Course Form
I. Summary of Proposed Changes
Dept / Program
Geosciences
Prefix and Course
#
Hydrology
Short Title (max. 26 characters incl. spaces)
Hydrology
Summarize the change(s) proposed
new course
II. Endorsement/Approvals
Complete the form and obtain signatures before submitting to Faculty Senate Office
Please type / print name Signature
Requestor:
Marco Maneta
Phone/ email :
marco.maneta@umontana.edu
Program Chair/Director:
Johnnie N Moore
Other affected programs
GEO421 UG
Course Title
Dean:
Date
Christopher Comer
Are other departments/programs affected by this modification
Please obtain signature(s) from the
because of
Chair/Director of any such department/
(a) required courses incl. prerequisites or corequisites,
program (above) before submission
(b) perceived overlap in content areas
(c) cross-listing of coursework
III: To Add a New Course Syllabus and assessment information is required (paste syllabus into
section V or attach). Course should have internal coherence and clear focus.
Common Course Numbering Review (Department Chair Must Initial):
YES
NO
Does an equivalent course exist elsewhere in the MUS? Check all relevant disciplines if
course is interdisciplinary. (http://mus.edu/transfer/CCN/ccn_default.asp)
If YES: Do the proposed abbreviation, number, title and credits align with existing course(s)? Please indicate
equivalent course/campus. 
If NO: Course may be unique, but is subject to common course review. Be sure to include learning outcomes
on syllabus or paste below. The course number may be changed at the system level.
Exact entry to appear in the next catalog (Specify course abbreviation, level, number, title, credits,
repeatability (if applicable), frequency of offering, prerequisites, and a brief description.) 
UG421 UG Hydrology 3 cr. Fall semester. Prereq. One semester college calculus and physics or
consent of instructor. Introduction to the physical mechanisms that drive the water cycle at different scales.
The course covers heat, momentum and mass transfer and storage mechanisms in turbulent systems and their
role in the global and local climates. At the local scale, the equations that govern surface and subsurface
water flows are studied. Along with the overarching goals, students will improve their quantitative skills, will
get used to accessing and reading the professional literature and will improve their capabilities to acquire
knowledge independently.
Justification: How does the course fit with the existing curriculum? Why is it needed?
The Geosciences department has been strengthening its environmental program to supplement the already
existing strong curriculum in traditional geology. A stronger water program comes to expand the
environmental track of the Geosciences degree and offer courses in the highly demanded field of hydrology.
The course falls into the proposed curricular change that provides geoscience majors and minors with a
broader knowledge base and better preparation to meet the new challenges related to water, climate and the
environment.
Are there curricular adjustments to accommodate teaching this course?
no
Complete for UG courses. (UG courses should be assigned a 400 number).
Describe graduate increment
(http://umt.edu/facultysenate/committees/grad_council/procedures/gradIncrement.aspx)
To obtain credit, graduates students will complete assignment 4 (for graduates only) where they will
learn and use advanced methods to find the solution of the non-linear energy equations used to
compute the dynamics of surface temperatures in a watershed. In addition, they will be requested to
moderate and lead the discussion on the assigned readings on hillslope hydrology that are handed at
the end of the semester. Graduates students are also expected to discuss the results found during
regular assignments in more detail and with a higher level of sophistication than undergraduate
students.
New fees and changes to existing fees are only approved once each biennium by the
Board of Regents. The coordination of fee submission is administered by
Administration and Finance. Fees may be requested only for courses meeting specific
conditions according to Policy 940.12.1 http://mus.edu/borpol/bor900/940-12-1.pdf .
Please indicate whether this course will be considered for a fee.
If YES, what is the proposed amount of the fee?
Justification:
IV. To Delete or Change an Existing Course – check X all that apply
Deletion
Title
Course Number Change
From:
Level U, UG,
G
To:
Description Change
Change in Credits
From:
To:
Prerequisites
1. Current course information at it appears in catalog
(http://www.umt.edu/catalog) 
YES
NO
X
From:
To:
Repeatability
Cross Listing
(primary
program
initiates form)
Is there a fee associated with the
course?
2. Full and exact entry (as proposed) 
3. If cross-listed course: secondary program & course
number
4. Is this a course with MUS Common Course Numbering?
http://mus.edu/transfer/CCN/ccn_default.asp
If yes, please explain below whether this change will eliminate the course’s common course
status.
YES NO
5. Graduate increment if level of course is changed to UG.
Have you reviewed the graduate
Reference guidelines at:
increment guidelines? Please check (X)
space provided.
http://umt.edu/facultysenate/committees
/grad_council/procedures/gradIncrement.aspx
(syllabus required in section V)
6. Other programs affected by the change
7. Justification for proposed change
V. Syllabus/Assessment Information
Required for new courses and course change from U to UG. Paste syllabus in field below or attach and send
digital copy with form.
GEO421: Hydrology
University of Montana
Instructor: Marco Maneta
Email: marco.maneta@umontana.edu
Office: CHCB 316
Phone: 406-243-2454
Class meetings: Monday-Wednesday-Friday 11:10-12
Overarching goals: In this course students will develop the skills to



Evaluate how disturbances (either natural or anthropogenic) on any component of the
hydrologic cycle at the global or watershed scale will propagate in the system.
Apply technical knowledge to quantify the flux and storage of water and energy in the different
components of the hydrologic cycle.
Design an experimental setup to investigate hydrologic processes.
Ancillary goals: Along with the overarching goals, in this course students will improve their quantitative
skills, will get used to accessing and reading the professional literature and will improve their capabilities
to acquire knowledge independently.
