoir project reaches the intensive-investigation stage including

dam-site drilling detailed topography etc it is recommended that

a complete sediment sampling station be operated there for at least

one full flood season before the project feasibility report is

completed

74

Statement Before Water Resources Development Committee

On March 20 1957 I presented the following statement regarding

the streamflow measurement program in the Philippines

The Philippine Republic is blessed with an excellent supply of

water of good quality but much of it is wasted to the sea during the

rainy season The development of this resource is vitally important

to the nation and it involves the storing of flood waters for dryshy

season release Where investments are to be made for construction of

dams etc in the development of irrigation power production and

flood control large sums can easily be wasted through overdesign or

underdesign if enough engineering data are not available Conflicting

or competing uses for the water supplies will gradually develop in

your country the same as they have in the United States If water

rights are to be granted fairly with due regard for all prior users

many years of basic data are necessary so that the long-term water

supply can be estimated For this purpose a good network of stream

gaging records and ground water levels must be secured One would

not attempt to manage the money in a bank without bookkeeping and it

is just as important to have an accounting system when managing water

The sound economical procedure is to base all project designs on as

complete engineering information as can be obtained

The ICA is attempting to assist the Philippine Government in

planning the orderly development of its water resources and we are

concerned that too many structures may be built before accurate

9i

hydrologic data are available for their design For this reason we

strongly urge you to improve the basic data gathering program at the

earliest possible date as follows

(1) Review and publish the stream-flow records that have been

obtained since the war

(2) Finance an expanded program of stream-flow measurement and

ground water study

The Bureau of Public Works has prepared preliminary estimates of

the funds needed for bringing publication of basic data up to date and

for expanding the wiater resources investigation program The attached

copies of estimates are of course provisional and subject to revision

but it is suggested that they be placed in the files of this Committee

for future reference The figure of P56oooo for publication is a

fairly firm figure It is suggested that the Committee take immeshy

diate action to further the procurement of these funds

The procurement of water resources data is a specialized field

requiring engineers and other technical men with a high degree of

education Years must be spent in training them in such special

work The men must endure rigorous physical work corbatting the

elements and using resourcefulness and judgment It is very uneconoshy

mical and unsatisfactory to have a technical organization of that kind

subject to occasional and unpredictable severe cuts in appropriations

It is even more unsatisfactory to have the time sequence of basic

water data collection interrupted and valuable records lost forever

- - -

14

wuld not have been necessary if the Hydrographic Sections funds had

been flexible and appropriated on basis of a performance budget As

it is the Section must adhere to line items which spell out exactly

how all money is to be spent

The financing of an expanded 1958 program now appears to be

progressing satisfactorily largely from the counterpart monies

This fund consists of pesos allocated by the Philippine government

in an amount equivalent to the dollar value of imports furnished by

the ICA It is administered by the National Economic Council with

allocations subject to approval of the ICA on budget recommendations

received from Philippine government agencies In the case of water

resources programs they are assisted by recommendations of the Water

Resources Development Committee an NEC administratively appointed

body composed of representatives of ten agencies interested or inshy

volved in water development A rougn breakdown of the Hydrographic

Sections budget proposed for the fiscal year starting July 1 1957

is as follows

General Fund Pesos

Annual appropriation - ------------ 120000

Counterpart Funds

For bringing up to date the publication of

annual records plus a compilation - - - - 56000

For an expanded program of surface-water

investigations----------- - 500000

TOTAL - - - - - - 676000

The total funds available in 1955 and 1956 fiscal years were 180000

and 280000 respectively

It

a 7~

IC

U

i

Staff gage out of water Labangan River at Bagbag Calumpit Bulacan March 1 1957

7lt 2

I

fr

Gagekeeper and staff Jalaur River at Calinog Iloilo He read 10 centimeters low today because markings on lower part of gage were illegible

I-J May 8 1957

16 8

hational Power Corp staff gage painted on streamward side of cliff Lower markings gone and gagekeeper determines gage heights three times a day by wading to gage and measuring down with rule as shown in this picture Bokod R at Boiod Benguet Mountain Province March 26 1957

Bureau of Public Works staff gage station Gagekeeper has made readingsby measuring down from a nail since this section of gage was washed out by a flood Madlum River near Sibul Springs Bulacan April 25 1957

17

The only difficulty with counterpart financing is that it is

temporary and could conceivably leave the program stranded in a few

years when ICA aid is discontinued The necessity is recognized for

gradually obtaining regular Congressional appropriations to take the

place of counterpart funds An effort will also be made to have a

performance type of budget accepted because line items make the

program inflexible and prevent the best management and economy

It is recommended that other agencies desiring for their projects

certain stream flow records which cannot be financed from the regular

budget of the Hydrographic Section transfer funds annually (either in

advance or on a reimbursement basis) to the Hydrographic Section to

pay the extra costs required for the fulfilment of their requests

Design of the stream gaging program

As mentioned above the fiscal arrangements prevailing up to this

time have resulted in an almost total emphasis on project-type gaging

stations in the Philippines However I believe everyone is now in

agreement with the desirability or need for a nation-wide network of

index or runoff-per-square-kilometer type of stations which will sample

various runoff provinces such as those with different exposures to storms

and having different topography altitude geology type of land cover

etc The intensity of the network of stations in different regions

would vary depending upon the apparent future economic value or worth

of the water in each area This will be discussed in more detail in

the recommendations

18

In order to look over the existing program observe something of

the technical methods in use and see a variety of runoff and economic

types of areas in the islands to gain an idea of the type of stream

gaging network needed I have visited several regions accompanied most

of the time by Mr George Hargreaves It has been very helpful to me

to have him take such an interest in the detailed objectives of ry

assignment and I am sure it will facilitate Mrs Snellas work a great

deal to have available for consultation and guidance Mr Hargreaves

wide experience in water resources development and investigations

We were accompanied by Mr J C Regalado of the ydrographic Section

who made most of the advance contacts with field offices in connecshy

tion with our trips We usually travelled to central points by Philshy

ippine Air Lines and were then driven to nearby areas by field officials

of the Hydrographic Section and other agencies The hospitality and

cooperation of everyone toward us was exceptional and much appreciated

Besides a fairly detailed coverage of the Central Luzon area where an

intensified program is proposed our inspections included Northern

Luzon Southern Luzon (the Bicol region) Leyte Panay and several

parts of Mindanao In addition we made a special effort to observe

the country all along the routes of airplane flights taken and that

coupled with airplane stops made on other islands gave us a fairly

comprehensive view of the geography of the Philippines It is upon

this that my recommendations concerning the design of a stream gaging

program are based

19

Bquipment and technical methods-

The stream gaging equipment and methods used by the Hydrographic

Section since 1908 have been patterned mainly after those of the US

Geological Survey as described in the 1904 publication H4ydrographic

Manual Thus it appears likely that the methods and accuracy stanshy

dards have changed but little since the Philippine program was started

Stream gaging tecniques used by the other agencies are similar but

they have not had the advantage of some of the new ICA-furnished equipshy

ment This is expected to be remedied in the aid allocations for fiscal

year 1958

Although some use has been made of the 2-8 method of measuring

discharge present practice is limited almost entirely to the 6method

for low and medium stages and the sub-surface method for high stages

for the latter the meter is suspended over a 15-E weight and set 03

meter below the surface with a coefficient of 0915 applied

The number of verticals or measuring points taken in the cross

section usually is between 8 and 15 No bridge cranes or suspension

reels of any kind have been available all discharge work other than

with wading rod having been done by hand line All this is about to

be changed with the recent arrival of the first ICA-furnished sounding

reels weights and tag lines purchased from 1956 FY funds

Staff gages are read to the nearest centimeter (about 0033 foot)

Most of the gages would be difficult to read to any closer limit alshy

though a few stations have Leupold Stevens enameled gages with levelshy

rod type markings

20

The hydrographer records his discharge measurement notes in a

small bound pocket-size book which he carries until it is full After

each measurement is computed in the field a complete copy of the notes

is made on a card and mailed to the Manila office I am informed

that the bound notebooks are practically never lost or dropped in

the water With the increased amount of flood measuring expected to

be done in the future that situation might change

Rating curves are drawn to average large groups of discharge

measurements Large rectangular-scale cross section sheets are used

Percentage differences of the measured values with respect to the

rating table are not computed A minimum of use is made of Stoutshy

method shifts

The water-stage recorders furnished to date by the ICA have been

manufactured with time scales of either 03 inch per day (the FM

model) or 48 inches per day (the A-35 model) The former scale is

too small for satisfactory use in most stream gaging and the latter

is too large Thirty pairs of time scale gears have been ordered for

converting the A-35s from 48 to 24 inches per day Upon inquiry at

the factory it was learned that no conversion of the FM recorders is

possible An exchange of 25 of them is being made with the ground

water program for an equivalent value in A-35 recordero but the

remaining 65 will be used at the surface water stations They are

very satisfactory on lakes or spring-fed streams or large streams

whose fluctuations are not too sudden

21

Ipo dam on Angat River which diverts water to supply City of Manila and surrounding area March 13 1957 Reservoir is traversed by boat in reaching the gaging station upstream

Ready to leave Ipo Dam for gaging station 6 kilqmeters upstream B Ramos and J Regalado in oanca March 13 1957

4 ~ s~

B Ramos making discharge measurement by wading on Angat River above Ipo DamMarch 13 1957 Spacings between verticals were obtained from cable makings byline hanging from cable car

23

At non-recording gages it has been the custom to hire gagekeepers

at uniform or statutory rates of 025 or P30 per month (not related

to the distance traversed in going to the gage) to obtain readings

three times a day The pay has been the same even where the gage is

located several kilometers away from the gagekeepers home The system

has certain disadvantages which may affect the accuracy of the records

At some stations the pay is too high while at others it is too low

Three readings a day are not necessary most of the time for adequately

developing the hydrograph especially during the dry season and a

request for obviously unnecessary readings seems to put too severe a

test upon human nature It is practically an open invitation to a

certain amount of faking I doubt that it should be held against a

gagekeeper to put down some estimated readings under those circumstances

any more than it would be to blame children for taking candy or cookies

from a forbidden plate left openly in their midst The question then

becomes - what readings can be relied upon and what cannbt I sincerely

believe that a more accurate daily discharge record can be prepared in

the office from a few completely reliable gage readinrs per week by

means of hydrographic comparisons with recording-gage records from

nearby stations and with less expense than can be produced by proshy

cessing comparing and weeding out questionable parts from a complete

(on paper) record of three readings a day A gagekeepers habit

developed during the dry season of not going to the gage when it is

inconvenient or he doesnt feel like it is bound to crop up during

the high water season as well with the result that all his readings

24

must be looked at critically and considered reliAble only after

unusually extensive comparisons are made with weather records and

other stations

In regard to specialized stream gaging equipment listed below

are the amounts purchased by the ICA up to the present time

Ordered from Ordered from Being FY 1955 PPA 1956 PPA ordered Delivered in Delivered in from 1957

May 1956 May 1957 PPA

Canfield reels 0 6 8

Type A reels 0 6 2

Canfield tag lines 0 15 0

A-35 recorders 20 10 25

FM recorders 65 25 0

Enameled gage secs 400 600 200

Currer meter outfits inc ding rod headphonehanuline and 15-pound weight 11 10 0

Pygmy meters 0 0 10

Bridge cranes 0 3 0

Sounding wts 30-lb 0 0 10

50-lb 0 0 10

I i 75-lb 0 0 1

I 100-lb 0 0 1

Stopwatches 20 10 0

Being purchased as models for possible future use in procurement of

weights of local manufacture

25

~-

-~ ~- shy

~-

4rshy~~L~zu 1 - ~ A-

-~ - ~jj ~

~- k ~ ~

Helper and P Nubio National Power Corporationpreparing to make discharge measurement Tag marks of grass being tied to line Bantay River near Bokod Benguet Mountain Province March 26 1957

-- ~ 4

V

Helper holding meter in place suspended on a weight hanger while revolutions are counted oy hydrographer P Nubio E P Nbesamis is at extreme right March 26 1957

26

-p --shy

t-~-- - -

A ~

A~4 ~ 4

A -Y

- -

- - - -

gt~ ~ ~-

Z4z4a - ~z

- shy -~-~shy

4shy- --

I NPC discharge party on Bokod River at-Bokod BenguetMountain Province Helper and gagekeeper holding meter and 15-pound weight in position P Nubio on shore counting revolutions and recording notes March 26 1957

Ar 7

-~ I

0 I 15-pound weight used in discharge measurement work by the NPC hydrographer stationed at Ambuklao Dam March 26 1957

27

Recommendations

A sharp expansion in the stream gaging program of the Philippines

has occurred recently brought about not only by the ICAs economic and

technical aid program but also by the growing local demand for water

resources information It is inevitable that some organizational

changes would be required to accommodate such a sudden growth This

subject was discussed in conferences with Mr Saddam and Mr Regalado

and the following list of special objectives agreed upon They had a

number of these in mind or partly in effect already and were planning

to gradually adopt several others The items are listed here in order

to express my reasons for wanting to see them completely implemented

within the next two or three years They are as follows

A It is recommended that the district offices compute their own disshy

charge records and prepare them for publication for final review

in the central office in ranila

1 Additional engineers would be needed in each district office

and fewer engineers in the Manila office

2 At least the district hydrographer and preferably one other

engineer in addition should be trained in the office work in

Manila before the records were transferred to a district

3 Each engineer in a district office would be given a field area

which he would cover by a round of discharge measurements once

every 4 to 6 weeks each coverage taking about 2 weeks Betshy

ween trips he would do office work preferably on the same

stations that he covers in the field

28

4 Benefits of thissystem are believed to be as follows

a Records requested could be furnished more quickly to the

public especially to those in the district area

b This kind of a close tie between field and office work has

been found to greatly improve the quality of the records

the economy of operation and the performance and developshy

ment of the individual engineers

c The alternating of each person between field and office

work makes him (1) more competent in the field work and

also more competent in the office work than is possible

in segregated office and field groups and (2) permits

him to be home more of the time and lead a more normal

lifc thus increasing his morale and efficiency

5 Personnel arrangements recommended are

a Offer more rapid promotion to those who transfer like

from Manila to a field office or between field offices

b Encourage each man to transfer every few years with

faster promotions as an incentive It has been found

that this develops an engineers competence more rapidly

than if he stays in one office indefinitely Such ability

repays the government in added officiency and production

to an extent greater than its cost in extra salary

B Certain organization changes are recommended as follows

1 Appoint an Office Engineer a Field Engineer and (whenever

needed) a Construction Engineer They would be headquartered

__

V 29

2

~- ~

q

Ambuklao Dam on Agno River Generating capacity 75000 kw Powerplant is underground March 2557

7- t

-JI

Maria Cristina falls and power plant on Agus River River near Iligan Lanao Province Mindanao Present installed capacity 50000 kw May 1 1957

30

II I

Looking downstream at the Binga dam site on Agno River about 15 kilometers east of Baguio March 25 1957

Looking upstream at the Marikina dam site on Marikina River at Wawa near Montalban Rizal about 25 kilometers northeast of Manila April 5 1957

31

in the Manila office and act under the general supervision of

the head of the Section with the following responsibilities

to be included

a Office Engineer

(1) Be responsible for the discharge computations and

related office work in the Manila field district or

area

(2) Be responsible for review and final preparation for

publication of all records in the nation

(3) See that a progress chart of status-of-record compushy

tations is maintained in each district office and

that a summary statement concerning such progress is

sent to the central office at least quarterly

(4) Be responsible for research in office methods and

equipment (See footnote on next page)

b Field Engineer

(1) Act as first assistant to head of the Section of

Hydrography

(2) Be responsible for field operation vork throughout the

nation

(a) Make at least one annual field inspection in each

district

(b) Develop the system in every headquarters of keepshy

ing a running chronological chart of the discharge

measurements made at each gaging station or

32W

scheduled miscellaneous site A form in use in

Tacoma Washington has been found to be very conshy

venient for this purpose Such a chart gives the

supervisor a quick overall view of the status of

the field work and serves as a check at end of

the year to make sure all measurements have been

listed and counted

(3) Be responsible for the design of the stream gaging

network and the selection of sites for new gaging

stations

(4) Be responsible for research in field methods and

equipment

Construction Engineer

(1) Give general supervision and management to the conshy

struction program

(a) Obtain assignment of resident engineer or foreman

for each job

(b) See that the materials are made available Help

the foreman in every way possible in organizing

the job procuring emergency equipment or supplies

and making decisions about serious problems that

may arise on the job

If funds became available for considerable research it probably

would be better to appoint a special Research Engineer

33

~A

Cagayan River gaging station near Cagayan de OroMisamis Oriental Mindanao April 30 1957 Note how corrugated pipe recorder structure was bent by flood J C Regalado J J Ponco gagekeeper and G H Hargreaves in foreground

-

V

View of staff gage and control on Binakaan River at Tifigib near Pastrana Leyte Stream divided by a barand control excavated for unknown reason May 6 1957 J Regalado by the sign and G Hargreaves at right

Cable footbridge below Binga dam site Tree anchorage for cableway onformerly used by NPC in making Angat River above Ipo Damdischarge measurements P Nubio and March 13 1957E Abesamis of NPC on bridge March 25 1957

35

(c) Visit the major jobs occasionally to see that

they are proceding satisfactorily in all the

islands Make sure the stations are installed

according to instructions and plans An approved

sketch plan showing dimensions and elevations is

desirable for each construction job

(d) Prepare first draft of each new station description

(e) Prepare brief construction report including costs

A form in use at Tacoma Washington has been found

convenient for this purpose

C The following policies in regard to gagekeepers are recommended

1 Start a gradual change-over to paying each gagekeeper on basis

only of the hours he works plus a basic amount for taking the

responsibility This may result in increasing the pay of some

but it should reduce the pay of a much larger number

2 Convert most gagekeepers to two readings a day most of the time

with one or more additional readings during floods In some of

the drier parts of the Central Luzon area in cases where gages

are remote from habitation request only one reading a day

during the dry months such as from January through May inclushy

sive more than that are believed to cost more than they are

worth and are an open invitation to the reporting of estimated

readings

3 When a new recorder installation is at a barrio or bridge where

it appears unlikely to be vandalized try running the station

36

without hiring a gagekeeper If this system proves successful

discontinue the services of the gagekeepers at certain selected

recorders At all other recorders reduce the number of readshy

ings required to one per day and reduce their pay accordingly

If a gagekeeper prefers not to accept a lower monthly rate for

fewer readings it is suggested that he resign except in cases

where security of the station structures or right-of-way favors

may be involved

Proceed on the principle that a saving in public tax money from

the above reforms is more important than supporting gagekeepers

just because they depend on the income and need the money The

present dependence of a gagekeeper on his P300 or P360 a year

and the hardship he must undergo in adjusting to a lower rate

of pay for the job are not believed to be sufficient reasons

for continuing indefinitely to pay him more than necessary

However it is recommended that he be given 30 or 60 days

notice before a reduction in pay is placed in effect

D Vehicles

1 It is recommended that a gradual change-over be made from the

short-wheelbase open Jeep to the Jeep station wagon as a hydroshy

graphers car Benefits should be as follows

a The car can be locked leaving only the tires as attractive

to thieves

b The station wagon has more space As the hydrographers

became better equipped that space will be needed

37

Bamboo-and-grass shelters built and used by crew during construction of gaging station on Angat River above Ipo Dam March 13 1957

3

4

-Ti LP

Proposed site for new index-type gaging station selected on Baoas River near Mangatarem Pangasinan above all diversions by Regalado Romasanta dargreaves and Veatch April 15 1957 Photo by J S Romasanta

38

Taking Philippine Airlines plane at Legaspi Albayfor Manila on May 17 1957 Mount Mayon 7960 feet high in background

I

N 1 x

Y

I

Showing typical vehicle used on the reconnaissance and inspection trips over the Philippines

39

c For occasional errands or trips it will be feasible for

only oneman to take the car because he can lock the con

tents when the car is not attended

d It may possibly develop in some parts of the Philippines

that a hydrographer for a certain area will not need a

driver-helper and thereby a saving in funds can be made

However such a change should be made only on a trial

basis and is not recommended until conditions so warrant

and until the hydrographer involved is satisfied with the

change or else desires it

E Certain technical stream-gaging procedures are recommended to be

followed in the Philippine Islands hydrographic work at the average

gaging station by all agencies doing stream gaging as follows

1 Obtain a discharge measurement once every four to six weeks

throughout the year

2 Furnish the hydrographer with a print of the station descripshy

tion and of the rating curve and require him as a general rule

to compute and plot his discharge measurement in the field

3 Have the gage read both before and after each discharge measureshy

ment and the readings recorded on the field notes

4 Use a loose-leaf discharge-measurement note form or forms

containing a summary page patterned to some extent after the

forms in use by the USGS Bound notes make it too inconshy

venient or perhaps impossible for the office engineer to

examine the notes for a whole year when he analyzes a station

record

40

5 Gradually change to the use of ehameled steel gage plates

instead of painted gages because their initial cost is less

and they are more durable Plates graduated somewhat like

those of the US Geological Survey are believed much better

than those stocked by private companies While here I drew

up a suggested design for local manufacture which appealed

to the Hydrographic Section

6 Obtain levels at staff gages at least once a year especially

on the low section of gage Replace or repair each low secshy

tion soon after it becomes damaged or the markings become

indistinct

7 Continue as a general rule to use the 6-depth method with

the sub-surface method for deep swift water Obtain a comshy

plete cross section as soon as feasible after the high water

has subsided

8 Gradually change to the use of heavier sounding weights so

that the 6-depth method with soundings can be used at high

water in any event take soundings and velocities as far out

as practicable from each bank at flood stages then go across

deep part of channel with sub-surface method Check subshy

surface method coeficients whenever practicable by means of

vertical velocity curves Until such checks show otherwise

use a coefficient of 090

9 Compute discharge measurements by the mid-section method

This saves time (and money) and is at least as accurate as the

41

other method Request hydrographers to bear the method in mind

when selecting verticals near edges of channel or at breaks in

the cross section It is recommended that in the interests of

economy this change be made at an early date

10 Consider 20 as a desirable number of verticals in an average

stream cross section Continue to time the meter revolutions

for 40 to 60 seconds at each setting Someday if more accushy

racy is desired in hydrographic work in the Philippines it

would be appropriate to standardize on 30 verticals per measureshy

ment provided the 2-8 depth method were used and the gages

were read to fractions of a centimeter For the present it

seems consistent to take about 20 verticals when using the 6

method and with gages read only to the nearest centimeter

11 Use steel tag lines for wading measurements Paint bridge

rails and cables with markings sufficiently close together

that they can be used rapidly to determine stationing between

them When installing the paint marks use standard intervals

of either 1 meter 2 meters or 5 meters To avoid confusion

do not use intervals of 3 or 4 meters If measuring intervals

are to be 1 meter or less it is very convenient to have a

mark available every meter If intervals are between 1 and 5

meters use a mark every 2 meters A good system for making

the marks readily identifiable is to place 1 paint mark at

each basic interval like every 2 meters then put 2 marks every

10 meters 3 every 50 meters and 4 at 100 meters

42

use on12 Always tags the portion of the meter suspension line

that goes in the water The tags usually consist of small

pieces of colored cloth taped tightly to the line They

should be watched and checked occasionally against slippage

and error The tags should not be more than one meter apart

and should be spaced to give maximum convenience and speed in

measuring the discharge

13 As it may becoin feasible convert Type A current meters to

Type AA The more deeply recessed bearing of the Type AA

meter provides more durability of the pivot and bearing

because trapped air excludes most of the water and silt the

longer pivot results in a relatively lower center of gravity

of the bucke t wheel with respect to the point of bearing and

results in smoother performance

F Design of the stream gaging network

1 Everyone seem3 to agree with the objective of a network of

well-distributed long-term base stations for giving runoffshy

per-square-kilometer values representative of the general

area in which each station is located As rapidly as practishy

cable stations should be L d n the o ting netrk

and designated as base or index stations for permanent operashy

tion They should be the best stations both hydraulically

and as to equipment and should be free from upstream regushy

lation or diversion Where needed new base stations should

be installed as soon as they can be financed to appropriately

L11 out the network

43

2 In between such base stations it is desirable to sample smaller

basins with short-term records of various lengths which can be short term

correlated with the long records For this purpose thestashy

tion structures should be constructed so that they are as moveshy

able or salvageable as possiblej Often these movable stations

will be operated at or near specific project sites

3 It usually is more economical and satisfactory to gage a stream

at a highway crossing or other convenient place rather than

exactly at a project site later the data can be transferred

to the project site by means of drainage area proportions

checked by obtaining at the site e

two miscellaneous measurements or possibly in some cases a

whole year of record

4 A method for studying the existing network of stations to see

whether the intensity of coverage is satisfactory or not is to

plot correlations between the various station records prefershy

ably following the present methods of the USGS

5 It has been found advantageous to classify all gaging stations

that are in operation using categories somewhat like these

areal network base stations primary and secondary main stream

stations and water management stations This procedure is

helpful in planning how long various stations should be operated

Detailed information about station classification methods is

available from the U S Geological Survey for use as a guide

The Technical Training Program

Early plans

When this assignment was given to me it was anticipated that a

series of across-the-table discussions would be held with small groups

of hydrographers from the Philippine government bureaus engaging in

such work Detailed procedures would be discussed without formality

But when arrangements were initiated for such conferences I was inshy

formed that among those wanting to attend were many at the managerial

level as well as a number of representatives of agencies interested

more in water development projects than in resource investigations

These could not be turned down so it was necessary to revise the

agenda to include more of general interest

Later developments

In view of the wide experience and high rank of many prospective

attendants of the conference it did not seem appropriate to call it

a lecture series or school and the name Seminar On Water Resources

was decided upon The agenda is included in this report and will be

self-explanatory Registered attendance for each of the three weeks

was 68 72 and 70 persons respectively for a total of 210 The

setting for the Seminar can best be understood from the photographs

Conditions as a whole were good although the tape-recording of the

entire three weeks of proceedings and the need for a member to come

F M Veatch and Water Resources Seminar group week of April 8-12 1957 at Bureau of Public Highways conference building Manila

I y

rT

I

4

47

forward and use the microphone whenever he asked a question or made a

comment was somewhat of a dampener oh discussion When preparing the

agenda I assumed that few besides the hydrographers would attend the

sessions on technical details of stream gaging scheduled for Wednesday

to Friday yet the entire membership stayed through the full program

each week and so no small-group round-table discussions were practicable

It developed later that the language barrier was a little more

serious than first realized Also it was not evident at first that

many present did not know what a gaging station was One of the main

benefits gained from the field trip was to show them a typical station

along with some equipment Taken as a whole it is believed that the

Seminar was successful and worthwhile

The sending of trainees from the Hydrographic Section to the

United States by ICA is very effective in supplementing the technical

assistance rendered directly by American personnel in the Philippines

and it should be continued as long as possible

Acknowledgments

Announcements and invitations to attend the Seminar were sent to

numerous agencies and offices by the Hydrographic Section who also

made all arrangements such as for space registration loud speaker

system tape recordings and recess refreshments The Bureau of

Public Highways made their new conference building available and the

National Media Center furnished a slide projector screen and room

all of which were greatly appreciated The introductory talks by

48

several busy executives including Director J A Buendia and Messrs

A T Alano R R Lord P G Afable and D Rosell with Mr Tomas

Saddam acting as master of ceremonies contributed ideas and gave

each weeks session a good send-off

Publications

Copies of the following publications of the U S Geological

Survey (one by Bureau of Reclamation and one from ASCE) were disshyon

play at the Seminar at all times for inspection by the members Alshy

though they were requested not to take the publications away quite a

few copies gradually became missing

Irrigation Water Measurement Tables and Diagrams by U S

Bureau of Reclamation

ASCE Separate 413 - Backwater Effects of Open Channel

Constrictions

Stage-Fall Discharge Relation for Steady Flow in Prismatic

Channels Water-Supply Paper 1164

Topographic Characteristics of Drainage Basins W S P 968C

Weir Experiments Coefficients and Formulas WSP 200

Handbook for Hydrologists - Chapters 1 - 11

Chapter 1 -- Instructions for Flood Frequency Compilations

Chapter 2 -- ledian Discharge Computation Methods

Chapter 3 -- Instructions for Abstracting Topographic

Characteristics of Drainage Basins

i

-Imr- I

1 N

L

V10J~

C R Mirray explaining a ground water formula

Ii

17t

o

Water Resources Seminar group at gaging station on Marikina River near Montalban Rizal about an hours drive northeast of Manila April 12 1957

