Surface Water

Surface water is that portion of water available in ponds, lakes, rivers, streams and reservoirs. Nationally, surface water provides 63% of all water used by agriculture as well as 63% of all water used for public supply (USGS, 2001a). Surface water is diverted for agricultural and municipal use by pipelines and constructed channels, such as canals. For example, the Central Arizona Project canal transports Colorado River water 336 miles from Lake Havasu to Phoenix, then south to Tucson (Gelt et al., 1998). The system uses 14 pumping stations to lift water a total of 2400 vertical feet and was constructed at a cost of $4 billion dollars to the federal government (Streatfeild, 1998).