Prerequisites: Although this year the course is listed with no formal prerequisites, some background in
calculus (equivalent to one semester) and basic physics (Newton’s laws) is expected. The students will
find extensive use of derivatives and integrals in the readings along with different forms of the
momentum equation. Also some computer literacy and knowledge of spreadsheets is expected, since
some of the exercises will involve using MS-Excel.
Dynamics of the course: I am expecting that you keep up-to-date with the readings. At the beginning of
each unit the key points of the topic will be explained and in subsequent lectures we will visit the core
parts that may need to be reinforced with further explanation but I am not planning to rephrase the
textbook. The bulk of the unit will consist of class activities/exercises and examples where you can
apply newly acquired technical knowledge and develop analytical and quantitative skills. In the activities
we will detect which parts are not well understood and will have the chance to work on them. You
should bring a scientific calculator to class.
Office hours: Monday and Wednesday 2:10-3:00pm.
The class schedule and class activities in this syllabus are tentative and are subject to change.
Grades: 40% class activities – 20% report on readings - 40% exams.
Text book: S L Dingman (2002). Physical Hydrology (2nd edition). Waveland Press. Long Grove, Illinois
Class activities/assignments:
Class activity 1: Watershed delineation and mass balance model at the watershed scale.
Class activity 2: Energy balance for the Earth.
Class activity 3: Snowmelt model.
Class activity 4: Energy balance at the watershed scale.
Class activity 5: Calculate water depth for a given discharge in a channel using Manning’s eq and N-R.
Class activity 6: Classic hydrology models at the watershed scale.
Class activity 7: Observation network design.
Report on papers:
Along with the seven assignments, in the second half of the course the students will be asked to read a
set of key paradigm-changing research papers in the field of hydrology. These papers outline the
modern history of hydrology and are good examples of how science advances by posing relevant
testable hypotheses, performing breakthrough experiments that support them and incorporating this
new knowledge into improved working models.
In the last unit of the course students will have to present (1 paper per student) what was the state-ofthe-art in hydrology at the time, the hypothesis raised by the researchers and why they raised it, how
they designed the experiment to test the hypotheses, what the outcome of the experiment was and what
new knowledge that changed the state-of-the-art emerged from the study. Presentation and discussion
will be moderated by a graduate student.
Tentative schedule:
25-Jan
27-Jan
29-Jan
1-Feb
3-Feb
5-Feb
8-Feb
10-Feb
12-Feb
No
Class
17-Feb
19-Feb
22-Feb
24-Feb
26-Feb
1-Mar
3-Mar
5-Mar
8-Mar
10-Mar
12-Mar
15-Mar
17-Mar
19-Mar
22-Mar
24-Mar
26-Mar
No
class
5-Apr
7-Apr
9-Apr
12-Apr
14-Apr
No
class
19-Apr
Topic
Readings / activities
The importance of water. Systems (open and
closed, global and watershed). Units and other
tools. Energy, mass and momentum transfer
concepts
Control volume concept. Continuity and
momentum.
Earth's energy balance and the hydrologic cycle at
the global scale. Basic climates and distribution of
water in the World.
Dingman p. 536-547
Class activity 1
Precipitation mechanisms. Type of precipitation
events and their characteristics.
Dingman 94-105 and
589-593
Snow and snowmelt. Importance of snow as a
water reservoir. Spatial distribution of snow. Cold
content of snow and snow pack processes.
Dingman 166-168 and
179-207
Class activity 3
Evapotranspiration. Potential and actual
evapotranspiration. Mass and energy balance
approaches to estimating evaporation.
Unit
6
Vadose zone hydrology. Soil potential and water
retention curves. Darcy’s equation in variable
saturated porous media. Richards’ equation. Green
and Ampt approximation.
Dingman 272-275
Dingman 294-301
Brutsaert &
Parlange(‘98)
Class activity 4
Dingman 220-242
Dingman 245-255
Handout on Richard’s
eq
Unit
7
Overland, channel flow and stream networks.
Runoff generation mechanisms. Flow routing.
Manning’s equation. Kinematic wave.
Dingman 432-435
Dunne & Leop 633-646
Class activity 5
Groundwater hydrology. Groundwater balance
components. Storage. Interactions with the surface.
Mid Term
Spring break
Dingman 325-358
Unit
9
Rainfall-Runoff relationships. Watershed response
to atmospheric input. Classical approaches.
Rational method, unit hydrograph, SCS curve.
Semidistributed statistical approach. Topmodel.
Distributed approaches. Landscape hydrologic
connectivity
Dingman 389-424
Set of papers for Report
Class activity 6
Unit
Hydrologic measurements. Point to plane or
Dingman 118-140
Unit
1
Unit
2
Unit
3
Unit
4
Unit
5
Unit
8
Dingman p 36-64
Class activity 2
21-Apr
23-Apr
26-Apr
28-Apr
30-Apr
3-May
5-May
7-May
14-May
10
Unit
11
Unit
12
volume issue. Precipitation and evapotranspiration
measurement. Potential evaporation approach.
Bowen ratio. Turbulent transfer methods.
Subsurface hydrology observation methods. Soil
tension, soil moisture, monitoring wells,
piezometers.
Dingman 168-179
Class activity 7
Surface hydrology measurement methods.
Dingman 243-248
Dingman 608-623
Turn in reports
Dingman 358-379
Final Exam
VI Department Summary (Required if several forms are submitted) In a separate document list course
number, title, and proposed change for all proposals.
VII Copies and Electronic Submission. After approval, submit original, one copy, summary of
proposals and electronic file to the Faculty Senate Office, UH 221, camie.foos@mso.umt.edu.
Revised 9-2010