Determine the water resources in your hometown area (Canton, Ohio - Assignment

Determine the water resources in your hometown area (Canton, Ohio - Stark County) - Assignment Example In the end a unified approach will be adapted, incorporating all the perspectives, to address the issue of conservation of water. According to the US 2009 census, the estimated population of Canton-Massillon, Ohio Metropolitan statistical area is 408, 005 (US Census Bureau, 2009). Most of the urban population depends upon ground water for consumption and daily usage purposes. The area receives its water supply through 3 different ecological mechanisms, all of which are interconnected through a complex hydrologic and infiltration cycle. The major sources of water supply are: (1) Precipitation (2) Surface water resources (3) Ground water resources. We will briefly explain each one of them with particularly greater emphasis upon ground water resources and it’s the primary source of water supply to the area. The graphical illustration below reveals that on average 3.5 to 3.7 inches precipitation falls every month on Stark country. However, considering the fact that seasonal changes and yearly extremes severely affect the precipitation rate, the following data may not be reliable while analyzing long term precipitation rate. Data revealed by â€Å"Ohio state university extension fact sheet† demonstrates that, all the minor rivers, streams and lakes eventually drain into Ohio River near Beaver, Pennsylvania and Ohio River at Marietta (in Washington County). Furthermore, the infiltration capacity of soil also plays a significant role as it determines the amount of rainfall water to be trapped on the surface or infiltrate into the soil. As mentioned earlier, the availability of ground water is dependent upon the chemical and physical properties of geologic formation. For a better understanding of ground water resources, the nature of aquifers should be analyzed in detail. As the following figure â€Å"Ground water resource map†