Central Valley
Serving Mariposa, Merced, Madera, Fresno, Kings, and Tulare Counties

Water Related Links

Updated August 6, 2003

Teach the River Symposium - Saturday, February 23, 2002

CART (Center for Advanced Research and Technology)

A river is the report card for its watershed

    - Alan Levere, CT Dept. of Environmental Protection


 Watershed Defined:

    A watershed is a natural region defined by which body of water a falling drop of rain will eventually collect in. Watersheds are defined by natural boundaries, as opposed to human-made boundaries like state lines and national borders.

Academic - Education

Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Identification Key (online key) http://wsrv.clas.virginia.edu/~sos-iwla/Stream-Study/Key/MacroKeyIntro.HTML

CARA (California Rivers Assessment) - ICE
http://www.ice.ucdavis.edu/newcara/

Educating Young People About Water
http://www.uwex.edu/erc/eypaw

Give Water a Hand
http://www.uwex.edu/erc/gwah/

Global Water Sampling Project (April to June 2002)
http://k12science.ati.stevens-tech.edu/curriculum/waterproj/index.html

GLOBE Program (K12 Science, Math and Technology) - Hydrology Protocols
http://www.globe.gov/sda-bin/wt/ghp/tg+L(en)+P(hydrology/AtAGlance)

Know Your Watershed
http://www.ctic.purdue.edu/KYW/

SNARL (Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Laboratory)
http://nrs.ucop.edu/reserves/snarl.html

SEER Water Project - University of Nebraska, Lincoln
http://www.unl.edu/Biochem/SEER/seerhp.html
http://www.unl.edu/Biochem/SEER/Education/Education.html

The Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
http://www.serc.si.edu/

    Click on “Education”, then under “Resources” select “Teachers”

Thornton Creek Project
http://nsccux.sccd.ctc.edu/~tcp/main/mainbod2.html

UC Center for Water Resources.
http://www.waterresources.ucr.edu/

    Site has some publications available online. Their Winter 2001 Currents Newsletter has some good articles--one on how brine shimp (Artemia franciscana) can clean up selenium in the San Joaquin Valley.

USA water data, classified by state
http://nadp.sws.uiuc.edu

WATER ON THE WEB (WOW)
http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow/index.html

    Eisenhower National Clearinghouse overview of WOW
    http://www.enc.org/features/focus/archive/document.shtm?input=FOC-000888-index

    Water on the Web (WOW) offers unique opportunities for high school and first year college students to learn basic science through hands-on science activities, in the lab and in the field, and by working with state-of-the-art technologies accessible through this free web site. Lesson plans are available online for students and teachers. WOW is a project of the University of Minnesota, with funding from the National Science Foundation.


WREN (Water Resources Education Network)
http://pa.lwv.org/pa/wren/

Organizations and Research

Adopt A Watershed
http://www.adopt-a-watershed.org/

American Rivers homepage
http://www.americanrivers.org/

Clean Water Network
http://www.cwn.org/

Colorado River Project
http://www.watereducation.org/coloradoriver.asp

GEOGRAPHY ACTION! RIVERS 2001
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/education/geographyaction/ga17.html

    Geography Action! is an annual conservation and awareness program, sponsored by the National Geographic Society, designed to educate and excite people about our natural, cultural, and historic treasures. This year's theme is Rivers, and includes online resources for K-12 educators and students.

GREEN (Global Rivers Environmental Education Network)
http://www.green.org/

    Earth Force GREEN has launched a new, interactive resource allowing users to:

  • Enter, analyze and share the watershed data they collect
  • Access interactive maps, calendars, guides and resources
  • Download classroom activities
  • Keep an ongoing project log to track progress made towards solving a watershed problem
  • Share pictures and stories of your group in action.

    Local watershed organizations can partner with Earth Force GREEN to create customized web pages where they can track the progress of water monitors working with their program. Contact green@earthforce.org for more information.


Groundwater Foundation
http://www.groundwater.org/

Groundwater Resources Association of California Home Page
http://www.grac.org

Protecting Watersheds
http://www.sierranevadaalliance.org/programs/resourcepgm/index.shtml

    Highly recommended for newly forming watershed groups! The Sierra Nevada Alliance has done a lot of legwork. You can download the document in .pdf format (you'll need Acrobat Reader).

