Water Shed

Question 1

Water shed

Answer 1

Describes the total area contributing drainage to a stream or river

Question 2

2/3 lost to floods and not available for human use

Answer 2

Surface runoff

Question 3

1/3

Amount of runoff we get year to year

Answer 3

Reliable runoff

Question 4

Zone of saturation

Water table-top zone of saturation

Answer 4

Ground water

Question 5

Water saturated layers of sand gravel or bed rock through which groundwater flows

Answer 5

Aquifer

Question 6

Rivers and streams escape their banks and flow into the flood plane

Answer 6

Flood

Question 7

Floods are responsible for….

Answer 7

Replenishing nourishment on the sides of rivers

Question 8

Pros of floods

Answer 8

Impervious surfaces
Removal of vegetation
Draining wet lands
Rain on snow

Question 9

Cons of floods

Answer 9

If you live on the flood plains

Humans have created walls on rivers which make flood water unable to get out of flood plains

Question 10

Pros of using dams and resivors

Answer 10

Recreation and fishing
Cheap/clean hydro electric power
Provides water for year round irrigation

Question 11

Cons of using dams and resivors

Answer 11

Large losses of water due to evaporation
Flooded land destroys forests or crop land and displaces people
Down stream flooding

Question 12

What’s one way people have fixed unhealthy rivers from the use of dams/resivors?

Answer 12

In spring they open bypasses and let fertile water through to the rivers creating a flood simulation

Question 13

Pros of tapping ground water

Answer 13

1. year round use
2. No evaporation losses
3. often less expensive

Question 14

Cons of tapping ground water

Answer 14

1. water table lowering
2. depletion
3. saltwater intrusion-near costal areas
4. chemical contamination
5. reduced stream flow

Question 15

In what part of the water basin is the area of higher elevation?

Answer 15

The North East

Question 16

What do the headwaters for all the rivers have in common?

Answer 16

The head waters begin in the mountains

Question 17

Does the Colorado river pass Denver? Which direction does it flow?

Answer 17

It does not pass Denver and flows westward

Question 18

Which direction does the Arkansas river flow?

Answer 18

The rivers flows east away from its head waters in the western mountains.

Question 19

In what area of the river basin is the precipitation the highest?

Answer 19

The precipitation is the highest in the mountains at the top of the water basin’s head waters.

Question 20

In what area of the river basin is the precipitation the lowest?

Answer 20

The precipitation his lowest in the south part of the water basin where the environment breaks away into desert.

Question 21

What is the role of geography in natural water distribution?

Answer 21

In areas with higher elevation such as the mountains where there is snow pact that is where rivers start and are then distributed accordingly.