51

-- Channel Storage and Flood Routing

-- Extending Stream-flow Records

Chapter 6 -- Double Mass Curves

Chapter 7-A- Frequency Curves of Low Flows and Storage

Requirements

Chapter 8 -- Flood Frequency Analyses

Chapter 9 -- Small Stream Investigations

Chapter 10 - Hydrologic Definitions

Chapter 11 - Base-Flow Recession-Curves

Computation of Backwater at Open Channel Constrictions

Floods in Western Washington Frequency and Magnitude in

Relation to Drainage Basin Characteristics GS Circular 191

Floods in Georgia Frequency and Magnitude GS Circular 100

Stream-Gaging Procedure - A Manual Describing Methods and

Practice of the Geological Survey - WSP 888

Investigation of Methods and Equipment used in Stream Gaging

Part 2 Intakes For Gage Wells

Computation of Peak Discharge through Culverts

Computation of Backwater at Open-Channel Constrictions

Equipment for River Measurements Structures for Cableways

by Charles H Pierce

Computation of Peak Discharge at Contractions Circular 284

Care and Rating of Current Meters

Surface Water Supply o the United States 1950 Parts 1 - 14

52

In addition to the above publications a two-page single-spaced

memorandum entitled Plotting Flood Frequency Curves (Extracted from

U S Geological Survey publications) was prepared by me under date

of April 3 1957 and handed to each member of the Seminar each week

The program or agenda for the Seminar one copy of which was

given to each member follows on Pages 53 to 63 inclusive The

graphs on Page 63 were referred to during the talks

53

March 29 1957

AGENDA FOiR SEMINARZ ON WATER RESCURCES AND STAE4 GAGING

IN THE PHILIPPINES

PLACE Conference hoom 2nd Floor Bureau of Public Highways Building Second Street Port Area Manila

TIKE April 1-5 8-12 and 22-26 (same program each week)

CONDUCTED BY M1r i 1 Veatch District EngineerSurface WaterBranch Jater Aesources Division United States Geological Suver Thcoma ashington who is un three-month assignment with the ICA

Held in connoction with the Philippine Government-ICA water resources program

54

GENERAL PROGRAM MONDAY AND TUESDAY

honday morning 830

Opening remarks Mr Julian A Buendia Director Bureau of Fublic Works Mr R R Lord Chief Public Works Division ICA Mr G H Hargreaves Hydraulic Engineer ICA

Importance of water resources and their investigation

The hydrologic cycle Evaporation transpiration and precipitation Runoff

Daily discharge record and the hydrograph Storm runoff Base flow

Grou~nd Water Very brief description (this subject to be covered

iaore fully on Tuesday afternoon)

General characteristics of natural stream runoff in the Philippines Quantity

Adequacy Comparison with United States

Variations with time Day to day and year to year Long-term trends

Distributin by area General over the Philippine Islands Variations between nearby drainage basins

Effect of location elevation geology cover etc

Major uses of stream-flow data Many years of rccornds should be crnsidered Granting water r phts

Protect existing rights Prevent capital expenditures where water supply inadequate

Planning river basin developments including municipal supply irrigation pnwer flood control etc

Destping structures such as dams reservoirs dikes floodways canals pumping systems power plants bridges etc

Accuracy and extent of dat needed for minimizing underdesign or wasteful overdesign

Cost of water-supply data in relation to total cost of a project

Operating water projects Distribution of water on projects Operation of storage reservoirs and diversion dams

To make maximum use uf water supply Designing alterations or enlargements to existing projects

RECESS 1000 to 1015

55 -3-

Monday morning (Continued) 1015 aim

Management of the stream gaging program Foreseeing the needs for stream-flow records

Study population and industrial trends Keep inforned on water-development plans and

prgraIIs of all agencies Continuity of the records

Essential for wator-supply studies Regular financinp reouired

Annual appropriations a poundfccted by temporary econoidc or political conditions

Permanent type of financing needed Surcharge method License fee method

-Dissemination of the data Annual publication Occasional summary compilations Furnishing advance cupies of unpublished records Furnishing current data - daily weekly or munthly

wherever required Special water resources investigation agency desirable

Briefly dancribe United States organization Uniform tecnical standards Uniform ways of presenting data One series of publicatiens Distributial center for basic water data Genera l-coverage program requires close coordination

for economy of operation Personal requirements

Engineers Engir ring aids Computers Clerks

ADJOURN - 1145

Resume after lunch only if necessary for completing the above subjects

56

Tueday morning 830

Design of a comprehensive stream gjaging program General rrinciIlac

Represenkc tive runoff-type provinces should be sainpled with stations of various classes

Vary the intensity of coverage with probable intenshysity of water use

Follow tiie tcends variations with records fromand L sri etatiorns secondary

Correlate resultls one continually adjustnetwork Classification of ra-in stationa

Areal prinary and secondary viain strem priiary nd secondary Water-manmfciact stat-i ons Miscellanous dischaige mcasurements

Correlating the dat obttined in comprehensive program Logarithmic pajer Five years of lecord uscd What is a good corrclation

Analyses of data Flood frcouencjs

Annual serics Partial duration series

Low-flow frecuencies Low-flow duration hydrograph

Extending strewm-flow records Comparisons witi other gaging stations Rainfall-runoff correlations

Quality of water Temperature

Intermittent observations Recorders

Chemical gtuality Element -Dissolved solids

Suspended iaterial Time of cecurrence-floods Sampling

Methods Cost

RECESS - 1000 to 1015

57

- 5 -

Tuesday afternoon 130

Ground water (This subject conducted by Mr C R Murray) Occurrence

Water table Artesian Lakes

Movement Through the ground Into stream channels

Availability Geologic structure Aquifers Funing tests

Recharge Froa precipitation Artificial Froma induced lateral movement

Investigation Geology Springs Logs of dug and drilled wells Test wells

lecording Lanual

Quantitative studies Chemical quality analyses

Mincral ccontnt Sallt water intrusion

Drilling of wells for production use Ground water rirhts

Depletion of ground water reservoirs teyond rccharge capability

ADJOURN at 330

Geologist Ground Water Branch dater Resources Division U 6 Geological Survey who is on two-ywar assignment with ICA

58

PROGRAM ON STREMvi GAGING PROCEDURE WEDNESDAY TO FRIDAY

4ednesday morning 830

Establishing and constructing gaging stations Selection of site

Consider najor probable uses of the record Investigate extent of upstream diversion and

-egulation Utilize contour naps Obtain list of nmrjor water right applications

iydraulic conditicns Section control Shifting channel Overbank flow Dackwater

Accessibility Avoid too much expense Need to reach quickly to measure flash floods

Natural protection front flood damage Avoid excessively expensive construction conditions

Bed iock Quick sand Too-longintake pipes

For non-rccording gage choose site convenient to

one or more local gage readers

Survey of site Bank cross-prefile at gage Cross section at cable Plan

Right of way Oral pervrission ritten permission

Easement Land purchase

RECESS - 945 to 1000

- 7 - 59

Wednesday morning (Continued) 100)

Construction Select types and sizes of structures To fit purpose oi the record Plan later salva e (for secondary stations) For economy of operation (for example design cableway to

operat mesily) Adapt availabic standard plans to fit the site Keep costs to hclp in future estimating Make brief construction report for future assistance in

planninr sililar Jobs Prepare staLion descripLion

Road log distences etc for How to reach paragraph Descriptions of gages bench marks etc Dimensions cf structuis Gage datum elevations of portinent parts of structures

Operating and maintaining gaging stations Records of stage

Choice of dtum Arbitrcry local datum

Set gages so there will be no minus gage readings

Mean sea level datum May be used but has disadvantages

1hen later adjustments are made to level networks

Gages have to be reset or Equation must be published

Non-recording gages Types

Vertical staff Inclined staff

ire-weight Crest-stage gages

Refinement of graduations ake adequate for accuracy of record needed

Maintatling dat of gage Adequate number of local reference marks Take levels at least once a year

Work o- local gare reader Fy according to approx number of hours worked Do not roruire too many roadings for the

conditions Warm (with omphasis) against my guessed

readings Inform reader anv errors in reading will

show up in hydrogrq oic comtparisons Engineers obtain check readings whenever

possible Visit gage reader frequently a d show inshy

terest in his gage-height record Encourage reader to retain personal copy

ADJOURN at 1145

60

Thursday morning 800

Records of stage (continued) Recording gages

Select type of instrument and its scales to fit conditions at gaging station

Weekly or continuous recorder Recorder scales Range of stage Rate of change of stage Availability of someone to change weekly

chart Work of Cage inspector of keeper

Avoid resetting pen Repurt any trash or debris causing backwater

at gage Do not have a gage keeper unless needed

aintaining gage datum Check outside gae by levels annually Keep outside gage sections reset to datum

Standard reference gage Inside gage of soie sort preferable

Staff Float-tape Anchor type

Intake action Clean or flush pipes after floods Slot intakes Self-cleaning iitakes

For pipe gage wells For wells built into bridge piers

Draw-down (where excessive) Use bapfle or static tube

Elood marks at station Make record of well-defined high water

marks

AECESS - 945 to 1000

- 9 - 61

Thursday morning (Continudd) 1000

Discharge measuroments Current hmeters

Price Type A Type AA

Pygmpy Carc of inters

Sounding weights E-typc C-type

Lead Brono

Type of notebook Loose shects Loose-leaf book Bound booL

Measurement of depth aeding rod Tag-line nethod Vertical-nglc coofficients Sounding during floods

Ilacemont of mter Sub--surface method 2-depth n cthod 6-de-pth icthod 2- imetY od

Number of verticals Velocity -urgcs

Miscellaneous f-ctors Effect of bridge piers Horizontal angle of current Insufficient weight on current water

1Mean gage hoitht for a discharge measurement Special methods of (Itermining flood discharge

Floats Slope-area method

Rating curv- etonsion method Arca and velocity curves Loparithmic plottig

Contrqctd-opening mothod Flow ovcr dams

Report on condition of control Carry station description and rating curve in field

Ubtain another me asurement if needed If first indicates large shift If new station and stagc advantagoous for

defining blank part of rating curve

ADJOUffN - 1145 AI

Resumne atfter lunch only if necessary for comploting the above subjects

62

- 10 -

Friday morning S00

A few remarks about office methods Rating curves

Log-log paper Upward extonsions Dowmward extensions

Rectangular plotting Computing recorder charts

M-ark index correction and time correction for each inspection reading

Break midnight lines at raph Never oblitertte or mark over the original trace Nake office markings on chart distinctive from

those mad( At the gage Use of colored pencils by computer and checker is one good wa)y

Daily discharge record Flot hydrograph Compare over light box with other stations

This method preferable to plotting several station records on same sheet

Concluding discussions

RECESS - 945 to 1000

Projection of gaging station equipment Lnd scenic slides taken in the United States and Canada

ADJOURN - 1145

Field trip Cars will be available at the conference building to

take members to the raging station on arikina iRivei at ontalban about an hours drive from Manila where a brief demonstration of certain field equipment will be given

Return to noL later thanoanila 500 FL

---

- Ishy4 ~7L~

0F OllY LISCIiRE 4- 1 -shy

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- O 1 B -- 2r 2 ZZ 23 24 2 c 26 7 8 2717x I 2

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-~ ~-r- 1 - V-shy- i-shytvkty--- in--a-- -~ ~Z2m7~ ~

- ~ ~-~-----~- V 1~5~ LTLL2P7o -4----4 1 -- I -- I I _ __ --- -- -- - - L - - I ----

~- ~y~-~ 64 4

N

A il

Seminar members observing demonshystrat-n of measurshying e -pment by F M Veatch at Marikina River gaging station April 12 1957

I

Water Resources Seminar members observing working model of proppsed Binga Dam at the hydraulics laboratory of University of the Philippines April 12 1957

65

Current meter rating flume mechanism Y 22 1957

Current meter rating flume mechanism May 22 1957

66

Current Meter Rating Station

The new current meter rating station at the University of the

Philippines (see photographs) was not quite ready for use before I

left the country The mechanism and instruments were manufactured

in Germanyobtained thru ICA-NEC procurement for the Water Resources

Program of the Department of Public Works and have been installed by

Professor Alberto Villares and his hydraulics laboratory staff under

Dean C A Ortigas of the College of Engineering with some guidance

by Professor Edward L Ericksen of the University of Michigan who is

a civil engineer on detail here with the Stanford Group Professor

Villares spent 18 months in the hydraulics laboratory of the Univershy

sity of Iowa

There is every evidence that this rating flume will with expeshy

rience do work accurate enough not only for determining differences

in ratings between current meters but also for preparing absolute or

independent ratings This can be reported on more fully at some

later date by Messrs Hargreaves and Snell

The Central Luzon Region Program

The Water Resources Development Committee is preparing a recomshy

mended plan for the expedited multiple-purpose development of the

water resources of the Central Luzon region The area contains oneshy

sixteenth of the land surface and one-fourth of the population of the

Philippines and is termed the rice granary of the nation It is to

be used as an example or experiment in water and land development

67

The Committee has requested member agencies to submit estimates

of the minimum amount of additional basic data needed for making a

useful report and for proceeding with development projects Such

estimates are to include mapping soil surveys dam and reservoir site

surveys water resources surveys and other items A preliminary

report is to be prepared soon summarizing the existing information

pointing out the need for additional dataand submitting estimates

of cost for the further investigations needed An outline for the

final report has been prepared and distributed so it will be availashy

ble as a guide and funds for the first years efforts are being

sought for fiscal year 1958 It appears reasonable that the report

on a comprehensive plan could be submitted to the President and

Congress of the Philippines in about five years

With the assistance of Mr Hargreaves I have prepared estimates

for a surface water measurement program to complement the existing

program It is designed to fill the worst gaps in the present netshy

work Details are subject to change as more reconnaissance informashy

tion becomes available as only five days were spent covering the area

by automobile Unit costs were provided by the Hydrographic Section

and they include cost of preparation of the records for publication

Estimates were submitted as given below They were supported by a

detailed list of stream names and locations which included desigshy

nations as to the primary purpose or type of each proposed new gaging

station and whether a recording or non-recording gage was recommended

It is available for reference in both the ydrographic Section and

ICA offices

68

New gaging stations

1 Daily discharge type

Installation (including cableways where needed)

Recording ------- 7 Pl650 11550

Non-recording --- 4 950 3800 15350

Operation 1st year -11 660 7260 P22610

2 High water type (flood records)

Installation

Gages (nonshy

recording) ----- 4 150 600

Measuring equipment 800 1400

Operation 1st year - 4 300 1200 2600

Total for new gaging stations ------------- 25210

Miscellaneous discharge measurements

1 4 or 5 during dry season Nov - April

4 sites x 5 per site = 20 30 ---------------- 600

2 1 or 2 during low part of year March and April

37 sites x l per site = 55 k30 ------------- 1650

Total for miscellaneous measurements ------ 2250

Total -------------- -2746o

69

Rainfall And Evaporation Stations

Existing network

A map examination of the existing network of rain gages was made

and a surprisingly large number were found to be in operation -- 2

recording and 115 manual stations or a total of 117 They are beshy

lieved to be fairly adequate in number and are well distributed

areally over the Philippines but like in the United States are conshy

fined largely to the lower altitudes where the agricultural and urban

population live In addition to these records are available for

various lengths of time from about 8 discontinued Weather Bureau

stations and from more than 300 haciendas reforestaion stations

and provincial rnrseries

Additional gages

The Weather Bureau and the Bureau of Public Works are cooperating

in the installation of some new rainfall stations at higher altitudes

part of which will utilize new instruments purchased with ICA aid

funds Some of the instruments will be installed at existing nonshy

recording stations Forty new installations are proposed for 1958

fiscal year It is now recognized that rainfall station coverage at

higher altitudes is needed in order to furnish records that can be

correlated with the long-term valley records and also with the gaging

station discharge records D

70

Weather station maintained by Bureau of Public WorksIrrigation Division near Tuguegarao Cagayan From left to right N Ciriaco District Hydrographer drivershyhelper observer J G Garcia hydrographer J C Regalado and G H Hargreaves May 13 1957

Weather station at Pototan Iloilo Panay A Lacuestadistrict bydro-rapher standing May 5 1957

71

Group luncheon at Tacloban Leyte typical of the hospitality received by us during inspection tour of the Philippines From left to right M Rico irrig distr engr G Hargreaves G Araos E N Salazar P Formilleza L Abella S Velasco JCRegalado V H Sydiongoo distr hydrographer I M Ortega Oscar de Venecia and N Oliver May 7 1957

ICA Public Works Division March 1957 From left to right C R Murray A A Ketchum asat Div head J B Delaney I J Silverstone Sofia Halili 0 H Hosmer R R Lord Div head B B Hill Betty Valdez G H Hargreaves J L Brenden FM Veatch

72

Evaporation stations

Fifteen double-pan (one open and one partially shaded) evaporation

stations with rainfall temperature wind and humidity instruments as

auxiliary are being operated in the Philippines and ten more are to

follow next year They are well distributed over the islands and

should furnish data of great value for reservoir design Thq reccrds

will be publish3d

Publication of rainfall data

All rainfall reccrds are published annually by the Weather Bureau

whose 1954 volume is the latest one printed The 1955 issue should be

released soon One excellent source of information for anyone studyshy

ing rainfall data in the Philippines is the publication The Distrishy

bution of Rainfall In The Philippines by Eugenio B Manalo Chief

Climatological Division Weather Bureau Manila This contains

valuable descriptive material tables of monthly and annual values

and mean monthly and annual isohyets in inches An inspection or

study of the monthly isohyetal maps shows clearly how storm patterns

change with the seasons in certain parts of the Philippines and that

73

in other areas the rain is almost evenly distributed throughout the

year The long dry season of Manila and the central Luzon plains is

graphically portrayed by the isohyets Mr Manalos publication

should be of great benefit to government agencies and private parties

or individuals in connection with agricultural and business activities

over the islands It is presumed that the isohyets will warrant some

revision after another 5 or 10 years as more records especially those

at higher altitudes become available

Sediment Measurement Stations

Practically no silt-sampling has been done in the Philippines

to date and no extensive program is believed possible because of the

lack of funds For the present it is recommended that every governshy

ment field hydrographer be equipped with a thermomater and a turbidity

stick and required to report a spot water temperature and turbidity

reading at time of each discharge measurement Thus without extra

cost a large amount of data can be accumulated which after several

years should make it possible to determine what streams are the

siltiest and where more detailed studies might be needed Whenever a

reservoir project reaches the intensive-investigation stage including

dam-site drilling detailed topography etc it is recommended that

a complete sediment sampling station be operated there for at least

one full flood season before the project feasibility report is

completed

74

Statement Before Water Resources Development Committee

On March 20 1957 I presented the following statement regarding

the streamflow measurement program in the Philippines

The Philippine Republic is blessed with an excellent supply of

water of good quality but much of it is wasted to the sea during the

rainy season The development of this resource is vitally important

to the nation and it involves the storing of flood waters for dryshy

season release Where investments are to be made for construction of

dams etc in the development of irrigation power production and

flood control large sums can easily be wasted through overdesign or

underdesign if enough engineering data are not available Conflicting

or competing uses for the water supplies will gradually develop in

your country the same as they have in the United States If water

rights are to be granted fairly with due regard for all prior users

many years of basic data are necessary so that the long-term water

supply can be estimated For this purpose a good network of stream

gaging records and ground water levels must be secured One would

not attempt to manage the money in a bank without bookkeeping and it

is just as important to have an accounting system when managing water

The sound economical procedure is to base all project designs on as

complete engineering information as can be obtained

The ICA is attempting to assist the Philippine Government in

planning the orderly development of its water resources and we are

concerned that too many structures may be built before accurate

9i

hydrologic data are available for their design For this reason we

strongly urge you to improve the basic data gathering program at the

earliest possible date as follows

(1) Review and publish the stream-flow records that have been

obtained since the war

(2) Finance an expanded program of stream-flow measurement and

ground water study

The Bureau of Public Works has prepared preliminary estimates of

the funds needed for bringing publication of basic data up to date and

for expanding the wiater resources investigation program The attached

copies of estimates are of course provisional and subject to revision

but it is suggested that they be placed in the files of this Committee

for future reference The figure of P56oooo for publication is a

fairly firm figure It is suggested that the Committee take immeshy

diate action to further the procurement of these funds

The procurement of water resources data is a specialized field

requiring engineers and other technical men with a high degree of

education Years must be spent in training them in such special

work The men must endure rigorous physical work corbatting the

elements and using resourcefulness and judgment It is very uneconoshy

mical and unsatisfactory to have a technical organization of that kind

subject to occasional and unpredictable severe cuts in appropriations

It is even more unsatisfactory to have the time sequence of basic

water data collection interrupted and valuable records lost forever

a 7~

IC

U

i

Staff gage out of water Labangan River at Bagbag Calumpit Bulacan March 1 1957

7lt 2

I

fr

Gagekeeper and staff Jalaur River at Calinog Iloilo He read 10 centimeters low today because markings on lower part of gage were illegible

I-J May 8 1957

16 8

hational Power Corp staff gage painted on streamward side of cliff Lower markings gone and gagekeeper determines gage heights three times a day by wading to gage and measuring down with rule as shown in this picture Bokod R at Boiod Benguet Mountain Province March 26 1957

Bureau of Public Works staff gage station Gagekeeper has made readingsby measuring down from a nail since this section of gage was washed out by a flood Madlum River near Sibul Springs Bulacan April 25 1957

17

The only difficulty with counterpart financing is that it is

temporary and could conceivably leave the program stranded in a few

years when ICA aid is discontinued The necessity is recognized for

gradually obtaining regular Congressional appropriations to take the

place of counterpart funds An effort will also be made to have a

performance type of budget accepted because line items make the

program inflexible and prevent the best management and economy

It is recommended that other agencies desiring for their projects

certain stream flow records which cannot be financed from the regular

budget of the Hydrographic Section transfer funds annually (either in

advance or on a reimbursement basis) to the Hydrographic Section to

pay the extra costs required for the fulfilment of their requests

Design of the stream gaging program

As mentioned above the fiscal arrangements prevailing up to this

time have resulted in an almost total emphasis on project-type gaging

stations in the Philippines However I believe everyone is now in

agreement with the desirability or need for a nation-wide network of

index or runoff-per-square-kilometer type of stations which will sample

various runoff provinces such as those with different exposures to storms

and having different topography altitude geology type of land cover

etc The intensity of the network of stations in different regions

would vary depending upon the apparent future economic value or worth

of the water in each area This will be discussed in more detail in

the recommendations

18

In order to look over the existing program observe something of

the technical methods in use and see a variety of runoff and economic

types of areas in the islands to gain an idea of the type of stream

gaging network needed I have visited several regions accompanied most

of the time by Mr George Hargreaves It has been very helpful to me

to have him take such an interest in the detailed objectives of ry

assignment and I am sure it will facilitate Mrs Snellas work a great

deal to have available for consultation and guidance Mr Hargreaves

wide experience in water resources development and investigations

We were accompanied by Mr J C Regalado of the ydrographic Section

who made most of the advance contacts with field offices in connecshy

tion with our trips We usually travelled to central points by Philshy

ippine Air Lines and were then driven to nearby areas by field officials

of the Hydrographic Section and other agencies The hospitality and

cooperation of everyone toward us was exceptional and much appreciated

Besides a fairly detailed coverage of the Central Luzon area where an

intensified program is proposed our inspections included Northern

Luzon Southern Luzon (the Bicol region) Leyte Panay and several

parts of Mindanao In addition we made a special effort to observe

the country all along the routes of airplane flights taken and that

coupled with airplane stops made on other islands gave us a fairly

comprehensive view of the geography of the Philippines It is upon

this that my recommendations concerning the design of a stream gaging

program are based

19

Bquipment and technical methods-

The stream gaging equipment and methods used by the Hydrographic

Section since 1908 have been patterned mainly after those of the US

Geological Survey as described in the 1904 publication H4ydrographic

Manual Thus it appears likely that the methods and accuracy stanshy

dards have changed but little since the Philippine program was started

Stream gaging tecniques used by the other agencies are similar but

they have not had the advantage of some of the new ICA-furnished equipshy

ment This is expected to be remedied in the aid allocations for fiscal

year 1958

Although some use has been made of the 2-8 method of measuring

discharge present practice is limited almost entirely to the 6method

for low and medium stages and the sub-surface method for high stages

for the latter the meter is suspended over a 15-E weight and set 03

meter below the surface with a coefficient of 0915 applied

The number of verticals or measuring points taken in the cross

section usually is between 8 and 15 No bridge cranes or suspension

reels of any kind have been available all discharge work other than

with wading rod having been done by hand line All this is about to

be changed with the recent arrival of the first ICA-furnished sounding

reels weights and tag lines purchased from 1956 FY funds

Staff gages are read to the nearest centimeter (about 0033 foot)

Most of the gages would be difficult to read to any closer limit alshy

though a few stations have Leupold Stevens enameled gages with levelshy

rod type markings

20

The hydrographer records his discharge measurement notes in a

small bound pocket-size book which he carries until it is full After

each measurement is computed in the field a complete copy of the notes

is made on a card and mailed to the Manila office I am informed

that the bound notebooks are practically never lost or dropped in

the water With the increased amount of flood measuring expected to

be done in the future that situation might change

Rating curves are drawn to average large groups of discharge

measurements Large rectangular-scale cross section sheets are used

Percentage differences of the measured values with respect to the

rating table are not computed A minimum of use is made of Stoutshy

method shifts

The water-stage recorders furnished to date by the ICA have been

manufactured with time scales of either 03 inch per day (the FM

model) or 48 inches per day (the A-35 model) The former scale is

too small for satisfactory use in most stream gaging and the latter

is too large Thirty pairs of time scale gears have been ordered for

converting the A-35s from 48 to 24 inches per day Upon inquiry at

the factory it was learned that no conversion of the FM recorders is

possible An exchange of 25 of them is being made with the ground

water program for an equivalent value in A-35 recordero but the

remaining 65 will be used at the surface water stations They are

very satisfactory on lakes or spring-fed streams or large streams

whose fluctuations are not too sudden

21

Ipo dam on Angat River which diverts water to supply City of Manila and surrounding area March 13 1957 Reservoir is traversed by boat in reaching the gaging station upstream

Ready to leave Ipo Dam for gaging station 6 kilqmeters upstream B Ramos and J Regalado in oanca March 13 1957

4 ~ s~

B Ramos making discharge measurement by wading on Angat River above Ipo DamMarch 13 1957 Spacings between verticals were obtained from cable makings byline hanging from cable car

23

At non-recording gages it has been the custom to hire gagekeepers

at uniform or statutory rates of 025 or P30 per month (not related

to the distance traversed in going to the gage) to obtain readings

three times a day The pay has been the same even where the gage is

located several kilometers away from the gagekeepers home The system

has certain disadvantages which may affect the accuracy of the records

At some stations the pay is too high while at others it is too low

Three readings a day are not necessary most of the time for adequately

developing the hydrograph especially during the dry season and a

request for obviously unnecessary readings seems to put too severe a

test upon human nature It is practically an open invitation to a

certain amount of faking I doubt that it should be held against a

gagekeeper to put down some estimated readings under those circumstances

any more than it would be to blame children for taking candy or cookies

from a forbidden plate left openly in their midst The question then

becomes - what readings can be relied upon and what cannbt I sincerely

believe that a more accurate daily discharge record can be prepared in

the office from a few completely reliable gage readinrs per week by

means of hydrographic comparisons with recording-gage records from

nearby stations and with less expense than can be produced by proshy

cessing comparing and weeding out questionable parts from a complete

(on paper) record of three readings a day A gagekeepers habit

developed during the dry season of not going to the gage when it is

inconvenient or he doesnt feel like it is bound to crop up during

the high water season as well with the result that all his readings

24

must be looked at critically and considered reliAble only after

unusually extensive comparisons are made with weather records and

other stations

In regard to specialized stream gaging equipment listed below

are the amounts purchased by the ICA up to the present time

Ordered from Ordered from Being FY 1955 PPA 1956 PPA ordered Delivered in Delivered in from 1957

May 1956 May 1957 PPA

Canfield reels 0 6 8

Type A reels 0 6 2

Canfield tag lines 0 15 0

A-35 recorders 20 10 25

FM recorders 65 25 0

Enameled gage secs 400 600 200

Currer meter outfits inc ding rod headphonehanuline and 15-pound weight 11 10 0

Pygmy meters 0 0 10

Bridge cranes 0 3 0

Sounding wts 30-lb 0 0 10

50-lb 0 0 10

I i 75-lb 0 0 1

I 100-lb 0 0 1

Stopwatches 20 10 0

Being purchased as models for possible future use in procurement of

weights of local manufacture

25

~-

-~ ~- shy

~-

4rshy~~L~zu 1 - ~ A-

-~ - ~jj ~

~- k ~ ~

Helper and P Nubio National Power Corporationpreparing to make discharge measurement Tag marks of grass being tied to line Bantay River near Bokod Benguet Mountain Province March 26 1957

