LabWorksheet06
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Santa Monica College *
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Geography
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Feb 20, 2024
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Name: ___Emily Alvarez__________________________ Lab Worksheet 6: Evaluating the Hydrosphere GEOG 5, Instructor: Joy Fritschle This lab is comprised of three parts: in part 1, you’ll graph and compare water budgets; in part 2, you’ll look up online GIS resources that can be used to help us understand and manage our water resources; and then in part 3, you’ll explore human impacts on the hydrosphere at two different scales at locations of your choosing. Part 1: Comparing Water Budgets To manage our water supply for food consumption, we need to understand how much water enters a watershed; how water is processed in the watershed; how much water leaves the watershed; and how water leaves the watershed. This information is provided in a water budget. A water budget
calculates the total inputs and outputs of water in the watershed. Water budgets vary based on location, soil, climate, and land use distribution in the watershed. To calculate a water budget, you need to know the factors that influence water movement in the system you are studying. –
The maximum amount of water that could be lost to evapotranspiration is called potential evapotranspiration (PE)
and is primarily dependent upon the overall temperature of a region. –
The amount of water that is actually lost to evapotranspiration is called actual evapotranspiration (AE).
–
Precipitation (Precip)
is the amount of water that enters the watershed from the sky and will determine AE. If precipitation increases in a system with a low PE, then more water is available than can be lost through evapotranspiration. If precipitation decreases in a system, there is less water available for evapotranspiration and the system experiences a water deficit. During a heavy rain event, precipitation could be greater than potential evaporation, and water is then added to the system. This is usually beneficial because the system experiences a
water surplus (S)
. The opposite occurs during a dry season or a drought. When precipitation is less than potential evaporation, water is removed from the system and the system experiences a water deficit (D)
. Agriculture is often negatively impacted by systems that experience prolonged water deficits. On the next few pages, you’ll see water budgets for two cities in California: Eureka located in Northern California and San Diego located in Southern California. The goal of this part of the lab is to plot and analyze the water budget data in order to understand how water moves through the hydrologic cycle in two different watersheds.
Table 1 provides water budget data for Eureka, California, whose annual precipitation is 34.22 inches. Table 1: Water Budget Data for Eureka (2019)
data shown in inches 1.
Create a plot on the graph below using the Precipitation, PE (potential evapotranspiration), and AE (actual evapotranspiration) data from Table 1. Use different colors for each line in order to make them easier to see, such as blue for Precip, green for PE, and red for AE. (1.5pts)
Variable
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
N
ov
Dec
Precip
4.85
4.60
3.90
2.60
2.00
1.75
1.22
1.00
1.60
3.30
3.80
3.60
PE
0.50
0.50
1.00
1.50
1.90
2.75
3.30
3.50
3.60
1.75
1.30
0.45
AE
0.50
0.50
1.00
1.50
1.90
3.00
3.12
2.90
2.80
1.75
1.30
0.45
2.
During which months is actual evaporation (AE) less than potential evaporation (PE)? During these months is there a water surplus or a water deficit? (0.5pts) In the months of July, August, and September towards October, actual evaporation (AE) is lower than potential evapotranspiration (PE). This tells us that more water is evaporating and transpired than falling as precipitation, resulting in a water deficit during these months. 3.
During which months is precipitation (P) greater than both actual evaporation (AE) and potential evaporation (PE)? During these months is there a water surplus or a water deficit? (0.5pts)
Precipitation (P) exceeds AE and PE from January to May and October to December, respectively. This demonstrates that water falls as precipitation before evaporating and transpiring. As a result, there is a surplus of water during these months. 4.
Which months of the year would industries that rely on local groundwater supplies (for example, agriculture) have to plan ahead? (0.5pts)
Given that there is less water available to recharge groundwater supplies during the months when industries rely on local groundwater supplies for agricultural needs, there is a water deficit. They would have to take precautionary measures like storing water or reducing water consumption. Moreover, the Northern hemisphere's hot and dry climates cause a water deficit during the months of July, August, and September. Now analyze a water budget for San Diego in Southern California. Table 2 provides water budget data for San Diego, whose total annual precipitation is 10.39 inches. Table 2: Water Budget Data for San Diego (2019) data shown in inches 5.
Create a plot on the graph below using the Precip, PE, and AE data from Table 2. Use the same color scheme that you used in the previous graph (e.g., blue for Precip, green for PE, and red for AE). (1.5pts)
Variable
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
N
ov
Dec
P
2.26
1.83
2.15
0.78
0.20
0.08
0.04
0.04
0.20
0.35
1.13
1.33
PE
1.37
1.60
1.79
2.26
2.81
3.39
4.06
4.21
3.71
2.81
.91
1.37
AE
1.76
1.33
1.79
0.78
0.20
0.08
0.04
0.04
0.20
0.35
1.13
1.33
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6.
