WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT AND HYDRAULIC MODELLING - 2026/7
Module code: ENGM057
Module Overview
This is a compulsory module of the MSc in Water and Environmental Engineering. It is an optional module for the MEng programme in Civil Engineering and for the MSc in Infrastructure Engineering. The module teaches theory and practice of water resources management, and numerical tools for the hydrodynamic simulation of urban drainage networks. These tools are essential for the design of sustainable flood alleviation schemes in the civil engineering practice.
Module provider
Sustainability, Civil & Env Engineering
Module Leader
MARTI-CARDONA Belen (Sust & CEE)
Number of Credits: 15
ECTS Credits: 7.5
Framework: FHEQ Level 7
Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A
Overall student workload
Independent Learning Hours: 104
Lecture Hours: 5
Seminar Hours: 2
Tutorial Hours: 3
Laboratory Hours: 14
Guided Learning: 6
Captured Content: 16
Module Availability
Semester 2
Prerequisites / Co-requisites
None
Module content
Let's start all on the same page
- Revision of key hydrological concepts, i.e. catchment, frequency analysis, rainfall-runoff transformation, design criteria.
- Hydrometric data sources.
- What is a N-dimension hydraulic model? What are they used for?
- Theory of open channel flow.
- Nature-based solutions for flood mitigation.
- Grates, gutters, storm sewage system: how all work together during a rainfall event.
- Sustainable urban drainage: what if green roofs, a retention ponds or swales are added to the network?
- Lab sessions on urban drainage modelling for network evaluation and design.
Assessment pattern
| Assessment type | Unit of assessment | Weighting |
|---|---|---|
| School-timetabled exam/test | QUIZ (40 MINUTES) | 20 |
| Oral exam or presentation | COURSEWORK 1 (URBAN DRAINAGE MODELLING) | 80 |
Alternative Assessment
N/A
Assessment Strategy
The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate the depth and breadth of their hydrodynamic and water management conceptual understanding and of their ability to design and simulate numerically sustainable solutions against flooding and polluted runoff/spills.The summative assessment for this module consists of:
- Quiz (20%): for the assessment of the students' conceptual understanding of flooding concepts and tools for addressing mitigation. LO1
- Coursework 2 (80%): the students are tasked with the modelling and performance assessment of an urban drainage network. They are required to design and evaluate sustainable solutions to mitigate flooding, polluted runoff and wastewater discharge in the network. LO2, LO3 and LO4
Module aims
- To provide students with comprehensive understanding of water resources management concepts, with a focus on sustainable, nature-based approaches.
- To build the students' digital capabilities for the design, performance simulation and analysis of sustainable urban drainage systems.
Learning outcomes
| Attributes Developed | Ref | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 004 | Ability to use an urban drainage simulation model to design and assess sustainable drainage solutions. | KP | EA4, EL2 |
| 001 | Comprehensive understanding of hydrodynamic modelling and water management principles. | KCT | EA1M |
| 003 | Capacity to discretize and model an urban storm drainage system. | KCT | EA6M, D2 |
| 002 | Ability to critically select and apply appropriate modelling tools for a wide range of hydrological and hydraulic engineering problems. | KP | SM6M, P2M |
Attributes Developed
C - Cognitive/analytical
K - Subject knowledge
T - Transferable skills
P - Professional/Practical skills
Methods of Teaching / Learning
The learning and teaching strategy is designed to provide students with:
- Theoretical background on hydrodynamic modelling.
- Comprehensive understanding of sustainable water management solutions.
- Digital capabilities and resourcefulness to design new solutions for real case situations.
- A set of detailed self-explanatory notes and references, which students can use to develop and deepen their knowledge of the subject and link to other modules in the programme.
- Video recordings of the lectures and lab sessions, which provide the students with the opportunity to go over the lecturer's explanations.
- Real cases are presented to illustrate the application of the taught methods.
- Guided hands-on work in the computer lab for building a hydraulic model and running simulations using data from existing drainage networks and meteorological records.
- One piece of coursework provides the students with the opportunity to apply hydraulic modelling tools and design sustainable solutions to an engineering case, to analyse the information and evaluate results, with the support of the lecturer.
- Guest speakers will enlighten students with the use of modelling techniques in real engineering problems.
Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.
Reading list
https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: ENGM057
Other information
This module is designed to allow students to develop knowledge, skills and capabilities in the following areas:
Digital capabilities: the student use state-of-the-art hydrodynamic simulation software to build realistic models for water systems' design and management. This a highly demanded skill in industry.
Sustainability: the module has a strong focus on sustainable, nature-based approaches to water resources management. The students develop a digital twin of sustainable urban drainage solutions for their coursework.
Resourcefulness and Resilience: this module is mostly taught through computer lab sessions where students learn to develop their models and have the opportunity to discuss doubts with their peers and the academics. This design maximizes the opportunities for personal direct feedback, team-work, and enhances the emotional/affective dimensions of learning.
This module furthers the learning acquired at level 6 in ENG3177 and has clear links and synergies with level 7 modules as follows:
ENGM289 Global Challenges in Water and Health
ENGM036 Wastewater Treatment and Sewerage
ENGM285 Geographic Information Science and Remote Sensing
ENGM044 Dissertation Project
Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2026/7 academic year.