-- ~ 4

V

Helper holding meter in place suspended on a weight hanger while revolutions are counted oy hydrographer P Nubio E P Nbesamis is at extreme right March 26 1957

26

-p --shy

t-~-- - -

A ~

A~4 ~ 4

A -Y

- -

- - - -

gt~ ~ ~-

Z4z4a - ~z

- shy -~-~shy

4shy- --

I NPC discharge party on Bokod River at-Bokod BenguetMountain Province Helper and gagekeeper holding meter and 15-pound weight in position P Nubio on shore counting revolutions and recording notes March 26 1957

Ar 7

-~ I

0 I 15-pound weight used in discharge measurement work by the NPC hydrographer stationed at Ambuklao Dam March 26 1957

27

Recommendations

A sharp expansion in the stream gaging program of the Philippines

has occurred recently brought about not only by the ICAs economic and

technical aid program but also by the growing local demand for water

resources information It is inevitable that some organizational

changes would be required to accommodate such a sudden growth This

subject was discussed in conferences with Mr Saddam and Mr Regalado

and the following list of special objectives agreed upon They had a

number of these in mind or partly in effect already and were planning

to gradually adopt several others The items are listed here in order

to express my reasons for wanting to see them completely implemented

within the next two or three years They are as follows

A It is recommended that the district offices compute their own disshy

charge records and prepare them for publication for final review

in the central office in ranila

1 Additional engineers would be needed in each district office

and fewer engineers in the Manila office

2 At least the district hydrographer and preferably one other

engineer in addition should be trained in the office work in

Manila before the records were transferred to a district

3 Each engineer in a district office would be given a field area

which he would cover by a round of discharge measurements once

every 4 to 6 weeks each coverage taking about 2 weeks Betshy

ween trips he would do office work preferably on the same

stations that he covers in the field

28

4 Benefits of thissystem are believed to be as follows

a Records requested could be furnished more quickly to the

public especially to those in the district area

b This kind of a close tie between field and office work has

been found to greatly improve the quality of the records

the economy of operation and the performance and developshy

ment of the individual engineers

c The alternating of each person between field and office

work makes him (1) more competent in the field work and

also more competent in the office work than is possible

in segregated office and field groups and (2) permits

him to be home more of the time and lead a more normal

lifc thus increasing his morale and efficiency

5 Personnel arrangements recommended are

a Offer more rapid promotion to those who transfer like

from Manila to a field office or between field offices

b Encourage each man to transfer every few years with

faster promotions as an incentive It has been found

that this develops an engineers competence more rapidly

than if he stays in one office indefinitely Such ability

repays the government in added officiency and production

to an extent greater than its cost in extra salary

B Certain organization changes are recommended as follows

1 Appoint an Office Engineer a Field Engineer and (whenever

needed) a Construction Engineer They would be headquartered

__

V 29

2

~- ~

q

Ambuklao Dam on Agno River Generating capacity 75000 kw Powerplant is underground March 2557

7- t

-JI

Maria Cristina falls and power plant on Agus River River near Iligan Lanao Province Mindanao Present installed capacity 50000 kw May 1 1957

30

II I

Looking downstream at the Binga dam site on Agno River about 15 kilometers east of Baguio March 25 1957

Looking upstream at the Marikina dam site on Marikina River at Wawa near Montalban Rizal about 25 kilometers northeast of Manila April 5 1957

31

in the Manila office and act under the general supervision of

the head of the Section with the following responsibilities

to be included

a Office Engineer

(1) Be responsible for the discharge computations and

related office work in the Manila field district or

area

(2) Be responsible for review and final preparation for

publication of all records in the nation

(3) See that a progress chart of status-of-record compushy

tations is maintained in each district office and

that a summary statement concerning such progress is

sent to the central office at least quarterly

(4) Be responsible for research in office methods and

equipment (See footnote on next page)

b Field Engineer

(1) Act as first assistant to head of the Section of

Hydrography

(2) Be responsible for field operation vork throughout the

nation

(a) Make at least one annual field inspection in each

district

(b) Develop the system in every headquarters of keepshy

ing a running chronological chart of the discharge

measurements made at each gaging station or

32W

scheduled miscellaneous site A form in use in

Tacoma Washington has been found to be very conshy

venient for this purpose Such a chart gives the

supervisor a quick overall view of the status of

the field work and serves as a check at end of

the year to make sure all measurements have been

listed and counted

(3) Be responsible for the design of the stream gaging

network and the selection of sites for new gaging

stations

(4) Be responsible for research in field methods and

equipment

Construction Engineer

(1) Give general supervision and management to the conshy

struction program

(a) Obtain assignment of resident engineer or foreman

for each job

(b) See that the materials are made available Help

the foreman in every way possible in organizing

the job procuring emergency equipment or supplies

and making decisions about serious problems that

may arise on the job

If funds became available for considerable research it probably

would be better to appoint a special Research Engineer

33

~A

Cagayan River gaging station near Cagayan de OroMisamis Oriental Mindanao April 30 1957 Note how corrugated pipe recorder structure was bent by flood J C Regalado J J Ponco gagekeeper and G H Hargreaves in foreground

-

V

View of staff gage and control on Binakaan River at Tifigib near Pastrana Leyte Stream divided by a barand control excavated for unknown reason May 6 1957 J Regalado by the sign and G Hargreaves at right

Cable footbridge below Binga dam site Tree anchorage for cableway onformerly used by NPC in making Angat River above Ipo Damdischarge measurements P Nubio and March 13 1957E Abesamis of NPC on bridge March 25 1957

35

(c) Visit the major jobs occasionally to see that

they are proceding satisfactorily in all the

islands Make sure the stations are installed

according to instructions and plans An approved

sketch plan showing dimensions and elevations is

desirable for each construction job

(d) Prepare first draft of each new station description

(e) Prepare brief construction report including costs

A form in use at Tacoma Washington has been found

convenient for this purpose

C The following policies in regard to gagekeepers are recommended

1 Start a gradual change-over to paying each gagekeeper on basis

only of the hours he works plus a basic amount for taking the

responsibility This may result in increasing the pay of some

but it should reduce the pay of a much larger number

2 Convert most gagekeepers to two readings a day most of the time

with one or more additional readings during floods In some of

the drier parts of the Central Luzon area in cases where gages

are remote from habitation request only one reading a day

during the dry months such as from January through May inclushy

sive more than that are believed to cost more than they are

worth and are an open invitation to the reporting of estimated

readings

3 When a new recorder installation is at a barrio or bridge where

it appears unlikely to be vandalized try running the station

36

without hiring a gagekeeper If this system proves successful

discontinue the services of the gagekeepers at certain selected

recorders At all other recorders reduce the number of readshy

ings required to one per day and reduce their pay accordingly

If a gagekeeper prefers not to accept a lower monthly rate for

fewer readings it is suggested that he resign except in cases

where security of the station structures or right-of-way favors

may be involved

Proceed on the principle that a saving in public tax money from

the above reforms is more important than supporting gagekeepers

just because they depend on the income and need the money The

present dependence of a gagekeeper on his P300 or P360 a year

and the hardship he must undergo in adjusting to a lower rate

of pay for the job are not believed to be sufficient reasons

for continuing indefinitely to pay him more than necessary

However it is recommended that he be given 30 or 60 days

notice before a reduction in pay is placed in effect

D Vehicles

1 It is recommended that a gradual change-over be made from the

short-wheelbase open Jeep to the Jeep station wagon as a hydroshy

graphers car Benefits should be as follows

a The car can be locked leaving only the tires as attractive

to thieves

b The station wagon has more space As the hydrographers

became better equipped that space will be needed

37

Bamboo-and-grass shelters built and used by crew during construction of gaging station on Angat River above Ipo Dam March 13 1957

3

4

-Ti LP

Proposed site for new index-type gaging station selected on Baoas River near Mangatarem Pangasinan above all diversions by Regalado Romasanta dargreaves and Veatch April 15 1957 Photo by J S Romasanta

38

Taking Philippine Airlines plane at Legaspi Albayfor Manila on May 17 1957 Mount Mayon 7960 feet high in background

I

N 1 x

Y

I

Showing typical vehicle used on the reconnaissance and inspection trips over the Philippines

39

c For occasional errands or trips it will be feasible for

only oneman to take the car because he can lock the con

tents when the car is not attended

d It may possibly develop in some parts of the Philippines

that a hydrographer for a certain area will not need a

driver-helper and thereby a saving in funds can be made

However such a change should be made only on a trial

basis and is not recommended until conditions so warrant

and until the hydrographer involved is satisfied with the

change or else desires it

E Certain technical stream-gaging procedures are recommended to be

followed in the Philippine Islands hydrographic work at the average

gaging station by all agencies doing stream gaging as follows

1 Obtain a discharge measurement once every four to six weeks

throughout the year

2 Furnish the hydrographer with a print of the station descripshy

tion and of the rating curve and require him as a general rule

to compute and plot his discharge measurement in the field

3 Have the gage read both before and after each discharge measureshy

ment and the readings recorded on the field notes

4 Use a loose-leaf discharge-measurement note form or forms

containing a summary page patterned to some extent after the

forms in use by the USGS Bound notes make it too inconshy

venient or perhaps impossible for the office engineer to

examine the notes for a whole year when he analyzes a station

record

40

5 Gradually change to the use of ehameled steel gage plates

instead of painted gages because their initial cost is less

and they are more durable Plates graduated somewhat like

those of the US Geological Survey are believed much better

than those stocked by private companies While here I drew

up a suggested design for local manufacture which appealed

to the Hydrographic Section

6 Obtain levels at staff gages at least once a year especially

on the low section of gage Replace or repair each low secshy

tion soon after it becomes damaged or the markings become

indistinct

7 Continue as a general rule to use the 6-depth method with

the sub-surface method for deep swift water Obtain a comshy

plete cross section as soon as feasible after the high water

has subsided

8 Gradually change to the use of heavier sounding weights so

that the 6-depth method with soundings can be used at high

water in any event take soundings and velocities as far out

as practicable from each bank at flood stages then go across

deep part of channel with sub-surface method Check subshy

surface method coeficients whenever practicable by means of

vertical velocity curves Until such checks show otherwise

use a coefficient of 090

9 Compute discharge measurements by the mid-section method

This saves time (and money) and is at least as accurate as the

41

other method Request hydrographers to bear the method in mind

when selecting verticals near edges of channel or at breaks in

the cross section It is recommended that in the interests of

economy this change be made at an early date

10 Consider 20 as a desirable number of verticals in an average

stream cross section Continue to time the meter revolutions

for 40 to 60 seconds at each setting Someday if more accushy

racy is desired in hydrographic work in the Philippines it

would be appropriate to standardize on 30 verticals per measureshy

ment provided the 2-8 depth method were used and the gages

were read to fractions of a centimeter For the present it

seems consistent to take about 20 verticals when using the 6

method and with gages read only to the nearest centimeter

11 Use steel tag lines for wading measurements Paint bridge

rails and cables with markings sufficiently close together

that they can be used rapidly to determine stationing between

them When installing the paint marks use standard intervals

of either 1 meter 2 meters or 5 meters To avoid confusion

do not use intervals of 3 or 4 meters If measuring intervals

are to be 1 meter or less it is very convenient to have a

mark available every meter If intervals are between 1 and 5

meters use a mark every 2 meters A good system for making

the marks readily identifiable is to place 1 paint mark at

each basic interval like every 2 meters then put 2 marks every

10 meters 3 every 50 meters and 4 at 100 meters

42

use on12 Always tags the portion of the meter suspension line

that goes in the water The tags usually consist of small

pieces of colored cloth taped tightly to the line They

should be watched and checked occasionally against slippage

and error The tags should not be more than one meter apart

and should be spaced to give maximum convenience and speed in

measuring the discharge

13 As it may becoin feasible convert Type A current meters to

Type AA The more deeply recessed bearing of the Type AA

meter provides more durability of the pivot and bearing

because trapped air excludes most of the water and silt the

longer pivot results in a relatively lower center of gravity

of the bucke t wheel with respect to the point of bearing and

results in smoother performance

F Design of the stream gaging network

1 Everyone seem3 to agree with the objective of a network of

well-distributed long-term base stations for giving runoffshy

per-square-kilometer values representative of the general

area in which each station is located As rapidly as practishy

cable stations should be L d n the o ting netrk

and designated as base or index stations for permanent operashy

tion They should be the best stations both hydraulically

and as to equipment and should be free from upstream regushy

lation or diversion Where needed new base stations should

be installed as soon as they can be financed to appropriately

L11 out the network

43

2 In between such base stations it is desirable to sample smaller

basins with short-term records of various lengths which can be short term

correlated with the long records For this purpose thestashy

tion structures should be constructed so that they are as moveshy

able or salvageable as possiblej Often these movable stations

will be operated at or near specific project sites

3 It usually is more economical and satisfactory to gage a stream

at a highway crossing or other convenient place rather than

exactly at a project site later the data can be transferred

to the project site by means of drainage area proportions

checked by obtaining at the site e

two miscellaneous measurements or possibly in some cases a

whole year of record

4 A method for studying the existing network of stations to see

whether the intensity of coverage is satisfactory or not is to

plot correlations between the various station records prefershy

ably following the present methods of the USGS

5 It has been found advantageous to classify all gaging stations

that are in operation using categories somewhat like these

areal network base stations primary and secondary main stream

stations and water management stations This procedure is

helpful in planning how long various stations should be operated

Detailed information about station classification methods is

available from the U S Geological Survey for use as a guide

The Technical Training Program

Early plans

When this assignment was given to me it was anticipated that a

series of across-the-table discussions would be held with small groups

of hydrographers from the Philippine government bureaus engaging in

such work Detailed procedures would be discussed without formality

But when arrangements were initiated for such conferences I was inshy

formed that among those wanting to attend were many at the managerial

level as well as a number of representatives of agencies interested

more in water development projects than in resource investigations

These could not be turned down so it was necessary to revise the

agenda to include more of general interest

Later developments

In view of the wide experience and high rank of many prospective

attendants of the conference it did not seem appropriate to call it

a lecture series or school and the name Seminar On Water Resources

was decided upon The agenda is included in this report and will be

self-explanatory Registered attendance for each of the three weeks

was 68 72 and 70 persons respectively for a total of 210 The

setting for the Seminar can best be understood from the photographs

Conditions as a whole were good although the tape-recording of the

entire three weeks of proceedings and the need for a member to come

F M Veatch and Water Resources Seminar group week of April 8-12 1957 at Bureau of Public Highways conference building Manila

I y

rT

I

4

47

forward and use the microphone whenever he asked a question or made a

comment was somewhat of a dampener oh discussion When preparing the

agenda I assumed that few besides the hydrographers would attend the

sessions on technical details of stream gaging scheduled for Wednesday

to Friday yet the entire membership stayed through the full program

each week and so no small-group round-table discussions were practicable

It developed later that the language barrier was a little more

serious than first realized Also it was not evident at first that

many present did not know what a gaging station was One of the main

benefits gained from the field trip was to show them a typical station

along with some equipment Taken as a whole it is believed that the

Seminar was successful and worthwhile

The sending of trainees from the Hydrographic Section to the

United States by ICA is very effective in supplementing the technical

assistance rendered directly by American personnel in the Philippines

and it should be continued as long as possible

Acknowledgments

Announcements and invitations to attend the Seminar were sent to

numerous agencies and offices by the Hydrographic Section who also

made all arrangements such as for space registration loud speaker

system tape recordings and recess refreshments The Bureau of

Public Highways made their new conference building available and the

National Media Center furnished a slide projector screen and room

all of which were greatly appreciated The introductory talks by

48

several busy executives including Director J A Buendia and Messrs

A T Alano R R Lord P G Afable and D Rosell with Mr Tomas

Saddam acting as master of ceremonies contributed ideas and gave

each weeks session a good send-off

Publications

Copies of the following publications of the U S Geological

Survey (one by Bureau of Reclamation and one from ASCE) were disshyon

play at the Seminar at all times for inspection by the members Alshy

though they were requested not to take the publications away quite a

few copies gradually became missing

Irrigation Water Measurement Tables and Diagrams by U S

Bureau of Reclamation

ASCE Separate 413 - Backwater Effects of Open Channel

Constrictions

Stage-Fall Discharge Relation for Steady Flow in Prismatic

Channels Water-Supply Paper 1164

Topographic Characteristics of Drainage Basins W S P 968C

Weir Experiments Coefficients and Formulas WSP 200

Handbook for Hydrologists - Chapters 1 - 11

Chapter 1 -- Instructions for Flood Frequency Compilations

Chapter 2 -- ledian Discharge Computation Methods

Chapter 3 -- Instructions for Abstracting Topographic

Characteristics of Drainage Basins

i

-Imr- I

1 N

L

V10J~

C R Mirray explaining a ground water formula

Ii

17t

o

Water Resources Seminar group at gaging station on Marikina River near Montalban Rizal about an hours drive northeast of Manila April 12 1957

51

-- Channel Storage and Flood Routing

-- Extending Stream-flow Records

Chapter 6 -- Double Mass Curves

Chapter 7-A- Frequency Curves of Low Flows and Storage

Requirements

Chapter 8 -- Flood Frequency Analyses

Chapter 9 -- Small Stream Investigations

Chapter 10 - Hydrologic Definitions

Chapter 11 - Base-Flow Recession-Curves

Computation of Backwater at Open Channel Constrictions

Floods in Western Washington Frequency and Magnitude in

Relation to Drainage Basin Characteristics GS Circular 191

Floods in Georgia Frequency and Magnitude GS Circular 100

Stream-Gaging Procedure - A Manual Describing Methods and

Practice of the Geological Survey - WSP 888

Investigation of Methods and Equipment used in Stream Gaging

Part 2 Intakes For Gage Wells

Computation of Peak Discharge through Culverts

Computation of Backwater at Open-Channel Constrictions

Equipment for River Measurements Structures for Cableways

by Charles H Pierce

Computation of Peak Discharge at Contractions Circular 284

Care and Rating of Current Meters

Surface Water Supply o the United States 1950 Parts 1 - 14

52

In addition to the above publications a two-page single-spaced

memorandum entitled Plotting Flood Frequency Curves (Extracted from

U S Geological Survey publications) was prepared by me under date

of April 3 1957 and handed to each member of the Seminar each week

The program or agenda for the Seminar one copy of which was

given to each member follows on Pages 53 to 63 inclusive The

graphs on Page 63 were referred to during the talks

53

March 29 1957

AGENDA FOiR SEMINARZ ON WATER RESCURCES AND STAE4 GAGING

IN THE PHILIPPINES

PLACE Conference hoom 2nd Floor Bureau of Public Highways Building Second Street Port Area Manila

TIKE April 1-5 8-12 and 22-26 (same program each week)

CONDUCTED BY M1r i 1 Veatch District EngineerSurface WaterBranch Jater Aesources Division United States Geological Suver Thcoma ashington who is un three-month assignment with the ICA

Held in connoction with the Philippine Government-ICA water resources program

54

GENERAL PROGRAM MONDAY AND TUESDAY

honday morning 830

Opening remarks Mr Julian A Buendia Director Bureau of Fublic Works Mr R R Lord Chief Public Works Division ICA Mr G H Hargreaves Hydraulic Engineer ICA

Importance of water resources and their investigation

The hydrologic cycle Evaporation transpiration and precipitation Runoff

Daily discharge record and the hydrograph Storm runoff Base flow

Grou~nd Water Very brief description (this subject to be covered

iaore fully on Tuesday afternoon)

General characteristics of natural stream runoff in the Philippines Quantity

Adequacy Comparison with United States

Variations with time Day to day and year to year Long-term trends

Distributin by area General over the Philippine Islands Variations between nearby drainage basins

Effect of location elevation geology cover etc

Major uses of stream-flow data Many years of rccornds should be crnsidered Granting water r phts

Protect existing rights Prevent capital expenditures where water supply inadequate

Planning river basin developments including municipal supply irrigation pnwer flood control etc

Destping structures such as dams reservoirs dikes floodways canals pumping systems power plants bridges etc

Accuracy and extent of dat needed for minimizing underdesign or wasteful overdesign

Cost of water-supply data in relation to total cost of a project

Operating water projects Distribution of water on projects Operation of storage reservoirs and diversion dams

To make maximum use uf water supply Designing alterations or enlargements to existing projects

RECESS 1000 to 1015

55 -3-

Monday morning (Continued) 1015 aim

Management of the stream gaging program Foreseeing the needs for stream-flow records

Study population and industrial trends Keep inforned on water-development plans and

prgraIIs of all agencies Continuity of the records

Essential for wator-supply studies Regular financinp reouired

Annual appropriations a poundfccted by temporary econoidc or political conditions

Permanent type of financing needed Surcharge method License fee method

-Dissemination of the data Annual publication Occasional summary compilations Furnishing advance cupies of unpublished records Furnishing current data - daily weekly or munthly

wherever required Special water resources investigation agency desirable

Briefly dancribe United States organization Uniform tecnical standards Uniform ways of presenting data One series of publicatiens Distributial center for basic water data Genera l-coverage program requires close coordination

for economy of operation Personal requirements

Engineers Engir ring aids Computers Clerks

ADJOURN - 1145

Resume after lunch only if necessary for completing the above subjects

56

Tueday morning 830

Design of a comprehensive stream gjaging program General rrinciIlac

Represenkc tive runoff-type provinces should be sainpled with stations of various classes

Vary the intensity of coverage with probable intenshysity of water use

Follow tiie tcends variations with records fromand L sri etatiorns secondary

Correlate resultls one continually adjustnetwork Classification of ra-in stationa

Areal prinary and secondary viain strem priiary nd secondary Water-manmfciact stat-i ons Miscellanous dischaige mcasurements

Correlating the dat obttined in comprehensive program Logarithmic pajer Five years of lecord uscd What is a good corrclation

Analyses of data Flood frcouencjs

Annual serics Partial duration series

Low-flow frecuencies Low-flow duration hydrograph

Extending strewm-flow records Comparisons witi other gaging stations Rainfall-runoff correlations

Quality of water Temperature

Intermittent observations Recorders

Chemical gtuality Element -Dissolved solids

Suspended iaterial Time of cecurrence-floods Sampling

Methods Cost

RECESS - 1000 to 1015

57

- 5 -

Tuesday afternoon 130

Ground water (This subject conducted by Mr C R Murray) Occurrence

Water table Artesian Lakes

Movement Through the ground Into stream channels

Availability Geologic structure Aquifers Funing tests

Recharge Froa precipitation Artificial Froma induced lateral movement

Investigation Geology Springs Logs of dug and drilled wells Test wells

lecording Lanual

Quantitative studies Chemical quality analyses

Mincral ccontnt Sallt water intrusion

Drilling of wells for production use Ground water rirhts

Depletion of ground water reservoirs teyond rccharge capability

ADJOURN at 330

Geologist Ground Water Branch dater Resources Division U 6 Geological Survey who is on two-ywar assignment with ICA

58

PROGRAM ON STREMvi GAGING PROCEDURE WEDNESDAY TO FRIDAY

4ednesday morning 830

Establishing and constructing gaging stations Selection of site

Consider najor probable uses of the record Investigate extent of upstream diversion and

-egulation Utilize contour naps Obtain list of nmrjor water right applications

iydraulic conditicns Section control Shifting channel Overbank flow Dackwater

Accessibility Avoid too much expense Need to reach quickly to measure flash floods

Natural protection front flood damage Avoid excessively expensive construction conditions

Bed iock Quick sand Too-longintake pipes

For non-rccording gage choose site convenient to

one or more local gage readers

Survey of site Bank cross-prefile at gage Cross section at cable Plan

Right of way Oral pervrission ritten permission

Easement Land purchase

RECESS - 945 to 1000

- 7 - 59

Wednesday morning (Continued) 100)

Construction Select types and sizes of structures To fit purpose oi the record Plan later salva e (for secondary stations) For economy of operation (for example design cableway to

operat mesily) Adapt availabic standard plans to fit the site Keep costs to hclp in future estimating Make brief construction report for future assistance in

planninr sililar Jobs Prepare staLion descripLion

Road log distences etc for How to reach paragraph Descriptions of gages bench marks etc Dimensions cf structuis Gage datum elevations of portinent parts of structures

Operating and maintaining gaging stations Records of stage

Choice of dtum Arbitrcry local datum

Set gages so there will be no minus gage readings

Mean sea level datum May be used but has disadvantages

1hen later adjustments are made to level networks

Gages have to be reset or Equation must be published

Non-recording gages Types

Vertical staff Inclined staff

ire-weight Crest-stage gages

Refinement of graduations ake adequate for accuracy of record needed

Maintatling dat of gage Adequate number of local reference marks Take levels at least once a year

Work o- local gare reader Fy according to approx number of hours worked Do not roruire too many roadings for the

conditions Warm (with omphasis) against my guessed

readings Inform reader anv errors in reading will

show up in hydrogrq oic comtparisons Engineers obtain check readings whenever

possible Visit gage reader frequently a d show inshy

terest in his gage-height record Encourage reader to retain personal copy

ADJOURN at 1145

60

Thursday morning 800

Records of stage (continued) Recording gages

Select type of instrument and its scales to fit conditions at gaging station

Weekly or continuous recorder Recorder scales Range of stage Rate of change of stage Availability of someone to change weekly

chart Work of Cage inspector of keeper

Avoid resetting pen Repurt any trash or debris causing backwater

at gage Do not have a gage keeper unless needed

aintaining gage datum Check outside gae by levels annually Keep outside gage sections reset to datum

Standard reference gage Inside gage of soie sort preferable

Staff Float-tape Anchor type

Intake action Clean or flush pipes after floods Slot intakes Self-cleaning iitakes

For pipe gage wells For wells built into bridge piers

Draw-down (where excessive) Use bapfle or static tube

Elood marks at station Make record of well-defined high water

marks

AECESS - 945 to 1000

- 9 - 61

Thursday morning (Continudd) 1000

Discharge measuroments Current hmeters

Price Type A Type AA

Pygmpy Carc of inters

Sounding weights E-typc C-type

Lead Brono

Type of notebook Loose shects Loose-leaf book Bound booL

Measurement of depth aeding rod Tag-line nethod Vertical-nglc coofficients Sounding during floods

Ilacemont of mter Sub--surface method 2-depth n cthod 6-de-pth icthod 2- imetY od

Number of verticals Velocity -urgcs

Miscellaneous f-ctors Effect of bridge piers Horizontal angle of current Insufficient weight on current water

1Mean gage hoitht for a discharge measurement Special methods of (Itermining flood discharge

Floats Slope-area method

Rating curv- etonsion method Arca and velocity curves Loparithmic plottig

Contrqctd-opening mothod Flow ovcr dams

Report on condition of control Carry station description and rating curve in field

Ubtain another me asurement if needed If first indicates large shift If new station and stagc advantagoous for

defining blank part of rating curve

ADJOUffN - 1145 AI

Resumne atfter lunch only if necessary for comploting the above subjects

62

- 10 -

Friday morning S00

A few remarks about office methods Rating curves

Log-log paper Upward extonsions Dowmward extensions

Rectangular plotting Computing recorder charts

M-ark index correction and time correction for each inspection reading

Break midnight lines at raph Never oblitertte or mark over the original trace Nake office markings on chart distinctive from

those mad( At the gage Use of colored pencils by computer and checker is one good wa)y

Daily discharge record Flot hydrograph Compare over light box with other stations

This method preferable to plotting several station records on same sheet

Concluding discussions

RECESS - 945 to 1000

Projection of gaging station equipment Lnd scenic slides taken in the United States and Canada

ADJOURN - 1145

Field trip Cars will be available at the conference building to

take members to the raging station on arikina iRivei at ontalban about an hours drive from Manila where a brief demonstration of certain field equipment will be given

Return to noL later thanoanila 500 FL

---

- Ishy4 ~7L~

0F OllY LISCIiRE 4- 1 -shy

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- O 1 B -- 2r 2 ZZ 23 24 2 c 26 7 8 2717x I 2

_~ I 027 _d- 1 2 shy

7 -

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- _______________ Pnu~ OAgvhshy

-~ ~-r- 1 - V-shy- i-shytvkty--- in--a-- -~ ~Z2m7~ ~

- ~ ~-~-----~- V 1~5~ LTLL2P7o -4----4 1 -- I -- I I _ __ --- -- -- - - L - - I ----

~- ~y~-~ 64 4

N

A il

Seminar members observing demonshystrat-n of measurshying e -pment by F M Veatch at Marikina River gaging station April 12 1957

I

Water Resources Seminar members observing working model of proppsed Binga Dam at the hydraulics laboratory of University of the Philippines April 12 1957