During which months is actual evaporation (AE) less than potential evaporation (PE)? During these months is there a water surplus or a water deficit? (0.5pts)
In the months of February to November, actual evaporation (AE) is lower than potential evapotranspiration (PE). This tells us that more water is evaporating and transpired than falling as precipitation, resulting in a water deficit during these months. 7.
During which months is precipitation (P) greater than actual evaporation (AE) and potential evaporation (PE)? During these months is there a water surplus or a water deficit? (0.5pts)
Precipitation (P) exceeds AE and PE from January to March, respectively. This demonstrates that water falls as precipitation before evaporating and transpiring. As a result, there is a surplus of water during these months. 8.
Which months of the year would industries that rely on local groundwater supplies (especially for agriculture) have to plan ahead? (0.5pts)
Due to increased evaporation, water demand rises, agricultural activities increase, and ground water levels fall. During these times, industries should plan ahead. Many cities in California don’t rely on local water supplies to support their populations. In San Diego, 85% of its water supplies come from outside the local area. The map below shows the major surface water features and water infrastructure in California, along with whether a region is a net importer or exporter of water. 9.
Label the city of Eureka and the major water bodies shown on the map (use Google to help you find these places on the map). From North to South: (1.5 pts)
Is Eureka in a netexporting or net importing region? What about San Diego? (0.5pts) Eureka is a net exporting region, while San Diego is a net importer. Eureka, located in Northern California, has a thriving fish industry and a large forest area, both of which contribute to the net exporter. Its location produces wood (timber) and seafood (fish), which are exported to other regions. San Diego is in southern California and is more focused on attracting tourists and technology. It imports a large amount of goods and services, which are used to stimulate economic activity and drive demand for products imported from other countries. Part 2: GIS-Based Water Data For this part of the lab, you’re going to use existing online GIS resources published in the Living Atlas to further investigate water resources in San Diego and Eureka, California. Specifically, utilize the following webmaps to answer the questions below: –
Water Balance App
: https://livingatlas.arcgis.com/waterbalance/ –
Drought Aware
: https://livingatlas.arcgis.com/droughtaware/drought/index.html Use the search bars in each webmap to quickly pull up the information for San Diego and then Eureka. 11. How is the water storage and soil moisture doing in San Diego? For example, how much water was added or depleted from storage this month? How does the current percent of soil moisture compare to the average? How does this compare to Eureka? (1.5 pts)
The water storage on September 2023, on San Diego is -6mm of water that was depleted from storage. And the total soil moisture is 2% above average for September. For Eureka, there was a 4 mm of water recharged into the storage, and the total soil moisture is 33% above. While both locations show an increase in soil averages, the differences in water storage indicate different water management scenarios. Eureka's higher soil percentage indicates a more favorable environment for plant growth and strength than San Diego. •
Eureka •
Shasta Lake (aka Lake Shasta) •
Lake Tahoe •
California Delta (also known as the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta)
•
San Francisco Bay •
San Luis Reservoir •
Mono Lake •
Owen Lake •
Salton Sea
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12. How is San Diego doing in terms of drought? For example, what are the latest drought conditions? What is the outlook for drought over the next few months? What is the history of drought at this location over the last 20 years? How does this compare to Eureka? (1.5pts)
According to the website, San Diego is not currently experiencing a drought. And, based on the “Drought Outlook” section, no droughts will occur between January 31 and March 31. However, San Diego has experienced numerous droughts over the last 20 years, with some reaching extreme levels from the years 2007 to 2009. Eureka also shows no signs of drought, and there will be no drought on January 31 and March 31. However, it is clear that Eureka has experienced less drought or extreme drought over the last 20 years than San Diego. With a moderate drought would from years 2014 to 2015. 13. Lastly, find one more resource in the Living Atlas (https://livingatlas.arcgis.com/en/home/) that would be useful for understanding and managing the hydrosphere. It can be related to any of the topics we discussed in lecture or in this lab. Explain what can be learned from this resource, and embed /upload a screenshot. (1 pt)
"Hydro Flow Metrics Historical" is a useful resource for understanding and managing the hydrosphere. This is a useful environment map that depicts areas in the United States and the number of water streams in each. This is useful because it allows you to view a specific water period for research purposes and potentially see a pattern over time.
Part 3: Challenges Facing the Hydrosphere
This part of the lab is to be completed in the Lab 6 Discussion board on Canvas. You will need to write a primary post (at least 150 words in length; worth 4pts
) and two secondary posts in response to other students’ primary posts (at least 75 words in length each; worth 1pt each
). The instructions for what you should write about can be found by going to the Discussion menu item in our Canvas course.