Transcript How do Californians get the water they need?

How do Californians get the
water they need?
You Try
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Where does the water in the Sacramento
River come from?
Is the water in the river fresh water or salt
water?
Why would a community consider building
a dam?
Water Resources
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The human body is made up of 60 to 75%
of water.
Fresh water is vital to human health.
Fresh water is also necessary for growing
many kinds of plants.
People use fresh water for bathing,
washing dishes, washing clothes, ect.
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People also use salt water.
People who live in places that have little
fresh water, use salt water once the salt
and other minerals have been removed.
Salt water resources include food, and sea
salt.
Sea salt is used for cooking and in making
chemicals.
Local Water Sources
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Most communities get their water from
lakes and rivers.
Water supplies depend on how much rain
and snow falls during a year.
When rain or snow falls it collects in a
watershed.
A watershed is an area of land in which
water runs off into a particular system of
creeks and rivers.
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A community may be able to take its
water directly from the rivers of a
watershed.
The amount of water in a river changes
from season to season.
Many communities build dams to store
water for dry seasons.
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A dam is a barrier across a river that
controls its flow.
Water collects behind a dam to form a
reservoir.
A reservoir is a body of water stored for
future use.
California’s largest reservoir is Shasta Lake
built in 1945
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If a community uses more water than is
available from its watershed, they may
need to bring water from another
watershed.
An Aqueduct is a pipe or channel used to
transport water.
Ground water
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About 40% of California’s population uses
groundwater.
Groundwater is water under Earth’s
surface located in the spaces between
rocks and soil.
The water table is an imaginary line
underneath the ground that everything
below the line is filled with water.
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Groundwater is found in rocks that have
pores.
A rock layer that can store a lot of water
and let it flow through is called an aquifer.
Water can be obtained from drilling wells.
Over time a well can become dry if the
water table drops below the depth of the
well.
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If an area’s groundwater is used up, it will
take a very long time for the water to be
replaced by rain.