Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 34, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 February 1920 — One-Half of Precipitation Evaporates, Two-Thirds Runs Off, One-Third Is Absorbed [ARTICLE]

One-Half of Precipitation Evaporates, Two-Thirds Runs Off, One-Third Is Absorbed

Water power, or white coal, as It is called on account of the white, tumbling foam at the foot of a waterfall, is full of romance. It Is really amazing to think of a city miles away from the falls being lighted by their power; but few, perhaps, realize whence the falls receive their energy, or how it may be measured before It reaches the powerhouse. The only source of inland water supply is virtually the precipitation on the earth’s surface, which comes in the form of rain or snow. Of the total precipitation practically 50 per cent is evaporated, 33 1-3 per cent runs off to the sea, and about 16 2-3 per cent is taken up by plant growth. Of these the run-off is all that Is available, and a part of this must be used for domestic and municipal supply, a part for artificial Irrigation, a part for manufactures, while the balance only is available for water-power development. and is useful for that purpose if sufficient fall is found In a reasonable distance. In the United States the annual precipitation varies from 150 inches in the mountainous regions to 9 Inches at low altitudes. In the valleys of Idaho, for Instance, it is 20 Inches, and on the mountains of the eastern range it reaches 40 to 60 Inches.