65

Current meter rating flume mechanism Y 22 1957

Current meter rating flume mechanism May 22 1957

66

Current Meter Rating Station

The new current meter rating station at the University of the

Philippines (see photographs) was not quite ready for use before I

left the country The mechanism and instruments were manufactured

in Germanyobtained thru ICA-NEC procurement for the Water Resources

Program of the Department of Public Works and have been installed by

Professor Alberto Villares and his hydraulics laboratory staff under

Dean C A Ortigas of the College of Engineering with some guidance

by Professor Edward L Ericksen of the University of Michigan who is

a civil engineer on detail here with the Stanford Group Professor

Villares spent 18 months in the hydraulics laboratory of the Univershy

sity of Iowa

There is every evidence that this rating flume will with expeshy

rience do work accurate enough not only for determining differences

in ratings between current meters but also for preparing absolute or

independent ratings This can be reported on more fully at some

later date by Messrs Hargreaves and Snell

The Central Luzon Region Program

The Water Resources Development Committee is preparing a recomshy

mended plan for the expedited multiple-purpose development of the

water resources of the Central Luzon region The area contains oneshy

sixteenth of the land surface and one-fourth of the population of the

Philippines and is termed the rice granary of the nation It is to

be used as an example or experiment in water and land development

67

The Committee has requested member agencies to submit estimates

of the minimum amount of additional basic data needed for making a

useful report and for proceeding with development projects Such

estimates are to include mapping soil surveys dam and reservoir site

surveys water resources surveys and other items A preliminary

report is to be prepared soon summarizing the existing information

pointing out the need for additional dataand submitting estimates

of cost for the further investigations needed An outline for the

final report has been prepared and distributed so it will be availashy

ble as a guide and funds for the first years efforts are being

sought for fiscal year 1958 It appears reasonable that the report

on a comprehensive plan could be submitted to the President and

Congress of the Philippines in about five years

With the assistance of Mr Hargreaves I have prepared estimates

for a surface water measurement program to complement the existing

program It is designed to fill the worst gaps in the present netshy

work Details are subject to change as more reconnaissance informashy

tion becomes available as only five days were spent covering the area

by automobile Unit costs were provided by the Hydrographic Section

and they include cost of preparation of the records for publication

Estimates were submitted as given below They were supported by a

detailed list of stream names and locations which included desigshy

nations as to the primary purpose or type of each proposed new gaging

station and whether a recording or non-recording gage was recommended

It is available for reference in both the ydrographic Section and

ICA offices

68

New gaging stations

1 Daily discharge type

Installation (including cableways where needed)

Recording ------- 7 Pl650 11550

Non-recording --- 4 950 3800 15350

Operation 1st year -11 660 7260 P22610

2 High water type (flood records)

Installation

Gages (nonshy

recording) ----- 4 150 600

Measuring equipment 800 1400

Operation 1st year - 4 300 1200 2600

Total for new gaging stations ------------- 25210

Miscellaneous discharge measurements

1 4 or 5 during dry season Nov - April

4 sites x 5 per site = 20 30 ---------------- 600

2 1 or 2 during low part of year March and April

37 sites x l per site = 55 k30 ------------- 1650

Total for miscellaneous measurements ------ 2250

Total -------------- -2746o

69

Rainfall And Evaporation Stations

Existing network

A map examination of the existing network of rain gages was made

and a surprisingly large number were found to be in operation -- 2

recording and 115 manual stations or a total of 117 They are beshy

lieved to be fairly adequate in number and are well distributed

areally over the Philippines but like in the United States are conshy

fined largely to the lower altitudes where the agricultural and urban

population live In addition to these records are available for

various lengths of time from about 8 discontinued Weather Bureau

stations and from more than 300 haciendas reforestaion stations

and provincial rnrseries

Additional gages

The Weather Bureau and the Bureau of Public Works are cooperating

in the installation of some new rainfall stations at higher altitudes

part of which will utilize new instruments purchased with ICA aid

funds Some of the instruments will be installed at existing nonshy

recording stations Forty new installations are proposed for 1958

fiscal year It is now recognized that rainfall station coverage at

higher altitudes is needed in order to furnish records that can be

correlated with the long-term valley records and also with the gaging

station discharge records D

70

Weather station maintained by Bureau of Public WorksIrrigation Division near Tuguegarao Cagayan From left to right N Ciriaco District Hydrographer drivershyhelper observer J G Garcia hydrographer J C Regalado and G H Hargreaves May 13 1957

Weather station at Pototan Iloilo Panay A Lacuestadistrict bydro-rapher standing May 5 1957

71

Group luncheon at Tacloban Leyte typical of the hospitality received by us during inspection tour of the Philippines From left to right M Rico irrig distr engr G Hargreaves G Araos E N Salazar P Formilleza L Abella S Velasco JCRegalado V H Sydiongoo distr hydrographer I M Ortega Oscar de Venecia and N Oliver May 7 1957

ICA Public Works Division March 1957 From left to right C R Murray A A Ketchum asat Div head J B Delaney I J Silverstone Sofia Halili 0 H Hosmer R R Lord Div head B B Hill Betty Valdez G H Hargreaves J L Brenden FM Veatch

72

Evaporation stations

Fifteen double-pan (one open and one partially shaded) evaporation

stations with rainfall temperature wind and humidity instruments as

auxiliary are being operated in the Philippines and ten more are to

follow next year They are well distributed over the islands and

should furnish data of great value for reservoir design Thq reccrds

will be publish3d

Publication of rainfall data

All rainfall reccrds are published annually by the Weather Bureau

whose 1954 volume is the latest one printed The 1955 issue should be

released soon One excellent source of information for anyone studyshy

ing rainfall data in the Philippines is the publication The Distrishy

bution of Rainfall In The Philippines by Eugenio B Manalo Chief

Climatological Division Weather Bureau Manila This contains

valuable descriptive material tables of monthly and annual values

and mean monthly and annual isohyets in inches An inspection or

study of the monthly isohyetal maps shows clearly how storm patterns

change with the seasons in certain parts of the Philippines and that

73

in other areas the rain is almost evenly distributed throughout the

year The long dry season of Manila and the central Luzon plains is

graphically portrayed by the isohyets Mr Manalos publication

should be of great benefit to government agencies and private parties

or individuals in connection with agricultural and business activities

over the islands It is presumed that the isohyets will warrant some

revision after another 5 or 10 years as more records especially those

at higher altitudes become available

Sediment Measurement Stations

Practically no silt-sampling has been done in the Philippines

to date and no extensive program is believed possible because of the

lack of funds For the present it is recommended that every governshy

ment field hydrographer be equipped with a thermomater and a turbidity

stick and required to report a spot water temperature and turbidity

reading at time of each discharge measurement Thus without extra

cost a large amount of data can be accumulated which after several

years should make it possible to determine what streams are the

siltiest and where more detailed studies might be needed Whenever a

reservoir project reaches the intensive-investigation stage including

dam-site drilling detailed topography etc it is recommended that

a complete sediment sampling station be operated there for at least

one full flood season before the project feasibility report is

completed

74

Statement Before Water Resources Development Committee

On March 20 1957 I presented the following statement regarding

the streamflow measurement program in the Philippines

The Philippine Republic is blessed with an excellent supply of

water of good quality but much of it is wasted to the sea during the

rainy season The development of this resource is vitally important

to the nation and it involves the storing of flood waters for dryshy

season release Where investments are to be made for construction of

dams etc in the development of irrigation power production and

flood control large sums can easily be wasted through overdesign or

underdesign if enough engineering data are not available Conflicting

or competing uses for the water supplies will gradually develop in

your country the same as they have in the United States If water

rights are to be granted fairly with due regard for all prior users

many years of basic data are necessary so that the long-term water

supply can be estimated For this purpose a good network of stream

gaging records and ground water levels must be secured One would

not attempt to manage the money in a bank without bookkeeping and it

is just as important to have an accounting system when managing water

The sound economical procedure is to base all project designs on as

complete engineering information as can be obtained

The ICA is attempting to assist the Philippine Government in

planning the orderly development of its water resources and we are

concerned that too many structures may be built before accurate

9i

hydrologic data are available for their design For this reason we

strongly urge you to improve the basic data gathering program at the

earliest possible date as follows

(1) Review and publish the stream-flow records that have been

obtained since the war

(2) Finance an expanded program of stream-flow measurement and

ground water study

The Bureau of Public Works has prepared preliminary estimates of

the funds needed for bringing publication of basic data up to date and

for expanding the wiater resources investigation program The attached

copies of estimates are of course provisional and subject to revision

but it is suggested that they be placed in the files of this Committee

for future reference The figure of P56oooo for publication is a

fairly firm figure It is suggested that the Committee take immeshy

diate action to further the procurement of these funds

The procurement of water resources data is a specialized field

requiring engineers and other technical men with a high degree of

education Years must be spent in training them in such special

work The men must endure rigorous physical work corbatting the

elements and using resourcefulness and judgment It is very uneconoshy

mical and unsatisfactory to have a technical organization of that kind

subject to occasional and unpredictable severe cuts in appropriations

It is even more unsatisfactory to have the time sequence of basic

water data collection interrupted and valuable records lost forever

16 8

hational Power Corp staff gage painted on streamward side of cliff Lower markings gone and gagekeeper determines gage heights three times a day by wading to gage and measuring down with rule as shown in this picture Bokod R at Boiod Benguet Mountain Province March 26 1957

Bureau of Public Works staff gage station Gagekeeper has made readingsby measuring down from a nail since this section of gage was washed out by a flood Madlum River near Sibul Springs Bulacan April 25 1957

17

The only difficulty with counterpart financing is that it is

temporary and could conceivably leave the program stranded in a few

years when ICA aid is discontinued The necessity is recognized for

gradually obtaining regular Congressional appropriations to take the

place of counterpart funds An effort will also be made to have a

performance type of budget accepted because line items make the

program inflexible and prevent the best management and economy

It is recommended that other agencies desiring for their projects

certain stream flow records which cannot be financed from the regular

budget of the Hydrographic Section transfer funds annually (either in

advance or on a reimbursement basis) to the Hydrographic Section to

pay the extra costs required for the fulfilment of their requests

Design of the stream gaging program

As mentioned above the fiscal arrangements prevailing up to this

time have resulted in an almost total emphasis on project-type gaging

stations in the Philippines However I believe everyone is now in

agreement with the desirability or need for a nation-wide network of

index or runoff-per-square-kilometer type of stations which will sample

various runoff provinces such as those with different exposures to storms

and having different topography altitude geology type of land cover

etc The intensity of the network of stations in different regions

would vary depending upon the apparent future economic value or worth

of the water in each area This will be discussed in more detail in

the recommendations

18

In order to look over the existing program observe something of

the technical methods in use and see a variety of runoff and economic

types of areas in the islands to gain an idea of the type of stream

gaging network needed I have visited several regions accompanied most

of the time by Mr George Hargreaves It has been very helpful to me

to have him take such an interest in the detailed objectives of ry

assignment and I am sure it will facilitate Mrs Snellas work a great

deal to have available for consultation and guidance Mr Hargreaves

wide experience in water resources development and investigations

We were accompanied by Mr J C Regalado of the ydrographic Section

who made most of the advance contacts with field offices in connecshy

tion with our trips We usually travelled to central points by Philshy

ippine Air Lines and were then driven to nearby areas by field officials

of the Hydrographic Section and other agencies The hospitality and

cooperation of everyone toward us was exceptional and much appreciated

Besides a fairly detailed coverage of the Central Luzon area where an

intensified program is proposed our inspections included Northern

Luzon Southern Luzon (the Bicol region) Leyte Panay and several

parts of Mindanao In addition we made a special effort to observe

the country all along the routes of airplane flights taken and that

coupled with airplane stops made on other islands gave us a fairly

comprehensive view of the geography of the Philippines It is upon

this that my recommendations concerning the design of a stream gaging

program are based

19

Bquipment and technical methods-

The stream gaging equipment and methods used by the Hydrographic

Section since 1908 have been patterned mainly after those of the US

Geological Survey as described in the 1904 publication H4ydrographic

Manual Thus it appears likely that the methods and accuracy stanshy

dards have changed but little since the Philippine program was started

Stream gaging tecniques used by the other agencies are similar but

they have not had the advantage of some of the new ICA-furnished equipshy

ment This is expected to be remedied in the aid allocations for fiscal

year 1958

Although some use has been made of the 2-8 method of measuring

discharge present practice is limited almost entirely to the 6method

for low and medium stages and the sub-surface method for high stages

for the latter the meter is suspended over a 15-E weight and set 03

meter below the surface with a coefficient of 0915 applied

The number of verticals or measuring points taken in the cross

section usually is between 8 and 15 No bridge cranes or suspension

reels of any kind have been available all discharge work other than

with wading rod having been done by hand line All this is about to

be changed with the recent arrival of the first ICA-furnished sounding

reels weights and tag lines purchased from 1956 FY funds

Staff gages are read to the nearest centimeter (about 0033 foot)

Most of the gages would be difficult to read to any closer limit alshy

though a few stations have Leupold Stevens enameled gages with levelshy

rod type markings

20

The hydrographer records his discharge measurement notes in a

small bound pocket-size book which he carries until it is full After

each measurement is computed in the field a complete copy of the notes

is made on a card and mailed to the Manila office I am informed

that the bound notebooks are practically never lost or dropped in

the water With the increased amount of flood measuring expected to

be done in the future that situation might change

Rating curves are drawn to average large groups of discharge

measurements Large rectangular-scale cross section sheets are used

Percentage differences of the measured values with respect to the

rating table are not computed A minimum of use is made of Stoutshy

method shifts

The water-stage recorders furnished to date by the ICA have been

manufactured with time scales of either 03 inch per day (the FM

model) or 48 inches per day (the A-35 model) The former scale is

too small for satisfactory use in most stream gaging and the latter

is too large Thirty pairs of time scale gears have been ordered for

converting the A-35s from 48 to 24 inches per day Upon inquiry at

the factory it was learned that no conversion of the FM recorders is

possible An exchange of 25 of them is being made with the ground

water program for an equivalent value in A-35 recordero but the

remaining 65 will be used at the surface water stations They are

very satisfactory on lakes or spring-fed streams or large streams

whose fluctuations are not too sudden

21

Ipo dam on Angat River which diverts water to supply City of Manila and surrounding area March 13 1957 Reservoir is traversed by boat in reaching the gaging station upstream

Ready to leave Ipo Dam for gaging station 6 kilqmeters upstream B Ramos and J Regalado in oanca March 13 1957

4 ~ s~

B Ramos making discharge measurement by wading on Angat River above Ipo DamMarch 13 1957 Spacings between verticals were obtained from cable makings byline hanging from cable car

23

At non-recording gages it has been the custom to hire gagekeepers

at uniform or statutory rates of 025 or P30 per month (not related

to the distance traversed in going to the gage) to obtain readings

three times a day The pay has been the same even where the gage is

located several kilometers away from the gagekeepers home The system

has certain disadvantages which may affect the accuracy of the records

At some stations the pay is too high while at others it is too low

Three readings a day are not necessary most of the time for adequately

developing the hydrograph especially during the dry season and a

request for obviously unnecessary readings seems to put too severe a

test upon human nature It is practically an open invitation to a

certain amount of faking I doubt that it should be held against a

gagekeeper to put down some estimated readings under those circumstances

any more than it would be to blame children for taking candy or cookies

from a forbidden plate left openly in their midst The question then

becomes - what readings can be relied upon and what cannbt I sincerely

believe that a more accurate daily discharge record can be prepared in

the office from a few completely reliable gage readinrs per week by

means of hydrographic comparisons with recording-gage records from

nearby stations and with less expense than can be produced by proshy

cessing comparing and weeding out questionable parts from a complete

(on paper) record of three readings a day A gagekeepers habit

developed during the dry season of not going to the gage when it is

inconvenient or he doesnt feel like it is bound to crop up during

the high water season as well with the result that all his readings

24

must be looked at critically and considered reliAble only after

unusually extensive comparisons are made with weather records and

other stations

In regard to specialized stream gaging equipment listed below

are the amounts purchased by the ICA up to the present time

Ordered from Ordered from Being FY 1955 PPA 1956 PPA ordered Delivered in Delivered in from 1957

May 1956 May 1957 PPA

Canfield reels 0 6 8

Type A reels 0 6 2

Canfield tag lines 0 15 0

A-35 recorders 20 10 25

FM recorders 65 25 0

Enameled gage secs 400 600 200

Currer meter outfits inc ding rod headphonehanuline and 15-pound weight 11 10 0

Pygmy meters 0 0 10

Bridge cranes 0 3 0

Sounding wts 30-lb 0 0 10

50-lb 0 0 10

I i 75-lb 0 0 1

I 100-lb 0 0 1

Stopwatches 20 10 0

Being purchased as models for possible future use in procurement of

weights of local manufacture

25

~-

-~ ~- shy

~-

4rshy~~L~zu 1 - ~ A-

-~ - ~jj ~

~- k ~ ~

Helper and P Nubio National Power Corporationpreparing to make discharge measurement Tag marks of grass being tied to line Bantay River near Bokod Benguet Mountain Province March 26 1957

-- ~ 4

V

Helper holding meter in place suspended on a weight hanger while revolutions are counted oy hydrographer P Nubio E P Nbesamis is at extreme right March 26 1957

26

-p --shy

t-~-- - -

A ~

A~4 ~ 4

A -Y

- -

- - - -

gt~ ~ ~-

Z4z4a - ~z

- shy -~-~shy

4shy- --

I NPC discharge party on Bokod River at-Bokod BenguetMountain Province Helper and gagekeeper holding meter and 15-pound weight in position P Nubio on shore counting revolutions and recording notes March 26 1957

Ar 7

-~ I

0 I 15-pound weight used in discharge measurement work by the NPC hydrographer stationed at Ambuklao Dam March 26 1957

27

Recommendations

A sharp expansion in the stream gaging program of the Philippines

has occurred recently brought about not only by the ICAs economic and

technical aid program but also by the growing local demand for water

resources information It is inevitable that some organizational

changes would be required to accommodate such a sudden growth This

subject was discussed in conferences with Mr Saddam and Mr Regalado

and the following list of special objectives agreed upon They had a

number of these in mind or partly in effect already and were planning

to gradually adopt several others The items are listed here in order

to express my reasons for wanting to see them completely implemented

within the next two or three years They are as follows

A It is recommended that the district offices compute their own disshy

charge records and prepare them for publication for final review

in the central office in ranila

1 Additional engineers would be needed in each district office

and fewer engineers in the Manila office

2 At least the district hydrographer and preferably one other

engineer in addition should be trained in the office work in

Manila before the records were transferred to a district

3 Each engineer in a district office would be given a field area

which he would cover by a round of discharge measurements once

every 4 to 6 weeks each coverage taking about 2 weeks Betshy

ween trips he would do office work preferably on the same

stations that he covers in the field

28

4 Benefits of thissystem are believed to be as follows

a Records requested could be furnished more quickly to the

public especially to those in the district area

b This kind of a close tie between field and office work has

been found to greatly improve the quality of the records

the economy of operation and the performance and developshy

ment of the individual engineers

c The alternating of each person between field and office

work makes him (1) more competent in the field work and

also more competent in the office work than is possible

in segregated office and field groups and (2) permits

him to be home more of the time and lead a more normal

lifc thus increasing his morale and efficiency

5 Personnel arrangements recommended are

a Offer more rapid promotion to those who transfer like

from Manila to a field office or between field offices

b Encourage each man to transfer every few years with

faster promotions as an incentive It has been found

that this develops an engineers competence more rapidly

than if he stays in one office indefinitely Such ability

repays the government in added officiency and production

to an extent greater than its cost in extra salary

B Certain organization changes are recommended as follows

1 Appoint an Office Engineer a Field Engineer and (whenever

needed) a Construction Engineer They would be headquartered

__

V 29

2

~- ~

q

Ambuklao Dam on Agno River Generating capacity 75000 kw Powerplant is underground March 2557

7- t

-JI

Maria Cristina falls and power plant on Agus River River near Iligan Lanao Province Mindanao Present installed capacity 50000 kw May 1 1957

30

II I

Looking downstream at the Binga dam site on Agno River about 15 kilometers east of Baguio March 25 1957

Looking upstream at the Marikina dam site on Marikina River at Wawa near Montalban Rizal about 25 kilometers northeast of Manila April 5 1957

31

in the Manila office and act under the general supervision of

the head of the Section with the following responsibilities

to be included

a Office Engineer

(1) Be responsible for the discharge computations and

related office work in the Manila field district or

area

(2) Be responsible for review and final preparation for

publication of all records in the nation

(3) See that a progress chart of status-of-record compushy

tations is maintained in each district office and

that a summary statement concerning such progress is

sent to the central office at least quarterly

(4) Be responsible for research in office methods and

equipment (See footnote on next page)

b Field Engineer

(1) Act as first assistant to head of the Section of

Hydrography

(2) Be responsible for field operation vork throughout the

nation

(a) Make at least one annual field inspection in each

district

(b) Develop the system in every headquarters of keepshy

ing a running chronological chart of the discharge

measurements made at each gaging station or

32W

scheduled miscellaneous site A form in use in

Tacoma Washington has been found to be very conshy

venient for this purpose Such a chart gives the

supervisor a quick overall view of the status of

the field work and serves as a check at end of

the year to make sure all measurements have been

listed and counted

(3) Be responsible for the design of the stream gaging

network and the selection of sites for new gaging

stations

(4) Be responsible for research in field methods and

equipment

Construction Engineer

(1) Give general supervision and management to the conshy

struction program

(a) Obtain assignment of resident engineer or foreman

for each job

(b) See that the materials are made available Help

the foreman in every way possible in organizing

the job procuring emergency equipment or supplies

and making decisions about serious problems that

may arise on the job

If funds became available for considerable research it probably

would be better to appoint a special Research Engineer

33

~A

Cagayan River gaging station near Cagayan de OroMisamis Oriental Mindanao April 30 1957 Note how corrugated pipe recorder structure was bent by flood J C Regalado J J Ponco gagekeeper and G H Hargreaves in foreground

-

V

View of staff gage and control on Binakaan River at Tifigib near Pastrana Leyte Stream divided by a barand control excavated for unknown reason May 6 1957 J Regalado by the sign and G Hargreaves at right

Cable footbridge below Binga dam site Tree anchorage for cableway onformerly used by NPC in making Angat River above Ipo Damdischarge measurements P Nubio and March 13 1957E Abesamis of NPC on bridge March 25 1957

35

(c) Visit the major jobs occasionally to see that

they are proceding satisfactorily in all the

islands Make sure the stations are installed

according to instructions and plans An approved

sketch plan showing dimensions and elevations is

desirable for each construction job

(d) Prepare first draft of each new station description

(e) Prepare brief construction report including costs

A form in use at Tacoma Washington has been found

convenient for this purpose

C The following policies in regard to gagekeepers are recommended

1 Start a gradual change-over to paying each gagekeeper on basis

only of the hours he works plus a basic amount for taking the

responsibility This may result in increasing the pay of some

but it should reduce the pay of a much larger number

2 Convert most gagekeepers to two readings a day most of the time

with one or more additional readings during floods In some of

the drier parts of the Central Luzon area in cases where gages

are remote from habitation request only one reading a day

during the dry months such as from January through May inclushy

sive more than that are believed to cost more than they are

worth and are an open invitation to the reporting of estimated

readings

3 When a new recorder installation is at a barrio or bridge where

it appears unlikely to be vandalized try running the station

36

without hiring a gagekeeper If this system proves successful

discontinue the services of the gagekeepers at certain selected

recorders At all other recorders reduce the number of readshy

ings required to one per day and reduce their pay accordingly

If a gagekeeper prefers not to accept a lower monthly rate for

fewer readings it is suggested that he resign except in cases

where security of the station structures or right-of-way favors

may be involved

Proceed on the principle that a saving in public tax money from

the above reforms is more important than supporting gagekeepers

just because they depend on the income and need the money The

present dependence of a gagekeeper on his P300 or P360 a year

and the hardship he must undergo in adjusting to a lower rate

of pay for the job are not believed to be sufficient reasons

for continuing indefinitely to pay him more than necessary

However it is recommended that he be given 30 or 60 days

notice before a reduction in pay is placed in effect

D Vehicles

1 It is recommended that a gradual change-over be made from the

short-wheelbase open Jeep to the Jeep station wagon as a hydroshy

graphers car Benefits should be as follows

a The car can be locked leaving only the tires as attractive

to thieves

b The station wagon has more space As the hydrographers

became better equipped that space will be needed

37

Bamboo-and-grass shelters built and used by crew during construction of gaging station on Angat River above Ipo Dam March 13 1957

3

4

-Ti LP

Proposed site for new index-type gaging station selected on Baoas River near Mangatarem Pangasinan above all diversions by Regalado Romasanta dargreaves and Veatch April 15 1957 Photo by J S Romasanta

38

Taking Philippine Airlines plane at Legaspi Albayfor Manila on May 17 1957 Mount Mayon 7960 feet high in background

I

N 1 x

Y

I

Showing typical vehicle used on the reconnaissance and inspection trips over the Philippines

39

c For occasional errands or trips it will be feasible for

only oneman to take the car because he can lock the con

tents when the car is not attended

d It may possibly develop in some parts of the Philippines

that a hydrographer for a certain area will not need a

driver-helper and thereby a saving in funds can be made

However such a change should be made only on a trial

basis and is not recommended until conditions so warrant

and until the hydrographer involved is satisfied with the

change or else desires it

E Certain technical stream-gaging procedures are recommended to be

followed in the Philippine Islands hydrographic work at the average

gaging station by all agencies doing stream gaging as follows

1 Obtain a discharge measurement once every four to six weeks

throughout the year

2 Furnish the hydrographer with a print of the station descripshy

tion and of the rating curve and require him as a general rule

to compute and plot his discharge measurement in the field

3 Have the gage read both before and after each discharge measureshy

ment and the readings recorded on the field notes

4 Use a loose-leaf discharge-measurement note form or forms

containing a summary page patterned to some extent after the

forms in use by the USGS Bound notes make it too inconshy

venient or perhaps impossible for the office engineer to

examine the notes for a whole year when he analyzes a station

record

40

5 Gradually change to the use of ehameled steel gage plates

instead of painted gages because their initial cost is less

and they are more durable Plates graduated somewhat like

those of the US Geological Survey are believed much better

than those stocked by private companies While here I drew

up a suggested design for local manufacture which appealed

to the Hydrographic Section

6 Obtain levels at staff gages at least once a year especially

on the low section of gage Replace or repair each low secshy

tion soon after it becomes damaged or the markings become

indistinct

7 Continue as a general rule to use the 6-depth method with

the sub-surface method for deep swift water Obtain a comshy

plete cross section as soon as feasible after the high water

has subsided

8 Gradually change to the use of heavier sounding weights so

that the 6-depth method with soundings can be used at high

water in any event take soundings and velocities as far out

as practicable from each bank at flood stages then go across

deep part of channel with sub-surface method Check subshy

surface method coeficients whenever practicable by means of

vertical velocity curves Until such checks show otherwise

use a coefficient of 090

9 Compute discharge measurements by the mid-section method

This saves time (and money) and is at least as accurate as the

41

other method Request hydrographers to bear the method in mind

when selecting verticals near edges of channel or at breaks in

the cross section It is recommended that in the interests of

economy this change be made at an early date

10 Consider 20 as a desirable number of verticals in an average

stream cross section Continue to time the meter revolutions

for 40 to 60 seconds at each setting Someday if more accushy

racy is desired in hydrographic work in the Philippines it

would be appropriate to standardize on 30 verticals per measureshy

ment provided the 2-8 depth method were used and the gages

were read to fractions of a centimeter For the present it

seems consistent to take about 20 verticals when using the 6

method and with gages read only to the nearest centimeter

11 Use steel tag lines for wading measurements Paint bridge

rails and cables with markings sufficiently close together

that they can be used rapidly to determine stationing between

them When installing the paint marks use standard intervals

of either 1 meter 2 meters or 5 meters To avoid confusion

do not use intervals of 3 or 4 meters If measuring intervals

are to be 1 meter or less it is very convenient to have a

mark available every meter If intervals are between 1 and 5

meters use a mark every 2 meters A good system for making

the marks readily identifiable is to place 1 paint mark at

each basic interval like every 2 meters then put 2 marks every

10 meters 3 every 50 meters and 4 at 100 meters

42

use on12 Always tags the portion of the meter suspension line

that goes in the water The tags usually consist of small

pieces of colored cloth taped tightly to the line They

should be watched and checked occasionally against slippage

and error The tags should not be more than one meter apart

and should be spaced to give maximum convenience and speed in

measuring the discharge

13 As it may becoin feasible convert Type A current meters to

Type AA The more deeply recessed bearing of the Type AA

meter provides more durability of the pivot and bearing

because trapped air excludes most of the water and silt the

longer pivot results in a relatively lower center of gravity

of the bucke t wheel with respect to the point of bearing and

results in smoother performance

F Design of the stream gaging network

1 Everyone seem3 to agree with the objective of a network of

well-distributed long-term base stations for giving runoffshy

per-square-kilometer values representative of the general

area in which each station is located As rapidly as practishy

cable stations should be L d n the o ting netrk

and designated as base or index stations for permanent operashy

tion They should be the best stations both hydraulically

and as to equipment and should be free from upstream regushy

lation or diversion Where needed new base stations should

be installed as soon as they can be financed to appropriately

L11 out the network

43

2 In between such base stations it is desirable to sample smaller

basins with short-term records of various lengths which can be short term

correlated with the long records For this purpose thestashy

tion structures should be constructed so that they are as moveshy

able or salvageable as possiblej Often these movable stations

will be operated at or near specific project sites

3 It usually is more economical and satisfactory to gage a stream

at a highway crossing or other convenient place rather than

exactly at a project site later the data can be transferred

to the project site by means of drainage area proportions

checked by obtaining at the site e

two miscellaneous measurements or possibly in some cases a

whole year of record

4 A method for studying the existing network of stations to see

whether the intensity of coverage is satisfactory or not is to

plot correlations between the various station records prefershy

ably following the present methods of the USGS

5 It has been found advantageous to classify all gaging stations

that are in operation using categories somewhat like these

areal network base stations primary and secondary main stream

stations and water management stations This procedure is

helpful in planning how long various stations should be operated

Detailed information about station classification methods is

available from the U S Geological Survey for use as a guide

The Technical Training Program

Early plans

When this assignment was given to me it was anticipated that a

series of across-the-table discussions would be held with small groups

of hydrographers from the Philippine government bureaus engaging in

such work Detailed procedures would be discussed without formality

But when arrangements were initiated for such conferences I was inshy

formed that among those wanting to attend were many at the managerial

level as well as a number of representatives of agencies interested

more in water development projects than in resource investigations

These could not be turned down so it was necessary to revise the

agenda to include more of general interest

Later developments

In view of the wide experience and high rank of many prospective

attendants of the conference it did not seem appropriate to call it

a lecture series or school and the name Seminar On Water Resources

was decided upon The agenda is included in this report and will be

self-explanatory Registered attendance for each of the three weeks

was 68 72 and 70 persons respectively for a total of 210 The

setting for the Seminar can best be understood from the photographs

Conditions as a whole were good although the tape-recording of the

entire three weeks of proceedings and the need for a member to come

F M Veatch and Water Resources Seminar group week of April 8-12 1957 at Bureau of Public Highways conference building Manila

