Presence of Vegetation |
Permeability of Rocks |
Size of Drainage Basin |
Climate |
The presence of vegetation
affects the rate at which water
is intercepted and is able to
infiltrate the ground. If an area is covered with vegetation, the vegetation
will intercept the rain and allows some of it to infiltrate into the ground. As
a result, there will be less water as surface runoff into the river and so the
volume of water into the river will be lowered. On the other hand, in an
area with no vegetation, there will be no interception and little infiltration
into the ground. This will result in more water as surface runoff into the river
and so the volume of the water is higher than that of a vegetated area.