SNA WATERSHED COUNCIL TOOLKIT ONLINE
http://www.sierranevadaalliance.org/publications/watershedtk/

State Water Resources Control Board Education Page
http://www.swrcb.ca.gov/nps/education.html

Watershed Groups in CA
http://www.4sos.org/wsgroups/wsgroups-ca.html

Water Education Foundation
http://www.water-ed.org/

Water Environment Federation for Students
http://www.wef.org/wefstudents/index.jhtml

Wild on Watersheds (CA Assn. of Resource Conservation Districts)
http://carcd.org/wow/wow.htm

Government Agencies

CA Water Plan Update: San Joaquin River Region
http://rubicon.water.ca.gov/v2/sjrtoc.html

CDEC (California Data Exchange Center) - CA Dept. Of Water Resources
http://cdec.water.ca.gov/

    Current River Conditions, Snowpack Status, River Stages/Flows, Reservoir Data/Reports, Satellite Images, Station Information, Data Query Tools, Precipitation/Snow, River/Tide Forecasts, Water Supply, Weather Forecasts, Text Reports

CERES (California Environmental Resources Evaluation System)
http://ceres.ca.gov/


DWR California Water Page
http://wwwdwr.water.ca.gov/

EPA Environmental Maps
http://www.epa.gov/ceisweb1/ceishome/atlas/nationalatlas/wateratlas.html

    RiverResource is a place where students of rivers can explore valuable river resources--a gateway to productive internet exploration.RiverResource encourages the study of all aspects of rivers: their present, past, and future; their social and natural history; their ecology, folklore and legends; their music, literature, and art. And lots more.

EPA Index of Watershed Indicators
http://www.epa.gov/iwi/

EPA Surf Your Watershed
http://www.epa.gov/surf/

EPA Water Quality Monitoring
http://www.epa.gov/OWOW/monitoring/

Key to Aquatic Macroinvertebrates - NY Dept. Of Environmental Conservation
http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dow/stream/

NASA Global Change Master Directory - a wealth of information
http://globalchange.nasa.gov



State Water Resources Control Board Education Page
http://www.swrcb.ca.gov/nps/education.html

USBR Mid-Pacific Regional Office (Sacramento) Note: WWW site may be offline
http://www.usbr.gov/mp/

USGS Water Resources of California
http://ca.water.usgs.gov/

USGS WATER RESOURCES DATA FOR THE U.S.
http://water.usgs.gov/nwis/

    The USGS summarizes its water data under one site, data are available for all 50 states for surface-water, ground-water, and water quality information. Included are water level in wells and chemical and physical data for streams, lakes, springs, and wells. For water quality information, temperature, conductivity, and dissolved oxygen levels are monitored. Data are discontinuous, often covering only short periods of time. This is a “must” site for obtaining data about water resources.


USGS GIS Data for Water Resources
http://water.usgs.gov/maps.html

USGS Groundwater Atlas
http://capp.water.usgs.gov/gwa/

USGS Ground Water Atlas - California, Nevada
http://capp.water.usgs.gov/gwa/ch_b/B-text3.html

USGS Water Science for Schools
http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/

    Information on many aspects of water, along with pictures, data, maps, and an interactive center where you can give opinions and test your water knowledge. You can choose from topics such as:

  • Earth's water: All about water on and in the Earth
  • Water properties, how we measure water, water-properties quiz]
  • Water Use: How much water is used, and for what purposes
  • Water Q&A: Common questions and answers about water
  • Water quality, acid rain, saline water
  • Water activities: Questionnaires, surveys, challenge questions
  • Dozens of water pictures (with text)
  • Water links: schools and groups involoved with water

USGS Water Use in the United States
http://water.usgs.gov/public/watuse/

    Be sure and click on the 3-D 1990 extractions image.

Links, Gateways and Portals

CERES (Key Word = Water Resources) http://ceres.ca.gov/theme/water_resources.html

Hydrology Web http://etd.pnl.gov:2080/hydroweb.htm

Earthtrends Online - World Resources Institute (WRI)
http://earthtrends.wri.org/

EPA Water Page for Students and Teachers
http://www.epa.gov/students/water.htm

ICE (Information Center for the Environment) - UC Davis
http://ice.ucdavis.edu/

Mono Basin links
http://www.monobasinresearch.org/links/

National Institutes for Water Resources
http://wrri.nmsu.edu/niwr/

RiverResource
http://riverresource.com/

    General Information Links
    http://riverresource.com/text/infolink.html

    RiverResource is a place where students of rivers can explore valuable river resources--a gateway to productive internet exploration. At RiverResource you won't find the facts, but rather the connections to facts, books, and people studying rivers. Here classrooms can share the information they are gathering about rivers.

