Surface Water and the Role it Plays in California

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Surface water is something that is very important when it comes to humans and the need for water in all 50 states, specifically California. California uses more total water than any other state in the United States, with 66.66% of their usable water coming from surface water. This surface water goes to things like agriculture irrigation and public supply.

What is surface water you ask? Surface water is water comes from things like rivers, lakes and reservoirs. Water run off from rain as well as the melting of snow, are also included in the calculation of surface water. Things like climate change can really affect surface water. With increasing temperatures, comes less snow and in turn, less run off each year. With California getting a large majority of its usable water from surface water, a lack of snow runoff plays a large role in water scarcity.

California water departments and the USGS have created a stream-gaging system that aims to keep track of stream and other areas where surface water is taken from. This allows scientists to collect data and in turn help predict water availability months and even years in advance. This is important as it reduces the risk of being blindsided by even less water than expected.

With all of this being said, it is key to keep in mind the importance of surface water in California as well as throughout the United States. It is important to keep climate change in mind and take personal steps to help decrees the overall affects of climate change that in turn affect surface water. Whether it is keeping down personal air pollution or simply picking up your garbage around streams and lakes, there are plenty of ways to help increase and better our surface water supply.

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