In California, these strategies alone could reduce water use by as much as 60 percent. For individuals, there are many other ways to conserve water as well.
Recycled water —also called reclaimed water—is highly treated wastewater that can be used for myriad purposes, from landscape irrigation such as watering public parks and golf courses to industrial processes such as providing cooling water for power plants and oil refineries to replenishing groundwater supplies.
Graywater—recycled water derived from sinks, shower drains, and washing machines—can be used on site for example, in homes and businesses for non-potable uses such as garden or lawn irrigation. Recycled water can serve as a significant water resource, reducing demand from sources such as rivers, streams, reservoirs, and underground water supplies. Every year in the United States, about 10 trillion gallons of untreated stormwater washes off paved surfaces and rooftops, through sewer systems, and into waterways.
Not only does this create pollution problems as contaminants from land get flushed into rivers, lakes, and oceans , but it reduces the amount of rainwater that soaks back into the earth to replenish groundwater supplies. The use of green infrastructure —including green roofs, tree plantings, rain gardens, rain barrels, cisterns, and permeable pavement—can increase water supplies substantially. Stormwater capture in urban Southern California and the San Francisco Bay region alone could potentially increase annual water supplies by as much as billion gallons.
Strategies for better water management in the agricultural sector focus on increased water efficiency and reduced consumption. These include improved irrigation techniques—such as switching from flood to drip irrigation, which alone can cut water use by about 20 percent—as well as more precise irrigation scheduling to adjust the amount of water used at different stages of crop growth.
Meanwhile, crop rotation, no-till farming a method for growing crops with minimal soil disturbance , and the use of cover crops help build soil health, which in turn enables the land to absorb and retain more water. In Central California, small ranches and farms are growing their connections—to the land, to the past, and to each other.
A new study shows that drought is no longer a periodic crisis, but a harbinger of things to come. As droughts parch the Southeast, interstate squabbles heat up over the Tennessee River and the Chattahoochee. Model, actor, and designer Luka Sabbat can make just about anything look good—even an air mask. Behold the future of fashion.
Ditch-diggers and cement trucks? Try trees and rainwater cisterns. City planners across the country are realizing that green infrastructure is the key to climate resilience. For years, states could ignore global warming when creating their disaster-preparedness plans.
Not anymore. If you thought the California drought was bad and it is , take a look at what's happening in southeastern Brazil. Manicured turf grass lawns cover up to 50 million acres of land in America. But a new, no-mow movement is challenging this conformity—and helping the environment. This information can be used to estimate evapotranspiration, which is a measure of how much water is being transferred from the land to the atmosphere through the soil and plants.
By comparing the weekly evapotranspiration data from satellites with the average for the region, scientists can predict whether or not a region is at risk for flash droughts — and give warnings to farmers and ranchers if crops will soon be under stress. Red and brown colors indicate extreme moisture stress. Credit: USDA. Scientists can also look at tree rings from trees that are hundreds of years old. The thickness of tree rings can tell scientists about historical droughts over the hundreds of years of a tree's life.
You may have heard of using tree rings to learn about the past, but what are scientists looking for? There is information in the thickness of each ring. Thick rings mean the tree was able to grow faster due to plentiful water, indicating a wetter year.
They can just insert a hollow drill into the trunk and pull out a cylindrical sample with the rings included. Water and Ice. Near population centers, surface-water supplies are fully appropriated, and many communities are dependent upon ground water drawn from storage, which is an unsustainable strategy.
Water of acceptable quality is increasingly USGS science provides part of the foundation for emergency preparedness whenever and wherever disaster strikes. Plant functional groups have contrasting effects on soil water availability by affecting interception, uptake, and transpiration. Agricultural crops can wither in a flash when the days turn hot, the air dries, the rain stops and moisture evaporates quickly from the soil. A new early warning system can help alert managers and others as drought begins to happen.
Geological Survey is poised to bring a dynamic array of science and tools to help decision-makers manage and offset effects of increased drought across the United States, according to a drought plan report released today. Drought has left the West parched and thirsty. Families, businesses, and farmers all need water, as do fish, wildlife, and their habitats. Geological Survey hydrologic technicians are currently taking measurements from hundreds of streams and rivers across the western United States as part of a low flow study.
A newly released interactive California Drought visualization website aims to provide the public with atlas-like, state-wide coverage of the drought and a timeline of its impacts on water resources. A Record of Change—Science and Elder Observations on the Navajo Nation is a minute documentary about collaborative studies using conventional physical sciences, combined with tribal elder observations to show that local knowledge and conventional science partnerships can effectively document ecosystem change and determine the resulting challenges to livelihoods.
The severity of California's current drought is illustrated in these images of Folsom Lake, a reservoir in Northern California located 25 miles 40 kilometers northeast of Sacramento.
The lake is formed by Folsom Dam, in the foreground, which is part of the U. Bureau of Reclamation. White bleached rock show shoreline when Lake Powell is at capacity. This short video is one of a series of four total shorts highlighting USGS water science in California's Delta region.
The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is the hub of the state's water system. Water quality touches on all aspects of life. Teams of U. Geological Survey scientists along with their partners monitor water quality and identify sources of pollution and. The surface level of Lake Mead in Nevada and Arizona has fallen to a historic low as 16 years of ongoing drought in the American Southwest continue to impact the Colorado River Basin. A scientist from the University of California, Berkeley climbs a giant sequoia to measure its drought stress.
The USGS is collecting data at hundreds of sites on rivers and streams in six western states to document the drought. USGS scientists will analyze the data to identify which rivers and streams may be most vulnerable to future droughts.
Skip to main content. Search Search. A drought is a period of drier-than-normal conditions that results in water-related problems. Drought Portal. Apply Filter. What are the long-term effects of climate change? Scientists have predicted that long-term effects of climate change will include a decrease in sea ice and an increase in permafrost thawing, an increase in heat waves and heavy precipitation, and decreased water resources in semi-arid regions.
The wind that carries the clouds that bring rain is called the jet stream. The jet stream changes its pattern with each season. In other words, the jet stream will carry weather patterns, such as precipitation and temperature, in different directions or over different routes during each season. When the jet stream hits a road block or takes a certain detour and is not bringing the clouds that produce rain, a drought can occur.
These patterns in the jet stream could change for many reasons. Scientists are still uncovering the answers, but many think that influences such as differences in the amount of snow and ice cover, the amount of vegetation trees or grasses covering the land, the moisture in the soil, and ocean surface temperature and currents can cause these patterns to change. Drought has many causes.
It can be caused by not receiving rain or snow over a period of time. We learned in the discussions about the water cycle and weather that changes in the wind patterns that move clouds and moisture through the atmosphere can cause a place to not receive its normal amount of rain or snow over a long period of time. If you live in a place where most of the water you use comes from a river, a drought in your area can be caused by places upstream from you not receiving enough moisture.
There would be less water in the river for you and other people who live along the river to use. People can also play a big role in drought. If we use too much water during times of normal rainfall, we might not have enough water when a drought happens. Earlier we learned that droughts are normal parts of climate just like floods, hurricanes, and tornadoes. That might sound strange to you if you have seen pictures of what floods, tornadoes, and hurricanes can do to houses, trees, and the land.
Droughts, floods, hurricanes, and tornadoes are what we call natural hazards.
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