Overview
In this unit, you will be introduced to the principles of hydraulics and hydrology and how to apply solutions to solve water engineering problems. This unit introduces the principles to solve water resources engineering problems on catchment hydrology and urban floodwater management. You will study governing concepts of probability, risk, and uncertainty applied to hydrology and hydraulics. You will also study rainfall patterns, river and reservoir routing, rapid and gradually varying flow in open channels, flood and stormwater control, and the design of hydraulic structures. To complete these tasks, you must use appropriate technical language, communicate professionally, and work in teams and individually.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Prerequisite: ENEC12010 Hydraulics & Hydrology
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 2 - 2025
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 12-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 25 hours of study per week, making a total of 300 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of 'pass' in order to pass the unit. If any 'pass/fail' tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully ('pass' grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the 'assessment task' section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback - Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from UC's Reflection
For some weeks, the resources provided are limited.
Resources for some weeks should be expanded to provide better support.
Feedback from UC's reflection
The workload is not evenly distributed across the term.
The content should be redistributed to ensure better workload distribution throughout the term.
- Apply skills in hydraulics and hydrology to water engineering design
- Conduct a hydrology assessment of a catchment
- Design urban stormwater management systems
- Prepare team reports for water engineering projects.
The Learning Outcomes for this unit are linked with the Engineers Australia Stage 1 Competency Standards for Professional Engineers in the areas of 1. Knowledge and Skill Base, 2. Engineering Application Ability and 3. Professional and Personal Attributes at the following levels:
Introductory
Intermediate
Advanced
Refer to the Engineering Undergraduate Course Moodle site for further information on Engineers Australia's Stage 1 Competency Standard for Professional Engineers and course-level mapping information
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment - 35% | ||||
| 2 - Written Assessment - 35% | ||||
| 3 - Online Test - 30% | ||||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Communication | ||||
| 2 - Problem Solving | ||||
| 3 - Critical Thinking | ||||
| 4 - Information Literacy | ||||
| 5 - Team Work | ||||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | ||||
| 7 - Cross Cultural Competence | ||||
| 8 - Ethical practice | ||||
| 9 - Social Innovation | ||||
| 10 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | ||||
Textbooks
Water-Resources Engineering
Third Edition (2013)
Authors: David A. Chin
Pearson Education Limited
Harlow Harlow , Essex CM202 2JE , UK
ISBN: ISBN-13: 978-0-273-78591-0
Binding: Paperback
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
- MUSIC software
- HECRAS software
- RORB software
- Access to a computer with administrator rights where different software can be installed (needs Windows operating system)
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: Harvard (author-date)
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
r.sharma@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Probability, risk, and uncertainty in water resources engineering
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Probability models and estimation of flood at gauged stations
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Project 1: Part A Week 2 and Part B Week 5 (Friday 11:45 PM)
Module/Topic
Runoff routing and design of detention basins
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Water-Sensitive Urban Design I
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Water Sensitive Urban Design II
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Project 1: Part A Week 2 and Part B Week 5 (Friday 11:45 PM)
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Intensity Frequency Duration (IFD) for design Rainfall depths
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Rainfall temporal patterns
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Project 2: Part A Week 7 and Part B Week 12. (Friday 11:45 PM)
Module/Topic
Rainfall to runoff for design runoff
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Flood hydraulics and rating curves
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Urban drainage I- Longitudinal drainage
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Urban drainage II - Cross drainage
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Urban drainage III - Cross drainage
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Project 2: Part A Week 7 and Part B Week 12. (Friday 11:45 PM)
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
1 Written Assessment
Project 1: Stormwater Drainage Strategy
Duration: Weeks 1–5
Submission Milestones:
- Week 2 – Scope and preliminary progress [Letter to the council]-10% marks
- Week 5 – Final report submission
In this project, you will develop a Stormwater Drainage Strategy report for a designated site, intended to support a development application to the local council. The objective is to evaluate the hydrologic and hydraulic impacts of urban development, particularly changes in water quality and quantity, and to propose appropriate mitigation strategies to address adverse post-development conditions.
This task will involve:
- The design of a detention basin tailored to the site’s hydrologic context
- Integration of Water-Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) principles and practices in urban design
- An assessment of flood risk using deterministic and probabilistic approaches
AI PLANNING
You may use Al for planning, idea development, and research. Your final submission should show how you have developed and refined these ideas.
Part A Week 2 and Part B Week 5 (Friday 11:45 PM)
14 days after the submission
The assessment will be marked based on the followings:
1. Technical Accuracy & Application 40%; Must score ≥50% in this criterion to pass the project overall
2. Design Quality & Innovation 35%; Must score ≥50% in this criterion to pass the project overall
3. Structure, Communication & Clarity 15%; Only considered if Criteria 1 and 2 thresholds are satisfied
4. Engagement with Feedback and Reflection 10%; Only considered if Criteria 1 and 2 thresholds are satisfied
Scores in Criteria 3 and 4 are not awarded if the core technical work is deemed inadequate.
- Apply skills in hydraulics and hydrology to water engineering design
- Conduct a hydrology assessment of a catchment
- Prepare team reports for water engineering projects.
2 Written Assessment
Project 2: Flood Analysis and Drainage Design
Duration: Weeks 6–12
Submission Milestones:
- Week 7 – Scope and preliminary progress [Letter to the council] -10% marks
- Week 12 – Final report submission
This project focuses on the hydrologic and hydraulic assessment of a proposed residential development in a coastal floodplain. Your objective is to evaluate flood behaviour under current and developed conditions and to design a drainage system that ensures the site remains flood-free during a 1% Annual Exceedance Probability (AEP) event.
The project will include:
- A hydrologic analysis of the catchment using procedures consistent with ARR2019
- A flood risk assessment, including identification of flood-prone areas
- The design of a site-specific drainage system, including conveyance and detention elements
- Consideration of climate change scenarios
AI PLANNING
You may use Al for planning, idea development, and research. Your final submission should show how you have developed and refined these ideas.
Part A Week 7 and Part B Week 12. (Friday 11:45 PM)
14 days after submission
The assessment will be marked based on the followings:
1. Technical Accuracy & Application 40%; Must score ≥50% in this criterion to pass the project overall
2. Design Quality & Innovation 35%; Must score ≥50% in this criterion to pass the project overall
3. Structure, Communication & Clarity 15%; Only considered if Criteria 1 and 2 thresholds are satisfied
4. Engagement with Feedback and Reflection 10%; Only considered if Criteria 1 and 2 thresholds are satisfied
Scores in Criteria 3 and 4 are not awarded if the core technical work is deemed inadequate.
- Design urban stormwater management systems
- Prepare team reports for water engineering projects.
3 Online Test
The test comprises content covered in the term. Some of the questions will be of numerical types which would require short calculations and some will be multiple choice types. The test will be time bound.
NO AI
You must not use Al at any point during the assessment. You must demonstrate your core skills and knowledge.
Review/Exam Week Monday (13 Oct 2025) 10:00 am AEST
The exam will be of two hours duration.
After the certification of grades.
Each response will be assessed as correct or incorrect.
- Apply skills in hydraulics and hydrology to water engineering design
- Conduct a hydrology assessment of a catchment
- Design urban stormwater management systems
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.
What can you do to act with integrity?
