The velocity head and momentum exchange at the T-junction between the surge tank with a riser and the tail water tunnel of hydroelectric powerplants have been introduced by using the Gardel's head-loss formula. The effects of the velocity head and momentum exchange on the critical sectional area of the downstream tank have been analyzed. With Thoma's assumption, the critical stable sectional area of the downstream throttled surge tank is derived theoretically. The study shows that the velocity head has an unfavorable effect on water level stability in the downstream surge tank while the effect of the momentum exchange is positive. These two effects counteract. Thus, the critical sectional area of a downstream throttled surge tank is close to that of a corresponding simple surge tank. However, if the size and shape of a riser are optimized, the area of the downstream surge tank may be further reduced. It is also demonstrated that a downstream throttled surge tank can reduce electricity loss and easily meet the requirements of stability in large flow oscillations when compared to a simple downstream tank.