I y

rT

I

4

47

forward and use the microphone whenever he asked a question or made a

comment was somewhat of a dampener oh discussion When preparing the

agenda I assumed that few besides the hydrographers would attend the

sessions on technical details of stream gaging scheduled for Wednesday

to Friday yet the entire membership stayed through the full program

each week and so no small-group round-table discussions were practicable

It developed later that the language barrier was a little more

serious than first realized Also it was not evident at first that

many present did not know what a gaging station was One of the main

benefits gained from the field trip was to show them a typical station

along with some equipment Taken as a whole it is believed that the

Seminar was successful and worthwhile

The sending of trainees from the Hydrographic Section to the

United States by ICA is very effective in supplementing the technical

assistance rendered directly by American personnel in the Philippines

and it should be continued as long as possible

Acknowledgments

Announcements and invitations to attend the Seminar were sent to

numerous agencies and offices by the Hydrographic Section who also

made all arrangements such as for space registration loud speaker

system tape recordings and recess refreshments The Bureau of

Public Highways made their new conference building available and the

National Media Center furnished a slide projector screen and room

all of which were greatly appreciated The introductory talks by

48

several busy executives including Director J A Buendia and Messrs

A T Alano R R Lord P G Afable and D Rosell with Mr Tomas

Saddam acting as master of ceremonies contributed ideas and gave

each weeks session a good send-off

Publications

Copies of the following publications of the U S Geological

Survey (one by Bureau of Reclamation and one from ASCE) were disshyon

play at the Seminar at all times for inspection by the members Alshy

though they were requested not to take the publications away quite a

few copies gradually became missing

Irrigation Water Measurement Tables and Diagrams by U S

Bureau of Reclamation

ASCE Separate 413 - Backwater Effects of Open Channel

Constrictions

Stage-Fall Discharge Relation for Steady Flow in Prismatic

Channels Water-Supply Paper 1164

Topographic Characteristics of Drainage Basins W S P 968C

Weir Experiments Coefficients and Formulas WSP 200

Handbook for Hydrologists - Chapters 1 - 11

Chapter 1 -- Instructions for Flood Frequency Compilations

Chapter 2 -- ledian Discharge Computation Methods

Chapter 3 -- Instructions for Abstracting Topographic

Characteristics of Drainage Basins

i

-Imr- I

1 N

L

V10J~

C R Mirray explaining a ground water formula

Ii

17t

o

Water Resources Seminar group at gaging station on Marikina River near Montalban Rizal about an hours drive northeast of Manila April 12 1957

51

-- Channel Storage and Flood Routing

-- Extending Stream-flow Records

Chapter 6 -- Double Mass Curves

Chapter 7-A- Frequency Curves of Low Flows and Storage

Requirements

Chapter 8 -- Flood Frequency Analyses

Chapter 9 -- Small Stream Investigations

Chapter 10 - Hydrologic Definitions

Chapter 11 - Base-Flow Recession-Curves

Computation of Backwater at Open Channel Constrictions

Floods in Western Washington Frequency and Magnitude in

Relation to Drainage Basin Characteristics GS Circular 191

Floods in Georgia Frequency and Magnitude GS Circular 100

Stream-Gaging Procedure - A Manual Describing Methods and

Practice of the Geological Survey - WSP 888

Investigation of Methods and Equipment used in Stream Gaging

Part 2 Intakes For Gage Wells

Computation of Peak Discharge through Culverts

Computation of Backwater at Open-Channel Constrictions

Equipment for River Measurements Structures for Cableways

by Charles H Pierce

Computation of Peak Discharge at Contractions Circular 284

Care and Rating of Current Meters

Surface Water Supply o the United States 1950 Parts 1 - 14

52

In addition to the above publications a two-page single-spaced

memorandum entitled Plotting Flood Frequency Curves (Extracted from

U S Geological Survey publications) was prepared by me under date

of April 3 1957 and handed to each member of the Seminar each week

The program or agenda for the Seminar one copy of which was

given to each member follows on Pages 53 to 63 inclusive The

graphs on Page 63 were referred to during the talks

53

March 29 1957

AGENDA FOiR SEMINARZ ON WATER RESCURCES AND STAE4 GAGING

IN THE PHILIPPINES

PLACE Conference hoom 2nd Floor Bureau of Public Highways Building Second Street Port Area Manila

TIKE April 1-5 8-12 and 22-26 (same program each week)

CONDUCTED BY M1r i 1 Veatch District EngineerSurface WaterBranch Jater Aesources Division United States Geological Suver Thcoma ashington who is un three-month assignment with the ICA

Held in connoction with the Philippine Government-ICA water resources program

54

GENERAL PROGRAM MONDAY AND TUESDAY

honday morning 830

Opening remarks Mr Julian A Buendia Director Bureau of Fublic Works Mr R R Lord Chief Public Works Division ICA Mr G H Hargreaves Hydraulic Engineer ICA

Importance of water resources and their investigation

The hydrologic cycle Evaporation transpiration and precipitation Runoff

Daily discharge record and the hydrograph Storm runoff Base flow

Grou~nd Water Very brief description (this subject to be covered

iaore fully on Tuesday afternoon)

General characteristics of natural stream runoff in the Philippines Quantity

Adequacy Comparison with United States

Variations with time Day to day and year to year Long-term trends

Distributin by area General over the Philippine Islands Variations between nearby drainage basins

Effect of location elevation geology cover etc

Major uses of stream-flow data Many years of rccornds should be crnsidered Granting water r phts

Protect existing rights Prevent capital expenditures where water supply inadequate

Planning river basin developments including municipal supply irrigation pnwer flood control etc

Destping structures such as dams reservoirs dikes floodways canals pumping systems power plants bridges etc

Accuracy and extent of dat needed for minimizing underdesign or wasteful overdesign

Cost of water-supply data in relation to total cost of a project

Operating water projects Distribution of water on projects Operation of storage reservoirs and diversion dams

To make maximum use uf water supply Designing alterations or enlargements to existing projects

RECESS 1000 to 1015

55 -3-

Monday morning (Continued) 1015 aim

Management of the stream gaging program Foreseeing the needs for stream-flow records

Study population and industrial trends Keep inforned on water-development plans and

prgraIIs of all agencies Continuity of the records

Essential for wator-supply studies Regular financinp reouired

Annual appropriations a poundfccted by temporary econoidc or political conditions

Permanent type of financing needed Surcharge method License fee method

-Dissemination of the data Annual publication Occasional summary compilations Furnishing advance cupies of unpublished records Furnishing current data - daily weekly or munthly

wherever required Special water resources investigation agency desirable

Briefly dancribe United States organization Uniform tecnical standards Uniform ways of presenting data One series of publicatiens Distributial center for basic water data Genera l-coverage program requires close coordination

for economy of operation Personal requirements

Engineers Engir ring aids Computers Clerks

ADJOURN - 1145

Resume after lunch only if necessary for completing the above subjects

56

Tueday morning 830

Design of a comprehensive stream gjaging program General rrinciIlac

Represenkc tive runoff-type provinces should be sainpled with stations of various classes

Vary the intensity of coverage with probable intenshysity of water use

Follow tiie tcends variations with records fromand L sri etatiorns secondary

Correlate resultls one continually adjustnetwork Classification of ra-in stationa

Areal prinary and secondary viain strem priiary nd secondary Water-manmfciact stat-i ons Miscellanous dischaige mcasurements

Correlating the dat obttined in comprehensive program Logarithmic pajer Five years of lecord uscd What is a good corrclation

Analyses of data Flood frcouencjs

Annual serics Partial duration series

Low-flow frecuencies Low-flow duration hydrograph

Extending strewm-flow records Comparisons witi other gaging stations Rainfall-runoff correlations

Quality of water Temperature

Intermittent observations Recorders

Chemical gtuality Element -Dissolved solids

Suspended iaterial Time of cecurrence-floods Sampling

Methods Cost

RECESS - 1000 to 1015

57

- 5 -

Tuesday afternoon 130

Ground water (This subject conducted by Mr C R Murray) Occurrence

Water table Artesian Lakes

Movement Through the ground Into stream channels

Availability Geologic structure Aquifers Funing tests

Recharge Froa precipitation Artificial Froma induced lateral movement

Investigation Geology Springs Logs of dug and drilled wells Test wells

lecording Lanual

Quantitative studies Chemical quality analyses

Mincral ccontnt Sallt water intrusion

Drilling of wells for production use Ground water rirhts

Depletion of ground water reservoirs teyond rccharge capability

ADJOURN at 330

Geologist Ground Water Branch dater Resources Division U 6 Geological Survey who is on two-ywar assignment with ICA

58

PROGRAM ON STREMvi GAGING PROCEDURE WEDNESDAY TO FRIDAY

4ednesday morning 830

Establishing and constructing gaging stations Selection of site

Consider najor probable uses of the record Investigate extent of upstream diversion and

-egulation Utilize contour naps Obtain list of nmrjor water right applications

iydraulic conditicns Section control Shifting channel Overbank flow Dackwater

Accessibility Avoid too much expense Need to reach quickly to measure flash floods

Natural protection front flood damage Avoid excessively expensive construction conditions

Bed iock Quick sand Too-longintake pipes

For non-rccording gage choose site convenient to

one or more local gage readers

Survey of site Bank cross-prefile at gage Cross section at cable Plan

Right of way Oral pervrission ritten permission

Easement Land purchase

RECESS - 945 to 1000

- 7 - 59

Wednesday morning (Continued) 100)

Construction Select types and sizes of structures To fit purpose oi the record Plan later salva e (for secondary stations) For economy of operation (for example design cableway to

operat mesily) Adapt availabic standard plans to fit the site Keep costs to hclp in future estimating Make brief construction report for future assistance in

planninr sililar Jobs Prepare staLion descripLion

Road log distences etc for How to reach paragraph Descriptions of gages bench marks etc Dimensions cf structuis Gage datum elevations of portinent parts of structures

Operating and maintaining gaging stations Records of stage

Choice of dtum Arbitrcry local datum

Set gages so there will be no minus gage readings

Mean sea level datum May be used but has disadvantages

1hen later adjustments are made to level networks

Gages have to be reset or Equation must be published

Non-recording gages Types

Vertical staff Inclined staff

ire-weight Crest-stage gages

Refinement of graduations ake adequate for accuracy of record needed

Maintatling dat of gage Adequate number of local reference marks Take levels at least once a year

Work o- local gare reader Fy according to approx number of hours worked Do not roruire too many roadings for the

conditions Warm (with omphasis) against my guessed

readings Inform reader anv errors in reading will

show up in hydrogrq oic comtparisons Engineers obtain check readings whenever

possible Visit gage reader frequently a d show inshy

terest in his gage-height record Encourage reader to retain personal copy

ADJOURN at 1145

60

Thursday morning 800

Records of stage (continued) Recording gages

Select type of instrument and its scales to fit conditions at gaging station

Weekly or continuous recorder Recorder scales Range of stage Rate of change of stage Availability of someone to change weekly

chart Work of Cage inspector of keeper

Avoid resetting pen Repurt any trash or debris causing backwater

at gage Do not have a gage keeper unless needed

aintaining gage datum Check outside gae by levels annually Keep outside gage sections reset to datum

Standard reference gage Inside gage of soie sort preferable

Staff Float-tape Anchor type

Intake action Clean or flush pipes after floods Slot intakes Self-cleaning iitakes

For pipe gage wells For wells built into bridge piers

Draw-down (where excessive) Use bapfle or static tube

Elood marks at station Make record of well-defined high water

marks

AECESS - 945 to 1000

- 9 - 61

Thursday morning (Continudd) 1000

Discharge measuroments Current hmeters

Price Type A Type AA

Pygmpy Carc of inters

Sounding weights E-typc C-type

Lead Brono

Type of notebook Loose shects Loose-leaf book Bound booL

Measurement of depth aeding rod Tag-line nethod Vertical-nglc coofficients Sounding during floods

Ilacemont of mter Sub--surface method 2-depth n cthod 6-de-pth icthod 2- imetY od

Number of verticals Velocity -urgcs

Miscellaneous f-ctors Effect of bridge piers Horizontal angle of current Insufficient weight on current water

1Mean gage hoitht for a discharge measurement Special methods of (Itermining flood discharge

Floats Slope-area method

Rating curv- etonsion method Arca and velocity curves Loparithmic plottig

Contrqctd-opening mothod Flow ovcr dams

Report on condition of control Carry station description and rating curve in field

Ubtain another me asurement if needed If first indicates large shift If new station and stagc advantagoous for

defining blank part of rating curve

ADJOUffN - 1145 AI

Resumne atfter lunch only if necessary for comploting the above subjects

62

- 10 -

Friday morning S00

A few remarks about office methods Rating curves

Log-log paper Upward extonsions Dowmward extensions

Rectangular plotting Computing recorder charts

M-ark index correction and time correction for each inspection reading

Break midnight lines at raph Never oblitertte or mark over the original trace Nake office markings on chart distinctive from

those mad( At the gage Use of colored pencils by computer and checker is one good wa)y

Daily discharge record Flot hydrograph Compare over light box with other stations

This method preferable to plotting several station records on same sheet

Concluding discussions

RECESS - 945 to 1000

Projection of gaging station equipment Lnd scenic slides taken in the United States and Canada

ADJOURN - 1145

Field trip Cars will be available at the conference building to

take members to the raging station on arikina iRivei at ontalban about an hours drive from Manila where a brief demonstration of certain field equipment will be given

Return to noL later thanoanila 500 FL

---

- Ishy4 ~7L~

0F OllY LISCIiRE 4- 1 -shy

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- O 1 B -- 2r 2 ZZ 23 24 2 c 26 7 8 2717x I 2

_~ I 027 _d- 1 2 shy

7 -

n_ a t-i IZ

- _______________ Pnu~ OAgvhshy

-~ ~-r- 1 - V-shy- i-shytvkty--- in--a-- -~ ~Z2m7~ ~

- ~ ~-~-----~- V 1~5~ LTLL2P7o -4----4 1 -- I -- I I _ __ --- -- -- - - L - - I ----

~- ~y~-~ 64 4

N

A il

Seminar members observing demonshystrat-n of measurshying e -pment by F M Veatch at Marikina River gaging station April 12 1957

I

Water Resources Seminar members observing working model of proppsed Binga Dam at the hydraulics laboratory of University of the Philippines April 12 1957

65

Current meter rating flume mechanism Y 22 1957

Current meter rating flume mechanism May 22 1957

66

Current Meter Rating Station

The new current meter rating station at the University of the

Philippines (see photographs) was not quite ready for use before I

left the country The mechanism and instruments were manufactured

in Germanyobtained thru ICA-NEC procurement for the Water Resources

Program of the Department of Public Works and have been installed by

Professor Alberto Villares and his hydraulics laboratory staff under

Dean C A Ortigas of the College of Engineering with some guidance

by Professor Edward L Ericksen of the University of Michigan who is

a civil engineer on detail here with the Stanford Group Professor

Villares spent 18 months in the hydraulics laboratory of the Univershy

sity of Iowa

There is every evidence that this rating flume will with expeshy

rience do work accurate enough not only for determining differences

in ratings between current meters but also for preparing absolute or

independent ratings This can be reported on more fully at some

later date by Messrs Hargreaves and Snell

The Central Luzon Region Program

The Water Resources Development Committee is preparing a recomshy

mended plan for the expedited multiple-purpose development of the

water resources of the Central Luzon region The area contains oneshy

sixteenth of the land surface and one-fourth of the population of the

Philippines and is termed the rice granary of the nation It is to

be used as an example or experiment in water and land development

67

The Committee has requested member agencies to submit estimates

of the minimum amount of additional basic data needed for making a

useful report and for proceeding with development projects Such

estimates are to include mapping soil surveys dam and reservoir site

surveys water resources surveys and other items A preliminary

report is to be prepared soon summarizing the existing information

pointing out the need for additional dataand submitting estimates

of cost for the further investigations needed An outline for the

final report has been prepared and distributed so it will be availashy

ble as a guide and funds for the first years efforts are being

sought for fiscal year 1958 It appears reasonable that the report

on a comprehensive plan could be submitted to the President and

Congress of the Philippines in about five years

With the assistance of Mr Hargreaves I have prepared estimates

for a surface water measurement program to complement the existing

program It is designed to fill the worst gaps in the present netshy

work Details are subject to change as more reconnaissance informashy

tion becomes available as only five days were spent covering the area

by automobile Unit costs were provided by the Hydrographic Section

and they include cost of preparation of the records for publication

Estimates were submitted as given below They were supported by a

detailed list of stream names and locations which included desigshy

nations as to the primary purpose or type of each proposed new gaging

station and whether a recording or non-recording gage was recommended

It is available for reference in both the ydrographic Section and

ICA offices

68

New gaging stations

1 Daily discharge type

Installation (including cableways where needed)

Recording ------- 7 Pl650 11550

Non-recording --- 4 950 3800 15350

Operation 1st year -11 660 7260 P22610

2 High water type (flood records)

Installation

Gages (nonshy

recording) ----- 4 150 600

Measuring equipment 800 1400

Operation 1st year - 4 300 1200 2600

Total for new gaging stations ------------- 25210

Miscellaneous discharge measurements

1 4 or 5 during dry season Nov - April

4 sites x 5 per site = 20 30 ---------------- 600

2 1 or 2 during low part of year March and April

37 sites x l per site = 55 k30 ------------- 1650

Total for miscellaneous measurements ------ 2250

Total -------------- -2746o

69

Rainfall And Evaporation Stations

Existing network

A map examination of the existing network of rain gages was made

and a surprisingly large number were found to be in operation -- 2

recording and 115 manual stations or a total of 117 They are beshy

lieved to be fairly adequate in number and are well distributed

areally over the Philippines but like in the United States are conshy

fined largely to the lower altitudes where the agricultural and urban

population live In addition to these records are available for

various lengths of time from about 8 discontinued Weather Bureau

stations and from more than 300 haciendas reforestaion stations

and provincial rnrseries

Additional gages

The Weather Bureau and the Bureau of Public Works are cooperating

in the installation of some new rainfall stations at higher altitudes

part of which will utilize new instruments purchased with ICA aid

funds Some of the instruments will be installed at existing nonshy

recording stations Forty new installations are proposed for 1958

fiscal year It is now recognized that rainfall station coverage at

higher altitudes is needed in order to furnish records that can be

correlated with the long-term valley records and also with the gaging

station discharge records D

70

Weather station maintained by Bureau of Public WorksIrrigation Division near Tuguegarao Cagayan From left to right N Ciriaco District Hydrographer drivershyhelper observer J G Garcia hydrographer J C Regalado and G H Hargreaves May 13 1957

Weather station at Pototan Iloilo Panay A Lacuestadistrict bydro-rapher standing May 5 1957

71

Group luncheon at Tacloban Leyte typical of the hospitality received by us during inspection tour of the Philippines From left to right M Rico irrig distr engr G Hargreaves G Araos E N Salazar P Formilleza L Abella S Velasco JCRegalado V H Sydiongoo distr hydrographer I M Ortega Oscar de Venecia and N Oliver May 7 1957

ICA Public Works Division March 1957 From left to right C R Murray A A Ketchum asat Div head J B Delaney I J Silverstone Sofia Halili 0 H Hosmer R R Lord Div head B B Hill Betty Valdez G H Hargreaves J L Brenden FM Veatch

72

Evaporation stations

Fifteen double-pan (one open and one partially shaded) evaporation

stations with rainfall temperature wind and humidity instruments as

auxiliary are being operated in the Philippines and ten more are to

follow next year They are well distributed over the islands and

should furnish data of great value for reservoir design Thq reccrds

will be publish3d

Publication of rainfall data

All rainfall reccrds are published annually by the Weather Bureau

whose 1954 volume is the latest one printed The 1955 issue should be

released soon One excellent source of information for anyone studyshy

ing rainfall data in the Philippines is the publication The Distrishy

bution of Rainfall In The Philippines by Eugenio B Manalo Chief

Climatological Division Weather Bureau Manila This contains

valuable descriptive material tables of monthly and annual values

and mean monthly and annual isohyets in inches An inspection or

study of the monthly isohyetal maps shows clearly how storm patterns

change with the seasons in certain parts of the Philippines and that

73

in other areas the rain is almost evenly distributed throughout the

year The long dry season of Manila and the central Luzon plains is

graphically portrayed by the isohyets Mr Manalos publication

should be of great benefit to government agencies and private parties

or individuals in connection with agricultural and business activities

over the islands It is presumed that the isohyets will warrant some

revision after another 5 or 10 years as more records especially those

at higher altitudes become available

Sediment Measurement Stations

Practically no silt-sampling has been done in the Philippines

to date and no extensive program is believed possible because of the

lack of funds For the present it is recommended that every governshy

ment field hydrographer be equipped with a thermomater and a turbidity

stick and required to report a spot water temperature and turbidity

reading at time of each discharge measurement Thus without extra

cost a large amount of data can be accumulated which after several

years should make it possible to determine what streams are the

siltiest and where more detailed studies might be needed Whenever a

reservoir project reaches the intensive-investigation stage including

dam-site drilling detailed topography etc it is recommended that

a complete sediment sampling station be operated there for at least

one full flood season before the project feasibility report is

completed

74

Statement Before Water Resources Development Committee

On March 20 1957 I presented the following statement regarding

the streamflow measurement program in the Philippines

The Philippine Republic is blessed with an excellent supply of

water of good quality but much of it is wasted to the sea during the

rainy season The development of this resource is vitally important

to the nation and it involves the storing of flood waters for dryshy

season release Where investments are to be made for construction of

dams etc in the development of irrigation power production and

flood control large sums can easily be wasted through overdesign or

underdesign if enough engineering data are not available Conflicting

or competing uses for the water supplies will gradually develop in

your country the same as they have in the United States If water

rights are to be granted fairly with due regard for all prior users

many years of basic data are necessary so that the long-term water

supply can be estimated For this purpose a good network of stream

gaging records and ground water levels must be secured One would

not attempt to manage the money in a bank without bookkeeping and it

is just as important to have an accounting system when managing water

The sound economical procedure is to base all project designs on as

complete engineering information as can be obtained

The ICA is attempting to assist the Philippine Government in

planning the orderly development of its water resources and we are

concerned that too many structures may be built before accurate

9i

hydrologic data are available for their design For this reason we

strongly urge you to improve the basic data gathering program at the

earliest possible date as follows

(1) Review and publish the stream-flow records that have been

obtained since the war

(2) Finance an expanded program of stream-flow measurement and

ground water study

The Bureau of Public Works has prepared preliminary estimates of

the funds needed for bringing publication of basic data up to date and

for expanding the wiater resources investigation program The attached

copies of estimates are of course provisional and subject to revision

but it is suggested that they be placed in the files of this Committee

for future reference The figure of P56oooo for publication is a

fairly firm figure It is suggested that the Committee take immeshy

diate action to further the procurement of these funds

The procurement of water resources data is a specialized field

requiring engineers and other technical men with a high degree of

education Years must be spent in training them in such special

work The men must endure rigorous physical work corbatting the

elements and using resourcefulness and judgment It is very uneconoshy

mical and unsatisfactory to have a technical organization of that kind

subject to occasional and unpredictable severe cuts in appropriations

It is even more unsatisfactory to have the time sequence of basic

water data collection interrupted and valuable records lost forever

17

The only difficulty with counterpart financing is that it is

temporary and could conceivably leave the program stranded in a few

years when ICA aid is discontinued The necessity is recognized for

gradually obtaining regular Congressional appropriations to take the

place of counterpart funds An effort will also be made to have a

performance type of budget accepted because line items make the

program inflexible and prevent the best management and economy

It is recommended that other agencies desiring for their projects

certain stream flow records which cannot be financed from the regular

budget of the Hydrographic Section transfer funds annually (either in

advance or on a reimbursement basis) to the Hydrographic Section to

pay the extra costs required for the fulfilment of their requests

Design of the stream gaging program

As mentioned above the fiscal arrangements prevailing up to this

time have resulted in an almost total emphasis on project-type gaging

stations in the Philippines However I believe everyone is now in

agreement with the desirability or need for a nation-wide network of

index or runoff-per-square-kilometer type of stations which will sample

various runoff provinces such as those with different exposures to storms

and having different topography altitude geology type of land cover

etc The intensity of the network of stations in different regions

would vary depending upon the apparent future economic value or worth

of the water in each area This will be discussed in more detail in

the recommendations

18

In order to look over the existing program observe something of

the technical methods in use and see a variety of runoff and economic

types of areas in the islands to gain an idea of the type of stream

gaging network needed I have visited several regions accompanied most

of the time by Mr George Hargreaves It has been very helpful to me

to have him take such an interest in the detailed objectives of ry

assignment and I am sure it will facilitate Mrs Snellas work a great

deal to have available for consultation and guidance Mr Hargreaves

wide experience in water resources development and investigations

We were accompanied by Mr J C Regalado of the ydrographic Section

who made most of the advance contacts with field offices in connecshy

tion with our trips We usually travelled to central points by Philshy

ippine Air Lines and were then driven to nearby areas by field officials

of the Hydrographic Section and other agencies The hospitality and

cooperation of everyone toward us was exceptional and much appreciated

Besides a fairly detailed coverage of the Central Luzon area where an

intensified program is proposed our inspections included Northern

Luzon Southern Luzon (the Bicol region) Leyte Panay and several

parts of Mindanao In addition we made a special effort to observe

the country all along the routes of airplane flights taken and that

coupled with airplane stops made on other islands gave us a fairly

comprehensive view of the geography of the Philippines It is upon

this that my recommendations concerning the design of a stream gaging

program are based

19

Bquipment and technical methods-

The stream gaging equipment and methods used by the Hydrographic

Section since 1908 have been patterned mainly after those of the US

Geological Survey as described in the 1904 publication H4ydrographic

Manual Thus it appears likely that the methods and accuracy stanshy

dards have changed but little since the Philippine program was started

Stream gaging tecniques used by the other agencies are similar but

they have not had the advantage of some of the new ICA-furnished equipshy

ment This is expected to be remedied in the aid allocations for fiscal

year 1958

Although some use has been made of the 2-8 method of measuring

discharge present practice is limited almost entirely to the 6method

for low and medium stages and the sub-surface method for high stages

for the latter the meter is suspended over a 15-E weight and set 03

meter below the surface with a coefficient of 0915 applied

The number of verticals or measuring points taken in the cross

section usually is between 8 and 15 No bridge cranes or suspension

reels of any kind have been available all discharge work other than

with wading rod having been done by hand line All this is about to

be changed with the recent arrival of the first ICA-furnished sounding

reels weights and tag lines purchased from 1956 FY funds

Staff gages are read to the nearest centimeter (about 0033 foot)

