Interesting Info:

Hydrology — what is it?

Simply put, hydrology is the study of water. Where it comes from, how we use it, and so on.

Precipitation

In Salt Lake City we receive most of our precipitation as the form of SNOW!!! But we also experience frontal rainstorms and summer thundershowers!

Snow Hydrology

Hydrologists here at the City and at the Natural Resources Conservation Service get to go measure the snowpack in the mountains. They measure the depth of the snow monthly and sometimes bi-monthly. They also take a core sample using a snow tube, weigh the tube and can then determine the water content of the snow. Utah powder is very light and generally has a low water content.

Streamflow

As the water from the snowpack melts in the springtime, the water flows into the soil and or can flow directly into the stream. We can see how the volume of water changes through time by using a HYDROGRAPH! The volume of flow is measured in cubic feet per second. One cubic foot per second is about the same as a one beach ball of water passing by us on the bank each second. Just imagine 200 cubic feet every second!! This hydrograph shows how much water was flowing in Little Cottonwood Creek during last year: [mike, this graphic needs to be redone, but I left it in just as an example..i’ll work on a better one]

Floods and Droughts

High and low streamflows are just part of the natural hydrologic systems that we have in the Western United States.