Flood, levee, and erosion control glossary - W
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Wale
Structural element of a bulkhead, fixed horizontally
between the vertical piles on the seaward side and the sheet piles on the
landward side.
Warm season turfgrass
Species of turfgrass such as bermudagrass,
St. Augustine, zoysia, and buffalograss used in the southern U.S.
Washover
deposited inland of a beach by overwash process.
Wasted
Excess soil deposits resulting from construction.
Wastewater
The used water and solids from a community (including used water from
industrial processes) that flow to a treatment plant. Storm water, surface
water, and groundwater infiltration also may be included in the wastewater that
enters a wastewater treatment plant. The term sewage usually refers to
household wastes, but this word is being replaced by the term wastewater.
Water Bars
Water diversion structure.
Photo courtesy of USDA NRCS.
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Example of water bar erosion control. |
Water Budget
The depth of annual precipitation to cover an
area. In the U.S. it is 30 inches.
Water Clarity
Measurement of how far you can see through
the water. The greater the water clarity, the further you can see through the
water. The clarity of estuarine water is determined by a measure of the
attenuation of sunlight through the water column.
Water Column
A hypothetical "cylinder" of water
from the surface of a water body to the bottom and within which physical and
chemical properties can be measured.
Water Erosion
Removal of soil particles by water; the
three types are sheet erosion, rill erosion, and gully erosion.
Photo courtesy of OSU. |
Photo of Water Erosion. |
Water Quality Criteria
Levels of water quality expected to
render a body of water suitable for its designated use. Criteria are based on
specific levels of pollutants that would make the water harmful if used for
drinking, swimming, farming, fish production, or industrial processes.
Water Resources Values
Floodplain values including those
related to natural storage and conveyance of flood waters, the maintenance of
water quality, and the recharge of groundwater.
Water Solubility
The maximum possible concentration of a
chemical compound dissolved in water. If a substance is water-soluble it can
very readily disperse through the environment.
Water Table
The topmost layer of an unconfined aquifer.
Water tables can be above ground, barely below the surface, or hundreds of feet
underground.
Water Table Aquifer
An aquifer whose upper boundary is the
water table; also known as an unconfined aquifer.
Watercourse
Any natural or man-made depression with a bed
and well-defined banks below the surrounding land serving to give direction to
a current of water or pattern of runoff from a drainage area of any size.
Waters of the United States
Currently defined by
regulation to include all navigable and interstate waters, their tributaries
and adjacent wetlands, as well as isolated wetlands and lakes and intermittent
streams.
Watershed
A geographic area from which water is drained by a river and its tributaries
to a common outlet. A ridge or drainage divide separates a watershed from
adjacent watersheds. An area confined by drainage divides usually having only
one streamflow outlet. In the UK the term "watershed" refers to what
in the US is called the drainage divide, and the term "catchment"
refers to what in the US is called a watershed. The land area that drains into
a stream; the watershed for a major river may encompass a number of smaller
watersheds that ultimately combine at a common point. See Drainage Area.
Photo courtesy of USDA NRCS.
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Photo of a watershed lake. |
Watershed Approach
A coordinated framework for
environmental management that focuses public and private efforts on the highest
priority problems within hydrologically-defined geographic areas taking into
consideration both ground and surface water flow.
Watershed
Area
A topographic area within a line drawn connecting the highest
points uphill of a drinking water intake into which overland flow drains.
Watershed area
All land and water within the confines of a
drainage divide, or a water problem area consisting in whole or in part of land
needing drainage.
Wattles
Live branch cuttings, usually willows, bound
together into long bundles; also live fascines.
Wattling
Use of wattles to stabilize slopes and
streambanks.
Wave Crest Elevation
The height, measured above NGVD, of
wave crests in the coastal floodplain during a coastal storm, including the
height of wind-generated waves as well as the effects of the tide and surge.
Wave Energy
The capacity of waves to do work. The energy of a wave system is theoretically proportional to the square of the wave height, and the actual height of the waves (being a relatively easily measured parameter) is a useful index to wave energy; a high-energy coast is characterized by breaker heights greater than 50 cm and a low-energy coast is characterized by breaker heights less than 10 cm. Most of the wave energy along equilibrium beaches is used in shoaling and in sand movement.
Wave Fetch
The area in which seas are generated by a wind
having a rather constant direction and speed. Fetch is the distance over which
the wind blows. The further the wind blows the longer each individual wave is
under its influence and, therefore, the more energy a wave can absorb from the
wind.
Wave Fetch Window
The open-water area offshore from the
shoreunit over which waves can be generated by winds; the larger the fetch
window, the greater the wave exposure.
Wave Run-Up
The action of a wave after it breaks and the
water "runs up" the shoreline or other obstacle, flooding areas
reached by the storm surge itself.
Wave Set-Up
The super-elevation of the water surface over
normal surge elevation due to onshore mass transport of the water by wave
action alone.
Weed
An undesired uncultivated plant.
Weephole
Opening left in a revetment or bulkhead to allow
groundwater drainage.
Weir
A fence or wattle placed in a stream to catch or retain fish. A dam placed
across a river or canal to raise or divert the water, as for a millrace, or to
regulate or measure the flow.
Photo courtesy of USDA NRCS.
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Photo of a weir. |
Wet Pond
A facility that treats stormwater for water
quality by utilizing a permanent pool of water to remove conventional
pollutants from runoff through sedimentation, biological uptake, and plant
filtration.
Wet Vaults/Tanks
Underground storage facilities that treat
stormwater for water quality through the use of a permanent pool of water that
acts as a settling basin.
Wetland
An area that is regularly saturated by surface or
ground water and, under normal circumstances, capable of supporting vegetation
typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands are critical
to sustaining many species of fish and wildlife. Wetlands generally include
swamps, marshes, and bogs. Wetlands may be either coastal or inland.
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Photo of Wetland. |
Wetland Evaluation Technique
A technique used by the Corps
of Engineers, the Federal Highway Administration, and the Environmental
Protection Agency to rapidly assess wetland functions and values.
Wetlands
Those areas that are inundated by surface or groundwater with a frequency
sufficient to support and, under normal circumstances, does or would support a
prevalence of vegetative or aquatic life that requires saturated or seasonally
saturated soil conditions for growth and reproduction. Wetlands generally
include bottomland hardwoods, swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar areas such as
sloughs, potholes, wet meadows, river overflows, mud flats, and natural ponds.
Photo courtesy of USDA NRCS.
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Photo of wetlands. |
Wind Erosion
Removal of soil particles by wind, causing dryness and deterioration of soil
structure; occurs most frequently in flat, dry areas covered by sands and loamy
soils.
Wind Setup
The vertical rise in the stillwater level on
the leeward side of a body of water caused by wind stresses acting on the
surface of the water.
Photo courtesy of USDA NRCS.
|
Example of wind erosion. |
Wingwall
The end portion of a bulkhead, sea wall, or revetment that cuts back in toward the bank, usually at a right angle to the main
structure, to help retard or prevent flanking.
Withdrawal
Water withdrawal from the surface and ground
water sources for various human uses.
Write-Your-Own Program
An effort to involve private
insurance companies in the National Flood Insurance Program, and consisting of
a policy sales and servicing mechanism by which insurance agents can sell flood
insurance policies through individual property and casualty insurance
companies.
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