Most of the gages would be difficult to read to any closer limit alshy

though a few stations have Leupold Stevens enameled gages with levelshy

rod type markings

20

The hydrographer records his discharge measurement notes in a

small bound pocket-size book which he carries until it is full After

each measurement is computed in the field a complete copy of the notes

is made on a card and mailed to the Manila office I am informed

that the bound notebooks are practically never lost or dropped in

the water With the increased amount of flood measuring expected to

be done in the future that situation might change

Rating curves are drawn to average large groups of discharge

measurements Large rectangular-scale cross section sheets are used

Percentage differences of the measured values with respect to the

rating table are not computed A minimum of use is made of Stoutshy

method shifts

The water-stage recorders furnished to date by the ICA have been

manufactured with time scales of either 03 inch per day (the FM

model) or 48 inches per day (the A-35 model) The former scale is

too small for satisfactory use in most stream gaging and the latter

is too large Thirty pairs of time scale gears have been ordered for

converting the A-35s from 48 to 24 inches per day Upon inquiry at

the factory it was learned that no conversion of the FM recorders is

possible An exchange of 25 of them is being made with the ground

water program for an equivalent value in A-35 recordero but the

remaining 65 will be used at the surface water stations They are

very satisfactory on lakes or spring-fed streams or large streams

whose fluctuations are not too sudden

21

Ipo dam on Angat River which diverts water to supply City of Manila and surrounding area March 13 1957 Reservoir is traversed by boat in reaching the gaging station upstream

Ready to leave Ipo Dam for gaging station 6 kilqmeters upstream B Ramos and J Regalado in oanca March 13 1957

4 ~ s~

B Ramos making discharge measurement by wading on Angat River above Ipo DamMarch 13 1957 Spacings between verticals were obtained from cable makings byline hanging from cable car

23

At non-recording gages it has been the custom to hire gagekeepers

at uniform or statutory rates of 025 or P30 per month (not related

to the distance traversed in going to the gage) to obtain readings

three times a day The pay has been the same even where the gage is

located several kilometers away from the gagekeepers home The system

has certain disadvantages which may affect the accuracy of the records

At some stations the pay is too high while at others it is too low

Three readings a day are not necessary most of the time for adequately

developing the hydrograph especially during the dry season and a

request for obviously unnecessary readings seems to put too severe a

test upon human nature It is practically an open invitation to a

certain amount of faking I doubt that it should be held against a

gagekeeper to put down some estimated readings under those circumstances

any more than it would be to blame children for taking candy or cookies

from a forbidden plate left openly in their midst The question then

becomes - what readings can be relied upon and what cannbt I sincerely

believe that a more accurate daily discharge record can be prepared in

the office from a few completely reliable gage readinrs per week by

means of hydrographic comparisons with recording-gage records from

nearby stations and with less expense than can be produced by proshy

cessing comparing and weeding out questionable parts from a complete

(on paper) record of three readings a day A gagekeepers habit

developed during the dry season of not going to the gage when it is

inconvenient or he doesnt feel like it is bound to crop up during

the high water season as well with the result that all his readings

24

must be looked at critically and considered reliAble only after

unusually extensive comparisons are made with weather records and

other stations

In regard to specialized stream gaging equipment listed below

are the amounts purchased by the ICA up to the present time

Ordered from Ordered from Being FY 1955 PPA 1956 PPA ordered Delivered in Delivered in from 1957

May 1956 May 1957 PPA

Canfield reels 0 6 8

Type A reels 0 6 2

Canfield tag lines 0 15 0

A-35 recorders 20 10 25

FM recorders 65 25 0

Enameled gage secs 400 600 200

Currer meter outfits inc ding rod headphonehanuline and 15-pound weight 11 10 0

Pygmy meters 0 0 10

Bridge cranes 0 3 0

Sounding wts 30-lb 0 0 10

50-lb 0 0 10

I i 75-lb 0 0 1

I 100-lb 0 0 1

Stopwatches 20 10 0

Being purchased as models for possible future use in procurement of

weights of local manufacture

25

~-

-~ ~- shy

~-

4rshy~~L~zu 1 - ~ A-

-~ - ~jj ~

~- k ~ ~

Helper and P Nubio National Power Corporationpreparing to make discharge measurement Tag marks of grass being tied to line Bantay River near Bokod Benguet Mountain Province March 26 1957

-- ~ 4

V

Helper holding meter in place suspended on a weight hanger while revolutions are counted oy hydrographer P Nubio E P Nbesamis is at extreme right March 26 1957

26

-p --shy

t-~-- - -

A ~

A~4 ~ 4

A -Y

- -

- - - -

gt~ ~ ~-

Z4z4a - ~z

- shy -~-~shy

4shy- --

I NPC discharge party on Bokod River at-Bokod BenguetMountain Province Helper and gagekeeper holding meter and 15-pound weight in position P Nubio on shore counting revolutions and recording notes March 26 1957

Ar 7

-~ I

0 I 15-pound weight used in discharge measurement work by the NPC hydrographer stationed at Ambuklao Dam March 26 1957

27

Recommendations

A sharp expansion in the stream gaging program of the Philippines

has occurred recently brought about not only by the ICAs economic and

technical aid program but also by the growing local demand for water

resources information It is inevitable that some organizational

changes would be required to accommodate such a sudden growth This

subject was discussed in conferences with Mr Saddam and Mr Regalado

and the following list of special objectives agreed upon They had a

number of these in mind or partly in effect already and were planning

to gradually adopt several others The items are listed here in order

to express my reasons for wanting to see them completely implemented

within the next two or three years They are as follows

A It is recommended that the district offices compute their own disshy

charge records and prepare them for publication for final review

in the central office in ranila

1 Additional engineers would be needed in each district office

and fewer engineers in the Manila office

2 At least the district hydrographer and preferably one other

engineer in addition should be trained in the office work in

Manila before the records were transferred to a district

3 Each engineer in a district office would be given a field area

which he would cover by a round of discharge measurements once

every 4 to 6 weeks each coverage taking about 2 weeks Betshy

ween trips he would do office work preferably on the same

stations that he covers in the field

28

4 Benefits of thissystem are believed to be as follows

a Records requested could be furnished more quickly to the

public especially to those in the district area

b This kind of a close tie between field and office work has

been found to greatly improve the quality of the records

the economy of operation and the performance and developshy

ment of the individual engineers

c The alternating of each person between field and office

work makes him (1) more competent in the field work and

also more competent in the office work than is possible

in segregated office and field groups and (2) permits

him to be home more of the time and lead a more normal

lifc thus increasing his morale and efficiency

5 Personnel arrangements recommended are

a Offer more rapid promotion to those who transfer like

from Manila to a field office or between field offices

b Encourage each man to transfer every few years with

faster promotions as an incentive It has been found

that this develops an engineers competence more rapidly

than if he stays in one office indefinitely Such ability

repays the government in added officiency and production

to an extent greater than its cost in extra salary

B Certain organization changes are recommended as follows

1 Appoint an Office Engineer a Field Engineer and (whenever

needed) a Construction Engineer They would be headquartered

__

V 29

2

~- ~

q

Ambuklao Dam on Agno River Generating capacity 75000 kw Powerplant is underground March 2557

7- t

-JI

Maria Cristina falls and power plant on Agus River River near Iligan Lanao Province Mindanao Present installed capacity 50000 kw May 1 1957

30

II I

Looking downstream at the Binga dam site on Agno River about 15 kilometers east of Baguio March 25 1957

Looking upstream at the Marikina dam site on Marikina River at Wawa near Montalban Rizal about 25 kilometers northeast of Manila April 5 1957

31

in the Manila office and act under the general supervision of

the head of the Section with the following responsibilities

to be included

a Office Engineer

(1) Be responsible for the discharge computations and

related office work in the Manila field district or

area

(2) Be responsible for review and final preparation for

publication of all records in the nation

(3) See that a progress chart of status-of-record compushy

tations is maintained in each district office and

that a summary statement concerning such progress is

sent to the central office at least quarterly

(4) Be responsible for research in office methods and

equipment (See footnote on next page)

b Field Engineer

(1) Act as first assistant to head of the Section of

Hydrography

(2) Be responsible for field operation vork throughout the

nation

(a) Make at least one annual field inspection in each

district

(b) Develop the system in every headquarters of keepshy

ing a running chronological chart of the discharge

measurements made at each gaging station or

32W

scheduled miscellaneous site A form in use in

Tacoma Washington has been found to be very conshy

venient for this purpose Such a chart gives the

supervisor a quick overall view of the status of

the field work and serves as a check at end of

the year to make sure all measurements have been

listed and counted

(3) Be responsible for the design of the stream gaging

network and the selection of sites for new gaging

stations

(4) Be responsible for research in field methods and

equipment

Construction Engineer

(1) Give general supervision and management to the conshy

struction program

(a) Obtain assignment of resident engineer or foreman

for each job

(b) See that the materials are made available Help

the foreman in every way possible in organizing

the job procuring emergency equipment or supplies

and making decisions about serious problems that

may arise on the job

If funds became available for considerable research it probably

would be better to appoint a special Research Engineer

33

~A

Cagayan River gaging station near Cagayan de OroMisamis Oriental Mindanao April 30 1957 Note how corrugated pipe recorder structure was bent by flood J C Regalado J J Ponco gagekeeper and G H Hargreaves in foreground

-

V

View of staff gage and control on Binakaan River at Tifigib near Pastrana Leyte Stream divided by a barand control excavated for unknown reason May 6 1957 J Regalado by the sign and G Hargreaves at right

Cable footbridge below Binga dam site Tree anchorage for cableway onformerly used by NPC in making Angat River above Ipo Damdischarge measurements P Nubio and March 13 1957E Abesamis of NPC on bridge March 25 1957

35

(c) Visit the major jobs occasionally to see that

they are proceding satisfactorily in all the

islands Make sure the stations are installed

according to instructions and plans An approved

sketch plan showing dimensions and elevations is

desirable for each construction job

(d) Prepare first draft of each new station description

(e) Prepare brief construction report including costs

A form in use at Tacoma Washington has been found

convenient for this purpose

C The following policies in regard to gagekeepers are recommended

1 Start a gradual change-over to paying each gagekeeper on basis

only of the hours he works plus a basic amount for taking the

responsibility This may result in increasing the pay of some

but it should reduce the pay of a much larger number

2 Convert most gagekeepers to two readings a day most of the time

with one or more additional readings during floods In some of

the drier parts of the Central Luzon area in cases where gages

are remote from habitation request only one reading a day

during the dry months such as from January through May inclushy

sive more than that are believed to cost more than they are

worth and are an open invitation to the reporting of estimated

readings

3 When a new recorder installation is at a barrio or bridge where

it appears unlikely to be vandalized try running the station

36

without hiring a gagekeeper If this system proves successful

discontinue the services of the gagekeepers at certain selected

recorders At all other recorders reduce the number of readshy

ings required to one per day and reduce their pay accordingly

If a gagekeeper prefers not to accept a lower monthly rate for

fewer readings it is suggested that he resign except in cases

where security of the station structures or right-of-way favors

may be involved

Proceed on the principle that a saving in public tax money from

the above reforms is more important than supporting gagekeepers

just because they depend on the income and need the money The

present dependence of a gagekeeper on his P300 or P360 a year

and the hardship he must undergo in adjusting to a lower rate

of pay for the job are not believed to be sufficient reasons

for continuing indefinitely to pay him more than necessary

However it is recommended that he be given 30 or 60 days

notice before a reduction in pay is placed in effect

D Vehicles

1 It is recommended that a gradual change-over be made from the

short-wheelbase open Jeep to the Jeep station wagon as a hydroshy

graphers car Benefits should be as follows

a The car can be locked leaving only the tires as attractive

to thieves

b The station wagon has more space As the hydrographers

became better equipped that space will be needed

37

Bamboo-and-grass shelters built and used by crew during construction of gaging station on Angat River above Ipo Dam March 13 1957

3

4

-Ti LP

Proposed site for new index-type gaging station selected on Baoas River near Mangatarem Pangasinan above all diversions by Regalado Romasanta dargreaves and Veatch April 15 1957 Photo by J S Romasanta

38

Taking Philippine Airlines plane at Legaspi Albayfor Manila on May 17 1957 Mount Mayon 7960 feet high in background

I

N 1 x

Y

I

Showing typical vehicle used on the reconnaissance and inspection trips over the Philippines

39

c For occasional errands or trips it will be feasible for

only oneman to take the car because he can lock the con

tents when the car is not attended

d It may possibly develop in some parts of the Philippines

that a hydrographer for a certain area will not need a

driver-helper and thereby a saving in funds can be made

However such a change should be made only on a trial

basis and is not recommended until conditions so warrant

and until the hydrographer involved is satisfied with the

change or else desires it

E Certain technical stream-gaging procedures are recommended to be

followed in the Philippine Islands hydrographic work at the average

gaging station by all agencies doing stream gaging as follows

1 Obtain a discharge measurement once every four to six weeks

throughout the year

2 Furnish the hydrographer with a print of the station descripshy

tion and of the rating curve and require him as a general rule

to compute and plot his discharge measurement in the field

3 Have the gage read both before and after each discharge measureshy

ment and the readings recorded on the field notes

4 Use a loose-leaf discharge-measurement note form or forms

containing a summary page patterned to some extent after the

forms in use by the USGS Bound notes make it too inconshy

venient or perhaps impossible for the office engineer to

examine the notes for a whole year when he analyzes a station

record

40

5 Gradually change to the use of ehameled steel gage plates

instead of painted gages because their initial cost is less

and they are more durable Plates graduated somewhat like

those of the US Geological Survey are believed much better

than those stocked by private companies While here I drew

up a suggested design for local manufacture which appealed

to the Hydrographic Section

6 Obtain levels at staff gages at least once a year especially

on the low section of gage Replace or repair each low secshy

tion soon after it becomes damaged or the markings become

indistinct

7 Continue as a general rule to use the 6-depth method with

the sub-surface method for deep swift water Obtain a comshy

plete cross section as soon as feasible after the high water

has subsided

8 Gradually change to the use of heavier sounding weights so

that the 6-depth method with soundings can be used at high

water in any event take soundings and velocities as far out

as practicable from each bank at flood stages then go across

deep part of channel with sub-surface method Check subshy

surface method coeficients whenever practicable by means of

vertical velocity curves Until such checks show otherwise

use a coefficient of 090

9 Compute discharge measurements by the mid-section method

This saves time (and money) and is at least as accurate as the

41

other method Request hydrographers to bear the method in mind

when selecting verticals near edges of channel or at breaks in

the cross section It is recommended that in the interests of

economy this change be made at an early date

10 Consider 20 as a desirable number of verticals in an average

stream cross section Continue to time the meter revolutions

for 40 to 60 seconds at each setting Someday if more accushy

racy is desired in hydrographic work in the Philippines it

would be appropriate to standardize on 30 verticals per measureshy

ment provided the 2-8 depth method were used and the gages

were read to fractions of a centimeter For the present it

seems consistent to take about 20 verticals when using the 6

method and with gages read only to the nearest centimeter

11 Use steel tag lines for wading measurements Paint bridge

rails and cables with markings sufficiently close together

that they can be used rapidly to determine stationing between

them When installing the paint marks use standard intervals

of either 1 meter 2 meters or 5 meters To avoid confusion

do not use intervals of 3 or 4 meters If measuring intervals

are to be 1 meter or less it is very convenient to have a

mark available every meter If intervals are between 1 and 5

meters use a mark every 2 meters A good system for making

the marks readily identifiable is to place 1 paint mark at

each basic interval like every 2 meters then put 2 marks every

10 meters 3 every 50 meters and 4 at 100 meters

42

use on12 Always tags the portion of the meter suspension line

that goes in the water The tags usually consist of small

pieces of colored cloth taped tightly to the line They

should be watched and checked occasionally against slippage

and error The tags should not be more than one meter apart

and should be spaced to give maximum convenience and speed in

measuring the discharge

13 As it may becoin feasible convert Type A current meters to

Type AA The more deeply recessed bearing of the Type AA

meter provides more durability of the pivot and bearing

because trapped air excludes most of the water and silt the

longer pivot results in a relatively lower center of gravity

of the bucke t wheel with respect to the point of bearing and

results in smoother performance

F Design of the stream gaging network

1 Everyone seem3 to agree with the objective of a network of

well-distributed long-term base stations for giving runoffshy

per-square-kilometer values representative of the general

area in which each station is located As rapidly as practishy

cable stations should be L d n the o ting netrk

and designated as base or index stations for permanent operashy

tion They should be the best stations both hydraulically

and as to equipment and should be free from upstream regushy

lation or diversion Where needed new base stations should

be installed as soon as they can be financed to appropriately

L11 out the network

43

2 In between such base stations it is desirable to sample smaller

basins with short-term records of various lengths which can be short term

correlated with the long records For this purpose thestashy

tion structures should be constructed so that they are as moveshy

able or salvageable as possiblej Often these movable stations

will be operated at or near specific project sites

3 It usually is more economical and satisfactory to gage a stream

at a highway crossing or other convenient place rather than

exactly at a project site later the data can be transferred

to the project site by means of drainage area proportions

checked by obtaining at the site e

two miscellaneous measurements or possibly in some cases a

whole year of record

4 A method for studying the existing network of stations to see

whether the intensity of coverage is satisfactory or not is to

plot correlations between the various station records prefershy

ably following the present methods of the USGS

5 It has been found advantageous to classify all gaging stations

that are in operation using categories somewhat like these

areal network base stations primary and secondary main stream

stations and water management stations This procedure is

helpful in planning how long various stations should be operated

Detailed information about station classification methods is

available from the U S Geological Survey for use as a guide

The Technical Training Program

Early plans

When this assignment was given to me it was anticipated that a

series of across-the-table discussions would be held with small groups

of hydrographers from the Philippine government bureaus engaging in

such work Detailed procedures would be discussed without formality

But when arrangements were initiated for such conferences I was inshy

formed that among those wanting to attend were many at the managerial

level as well as a number of representatives of agencies interested

more in water development projects than in resource investigations

These could not be turned down so it was necessary to revise the

agenda to include more of general interest

Later developments

In view of the wide experience and high rank of many prospective

attendants of the conference it did not seem appropriate to call it

a lecture series or school and the name Seminar On Water Resources

was decided upon The agenda is included in this report and will be

self-explanatory Registered attendance for each of the three weeks

was 68 72 and 70 persons respectively for a total of 210 The

setting for the Seminar can best be understood from the photographs

Conditions as a whole were good although the tape-recording of the

entire three weeks of proceedings and the need for a member to come

F M Veatch and Water Resources Seminar group week of April 8-12 1957 at Bureau of Public Highways conference building Manila

I y

rT

I

4

47

forward and use the microphone whenever he asked a question or made a

comment was somewhat of a dampener oh discussion When preparing the

agenda I assumed that few besides the hydrographers would attend the

sessions on technical details of stream gaging scheduled for Wednesday

to Friday yet the entire membership stayed through the full program

each week and so no small-group round-table discussions were practicable

It developed later that the language barrier was a little more

serious than first realized Also it was not evident at first that

many present did not know what a gaging station was One of the main

benefits gained from the field trip was to show them a typical station

along with some equipment Taken as a whole it is believed that the

Seminar was successful and worthwhile

The sending of trainees from the Hydrographic Section to the

United States by ICA is very effective in supplementing the technical

assistance rendered directly by American personnel in the Philippines

and it should be continued as long as possible

Acknowledgments

Announcements and invitations to attend the Seminar were sent to

numerous agencies and offices by the Hydrographic Section who also

made all arrangements such as for space registration loud speaker

system tape recordings and recess refreshments The Bureau of

Public Highways made their new conference building available and the

National Media Center furnished a slide projector screen and room

all of which were greatly appreciated The introductory talks by

48

several busy executives including Director J A Buendia and Messrs

A T Alano R R Lord P G Afable and D Rosell with Mr Tomas

Saddam acting as master of ceremonies contributed ideas and gave

each weeks session a good send-off

Publications

Copies of the following publications of the U S Geological

Survey (one by Bureau of Reclamation and one from ASCE) were disshyon

play at the Seminar at all times for inspection by the members Alshy

though they were requested not to take the publications away quite a

few copies gradually became missing

Irrigation Water Measurement Tables and Diagrams by U S

Bureau of Reclamation

ASCE Separate 413 - Backwater Effects of Open Channel

Constrictions

Stage-Fall Discharge Relation for Steady Flow in Prismatic

Channels Water-Supply Paper 1164

Topographic Characteristics of Drainage Basins W S P 968C

Weir Experiments Coefficients and Formulas WSP 200

Handbook for Hydrologists - Chapters 1 - 11

Chapter 1 -- Instructions for Flood Frequency Compilations

Chapter 2 -- ledian Discharge Computation Methods

Chapter 3 -- Instructions for Abstracting Topographic

Characteristics of Drainage Basins

i

-Imr- I

1 N

L

V10J~

C R Mirray explaining a ground water formula

Ii

17t

o

Water Resources Seminar group at gaging station on Marikina River near Montalban Rizal about an hours drive northeast of Manila April 12 1957

51

-- Channel Storage and Flood Routing

-- Extending Stream-flow Records

Chapter 6 -- Double Mass Curves

Chapter 7-A- Frequency Curves of Low Flows and Storage

Requirements

Chapter 8 -- Flood Frequency Analyses

Chapter 9 -- Small Stream Investigations

Chapter 10 - Hydrologic Definitions

Chapter 11 - Base-Flow Recession-Curves

Computation of Backwater at Open Channel Constrictions

Floods in Western Washington Frequency and Magnitude in

Relation to Drainage Basin Characteristics GS Circular 191

Floods in Georgia Frequency and Magnitude GS Circular 100

Stream-Gaging Procedure - A Manual Describing Methods and

Practice of the Geological Survey - WSP 888

Investigation of Methods and Equipment used in Stream Gaging

Part 2 Intakes For Gage Wells

Computation of Peak Discharge through Culverts

Computation of Backwater at Open-Channel Constrictions

Equipment for River Measurements Structures for Cableways

by Charles H Pierce

Computation of Peak Discharge at Contractions Circular 284

Care and Rating of Current Meters

Surface Water Supply o the United States 1950 Parts 1 - 14

52

In addition to the above publications a two-page single-spaced

memorandum entitled Plotting Flood Frequency Curves (Extracted from

U S Geological Survey publications) was prepared by me under date

of April 3 1957 and handed to each member of the Seminar each week

The program or agenda for the Seminar one copy of which was

given to each member follows on Pages 53 to 63 inclusive The

graphs on Page 63 were referred to during the talks

53

March 29 1957

AGENDA FOiR SEMINARZ ON WATER RESCURCES AND STAE4 GAGING

IN THE PHILIPPINES

PLACE Conference hoom 2nd Floor Bureau of Public Highways Building Second Street Port Area Manila

TIKE April 1-5 8-12 and 22-26 (same program each week)

CONDUCTED BY M1r i 1 Veatch District EngineerSurface WaterBranch Jater Aesources Division United States Geological Suver Thcoma ashington who is un three-month assignment with the ICA

Held in connoction with the Philippine Government-ICA water resources program

54

GENERAL PROGRAM MONDAY AND TUESDAY

honday morning 830

Opening remarks Mr Julian A Buendia Director Bureau of Fublic Works Mr R R Lord Chief Public Works Division ICA Mr G H Hargreaves Hydraulic Engineer ICA

Importance of water resources and their investigation

The hydrologic cycle Evaporation transpiration and precipitation Runoff

Daily discharge record and the hydrograph Storm runoff Base flow

Grou~nd Water Very brief description (this subject to be covered

iaore fully on Tuesday afternoon)

General characteristics of natural stream runoff in the Philippines Quantity

Adequacy Comparison with United States

Variations with time Day to day and year to year Long-term trends

Distributin by area General over the Philippine Islands Variations between nearby drainage basins

Effect of location elevation geology cover etc

Major uses of stream-flow data Many years of rccornds should be crnsidered Granting water r phts

Protect existing rights Prevent capital expenditures where water supply inadequate

Planning river basin developments including municipal supply irrigation pnwer flood control etc

Destping structures such as dams reservoirs dikes floodways canals pumping systems power plants bridges etc

Accuracy and extent of dat needed for minimizing underdesign or wasteful overdesign

Cost of water-supply data in relation to total cost of a project

Operating water projects Distribution of water on projects Operation of storage reservoirs and diversion dams

To make maximum use uf water supply Designing alterations or enlargements to existing projects

RECESS 1000 to 1015

55 -3-

Monday morning (Continued) 1015 aim

Management of the stream gaging program Foreseeing the needs for stream-flow records

Study population and industrial trends Keep inforned on water-development plans and

prgraIIs of all agencies Continuity of the records

Essential for wator-supply studies Regular financinp reouired

Annual appropriations a poundfccted by temporary econoidc or political conditions

Permanent type of financing needed Surcharge method License fee method

-Dissemination of the data Annual publication Occasional summary compilations Furnishing advance cupies of unpublished records Furnishing current data - daily weekly or munthly

wherever required Special water resources investigation agency desirable

Briefly dancribe United States organization Uniform tecnical standards Uniform ways of presenting data One series of publicatiens Distributial center for basic water data Genera l-coverage program requires close coordination

for economy of operation Personal requirements

Engineers Engir ring aids Computers Clerks

ADJOURN - 1145

Resume after lunch only if necessary for completing the above subjects

56

Tueday morning 830

Design of a comprehensive stream gjaging program General rrinciIlac

Represenkc tive runoff-type provinces should be sainpled with stations of various classes

Vary the intensity of coverage with probable intenshysity of water use

Follow tiie tcends variations with records fromand L sri etatiorns secondary

Correlate resultls one continually adjustnetwork Classification of ra-in stationa

Areal prinary and secondary viain strem priiary nd secondary Water-manmfciact stat-i ons Miscellanous dischaige mcasurements

Correlating the dat obttined in comprehensive program Logarithmic pajer Five years of lecord uscd What is a good corrclation

Analyses of data Flood frcouencjs

Annual serics Partial duration series

Low-flow frecuencies Low-flow duration hydrograph

Extending strewm-flow records Comparisons witi other gaging stations Rainfall-runoff correlations

Quality of water Temperature

Intermittent observations Recorders

Chemical gtuality Element -Dissolved solids

Suspended iaterial Time of cecurrence-floods Sampling

Methods Cost

RECESS - 1000 to 1015

57

- 5 -

Tuesday afternoon 130

Ground water (This subject conducted by Mr C R Murray) Occurrence

Water table Artesian Lakes

Movement Through the ground Into stream channels

Availability Geologic structure Aquifers Funing tests

Recharge Froa precipitation Artificial Froma induced lateral movement

Investigation Geology Springs Logs of dug and drilled wells Test wells

lecording Lanual

Quantitative studies Chemical quality analyses

Mincral ccontnt Sallt water intrusion

Drilling of wells for production use Ground water rirhts

Depletion of ground water reservoirs teyond rccharge capability

ADJOURN at 330

Geologist Ground Water Branch dater Resources Division U 6 Geological Survey who is on two-ywar assignment with ICA

58

PROGRAM ON STREMvi GAGING PROCEDURE WEDNESDAY TO FRIDAY

4ednesday morning 830

Establishing and constructing gaging stations Selection of site

Consider najor probable uses of the record Investigate extent of upstream diversion and

-egulation Utilize contour naps Obtain list of nmrjor water right applications

iydraulic conditicns Section control Shifting channel Overbank flow Dackwater

Accessibility Avoid too much expense Need to reach quickly to measure flash floods

Natural protection front flood damage Avoid excessively expensive construction conditions

Bed iock Quick sand Too-longintake pipes

For non-rccording gage choose site convenient to

one or more local gage readers

Survey of site Bank cross-prefile at gage Cross section at cable Plan

Right of way Oral pervrission ritten permission

Easement Land purchase

RECESS - 945 to 1000

- 7 - 59

Wednesday morning (Continued) 100)

Construction Select types and sizes of structures To fit purpose oi the record Plan later salva e (for secondary stations) For economy of operation (for example design cableway to

operat mesily) Adapt availabic standard plans to fit the site Keep costs to hclp in future estimating Make brief construction report for future assistance in

planninr sililar Jobs Prepare staLion descripLion

Road log distences etc for How to reach paragraph Descriptions of gages bench marks etc Dimensions cf structuis Gage datum elevations of portinent parts of structures

