ABSTRACT
There are many complex political, social, environmental, and scientific challenges surrounding water resources in the western United States [9]. Water is scarce and does not occur when and where people need it the most. According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), about 80% of fresh water used in the western United States is appropriated for irrigation [10]. Over the past 150 years, society has diverted streams, built wells and created reservoirs to better distribute water to where it is needed the most. Over the past 30 years, the impact to the environment of water withdrawals from natural sources has become more evident with increasing demand. Some of the environmental challenges associated with water withdrawals from streams include maintaining enough flow to support the habitats, increase temperature, and nutrient loading [3]. For more than 100 years, knowing and predicting stream flow has been very important for water managers, not only to provide enough water for human consumption, but to protect the aquatic habitats in our natural water ways as well. United States Irrigation Companies such as Stevens Water provide instrumentation that is critical to the prediction of water resource availability in the western United States and throughout the world. This chapter presents critical role of the USDA SNOTEL NETWORK in Protecting Water Resources in the Western United States of America [13].
