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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 4, 1991)
Spilyay Tymoo Warm Springs, Oregon October, 4, 1991 PAGE 3 Two Ways To Measure Water Acre-Feet An acre-foot of water is equal to 1 acre of land cov ered by 1 foot of water. There are 43,560 cubic feet in one acre-foot. An Acre Foot Equals Almost 6,000 fifty-five gallon barrels. One tenth of the water used by the Reservation's domestic water plant each day. The entire average output of water from the Deschutes River at the North end of the Reservation is equal to 3.7 million acre-feet. Cubic Feet Per Second 3,000 cubic feet per second equal almost 6,000 acre-feet each 24 hours. . 3,000 cubic feet per second equal more than 35 million fifty-five gallon barrels per day. One cubic foot per second of flow for one entire day would be nearly 650,000 gallons. One cubic foot per second of flow for one entire day would cover a football field with nearly two feet of water. Comparing Cubic Feet Per Second And Acre Feet 1 cubic foot per second equals: 60 cubic feet per minute 3,600 cubic feet per hour 86,400 cubic feet per day 31,536,000 cubic feet per year 1 acre-foot equals: 43,560 1 cubic foot per second equals: 724 man must live in balance All wild creatures on the earth live as part of; delicate balance. They take from the land, frorr. the air, from the common pool of water, and from the plants upon which they ultimately depend for food. In the course of living and dying, they return to each all of what they have taken. Plants and animals have established, if! U ! '' 5 J Cubic Feet Per Second (CFS) IfCOl The number of cubic feet of water passing a given point each second is referred to as cubic feet per second. cubic feet acre-feet per year icf isec icf isec lCf 1SC AWWV through the millennia, a fascinating partnership fed by the sun's energy and the richness of the earth itselt. Man was born most of his years nature. But we in violation of the depends. Since technology we increasing amounts for increasing numbers of people, more than we have returned. We have poisoned the environment with substances to which living things are not adapted. Within a few short years, life on some corners of our planet will be largely untenable. The quality of our air and water, our land scapes and our communities, the quality of life itself is being destroyed by people, you and me by the cars we drive, the resources we use, and the wastes we leave behind. And what will replace us, as the lorest replaced the meadow, if we create an environment unsuitable for our own kind? In the normal course of event plants and animals move across the land, responding to changes in the environment and altering the environment still further by their own life processes. Over the ages, species come and go, only to be replaced by new kinds of organisms better adjusted to the conditions of the time. But in the process of succession it is impera tive that there are other places to colonize, and that in the areas left behind as species either die out or move one, conditions are suitable for the organisms which follow. We have now seen the earth from space, pnd we know that our world is a small, lonely place drifting in a dark, frigid void. We are beginning to realize that when we have colonized the last corners of our planet, there will be no further place to go. We are also beginning to understand that, unlike all other species this earth has ever known, man now has the ability to alter a place so drastically that when it is fouled beyond our own ability to live there, it is also spoiled for most other living things. Human activities can impact watersheds Water moves down slopes into All land on earth is a water shed. Humans and their activi ties play an important and es sential role in watersheds, yet few people understand them. Still fewer know the dynamics and boundaries of the ones in which they live. A watershed is a system. It is the land area from which water, sediment, and dissolved mate rials drain to a common water course or body of water. For each watershed there is a drain age system that conveys rainfall to its outlet. A watershed may be the drainage area surround ing a lake that has no surface ' outlet; or a river basin as large as that of the Columbia River. Within a large watershed are many smaller watersheds which contribute to the overall stream flow. The point where two wa tersheds connect is called the divide. A watershed is drained by a network of channels whose size increases as the amount of water and sediment they must carry increases. Streams cut the valleys in which they lie. The shape and pattern of the stream is a result of the land it is cutting and the sediment it must carry. The watershed system is made almost entirely of hill sides. Onlv about one percent with nature a wild creature and has spent in keeping with the rhythms of the people of our time are living scheme upon which life itself the development of the earliest have taken from the earth, in V V. J . I " ... streams which carry it to rivers. of the watershed area is made up of stream channels. As a means of comparing stream channels of different sizes, a system of stream ordering is often used. Channels change by erosion and deposition. The natural channels increase in size down stream as tributaries enter and add to the flow. The channel is neither straight nor uniform, yet its average size characteris tics change in a regular and progressive fashion. In up stream reaches, the channel tends to be steeper. The gra dient decreases downstream as width and depth increase. The size of the sediment debris on the bed tends to decrease, often from boulders in the hilly or mountainous upstream por tions, to cobbles or pebbles in the middle reaches, and sand or silt farther downstream. In some cases, severe bank erosion has led to formation of a new stream channel, leaving once productive channels dry and barren. Streams are dynamic, open water systems with channels that collect and convey the surface runoff generated by rainfall, snowmelt, or ground water discharge to the estuaries and oceans. In addition to the ordering system described a bove, streams may be classified by the period of time during which flow occurs. Perrenial flow indicates al most year-round flow (90 or more) in well defined channels. Most higher order streams are perennial. Intermittent flow occurs