As climate change and its effects take hold on agricultural systems, knowledge of engineering hydrology is required to come up with effective solutions. Following is a brief overview of how agricultural engineers use engineering hydrology concepts and hydrological data in Kenya.
Engineering hydrology is one of the most important sets of theoretical information that agricultural engineers have to stay conversant with when coming up with interventions to address climate change. Hydrological data describes the relationship between soil and water systems during design, and is important for, among others, design of small dams, water pans, rain water harvesting structures and irrigation. In the design of small dams and water pans, hydrological information is necessary in determining the peak flow rate for spillway design and the sedimentation load in silt trap design. When designing water harvesting structures, hydrological data is used to determine the precipitation, which forms the basis for sizing the structures. In irrigation design, hydrological data such as the base flow rate of the water sources is required to determine the area of irrigation. Agricultural Engineers in Kenya refer to a set of reference documents when analyzing hydrological data during design.
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