Rivers and Streams Online Map, Know Where the Water Is
Rivers And Streams Online Map, Know Where The Water Is…
by Ken Jorgustin
Know Where The Water Is
Whether considering the location for a bug-out retreat or simply educating yourself on a particular geographical area, a good prepper will do their due-diligence to discover where the water is, because water is number one for survival.
I have discovered a very helpful online resource which will enable you to browse and zoom-in anywhere in the United States to discover where are the rivers, streams, lakes, and more…
The National Atlas Streamer Map will provide more and more detail as you zoom further and further in to a location.
-The topography is shown in greater detail
-More of the rivers will pop into view
-Their names will be shown
-You can click anywhere on a river system and it will highlight all of the river flow which is upstream, or downstream. That’s pretty cool…
-Trace reports provide information about the water bodies, streams, and streamflow stations along the routes that you select.
No matter where you live, it is VERY GOOD PREPAREDNESS to know where your water sources are located and to have a mental picture of the ‘water map’ as you would any road map.
In a SHTF situation, many people will not ‘think’ to discover where the water is. Some of the major rivers and lakes are obvious (to most) but if you know where it all is, you will have an advantage when it comes to procuring water, or deciding where to go.
While this particular online resource won’t show the very smallest of streams (although it seems to show every named river), I would consider it good advice for you to know where ALL of the water sources are nearby where you live.
Here is an image captured from the National Atlas Streamer Map, showing the very northern tip of Idaho, for example. I chose a point in Bonner County where the Pack River river runs into the northernmost tip of Lake Pend Oreille, and selected ‘trace upstream’, which shows all water upstream from that point.
NationalAtlas.gov Streamer
Comments to “Rivers And Streams Online Map, Know Where The Water Is…”
- HopefulNotHopeless says:
Ken, the USGS has a site that monitors groundwater across the United States. That shows things like the levels of aquifers, those that have been affected by lack of snowmelt or rain or both, the long term effects of drought, etc. Because a river’s level may change quite a bit based upon those factors (like the Mississippi River for barges) then all of that becomes quite critically important in making preperations.
There also is a US Drought Monitor map which shows the short and long term effects of drought.
I intentionally didn’t include the links as one can easily do an internet search.
I think that if any prepper looks at all of those elements, then they’ll begin to see a very alarming trend there is for long term agricultural survival in our country.
We often forget what life was like for folks prior to public water systems. Many states cannot provide adequate rainfall from their natural sources. This is why folks in the Western US and the Central Plains are in deep doodoo because as their populations increase, and these long periods of drought have persisted, then if there’s even a slight disaster on top of the existing drought, then severe consequences will result.
A casual reader might say, “So what?”. Well low rainfall results in a severe inability to do most anything towards survival, from growing crops, raising animals, fishing, hunting, or trapping. Since many farms are commercial, then they absolutely need major water sources to hydrate their livestock and to carry away sewage.
Not only this, but lack of rain and snowmelt has resulted in terribly low levels of barge traffic. The reason the country can do Just In Time inventory is that barges can usually carry so much traffic far less expensively than trucks or railroads. Now, that’s not the case.
Because of that critical nature to our water supply in the form of lakes and rivers, then a good prepper should be monitoring those things. The really scary aspect of this is it all mirrors the Great Depression coupled with the Dust Bowl conditions during the 1930s.
A relief map as depicted in your article is especially helpful for beginning preppers without map skills since they don’t have to interpret map elevations for depressions/elevations. Those kinds of maps are also available and as part of any preparedness, having one of those for your local region is crucial as it might help one rapidly determine the best footpaths to travel upon.
While many local water sources might immediately come to mind to the average prepper, having a plan now how a tribe would go about sending strong folks to gather than water, how to safely haul it back, and how to negotiate with the neighbors who border that water source…are all important things that will come up as you make strategic planning.
Because water runs downhill, and because many industries are located along water sources, then sewage into these major sources might be a big issue even if the water is available. It might not be safe to drink.
Some water sources may seem fine, but might have terrible issues with fecal matter or chemical fertilizers or pesticides. It all runs downhill, and there are limited options for purifying that water if it’s loaded with these.