Operating and maintaining gaging stations Records of stage

Choice of dtum Arbitrcry local datum

Set gages so there will be no minus gage readings

Mean sea level datum May be used but has disadvantages

1hen later adjustments are made to level networks

Gages have to be reset or Equation must be published

Non-recording gages Types

Vertical staff Inclined staff

ire-weight Crest-stage gages

Refinement of graduations ake adequate for accuracy of record needed

Maintatling dat of gage Adequate number of local reference marks Take levels at least once a year

Work o- local gare reader Fy according to approx number of hours worked Do not roruire too many roadings for the

conditions Warm (with omphasis) against my guessed

readings Inform reader anv errors in reading will

show up in hydrogrq oic comtparisons Engineers obtain check readings whenever

possible Visit gage reader frequently a d show inshy

terest in his gage-height record Encourage reader to retain personal copy

ADJOURN at 1145

60

Thursday morning 800

Records of stage (continued) Recording gages

Select type of instrument and its scales to fit conditions at gaging station

Weekly or continuous recorder Recorder scales Range of stage Rate of change of stage Availability of someone to change weekly

chart Work of Cage inspector of keeper

Avoid resetting pen Repurt any trash or debris causing backwater

at gage Do not have a gage keeper unless needed

aintaining gage datum Check outside gae by levels annually Keep outside gage sections reset to datum

Standard reference gage Inside gage of soie sort preferable

Staff Float-tape Anchor type

Intake action Clean or flush pipes after floods Slot intakes Self-cleaning iitakes

For pipe gage wells For wells built into bridge piers

Draw-down (where excessive) Use bapfle or static tube

Elood marks at station Make record of well-defined high water

marks

AECESS - 945 to 1000

- 9 - 61

Thursday morning (Continudd) 1000

Discharge measuroments Current hmeters

Price Type A Type AA

Pygmpy Carc of inters

Sounding weights E-typc C-type

Lead Brono

Type of notebook Loose shects Loose-leaf book Bound booL

Measurement of depth aeding rod Tag-line nethod Vertical-nglc coofficients Sounding during floods

Ilacemont of mter Sub--surface method 2-depth n cthod 6-de-pth icthod 2- imetY od

Number of verticals Velocity -urgcs

Miscellaneous f-ctors Effect of bridge piers Horizontal angle of current Insufficient weight on current water

1Mean gage hoitht for a discharge measurement Special methods of (Itermining flood discharge

Floats Slope-area method

Rating curv- etonsion method Arca and velocity curves Loparithmic plottig

Contrqctd-opening mothod Flow ovcr dams

Report on condition of control Carry station description and rating curve in field

Ubtain another me asurement if needed If first indicates large shift If new station and stagc advantagoous for

defining blank part of rating curve

ADJOUffN - 1145 AI

Resumne atfter lunch only if necessary for comploting the above subjects

62

- 10 -

Friday morning S00

A few remarks about office methods Rating curves

Log-log paper Upward extonsions Dowmward extensions

Rectangular plotting Computing recorder charts

M-ark index correction and time correction for each inspection reading

Break midnight lines at raph Never oblitertte or mark over the original trace Nake office markings on chart distinctive from

those mad( At the gage Use of colored pencils by computer and checker is one good wa)y

Daily discharge record Flot hydrograph Compare over light box with other stations

This method preferable to plotting several station records on same sheet

Concluding discussions

RECESS - 945 to 1000

Projection of gaging station equipment Lnd scenic slides taken in the United States and Canada

ADJOURN - 1145

Field trip Cars will be available at the conference building to

take members to the raging station on arikina iRivei at ontalban about an hours drive from Manila where a brief demonstration of certain field equipment will be given

Return to noL later thanoanila 500 FL

---

- Ishy4 ~7L~

0F OllY LISCIiRE 4- 1 -shy

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- O 1 B -- 2r 2 ZZ 23 24 2 c 26 7 8 2717x I 2

_~ I 027 _d- 1 2 shy

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- _______________ Pnu~ OAgvhshy

-~ ~-r- 1 - V-shy- i-shytvkty--- in--a-- -~ ~Z2m7~ ~

- ~ ~-~-----~- V 1~5~ LTLL2P7o -4----4 1 -- I -- I I _ __ --- -- -- - - L - - I ----

~- ~y~-~ 64 4

N

A il

Seminar members observing demonshystrat-n of measurshying e -pment by F M Veatch at Marikina River gaging station April 12 1957

I

Water Resources Seminar members observing working model of proppsed Binga Dam at the hydraulics laboratory of University of the Philippines April 12 1957

65

Current meter rating flume mechanism Y 22 1957

Current meter rating flume mechanism May 22 1957

66

Current Meter Rating Station

The new current meter rating station at the University of the

Philippines (see photographs) was not quite ready for use before I

left the country The mechanism and instruments were manufactured

in Germanyobtained thru ICA-NEC procurement for the Water Resources

Program of the Department of Public Works and have been installed by

Professor Alberto Villares and his hydraulics laboratory staff under

Dean C A Ortigas of the College of Engineering with some guidance

by Professor Edward L Ericksen of the University of Michigan who is

a civil engineer on detail here with the Stanford Group Professor

Villares spent 18 months in the hydraulics laboratory of the Univershy

sity of Iowa

There is every evidence that this rating flume will with expeshy

rience do work accurate enough not only for determining differences

in ratings between current meters but also for preparing absolute or

independent ratings This can be reported on more fully at some

later date by Messrs Hargreaves and Snell

The Central Luzon Region Program

The Water Resources Development Committee is preparing a recomshy

mended plan for the expedited multiple-purpose development of the

water resources of the Central Luzon region The area contains oneshy

sixteenth of the land surface and one-fourth of the population of the

Philippines and is termed the rice granary of the nation It is to

be used as an example or experiment in water and land development

67

The Committee has requested member agencies to submit estimates

of the minimum amount of additional basic data needed for making a

useful report and for proceeding with development projects Such

estimates are to include mapping soil surveys dam and reservoir site

surveys water resources surveys and other items A preliminary

report is to be prepared soon summarizing the existing information

pointing out the need for additional dataand submitting estimates

of cost for the further investigations needed An outline for the

final report has been prepared and distributed so it will be availashy

ble as a guide and funds for the first years efforts are being

sought for fiscal year 1958 It appears reasonable that the report

on a comprehensive plan could be submitted to the President and

Congress of the Philippines in about five years

With the assistance of Mr Hargreaves I have prepared estimates

for a surface water measurement program to complement the existing

program It is designed to fill the worst gaps in the present netshy

work Details are subject to change as more reconnaissance informashy

tion becomes available as only five days were spent covering the area

by automobile Unit costs were provided by the Hydrographic Section

and they include cost of preparation of the records for publication

Estimates were submitted as given below They were supported by a

detailed list of stream names and locations which included desigshy

nations as to the primary purpose or type of each proposed new gaging

station and whether a recording or non-recording gage was recommended

It is available for reference in both the ydrographic Section and

ICA offices

68

New gaging stations

1 Daily discharge type

Installation (including cableways where needed)

Recording ------- 7 Pl650 11550

Non-recording --- 4 950 3800 15350

Operation 1st year -11 660 7260 P22610

2 High water type (flood records)

Installation

Gages (nonshy

recording) ----- 4 150 600

Measuring equipment 800 1400

Operation 1st year - 4 300 1200 2600

Total for new gaging stations ------------- 25210

Miscellaneous discharge measurements

1 4 or 5 during dry season Nov - April

4 sites x 5 per site = 20 30 ---------------- 600

2 1 or 2 during low part of year March and April

37 sites x l per site = 55 k30 ------------- 1650

Total for miscellaneous measurements ------ 2250

Total -------------- -2746o

69

Rainfall And Evaporation Stations

Existing network

A map examination of the existing network of rain gages was made

and a surprisingly large number were found to be in operation -- 2

recording and 115 manual stations or a total of 117 They are beshy

lieved to be fairly adequate in number and are well distributed

areally over the Philippines but like in the United States are conshy

fined largely to the lower altitudes where the agricultural and urban

population live In addition to these records are available for

various lengths of time from about 8 discontinued Weather Bureau

stations and from more than 300 haciendas reforestaion stations

and provincial rnrseries

Additional gages

The Weather Bureau and the Bureau of Public Works are cooperating

in the installation of some new rainfall stations at higher altitudes

part of which will utilize new instruments purchased with ICA aid

funds Some of the instruments will be installed at existing nonshy

recording stations Forty new installations are proposed for 1958

fiscal year It is now recognized that rainfall station coverage at

higher altitudes is needed in order to furnish records that can be

correlated with the long-term valley records and also with the gaging

station discharge records D

70

Weather station maintained by Bureau of Public WorksIrrigation Division near Tuguegarao Cagayan From left to right N Ciriaco District Hydrographer drivershyhelper observer J G Garcia hydrographer J C Regalado and G H Hargreaves May 13 1957

Weather station at Pototan Iloilo Panay A Lacuestadistrict bydro-rapher standing May 5 1957

71

Group luncheon at Tacloban Leyte typical of the hospitality received by us during inspection tour of the Philippines From left to right M Rico irrig distr engr G Hargreaves G Araos E N Salazar P Formilleza L Abella S Velasco JCRegalado V H Sydiongoo distr hydrographer I M Ortega Oscar de Venecia and N Oliver May 7 1957

ICA Public Works Division March 1957 From left to right C R Murray A A Ketchum asat Div head J B Delaney I J Silverstone Sofia Halili 0 H Hosmer R R Lord Div head B B Hill Betty Valdez G H Hargreaves J L Brenden FM Veatch

72

Evaporation stations

Fifteen double-pan (one open and one partially shaded) evaporation

stations with rainfall temperature wind and humidity instruments as

auxiliary are being operated in the Philippines and ten more are to

follow next year They are well distributed over the islands and

should furnish data of great value for reservoir design Thq reccrds

will be publish3d

Publication of rainfall data

All rainfall reccrds are published annually by the Weather Bureau

whose 1954 volume is the latest one printed The 1955 issue should be

released soon One excellent source of information for anyone studyshy

ing rainfall data in the Philippines is the publication The Distrishy

bution of Rainfall In The Philippines by Eugenio B Manalo Chief

Climatological Division Weather Bureau Manila This contains

valuable descriptive material tables of monthly and annual values

and mean monthly and annual isohyets in inches An inspection or

study of the monthly isohyetal maps shows clearly how storm patterns

change with the seasons in certain parts of the Philippines and that

73

in other areas the rain is almost evenly distributed throughout the

year The long dry season of Manila and the central Luzon plains is

graphically portrayed by the isohyets Mr Manalos publication

should be of great benefit to government agencies and private parties

or individuals in connection with agricultural and business activities

over the islands It is presumed that the isohyets will warrant some

revision after another 5 or 10 years as more records especially those

at higher altitudes become available

Sediment Measurement Stations

Practically no silt-sampling has been done in the Philippines

to date and no extensive program is believed possible because of the

lack of funds For the present it is recommended that every governshy

ment field hydrographer be equipped with a thermomater and a turbidity

stick and required to report a spot water temperature and turbidity

reading at time of each discharge measurement Thus without extra

cost a large amount of data can be accumulated which after several

years should make it possible to determine what streams are the

siltiest and where more detailed studies might be needed Whenever a

reservoir project reaches the intensive-investigation stage including

dam-site drilling detailed topography etc it is recommended that

a complete sediment sampling station be operated there for at least

one full flood season before the project feasibility report is

completed

74

Statement Before Water Resources Development Committee

On March 20 1957 I presented the following statement regarding

the streamflow measurement program in the Philippines

The Philippine Republic is blessed with an excellent supply of

water of good quality but much of it is wasted to the sea during the

rainy season The development of this resource is vitally important

to the nation and it involves the storing of flood waters for dryshy

season release Where investments are to be made for construction of

dams etc in the development of irrigation power production and

flood control large sums can easily be wasted through overdesign or

underdesign if enough engineering data are not available Conflicting

or competing uses for the water supplies will gradually develop in

your country the same as they have in the United States If water

rights are to be granted fairly with due regard for all prior users

many years of basic data are necessary so that the long-term water

supply can be estimated For this purpose a good network of stream

gaging records and ground water levels must be secured One would

not attempt to manage the money in a bank without bookkeeping and it

is just as important to have an accounting system when managing water

The sound economical procedure is to base all project designs on as

complete engineering information as can be obtained

The ICA is attempting to assist the Philippine Government in

planning the orderly development of its water resources and we are

concerned that too many structures may be built before accurate

9i

hydrologic data are available for their design For this reason we

strongly urge you to improve the basic data gathering program at the

earliest possible date as follows

(1) Review and publish the stream-flow records that have been

obtained since the war

(2) Finance an expanded program of stream-flow measurement and

ground water study

The Bureau of Public Works has prepared preliminary estimates of

the funds needed for bringing publication of basic data up to date and

for expanding the wiater resources investigation program The attached

copies of estimates are of course provisional and subject to revision

but it is suggested that they be placed in the files of this Committee

for future reference The figure of P56oooo for publication is a

fairly firm figure It is suggested that the Committee take immeshy

diate action to further the procurement of these funds

The procurement of water resources data is a specialized field

requiring engineers and other technical men with a high degree of

education Years must be spent in training them in such special

work The men must endure rigorous physical work corbatting the

elements and using resourcefulness and judgment It is very uneconoshy

mical and unsatisfactory to have a technical organization of that kind

subject to occasional and unpredictable severe cuts in appropriations

It is even more unsatisfactory to have the time sequence of basic

water data collection interrupted and valuable records lost forever

18

In order to look over the existing program observe something of

the technical methods in use and see a variety of runoff and economic

types of areas in the islands to gain an idea of the type of stream

gaging network needed I have visited several regions accompanied most

of the time by Mr George Hargreaves It has been very helpful to me

to have him take such an interest in the detailed objectives of ry

assignment and I am sure it will facilitate Mrs Snellas work a great

deal to have available for consultation and guidance Mr Hargreaves

wide experience in water resources development and investigations

We were accompanied by Mr J C Regalado of the ydrographic Section

who made most of the advance contacts with field offices in connecshy

tion with our trips We usually travelled to central points by Philshy

ippine Air Lines and were then driven to nearby areas by field officials

of the Hydrographic Section and other agencies The hospitality and

cooperation of everyone toward us was exceptional and much appreciated

Besides a fairly detailed coverage of the Central Luzon area where an

intensified program is proposed our inspections included Northern

Luzon Southern Luzon (the Bicol region) Leyte Panay and several

parts of Mindanao In addition we made a special effort to observe

the country all along the routes of airplane flights taken and that

coupled with airplane stops made on other islands gave us a fairly

comprehensive view of the geography of the Philippines It is upon

this that my recommendations concerning the design of a stream gaging

program are based

19

Bquipment and technical methods-

The stream gaging equipment and methods used by the Hydrographic

Section since 1908 have been patterned mainly after those of the US

Geological Survey as described in the 1904 publication H4ydrographic

Manual Thus it appears likely that the methods and accuracy stanshy

dards have changed but little since the Philippine program was started

Stream gaging tecniques used by the other agencies are similar but

they have not had the advantage of some of the new ICA-furnished equipshy

ment This is expected to be remedied in the aid allocations for fiscal

year 1958

Although some use has been made of the 2-8 method of measuring

discharge present practice is limited almost entirely to the 6method

for low and medium stages and the sub-surface method for high stages

for the latter the meter is suspended over a 15-E weight and set 03

meter below the surface with a coefficient of 0915 applied

The number of verticals or measuring points taken in the cross

section usually is between 8 and 15 No bridge cranes or suspension

reels of any kind have been available all discharge work other than

with wading rod having been done by hand line All this is about to

be changed with the recent arrival of the first ICA-furnished sounding

reels weights and tag lines purchased from 1956 FY funds

Staff gages are read to the nearest centimeter (about 0033 foot)

Most of the gages would be difficult to read to any closer limit alshy

though a few stations have Leupold Stevens enameled gages with levelshy

rod type markings

20

The hydrographer records his discharge measurement notes in a

small bound pocket-size book which he carries until it is full After

each measurement is computed in the field a complete copy of the notes

is made on a card and mailed to the Manila office I am informed

that the bound notebooks are practically never lost or dropped in

the water With the increased amount of flood measuring expected to

be done in the future that situation might change

Rating curves are drawn to average large groups of discharge

measurements Large rectangular-scale cross section sheets are used

Percentage differences of the measured values with respect to the

rating table are not computed A minimum of use is made of Stoutshy

method shifts

The water-stage recorders furnished to date by the ICA have been

manufactured with time scales of either 03 inch per day (the FM

model) or 48 inches per day (the A-35 model) The former scale is

too small for satisfactory use in most stream gaging and the latter

is too large Thirty pairs of time scale gears have been ordered for

converting the A-35s from 48 to 24 inches per day Upon inquiry at

the factory it was learned that no conversion of the FM recorders is

possible An exchange of 25 of them is being made with the ground

water program for an equivalent value in A-35 recordero but the

remaining 65 will be used at the surface water stations They are

very satisfactory on lakes or spring-fed streams or large streams

whose fluctuations are not too sudden

21

Ipo dam on Angat River which diverts water to supply City of Manila and surrounding area March 13 1957 Reservoir is traversed by boat in reaching the gaging station upstream

Ready to leave Ipo Dam for gaging station 6 kilqmeters upstream B Ramos and J Regalado in oanca March 13 1957

4 ~ s~

B Ramos making discharge measurement by wading on Angat River above Ipo DamMarch 13 1957 Spacings between verticals were obtained from cable makings byline hanging from cable car

23

At non-recording gages it has been the custom to hire gagekeepers

at uniform or statutory rates of 025 or P30 per month (not related

to the distance traversed in going to the gage) to obtain readings

three times a day The pay has been the same even where the gage is

located several kilometers away from the gagekeepers home The system

has certain disadvantages which may affect the accuracy of the records

At some stations the pay is too high while at others it is too low

Three readings a day are not necessary most of the time for adequately

developing the hydrograph especially during the dry season and a

request for obviously unnecessary readings seems to put too severe a

test upon human nature It is practically an open invitation to a

certain amount of faking I doubt that it should be held against a

gagekeeper to put down some estimated readings under those circumstances

any more than it would be to blame children for taking candy or cookies

from a forbidden plate left openly in their midst The question then

becomes - what readings can be relied upon and what cannbt I sincerely

believe that a more accurate daily discharge record can be prepared in

the office from a few completely reliable gage readinrs per week by

means of hydrographic comparisons with recording-gage records from

nearby stations and with less expense than can be produced by proshy

cessing comparing and weeding out questionable parts from a complete

(on paper) record of three readings a day A gagekeepers habit

developed during the dry season of not going to the gage when it is

inconvenient or he doesnt feel like it is bound to crop up during

the high water season as well with the result that all his readings

24

must be looked at critically and considered reliAble only after

unusually extensive comparisons are made with weather records and

other stations

In regard to specialized stream gaging equipment listed below

are the amounts purchased by the ICA up to the present time

Ordered from Ordered from Being FY 1955 PPA 1956 PPA ordered Delivered in Delivered in from 1957

May 1956 May 1957 PPA

Canfield reels 0 6 8

Type A reels 0 6 2

Canfield tag lines 0 15 0

A-35 recorders 20 10 25

FM recorders 65 25 0

Enameled gage secs 400 600 200

Currer meter outfits inc ding rod headphonehanuline and 15-pound weight 11 10 0

Pygmy meters 0 0 10

Bridge cranes 0 3 0

Sounding wts 30-lb 0 0 10

50-lb 0 0 10

I i 75-lb 0 0 1

I 100-lb 0 0 1

Stopwatches 20 10 0

Being purchased as models for possible future use in procurement of

weights of local manufacture

25

~-

-~ ~- shy

~-

4rshy~~L~zu 1 - ~ A-

-~ - ~jj ~

~- k ~ ~

Helper and P Nubio National Power Corporationpreparing to make discharge measurement Tag marks of grass being tied to line Bantay River near Bokod Benguet Mountain Province March 26 1957

-- ~ 4

V

Helper holding meter in place suspended on a weight hanger while revolutions are counted oy hydrographer P Nubio E P Nbesamis is at extreme right March 26 1957

26

-p --shy

t-~-- - -

A ~

A~4 ~ 4

A -Y

- -

- - - -

gt~ ~ ~-

Z4z4a - ~z

- shy -~-~shy

4shy- --

I NPC discharge party on Bokod River at-Bokod BenguetMountain Province Helper and gagekeeper holding meter and 15-pound weight in position P Nubio on shore counting revolutions and recording notes March 26 1957

Ar 7

-~ I

0 I 15-pound weight used in discharge measurement work by the NPC hydrographer stationed at Ambuklao Dam March 26 1957

27

Recommendations

A sharp expansion in the stream gaging program of the Philippines

has occurred recently brought about not only by the ICAs economic and

technical aid program but also by the growing local demand for water

resources information It is inevitable that some organizational

changes would be required to accommodate such a sudden growth This

subject was discussed in conferences with Mr Saddam and Mr Regalado

and the following list of special objectives agreed upon They had a

number of these in mind or partly in effect already and were planning

to gradually adopt several others The items are listed here in order

to express my reasons for wanting to see them completely implemented

within the next two or three years They are as follows

A It is recommended that the district offices compute their own disshy

charge records and prepare them for publication for final review

in the central office in ranila

1 Additional engineers would be needed in each district office

and fewer engineers in the Manila office

2 At least the district hydrographer and preferably one other

engineer in addition should be trained in the office work in

Manila before the records were transferred to a district

3 Each engineer in a district office would be given a field area

which he would cover by a round of discharge measurements once

every 4 to 6 weeks each coverage taking about 2 weeks Betshy

ween trips he would do office work preferably on the same

stations that he covers in the field

28

4 Benefits of thissystem are believed to be as follows

a Records requested could be furnished more quickly to the

public especially to those in the district area

b This kind of a close tie between field and office work has

been found to greatly improve the quality of the records

the economy of operation and the performance and developshy

ment of the individual engineers

c The alternating of each person between field and office

work makes him (1) more competent in the field work and

also more competent in the office work than is possible

in segregated office and field groups and (2) permits

him to be home more of the time and lead a more normal

lifc thus increasing his morale and efficiency

5 Personnel arrangements recommended are

a Offer more rapid promotion to those who transfer like

from Manila to a field office or between field offices

b Encourage each man to transfer every few years with

faster promotions as an incentive It has been found

that this develops an engineers competence more rapidly

than if he stays in one office indefinitely Such ability

repays the government in added officiency and production

to an extent greater than its cost in extra salary

B Certain organization changes are recommended as follows

1 Appoint an Office Engineer a Field Engineer and (whenever

needed) a Construction Engineer They would be headquartered

__

V 29

2

~- ~

q

Ambuklao Dam on Agno River Generating capacity 75000 kw Powerplant is underground March 2557

7- t

-JI

Maria Cristina falls and power plant on Agus River River near Iligan Lanao Province Mindanao Present installed capacity 50000 kw May 1 1957

30

II I

Looking downstream at the Binga dam site on Agno River about 15 kilometers east of Baguio March 25 1957

Looking upstream at the Marikina dam site on Marikina River at Wawa near Montalban Rizal about 25 kilometers northeast of Manila April 5 1957

31

in the Manila office and act under the general supervision of

the head of the Section with the following responsibilities

to be included

a Office Engineer

(1) Be responsible for the discharge computations and

related office work in the Manila field district or

area

(2) Be responsible for review and final preparation for

publication of all records in the nation

(3) See that a progress chart of status-of-record compushy

tations is maintained in each district office and

that a summary statement concerning such progress is

sent to the central office at least quarterly

(4) Be responsible for research in office methods and

equipment (See footnote on next page)

b Field Engineer

(1) Act as first assistant to head of the Section of

Hydrography

(2) Be responsible for field operation vork throughout the

nation

(a) Make at least one annual field inspection in each

district

(b) Develop the system in every headquarters of keepshy

ing a running chronological chart of the discharge

measurements made at each gaging station or

32W

scheduled miscellaneous site A form in use in

Tacoma Washington has been found to be very conshy

venient for this purpose Such a chart gives the

supervisor a quick overall view of the status of

the field work and serves as a check at end of

the year to make sure all measurements have been

listed and counted

(3) Be responsible for the design of the stream gaging

network and the selection of sites for new gaging

stations

(4) Be responsible for research in field methods and

equipment

Construction Engineer

(1) Give general supervision and management to the conshy

struction program

(a) Obtain assignment of resident engineer or foreman

for each job

(b) See that the materials are made available Help

the foreman in every way possible in organizing

the job procuring emergency equipment or supplies

and making decisions about serious problems that

may arise on the job

If funds became available for considerable research it probably

would be better to appoint a special Research Engineer

33

~A

Cagayan River gaging station near Cagayan de OroMisamis Oriental Mindanao April 30 1957 Note how corrugated pipe recorder structure was bent by flood J C Regalado J J Ponco gagekeeper and G H Hargreaves in foreground

-

V

View of staff gage and control on Binakaan River at Tifigib near Pastrana Leyte Stream divided by a barand control excavated for unknown reason May 6 1957 J Regalado by the sign and G Hargreaves at right

Cable footbridge below Binga dam site Tree anchorage for cableway onformerly used by NPC in making Angat River above Ipo Damdischarge measurements P Nubio and March 13 1957E Abesamis of NPC on bridge March 25 1957

35

(c) Visit the major jobs occasionally to see that

they are proceding satisfactorily in all the

islands Make sure the stations are installed

according to instructions and plans An approved

sketch plan showing dimensions and elevations is

desirable for each construction job

(d) Prepare first draft of each new station description

(e) Prepare brief construction report including costs

A form in use at Tacoma Washington has been found

convenient for this purpose

C The following policies in regard to gagekeepers are recommended

1 Start a gradual change-over to paying each gagekeeper on basis

only of the hours he works plus a basic amount for taking the

responsibility This may result in increasing the pay of some

but it should reduce the pay of a much larger number

2 Convert most gagekeepers to two readings a day most of the time

with one or more additional readings during floods In some of

the drier parts of the Central Luzon area in cases where gages

are remote from habitation request only one reading a day

during the dry months such as from January through May inclushy

sive more than that are believed to cost more than they are

worth and are an open invitation to the reporting of estimated

readings

3 When a new recorder installation is at a barrio or bridge where

it appears unlikely to be vandalized try running the station

36

without hiring a gagekeeper If this system proves successful

discontinue the services of the gagekeepers at certain selected

recorders At all other recorders reduce the number of readshy

ings required to one per day and reduce their pay accordingly

If a gagekeeper prefers not to accept a lower monthly rate for

fewer readings it is suggested that he resign except in cases

where security of the station structures or right-of-way favors

may be involved

Proceed on the principle that a saving in public tax money from

the above reforms is more important than supporting gagekeepers

just because they depend on the income and need the money The

present dependence of a gagekeeper on his P300 or P360 a year

and the hardship he must undergo in adjusting to a lower rate

of pay for the job are not believed to be sufficient reasons

for continuing indefinitely to pay him more than necessary

However it is recommended that he be given 30 or 60 days

notice before a reduction in pay is placed in effect

D Vehicles

1 It is recommended that a gradual change-over be made from the

short-wheelbase open Jeep to the Jeep station wagon as a hydroshy

graphers car Benefits should be as follows

a The car can be locked leaving only the tires as attractive

to thieves

b The station wagon has more space As the hydrographers

became better equipped that space will be needed

37

Bamboo-and-grass shelters built and used by crew during construction of gaging station on Angat River above Ipo Dam March 13 1957

3

4

-Ti LP

Proposed site for new index-type gaging station selected on Baoas River near Mangatarem Pangasinan above all diversions by Regalado Romasanta dargreaves and Veatch April 15 1957 Photo by J S Romasanta

38

Taking Philippine Airlines plane at Legaspi Albayfor Manila on May 17 1957 Mount Mayon 7960 feet high in background

I

N 1 x

Y

I

Showing typical vehicle used on the reconnaissance and inspection trips over the Philippines

