Water Resources & Watersheds Where do we get our freshwater?

Freshwater 3% of the water on our planet is freshwater Most of that freshwater is frozen in polar icecaps and glaciers Less than 1% of that water is available for human use There are now 6,668,000,000 people on our planet who need to use this less than 1% freshwater. Freshwater (2.5%) Salt Water 97.5% <1% Accessible Groundwater

Where does the freshwater come from? The Water cycle! The freshwater that we use is the same water that has been around for billions of years Water never disappears, it simply changes forms in a continual cycle

Potable vs. Non-potable Potable is fit to drink Examples: Cleaned water Lakes, streams, rivers Groundwater Non-potable is water that is not fit to drink. Examples: Reclaimed water (Sometimes used in golf courses.) Ocean water Polluted water

How do we get groundwater out of the ground? Wells! We pump the water out of the ground The water comes out of the ground clean As the water travels down through the earth it is naturally cleaned

Pair/Share Many California residents get their water from groundwater. Explain how that works. How much of all the water on earth is potable?

What do we use water for? Drink Cook Brush teeth Shower/bathe Wash clothes Wash dishes Clean Toilets Pets and plants Water lawn Agriculture Industry Recreation

Where does our water come from? We live in a desert. How do we have enough water for all the people that live in Southern California? (1) Groundwater (2) Aqueducts – move water from wet regions to dry regions. These aqueducts are a series of channels, pipelines and tunnels that stretch across land and go over or through mountains.

California Aqueduct

Where else do we get our water from? (3) Colorado River Watershed

Pair/ Share We live in a Desert! Where do we get our water from? How does it get here? Owens Valley, Colorado river and Northern California. It travels via Aqueducts.

Watersheds Watershed- area of land where all of the water within the area leaves out of ONE place Ballona Malibu

How do we define watersheds? Contour maps Find the peaks! Elevation Y Direction X-Direction All the water that enters your hands have to leave through one outlet Analogy—Tightly closed hands Outside Watershed Inside Watershed

Pair/Share Look at the map of our watershed What watershed do we live in? Where does all our runoff drain too. Ultimately where does all our litter end up? La Ballona Watershed La Ballona Creek then to Santa Monica Bay Santa Monica Bay 

Sad Statistics…maybe this will make you think twice about wasting water 1.1 billion people in the world do not have access to safe water, this is roughly one sixth of the world's population. 2.6 billion people in the world do not have access to adequate sanitation, this is roughly two fifths of the world's population.

Sad Statistics…maybe this will make you think twice about wasting water 1.8 million children die every year as a result of diseases caused by unclean water and poor sanitation. This amounts to around 5000 deaths a day. 40 billion working hours are spent carrying water each year in Africa.

Women and Water In many 3 rd World Countries women do not receive an education Their job is to have a family and support them with water On average, it takes 8 hours to travel to a stream & fill a jug of water Girl duty > years old

Water Use Around the World The average European uses 200 liters of water every day. North Americans use 400 liters. The average person in the developing world uses 10 liters of water every day for their drinking, washing and cooking.

The Future: Scientists predict that our population and our water usage with both continue to rise With your group: discuss and answer the following questions. 1 paper per group (be sure to write everyone’s name on the paper) What can we do at home to conserve water? 1. What can we do as a country to conserve water? 2. What can we do as a planet to help ensure that everyone has equal access to freshwater? Pair/ Share

Carolina Mendez Project Engineer in Water Business Group— CH2M HILL (Consulting firm) Job definition: Project Engineer in Water Business Group Major: B.S. Civil Engineering from UCLA, M.S. Environmental and Water Resources Engineering from University of Texas at Austin Likes: Love spending time with 3 nieces and nephew. Enjoys playing tennis, dancing merengue, and traveling. Dislikes: Negative people who try to stop the progress of others “NEVER GIVE UP and DO NOT BE AFRAID TO EXPERIENCE NEW THINGS!” Role Model

Carolina Mendez Project Engineer in Water Business Group Research Projects Momostenango, Guatemala What? Built concrete tanks for people to capture rainwater during the dry season Why? In remote places people drink rainwater because their rivers are contaminated with human feces Ocotlan, Mexico What? Operating two treatment systems to determine which technology can be used to remove phosphorus from the lake Why?Too much phosphorus can lead to overgrowth of plants which can reduce the oxygen for fish and causes them to die