WATERMARK

Mark showing the greatest height to which water has risen.

WATERMASTER

Person hired by a group of water right holders or a water company to distribute and oversee available water supplies.

WATERSHED

All lands enclosed by a continuous hydrologic drainage divide and lying upsl ope from a specified point on a stream.

WATERSTOPS

Strips of material used to prevent leakage through joints between adjacent sections of concrete.

WEATHER

State of the atmosphere at any particular time and place.

WEATHERING

Process whereby earthy or rocky materials are changed in color, texture, composition, or form (with little or no transportation) by exposure to atmospheric agents.

WEIGHTED AVERAGE COST OR CAPITAL (WACC)

A firm’s average cost of obtaining capital from debt and sale of stock, expressed as an average interest rate weighted by the firm’s percentages of debt and equity. For example, suppose a firm’s assets are 40 percent debt and 60 percent equity, and it pays 10 percent interest on debt and pays a 6 percent […]

WEIGHTED MEAN

A value obtained by multiplying each of a series of values by its assigned weight and dividing the sum of these products by the sum of the weights. In the ordinary arithmetic mean, each value is assigned a weight of 1.

WEIR

Device for determining the quantity of water flowing over it.

WEIR BOX

Wooden or concrete box oblong in shape and open at both ends, set lengthwise in a canal and in which a weir is set crosswise.