39

c For occasional errands or trips it will be feasible for

only oneman to take the car because he can lock the con

tents when the car is not attended

d It may possibly develop in some parts of the Philippines

that a hydrographer for a certain area will not need a

driver-helper and thereby a saving in funds can be made

However such a change should be made only on a trial

basis and is not recommended until conditions so warrant

and until the hydrographer involved is satisfied with the

change or else desires it

E Certain technical stream-gaging procedures are recommended to be

followed in the Philippine Islands hydrographic work at the average

gaging station by all agencies doing stream gaging as follows

1 Obtain a discharge measurement once every four to six weeks

throughout the year

2 Furnish the hydrographer with a print of the station descripshy

tion and of the rating curve and require him as a general rule

to compute and plot his discharge measurement in the field

3 Have the gage read both before and after each discharge measureshy

ment and the readings recorded on the field notes

4 Use a loose-leaf discharge-measurement note form or forms

containing a summary page patterned to some extent after the

forms in use by the USGS Bound notes make it too inconshy

venient or perhaps impossible for the office engineer to

examine the notes for a whole year when he analyzes a station

record

40

5 Gradually change to the use of ehameled steel gage plates

instead of painted gages because their initial cost is less

and they are more durable Plates graduated somewhat like

those of the US Geological Survey are believed much better

than those stocked by private companies While here I drew

up a suggested design for local manufacture which appealed

to the Hydrographic Section

6 Obtain levels at staff gages at least once a year especially

on the low section of gage Replace or repair each low secshy

tion soon after it becomes damaged or the markings become

indistinct

7 Continue as a general rule to use the 6-depth method with

the sub-surface method for deep swift water Obtain a comshy

plete cross section as soon as feasible after the high water

has subsided

8 Gradually change to the use of heavier sounding weights so

that the 6-depth method with soundings can be used at high

water in any event take soundings and velocities as far out

as practicable from each bank at flood stages then go across

deep part of channel with sub-surface method Check subshy

surface method coeficients whenever practicable by means of

vertical velocity curves Until such checks show otherwise

use a coefficient of 090

9 Compute discharge measurements by the mid-section method

This saves time (and money) and is at least as accurate as the

41

other method Request hydrographers to bear the method in mind

when selecting verticals near edges of channel or at breaks in

the cross section It is recommended that in the interests of

economy this change be made at an early date

10 Consider 20 as a desirable number of verticals in an average

stream cross section Continue to time the meter revolutions

for 40 to 60 seconds at each setting Someday if more accushy

racy is desired in hydrographic work in the Philippines it

would be appropriate to standardize on 30 verticals per measureshy

ment provided the 2-8 depth method were used and the gages

were read to fractions of a centimeter For the present it

seems consistent to take about 20 verticals when using the 6

method and with gages read only to the nearest centimeter

11 Use steel tag lines for wading measurements Paint bridge

rails and cables with markings sufficiently close together

that they can be used rapidly to determine stationing between

them When installing the paint marks use standard intervals

of either 1 meter 2 meters or 5 meters To avoid confusion

do not use intervals of 3 or 4 meters If measuring intervals

are to be 1 meter or less it is very convenient to have a

mark available every meter If intervals are between 1 and 5

meters use a mark every 2 meters A good system for making

the marks readily identifiable is to place 1 paint mark at

each basic interval like every 2 meters then put 2 marks every

10 meters 3 every 50 meters and 4 at 100 meters

42

use on12 Always tags the portion of the meter suspension line

that goes in the water The tags usually consist of small

pieces of colored cloth taped tightly to the line They

should be watched and checked occasionally against slippage

and error The tags should not be more than one meter apart

and should be spaced to give maximum convenience and speed in

measuring the discharge

13 As it may becoin feasible convert Type A current meters to

Type AA The more deeply recessed bearing of the Type AA

meter provides more durability of the pivot and bearing

because trapped air excludes most of the water and silt the

longer pivot results in a relatively lower center of gravity

of the bucke t wheel with respect to the point of bearing and

results in smoother performance

F Design of the stream gaging network

1 Everyone seem3 to agree with the objective of a network of

well-distributed long-term base stations for giving runoffshy

per-square-kilometer values representative of the general

area in which each station is located As rapidly as practishy

cable stations should be L d n the o ting netrk

and designated as base or index stations for permanent operashy

tion They should be the best stations both hydraulically

and as to equipment and should be free from upstream regushy

lation or diversion Where needed new base stations should

be installed as soon as they can be financed to appropriately

L11 out the network

43

2 In between such base stations it is desirable to sample smaller

basins with short-term records of various lengths which can be short term

correlated with the long records For this purpose thestashy

tion structures should be constructed so that they are as moveshy

able or salvageable as possiblej Often these movable stations

will be operated at or near specific project sites

3 It usually is more economical and satisfactory to gage a stream

at a highway crossing or other convenient place rather than

exactly at a project site later the data can be transferred

to the project site by means of drainage area proportions

checked by obtaining at the site e

two miscellaneous measurements or possibly in some cases a

whole year of record

4 A method for studying the existing network of stations to see

whether the intensity of coverage is satisfactory or not is to

plot correlations between the various station records prefershy

ably following the present methods of the USGS

5 It has been found advantageous to classify all gaging stations

that are in operation using categories somewhat like these

areal network base stations primary and secondary main stream

stations and water management stations This procedure is

helpful in planning how long various stations should be operated

Detailed information about station classification methods is

available from the U S Geological Survey for use as a guide

The Technical Training Program

Early plans

When this assignment was given to me it was anticipated that a

series of across-the-table discussions would be held with small groups

of hydrographers from the Philippine government bureaus engaging in

such work Detailed procedures would be discussed without formality

But when arrangements were initiated for such conferences I was inshy

formed that among those wanting to attend were many at the managerial

level as well as a number of representatives of agencies interested

more in water development projects than in resource investigations

These could not be turned down so it was necessary to revise the

agenda to include more of general interest

Later developments

In view of the wide experience and high rank of many prospective

attendants of the conference it did not seem appropriate to call it

a lecture series or school and the name Seminar On Water Resources

was decided upon The agenda is included in this report and will be

self-explanatory Registered attendance for each of the three weeks

was 68 72 and 70 persons respectively for a total of 210 The

setting for the Seminar can best be understood from the photographs

Conditions as a whole were good although the tape-recording of the

entire three weeks of proceedings and the need for a member to come

F M Veatch and Water Resources Seminar group week of April 8-12 1957 at Bureau of Public Highways conference building Manila

I y

rT

I

4

47

forward and use the microphone whenever he asked a question or made a

comment was somewhat of a dampener oh discussion When preparing the

agenda I assumed that few besides the hydrographers would attend the

sessions on technical details of stream gaging scheduled for Wednesday

to Friday yet the entire membership stayed through the full program

each week and so no small-group round-table discussions were practicable

It developed later that the language barrier was a little more

serious than first realized Also it was not evident at first that

many present did not know what a gaging station was One of the main

benefits gained from the field trip was to show them a typical station

along with some equipment Taken as a whole it is believed that the

Seminar was successful and worthwhile

The sending of trainees from the Hydrographic Section to the

United States by ICA is very effective in supplementing the technical

assistance rendered directly by American personnel in the Philippines

and it should be continued as long as possible

Acknowledgments

Announcements and invitations to attend the Seminar were sent to

numerous agencies and offices by the Hydrographic Section who also

made all arrangements such as for space registration loud speaker

system tape recordings and recess refreshments The Bureau of

Public Highways made their new conference building available and the

National Media Center furnished a slide projector screen and room

all of which were greatly appreciated The introductory talks by

48

several busy executives including Director J A Buendia and Messrs

A T Alano R R Lord P G Afable and D Rosell with Mr Tomas

Saddam acting as master of ceremonies contributed ideas and gave

each weeks session a good send-off

Publications

Copies of the following publications of the U S Geological

Survey (one by Bureau of Reclamation and one from ASCE) were disshyon

play at the Seminar at all times for inspection by the members Alshy

though they were requested not to take the publications away quite a

few copies gradually became missing

Irrigation Water Measurement Tables and Diagrams by U S

Bureau of Reclamation

ASCE Separate 413 - Backwater Effects of Open Channel

Constrictions

Stage-Fall Discharge Relation for Steady Flow in Prismatic

Channels Water-Supply Paper 1164

Topographic Characteristics of Drainage Basins W S P 968C

Weir Experiments Coefficients and Formulas WSP 200

Handbook for Hydrologists - Chapters 1 - 11

Chapter 1 -- Instructions for Flood Frequency Compilations

Chapter 2 -- ledian Discharge Computation Methods

Chapter 3 -- Instructions for Abstracting Topographic

Characteristics of Drainage Basins

i

-Imr- I

1 N

L

V10J~

C R Mirray explaining a ground water formula

Ii

17t

o

Water Resources Seminar group at gaging station on Marikina River near Montalban Rizal about an hours drive northeast of Manila April 12 1957

51

-- Channel Storage and Flood Routing

-- Extending Stream-flow Records

Chapter 6 -- Double Mass Curves

Chapter 7-A- Frequency Curves of Low Flows and Storage

Requirements

Chapter 8 -- Flood Frequency Analyses

Chapter 9 -- Small Stream Investigations

Chapter 10 - Hydrologic Definitions

Chapter 11 - Base-Flow Recession-Curves

Computation of Backwater at Open Channel Constrictions

Floods in Western Washington Frequency and Magnitude in

Relation to Drainage Basin Characteristics GS Circular 191

Floods in Georgia Frequency and Magnitude GS Circular 100

Stream-Gaging Procedure - A Manual Describing Methods and

Practice of the Geological Survey - WSP 888

Investigation of Methods and Equipment used in Stream Gaging

Part 2 Intakes For Gage Wells

Computation of Peak Discharge through Culverts

Computation of Backwater at Open-Channel Constrictions

Equipment for River Measurements Structures for Cableways

by Charles H Pierce

Computation of Peak Discharge at Contractions Circular 284

Care and Rating of Current Meters

Surface Water Supply o the United States 1950 Parts 1 - 14

52

In addition to the above publications a two-page single-spaced

memorandum entitled Plotting Flood Frequency Curves (Extracted from

U S Geological Survey publications) was prepared by me under date

of April 3 1957 and handed to each member of the Seminar each week

The program or agenda for the Seminar one copy of which was

given to each member follows on Pages 53 to 63 inclusive The

graphs on Page 63 were referred to during the talks

53

March 29 1957

AGENDA FOiR SEMINARZ ON WATER RESCURCES AND STAE4 GAGING

IN THE PHILIPPINES

PLACE Conference hoom 2nd Floor Bureau of Public Highways Building Second Street Port Area Manila

TIKE April 1-5 8-12 and 22-26 (same program each week)

CONDUCTED BY M1r i 1 Veatch District EngineerSurface WaterBranch Jater Aesources Division United States Geological Suver Thcoma ashington who is un three-month assignment with the ICA

Held in connoction with the Philippine Government-ICA water resources program

54

GENERAL PROGRAM MONDAY AND TUESDAY

honday morning 830

Opening remarks Mr Julian A Buendia Director Bureau of Fublic Works Mr R R Lord Chief Public Works Division ICA Mr G H Hargreaves Hydraulic Engineer ICA

Importance of water resources and their investigation

The hydrologic cycle Evaporation transpiration and precipitation Runoff

Daily discharge record and the hydrograph Storm runoff Base flow

Grou~nd Water Very brief description (this subject to be covered

iaore fully on Tuesday afternoon)

General characteristics of natural stream runoff in the Philippines Quantity

Adequacy Comparison with United States

Variations with time Day to day and year to year Long-term trends

Distributin by area General over the Philippine Islands Variations between nearby drainage basins

Effect of location elevation geology cover etc

Major uses of stream-flow data Many years of rccornds should be crnsidered Granting water r phts

Protect existing rights Prevent capital expenditures where water supply inadequate

Planning river basin developments including municipal supply irrigation pnwer flood control etc

Destping structures such as dams reservoirs dikes floodways canals pumping systems power plants bridges etc

Accuracy and extent of dat needed for minimizing underdesign or wasteful overdesign

Cost of water-supply data in relation to total cost of a project

Operating water projects Distribution of water on projects Operation of storage reservoirs and diversion dams

To make maximum use uf water supply Designing alterations or enlargements to existing projects

RECESS 1000 to 1015

55 -3-

Monday morning (Continued) 1015 aim

Management of the stream gaging program Foreseeing the needs for stream-flow records

Study population and industrial trends Keep inforned on water-development plans and

prgraIIs of all agencies Continuity of the records

Essential for wator-supply studies Regular financinp reouired

Annual appropriations a poundfccted by temporary econoidc or political conditions

Permanent type of financing needed Surcharge method License fee method

-Dissemination of the data Annual publication Occasional summary compilations Furnishing advance cupies of unpublished records Furnishing current data - daily weekly or munthly

wherever required Special water resources investigation agency desirable

Briefly dancribe United States organization Uniform tecnical standards Uniform ways of presenting data One series of publicatiens Distributial center for basic water data Genera l-coverage program requires close coordination

for economy of operation Personal requirements

Engineers Engir ring aids Computers Clerks

ADJOURN - 1145

Resume after lunch only if necessary for completing the above subjects

56

Tueday morning 830

Design of a comprehensive stream gjaging program General rrinciIlac

Represenkc tive runoff-type provinces should be sainpled with stations of various classes

Vary the intensity of coverage with probable intenshysity of water use

Follow tiie tcends variations with records fromand L sri etatiorns secondary

Correlate resultls one continually adjustnetwork Classification of ra-in stationa

Areal prinary and secondary viain strem priiary nd secondary Water-manmfciact stat-i ons Miscellanous dischaige mcasurements

Correlating the dat obttined in comprehensive program Logarithmic pajer Five years of lecord uscd What is a good corrclation

Analyses of data Flood frcouencjs

Annual serics Partial duration series

Low-flow frecuencies Low-flow duration hydrograph

Extending strewm-flow records Comparisons witi other gaging stations Rainfall-runoff correlations

Quality of water Temperature

Intermittent observations Recorders

Chemical gtuality Element -Dissolved solids

Suspended iaterial Time of cecurrence-floods Sampling

Methods Cost

RECESS - 1000 to 1015

57

- 5 -

Tuesday afternoon 130

Ground water (This subject conducted by Mr C R Murray) Occurrence

Water table Artesian Lakes

Movement Through the ground Into stream channels

Availability Geologic structure Aquifers Funing tests

Recharge Froa precipitation Artificial Froma induced lateral movement

Investigation Geology Springs Logs of dug and drilled wells Test wells

lecording Lanual

Quantitative studies Chemical quality analyses

Mincral ccontnt Sallt water intrusion

Drilling of wells for production use Ground water rirhts

Depletion of ground water reservoirs teyond rccharge capability

ADJOURN at 330

Geologist Ground Water Branch dater Resources Division U 6 Geological Survey who is on two-ywar assignment with ICA

58

PROGRAM ON STREMvi GAGING PROCEDURE WEDNESDAY TO FRIDAY

4ednesday morning 830

Establishing and constructing gaging stations Selection of site

Consider najor probable uses of the record Investigate extent of upstream diversion and

-egulation Utilize contour naps Obtain list of nmrjor water right applications

iydraulic conditicns Section control Shifting channel Overbank flow Dackwater

Accessibility Avoid too much expense Need to reach quickly to measure flash floods

Natural protection front flood damage Avoid excessively expensive construction conditions

Bed iock Quick sand Too-longintake pipes

For non-rccording gage choose site convenient to

one or more local gage readers

Survey of site Bank cross-prefile at gage Cross section at cable Plan

Right of way Oral pervrission ritten permission

Easement Land purchase

RECESS - 945 to 1000

- 7 - 59

Wednesday morning (Continued) 100)

Construction Select types and sizes of structures To fit purpose oi the record Plan later salva e (for secondary stations) For economy of operation (for example design cableway to

operat mesily) Adapt availabic standard plans to fit the site Keep costs to hclp in future estimating Make brief construction report for future assistance in

planninr sililar Jobs Prepare staLion descripLion

Road log distences etc for How to reach paragraph Descriptions of gages bench marks etc Dimensions cf structuis Gage datum elevations of portinent parts of structures

Operating and maintaining gaging stations Records of stage

Choice of dtum Arbitrcry local datum

Set gages so there will be no minus gage readings

Mean sea level datum May be used but has disadvantages

1hen later adjustments are made to level networks

Gages have to be reset or Equation must be published

Non-recording gages Types

Vertical staff Inclined staff

ire-weight Crest-stage gages

Refinement of graduations ake adequate for accuracy of record needed

Maintatling dat of gage Adequate number of local reference marks Take levels at least once a year

Work o- local gare reader Fy according to approx number of hours worked Do not roruire too many roadings for the

conditions Warm (with omphasis) against my guessed

readings Inform reader anv errors in reading will

show up in hydrogrq oic comtparisons Engineers obtain check readings whenever

possible Visit gage reader frequently a d show inshy

terest in his gage-height record Encourage reader to retain personal copy

ADJOURN at 1145

60

Thursday morning 800

Records of stage (continued) Recording gages

Select type of instrument and its scales to fit conditions at gaging station

Weekly or continuous recorder Recorder scales Range of stage Rate of change of stage Availability of someone to change weekly

chart Work of Cage inspector of keeper

Avoid resetting pen Repurt any trash or debris causing backwater

at gage Do not have a gage keeper unless needed

aintaining gage datum Check outside gae by levels annually Keep outside gage sections reset to datum

Standard reference gage Inside gage of soie sort preferable

Staff Float-tape Anchor type

Intake action Clean or flush pipes after floods Slot intakes Self-cleaning iitakes

For pipe gage wells For wells built into bridge piers

Draw-down (where excessive) Use bapfle or static tube

Elood marks at station Make record of well-defined high water

marks

AECESS - 945 to 1000

- 9 - 61

Thursday morning (Continudd) 1000

Discharge measuroments Current hmeters

Price Type A Type AA

Pygmpy Carc of inters

Sounding weights E-typc C-type

Lead Brono

Type of notebook Loose shects Loose-leaf book Bound booL

Measurement of depth aeding rod Tag-line nethod Vertical-nglc coofficients Sounding during floods

Ilacemont of mter Sub--surface method 2-depth n cthod 6-de-pth icthod 2- imetY od

Number of verticals Velocity -urgcs

Miscellaneous f-ctors Effect of bridge piers Horizontal angle of current Insufficient weight on current water

1Mean gage hoitht for a discharge measurement Special methods of (Itermining flood discharge

Floats Slope-area method

Rating curv- etonsion method Arca and velocity curves Loparithmic plottig

Contrqctd-opening mothod Flow ovcr dams

Report on condition of control Carry station description and rating curve in field

Ubtain another me asurement if needed If first indicates large shift If new station and stagc advantagoous for

defining blank part of rating curve

ADJOUffN - 1145 AI

Resumne atfter lunch only if necessary for comploting the above subjects

62

- 10 -

Friday morning S00

A few remarks about office methods Rating curves

Log-log paper Upward extonsions Dowmward extensions

Rectangular plotting Computing recorder charts

M-ark index correction and time correction for each inspection reading

Break midnight lines at raph Never oblitertte or mark over the original trace Nake office markings on chart distinctive from

those mad( At the gage Use of colored pencils by computer and checker is one good wa)y

Daily discharge record Flot hydrograph Compare over light box with other stations

This method preferable to plotting several station records on same sheet

Concluding discussions

RECESS - 945 to 1000

Projection of gaging station equipment Lnd scenic slides taken in the United States and Canada

ADJOURN - 1145

Field trip Cars will be available at the conference building to

take members to the raging station on arikina iRivei at ontalban about an hours drive from Manila where a brief demonstration of certain field equipment will be given

Return to noL later thanoanila 500 FL

---

- Ishy4 ~7L~

0F OllY LISCIiRE 4- 1 -shy

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- O 1 B -- 2r 2 ZZ 23 24 2 c 26 7 8 2717x I 2

_~ I 027 _d- 1 2 shy

7 -

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- _______________ Pnu~ OAgvhshy

-~ ~-r- 1 - V-shy- i-shytvkty--- in--a-- -~ ~Z2m7~ ~

- ~ ~-~-----~- V 1~5~ LTLL2P7o -4----4 1 -- I -- I I _ __ --- -- -- - - L - - I ----

~- ~y~-~ 64 4

N

A il

Seminar members observing demonshystrat-n of measurshying e -pment by F M Veatch at Marikina River gaging station April 12 1957

I

Water Resources Seminar members observing working model of proppsed Binga Dam at the hydraulics laboratory of University of the Philippines April 12 1957

65

Current meter rating flume mechanism Y 22 1957

Current meter rating flume mechanism May 22 1957

66

Current Meter Rating Station

The new current meter rating station at the University of the

Philippines (see photographs) was not quite ready for use before I

left the country The mechanism and instruments were manufactured

in Germanyobtained thru ICA-NEC procurement for the Water Resources

Program of the Department of Public Works and have been installed by

Professor Alberto Villares and his hydraulics laboratory staff under

Dean C A Ortigas of the College of Engineering with some guidance

by Professor Edward L Ericksen of the University of Michigan who is

a civil engineer on detail here with the Stanford Group Professor

Villares spent 18 months in the hydraulics laboratory of the Univershy

sity of Iowa

There is every evidence that this rating flume will with expeshy

rience do work accurate enough not only for determining differences

in ratings between current meters but also for preparing absolute or

independent ratings This can be reported on more fully at some

later date by Messrs Hargreaves and Snell

The Central Luzon Region Program

The Water Resources Development Committee is preparing a recomshy

mended plan for the expedited multiple-purpose development of the

water resources of the Central Luzon region The area contains oneshy

sixteenth of the land surface and one-fourth of the population of the

Philippines and is termed the rice granary of the nation It is to

be used as an example or experiment in water and land development

67

The Committee has requested member agencies to submit estimates

of the minimum amount of additional basic data needed for making a

useful report and for proceeding with development projects Such

estimates are to include mapping soil surveys dam and reservoir site

surveys water resources surveys and other items A preliminary

report is to be prepared soon summarizing the existing information

pointing out the need for additional dataand submitting estimates

of cost for the further investigations needed An outline for the

final report has been prepared and distributed so it will be availashy

ble as a guide and funds for the first years efforts are being

sought for fiscal year 1958 It appears reasonable that the report

on a comprehensive plan could be submitted to the President and

Congress of the Philippines in about five years

With the assistance of Mr Hargreaves I have prepared estimates

for a surface water measurement program to complement the existing

program It is designed to fill the worst gaps in the present netshy

work Details are subject to change as more reconnaissance informashy

tion becomes available as only five days were spent covering the area

by automobile Unit costs were provided by the Hydrographic Section

and they include cost of preparation of the records for publication

Estimates were submitted as given below They were supported by a

detailed list of stream names and locations which included desigshy

nations as to the primary purpose or type of each proposed new gaging

station and whether a recording or non-recording gage was recommended

It is available for reference in both the ydrographic Section and

ICA offices

68

New gaging stations

1 Daily discharge type

Installation (including cableways where needed)

Recording ------- 7 Pl650 11550

Non-recording --- 4 950 3800 15350

Operation 1st year -11 660 7260 P22610

2 High water type (flood records)

Installation

Gages (nonshy

recording) ----- 4 150 600

Measuring equipment 800 1400

Operation 1st year - 4 300 1200 2600

Total for new gaging stations ------------- 25210

Miscellaneous discharge measurements

1 4 or 5 during dry season Nov - April

4 sites x 5 per site = 20 30 ---------------- 600

2 1 or 2 during low part of year March and April

37 sites x l per site = 55 k30 ------------- 1650

Total for miscellaneous measurements ------ 2250

Total -------------- -2746o

69

Rainfall And Evaporation Stations

Existing network

A map examination of the existing network of rain gages was made

and a surprisingly large number were found to be in operation -- 2

recording and 115 manual stations or a total of 117 They are beshy

lieved to be fairly adequate in number and are well distributed

areally over the Philippines but like in the United States are conshy

fined largely to the lower altitudes where the agricultural and urban

population live In addition to these records are available for

various lengths of time from about 8 discontinued Weather Bureau

stations and from more than 300 haciendas reforestaion stations

and provincial rnrseries

Additional gages

The Weather Bureau and the Bureau of Public Works are cooperating

in the installation of some new rainfall stations at higher altitudes

part of which will utilize new instruments purchased with ICA aid

funds Some of the instruments will be installed at existing nonshy

recording stations Forty new installations are proposed for 1958

fiscal year It is now recognized that rainfall station coverage at

higher altitudes is needed in order to furnish records that can be

correlated with the long-term valley records and also with the gaging

station discharge records D

70

Weather station maintained by Bureau of Public WorksIrrigation Division near Tuguegarao Cagayan From left to right N Ciriaco District Hydrographer drivershyhelper observer J G Garcia hydrographer J C Regalado and G H Hargreaves May 13 1957

Weather station at Pototan Iloilo Panay A Lacuestadistrict bydro-rapher standing May 5 1957

71

Group luncheon at Tacloban Leyte typical of the hospitality received by us during inspection tour of the Philippines From left to right M Rico irrig distr engr G Hargreaves G Araos E N Salazar P Formilleza L Abella S Velasco JCRegalado V H Sydiongoo distr hydrographer I M Ortega Oscar de Venecia and N Oliver May 7 1957

ICA Public Works Division March 1957 From left to right C R Murray A A Ketchum asat Div head J B Delaney I J Silverstone Sofia Halili 0 H Hosmer R R Lord Div head B B Hill Betty Valdez G H Hargreaves J L Brenden FM Veatch

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Evaporation stations

Fifteen double-pan (one open and one partially shaded) evaporation

stations with rainfall temperature wind and humidity instruments as

auxiliary are being operated in the Philippines and ten more are to

follow next year They are well distributed over the islands and

should furnish data of great value for reservoir design Thq reccrds

will be publish3d

Publication of rainfall data

All rainfall reccrds are published annually by the Weather Bureau

whose 1954 volume is the latest one printed The 1955 issue should be

released soon One excellent source of information for anyone studyshy

ing rainfall data in the Philippines is the publication The Distrishy

bution of Rainfall In The Philippines by Eugenio B Manalo Chief

Climatological Division Weather Bureau Manila This contains

valuable descriptive material tables of monthly and annual values

and mean monthly and annual isohyets in inches An inspection or

study of the monthly isohyetal maps shows clearly how storm patterns

change with the seasons in certain parts of the Philippines and that

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in other areas the rain is almost evenly distributed throughout the

year The long dry season of Manila and the central Luzon plains is

graphically portrayed by the isohyets Mr Manalos publication

should be of great benefit to government agencies and private parties

or individuals in connection with agricultural and business activities

over the islands It is presumed that the isohyets will warrant some

revision after another 5 or 10 years as more records especially those

at higher altitudes become available

Sediment Measurement Stations

Practically no silt-sampling has been done in the Philippines

to date and no extensive program is believed possible because of the

lack of funds For the present it is recommended that every governshy

ment field hydrographer be equipped with a thermomater and a turbidity

stick and required to report a spot water temperature and turbidity

reading at time of each discharge measurement Thus without extra

cost a large amount of data can be accumulated which after several

years should make it possible to determine what streams are the

siltiest and where more detailed studies might be needed Whenever a

reservoir project reaches the intensive-investigation stage including

dam-site drilling detailed topography etc it is recommended that

a complete sediment sampling station be operated there for at least

one full flood season before the project feasibility report is

completed

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Statement Before Water Resources Development Committee

On March 20 1957 I presented the following statement regarding

the streamflow measurement program in the Philippines

The Philippine Republic is blessed with an excellent supply of

water of good quality but much of it is wasted to the sea during the

rainy season The development of this resource is vitally important

to the nation and it involves the storing of flood waters for dryshy

season release Where investments are to be made for construction of

dams etc in the development of irrigation power production and

flood control large sums can easily be wasted through overdesign or

underdesign if enough engineering data are not available Conflicting

or competing uses for the water supplies will gradually develop in

your country the same as they have in the United States If water

rights are to be granted fairly with due regard for all prior users

many years of basic data are necessary so that the long-term water

supply can be estimated For this purpose a good network of stream

gaging records and ground water levels must be secured One would

not attempt to manage the money in a bank without bookkeeping and it

is just as important to have an accounting system when managing water

The sound economical procedure is to base all project designs on as

complete engineering information as can be obtained

The ICA is attempting to assist the Philippine Government in

planning the orderly development of its water resources and we are

concerned that too many structures may be built before accurate

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hydrologic data are available for their design For this reason we

strongly urge you to improve the basic data gathering program at the

earliest possible date as follows

(1) Review and publish the stream-flow records that have been

obtained since the war

(2) Finance an expanded program of stream-flow measurement and

ground water study

The Bureau of Public Works has prepared preliminary estimates of

the funds needed for bringing publication of basic data up to date and

for expanding the wiater resources investigation program The attached

copies of estimates are of course provisional and subject to revision

but it is suggested that they be placed in the files of this Committee

for future reference The figure of P56oooo for publication is a

fairly firm figure It is suggested that the Committee take immeshy

diate action to further the procurement of these funds

The procurement of water resources data is a specialized field

requiring engineers and other technical men with a high degree of

education Years must be spent in training them in such special

work The men must endure rigorous physical work corbatting the

elements and using resourcefulness and judgment It is very uneconoshy

mical and unsatisfactory to have a technical organization of that kind

subject to occasional and unpredictable severe cuts in appropriations

It is even more unsatisfactory to have the time sequence of basic

water data collection interrupted and valuable records lost forever