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USGS CMG InfoBank: Aquifers

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Comment: 11:46 - 13:11 (01:25)

Source: Annenberg/CPB Resources - Earth Revealed - 21. Groundwater

Keywords: "Jim Goodrich", aquifer, "United States", "Los Angeles", "Orange County", "fresh water", California, rainfall, desert, "coastal plain", groundwater, "perennial stream", snow, mountain, river, "surface water"

Our transcription: One of the most significant aquifers in the United States lies just south of Los Angeles, in Orange County, where it supplies water for two million people.

The total potential capacity of this aquifer is estimated at between 10 and 30 million acre-feet.

This equals the total volume of water that lies beneath the entire state of California.

This is all the more surprising, because before its settlement low rainfall made most of this region a virtual desert.

The coastal plain of Southern California, of which Orange County is a part, is particularly well suited for groundwater storage.

It has several things going for it: (a) It's very deep, some 4,000 feet deep all containing fresh water, of which we only use about the upper 1,500 feet.

It has a surface water supply; it's the only perennial stream in Southern California.

This stream is fed by snowmelt in a very large mountain range behind us.

Again, in a desert area, we have snow that feeds a perennial river system which provides continuous water supply.

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