Glossary

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A B C D E F G H I L M N O P Q R S T U V W Z

Glossary terms for letter: W

Water Surface Elevation:

The heights, usually inrelation to mean sea level, reached by flows ofvarious magnitudes and frequencies at pertinentpoints in the floodplain.

Water Table:

The uppermost zone of watersaturation in the ground.

Watercourse:

A natural or artificial channel in whicha flow of water occurs either continually orintermittently.

Watershed:

An area from which water drains to asingle point; in a natural basin, the watershed isthe area contributing flow to a given place or agiven point on a stream.

Wetlands:

Areas that are inundated or saturated at afrequencyand for a duration sufficient to support aprevalence of vegetative or aquatic life requiringsaturated or seasonally saturated soil conditions forgrowth and reproduction.

Wicket Gate:

A wicket gate is structural frame member which is connected to the sill of a dam and is raised and lowered by mechanical means. The general shape of the wicket is a flat sheet or skin plate with structural reinforcing. A wicket dam is a dam which is used to create a pool by raising a series of wickets to restrict the flow in the river. When the wickets are no longer needed to sustain the pool, they can be lowered to the bottom of the river allowing navigation traffic to pass over the dam without causing damage to the gates

Wind setup:

(1) The vertical rise in the stillwater level on the leeward side of a body of water caused by wind stress on the surface of the water. (2) The difference in stillwater levels on the windward and the leeward sides of a body of water caused by wind stresses on the surface of the water.