Terms, Definitions and Abbreviations common to the World of Water

Physical Supply: the amount of water provided to the hydrologic cycle via rainfall and snow pack (precipitation). This is the water that is physically available for use. Physical supply can also be water available from manmade diversions, treatment and reuse and desalinization.

Legal Availability: the amount of water that an entity is legally entitled to out of the existing physical supply.

Multiple Use: the concept of using the physical and legal supply of water for many and often conflicting activities. A good example is diversion from a stream for agriculture and while maintaining in stream flow for fishing habitat.

Common Water Rights Terms

• Adjudication: From adjudicate which is to decide judicially.

• AF: Acre Foot (abrev.). Term of quantity of water equal to 325,851 gallons. Also that amount which will cover 1 acre 1 foot deep.

• Appropriation: A taking to the exclusion of others; Application of water to beneficial use

• Aquifer: A geologic formation which contains water and transmits it from one point to another in quantities to sufficient to permit economic development.

• CFS: Cubic Feet per Second (abrev). Term of water flow equal to 448.8 gallons per minute.

• Consumptive Use: The total evaporation from an area plus the water used in directly building the plant tissue.

• Depletion: The loss to the system as a result of physical use; to reduce the amount of physically water available.

• Total Evaporation: (Evapotranspiration) The evaporation from all water, soil, snow, ice, vegetation, and other surfaces plus transpiration.

• Transpiration: Water discharged to the atmosphere as vapor by plant tissues.

Inorganic Chemicals found in Drinking Water
(as adapted from USGS Open File Report and the US EPA)

Alkalinity - 

Calcium - 

Chloride - 

Dissolved Solids - 

Fluoride - 

Hardness - 

Iron - 

Lead - 

Magnesium - 

Manganese - 

Nitrogen - 

pH - 

Potassium - 

Silica - 

Sodium - 

Specific Conductance - 

Sulfate - 

Zinc - 

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