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Audubon At Home
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Watersheds
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Where does your water come from?
Where does it go?
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| A stream in Idaho, photo by Bill Humphries, Forest Resource Consultants @forestryimages.org
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Life on the Earth is only possible because of its water. Unique among the planets in our solar system, the Earth can sustain life because this precious resource cycles from land to sea to atmosphere replenishing our fresh water supplies
Since frozen and liquid water covers 75% of the planet, it is easy to assume that it represents an infinite commodity. But by taking a closer look at its distribution on the planet, you can see just how precious our fresh water sources are.
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Volume
(1000 km3)
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Percent of Total Water
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Percent of Fresh Water
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Oceans, Seas, & Bays
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1,338,000
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96.5
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-
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Ice caps, Glaciers, & Permanent Snow
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24,064
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1.74
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68.7
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Groundwater
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23,400
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1.7
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-
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Fresh
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(10,530)
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(0.76)
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30.1
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Saline
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(12,870)
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(0.94)
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-
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Soil Moisture
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16.5
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0.001
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0.05
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Ground Ice & Permafrost
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300
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0.022
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0.86
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Lakes
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176.4
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0.013
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-
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Fresh
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(91.0)
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(0.007)
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.26
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Saline
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(85.4)
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(0.006)
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-
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Atmosphere
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12.9
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0.001
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0.04
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Swamp Water
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11.47
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0.0008
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0.03
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Rivers
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2.12
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0.0002
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0.006
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Biological Water contained in organisms
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1.12
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0.0001
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0.003
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Total
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1,385,984
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100.0
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100.0
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Source: Gleick, P. H., 1996: Water resources. In Encyclopedia of Climate and Weather, ed. by S. H. Schneider, Oxford University Press, New York, vol. 2, pp.817-823.
As presented at http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/Water/ on January 1, 2004
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The need to protect this resource becomes obvious when you notice that less than 3% of the water on earth is fresh and that only a small portion of that is used or usable by man at any given time.
You and everyone else in North America depend on a source of safe, fresh water. You trust your water supply whether it comes to you from a reservoir or other municipal water source or from a well, dug deep into the earth of your backyard. Much of the water you use leaves your home and yard goes back into your watershed. A watershed is the land and the waterways above and below ground that flow into another, large body of water or waterway.
Just as you have faith that the water you receive will be high quality, you have a responsibility to maintain the integrity of your watershed in quantity as well as quality. Once you identify and learn about it, you’ll be able to join others in protecting this basic element of life in your part of the world and beyond.
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Here are some websites that will help you learn about this vital resource and identify your own watershed.
Environmental Protection Agency
Surf Your Watershed
http://www.epa.gov/surf/
U.S. Geological Survey
Science in Your Watershed
http://water.usgs.gov/wsc/index.html
U.S. Geological Survey
Water Science for Schools – Earth’s Water
http://wwwga.usgs.gov/edu/mearthall.html
NASA
The Water Cycle
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/Water/
The Environmental Literacy Council
Water information and further resources
http://www.enviroliteracy.org/category.php/14.html
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