Abstract
The meteorological, physical and hydrological conditions prevailing in a hilly area, namely the region around Malaxa (Western Crete), are analyzed and investigated in relation to water harvesting applications. The literature relating to water harvesting techniques and applications is reviewed and the conclusions that have been drawn by other investigators concerning methods of water harvesting techniques and applications are outlined and discussed. Specific reasons for choosing this particular study area was given and the types and installation of equipment used are also described. The results indicate that despite the fact that the mean annual rainfall can be considered as high (940 mm), its distribution is very uneven and only 6% of it falls from May to September. This fact creates serious water problems in the area during the dry seasons. Also, mean annual and monthly average temperatures have values which contribute to the evapotranspiration of high amount of precipitation and may form frost and overland flow respectively, during some days. Furthermore, the annual runoff is estimated to be 248 mm and a part of this can be overland flow while the other part can be a throughflow. The occurrence of overland flow is also proved by the comparison of the infiltration and the intensities of rainfall with the return periods of 5 and 10 years. Additionally, the quantification of overland flow is made by collecting and analyzing it from experimental plots. By this method, we clarified that the quantity of overland flow is affected by the inclination of the ground, the density of vegetation and the compaction of the soil. These results, although all of them are not wholly conclusive, can present an advance for understanding the use of meteorological, physical and hydrological conditions for water harvesting applications in an area.