generally only during the wet season (50 of the time or less). Ephemeral flow generally occurs during and shortly after extreme precipitation or snow melt conditions. Channels are not well defined and these are usually headwater or low order streams. The physical, chemical, and biological makeup of a stream is directly related to the sur rounding physical features of the watershed topography, ge ology, and geomorphic origin. Analysis of these features aids in the understanding of stream watershed relationships and assists in the prediction of the effects of human influences on different stream types. Factors affecting watersheds Land and water are linked directly by water moving in the water cycle. Flows of solar energy drive this and the other material cycles in the water shed. Climate is the source of the water resource which comes to the watershed in seasonal cycles. It comes principally as rain or snow, and, in some areas, as small amounts of con densation and fog drip. The seasonal pattern of precipita tion controls streamflow and water production. Some of the precipitation in filtrates the soil and percolates through permeable rock into g fi. - tfi'L Activities on all parts oj the watershed can influence this part of the groundwater recharge areas called aquifers. Natural ground water discharge becomes the main contributor to streamflow during the dry summer and fall months. Without the ground water discharge, many streams would dry up. The total volume of water contained in the ground is storage. When re charge from infiltration is not equal to discharge, the amount of storage changes. Pumping water from storage, for irriga tion or domestic water use, re duces the amount of discharge, reduces storage, or both. If the amount removed by pumping plus natural discharge exceeds recharge on a continual basis, water levels and natural dis charge will decrease. Unless withdrawals are modified or re charge increased, the aquifer will eventually be depleted. Away from streams and lakes, water is taken by pump ing from underground supplies, occasionally at great depths, or from springs. In many regions, the water tables have been severely lowered. As the pores in the aquifer are drained, they collapse and become compac ted by settling of the overlying land. The compacted under ground aquifers no longer has as much capacity to accept and hold water. Recharge is diffi cult, volume is less, and yields are considerably reduced. An other effect is the drying up of springs once fed from the water table. As well as providing the water, climate also affects the loss of water from the water shed. In hot, dry, or windy weather the evaporation loss from bare soil and from water surfaces is very high. The same climatic influences . that increase evaporation also increase transpiration when plants are present. Transpira tion draws on soil moisture from a much greater depth than evaporation due to the depth the plant roots may reach into the available moisture supply. Transpiration is greatest during the growing season and least during cold weather when most plants are relatively dormant. Wind may cause erosion, control the accumulation of snow in sheltered places, and may be a significant factor in the rate of melting of a snow pack. Wind erosion can occur wherever wind is strong and constant, and soil unprotected by sulhcient plant cover. Physical features The area of the watershed affects the amount of water produced. A large watershed receives more precipitation than a small one. The shape and slope of the waterhed and its drainage pattern affect the con centration time of surface run off and quick seepage in streams draining the watershed. For example, areas with high drain age density (length of all chan nels in the drainage basin di vided by the basin area) are 7' N O s - associated with high flood peaks, high sediment produc tion, and steep hillsides. Steep slopes increase soil creep and the incidence of landslides and avalanches. The steeper the slope, the greater the possibility for rapid runoff and erosion, and the greater the difficulty of establishing plant cover, or of gaining much infiltration of surface water. Evaporation and transpiration loss will deplete soil moisture rapidly on steep slopes facing toward the sun. Orientation of the watershed relative to the principal direc tion of storm movement also affects runoff concentration and peak flows. A rainstorm moving up a watershed from the mouth releases water in such a way that runoff from the lower section has passed its peak before runoff from the higher sections has arrived. A storm starting at the top and moving down a watershed can reverse the process. Orientation of the watershed relative to the sun affects temperature, evapora tion, and transpiration. Water sheds sloping away from the sun will be cooler, and evapora tion and transpiration less than in watersheds exposed directly toward the sun. Slopes exposed to the sun usually support quite different vegetation than those facing away from the sun. Orientation with regard to the prevailing winds has similar effects. More information on watersheds will be published in the next issue of Spilyay Tymoo. White Swan Powwow set The Fourth Annual Northwest Indian Summer Celebration is scheduled for October 4, 5, & 6, 1991 at the White Swan Pavillion in White Swan, Washington. There will be dancing nightly. Drummers will be paid nightly and a host drum will be chosen nightly. Dance finals over $6,000 in prize money. Prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places in each category. Categories include men, women, Jr. girls, boys & teens, traditional, fancy, grass and jingle contests. All dancers must register, registration is re quired for each separate category. Registration opens Friday eve ning. Tiny tots, 6 years and under, full regalia will be during the Fri day and Saturday sessions. Spe cials at the discretion of the NWISC Committee. Memorials start at 9:00 a.m. Friday. The 1991-92 Royalty Cor onation will be Saturday after noon. There will be food conces sions and arts & crafts. For more information contact: Kipp & Ladine Albert. 509-848-2017; Russ Billy, 874-2186; Y vonne Eneas; Richard & Karen Marck, Jr.; Rosalie Slimjohn; Eli zabeth Ohms; Rhonda Billy; & Julia Jack. NWIS Committee not responsi ble for theft, accidents or injury. No alcohol or drugs allowed. Vis itors travel at own expense. . 1