    RiverResource encourages the study of all aspects of rivers: their present, past, and future; their social and natural history; their ecology, folklore and legends; their music, literature, and art. And lots more.


USGS Education Pages
http://www.usgs.gov/education/

Water Educational - Curriculum Search (currently 143 available)
http://cf.uwex.edu/ces/erc/eypaw/search.cfm

Water Learning Resources - S.F. Exploratorium
http://www.exploratorium.edu/ti/resources/water.html

Western Water Resources and Issues
http://www.hwr.arizona.edu/globe/h2oissues.html

Additional Resources - Software/ Printed Materials - Downloads

Ayudale al Agua "Guia de Accion" (Give Water A Hand "Action Guide") available for downloading, FREE
http://www.uwex.edu/erc

Cadillac Desert http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/002-0855542-9108024

    Cadillac Desert is a four-part documentary series about water, money, politics, and the transformation of nature. Winner of the duPont-Columbia Journalism Award, the series tells, for the first time on television, how Americans have used, abused, protected, controlled, fought over, and died for water.

    The series' first three episodes, based on Marc Reisner's groundbreaking book, Cadillac Desert, delve into the history of water use and misuse in the American West, exploring the extremes of triumph and disaster, heroism and intrigue, bitter rivalries and strange bedfellows that dominate this little-known chapter of our history. The final episode, drawn from Sandra Postel's book, Last Oasis, examines the global impact of the technologies and policies that came out of America's manipulation of water, demonstrating how they have created the need for conservation methods that will protect Earth's water for the next century.

    Overtapped Oasis, Marc Reisner’s second book, is an excellent resource that focuses more on water development in California.


Dividing the Waters - by Sandra Postel
http://lists.isb.sdnpk.org/pipermail/eco-list-old/1997-December/000854.html


Desdemona's Splash CD-ROM (demo available)
http://www.ctic.purdue.edu/

    A game to teach kids about water quality issues on the farm, in their neighborhood, or in the city. Kids identify various water quality concerns at the three different sites and answer questions, it affects the water quality score in a nearby lake. The objective is to identify as many water quality concerns as possible and give the best answers to the questions so the lake ends up with the highest water qualtiy score It is available through the Conservation Technology Information Center for $12 for the first copy and $7 for each additional copy.

      CTIC
      1220 Potter Drive, #170
      West Lafayette, IN 47906
      765-494-9555
      fax: 765-494-5969
      e-mail: ctic@ctic.purdue.edu

EPA BASINS (Better Assessment Science Integrating point and Nonpoint Sources)
http://www.epa.gov/ost/basins/

    The EPA released BASINS 3.0 - Better Assessment Science Integrating point and Nonpoint Sources software system. BASINS is a compilation of GIS, national watershed & meteorological data, and state-of-the-art environmental assessment and modeling tools. Region specific CD-ROMS available from the EPA allow the ability to add your own data to personalize BASINS 3 to your watershed.

Watershed Research In the USGS
http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/water/

WHAT'S UP WITH OUR NATION'S WATERS?
http://www.epa.gov/owow/monitoring/nationswaters/

    A new publication from the Environmental Protection Agency for 10-15 year olds based on findings from the National Water Quality Inventory. The publication includes information on water quality and water quality testing, science projects, a water quiz, glossary, and a list of resources for more information. The booklet can be downloaded from the EPA's website [pdf] and hard copies can be ordered from EPA's National Service Center for Environmental Publications at 1-800-490-9198 (publication # EPA 841-F-00-005).

Recreational

AllAboutRivers - Virtual River Guidebook
http://www.allaboutrivers.com/guides/index.cfm

    Useful to figure out what rivers are flowing throughout the USA

California Creekin'
http://creekin.net/

    Provides on line descriptions and photos of numerous Class II and III runs. Combine this with info from a guide book like California Whitewater for full details before doing a run.

California Lakes and Reservoirs
http://www.wildernet.com/pages/area.cfm?areaID=CALAKES&CU_ID=1

Dreamflows Home Page
http://www.dreamflows.com

    You can track stream flows and have emails sent to you, this site just gets better and better.

Sierra Whitewater
http://www.boof.com

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