i would say having a good grasp on the general watershed and basin(s) your community is in is a good start, and how/where water falls, moves and exits out of them.
apologize for this being rambling, but i normally deliver this via powerpoint with pics and shit, lol. the HUC (Hydrologic Unit Codes) system is how it works in the US. everywhere in the US falls inside of a watershed/basin/sub-basin/etc/etc. the two digit HUC is the largest. each two digits you add gives you more detail about what "part" of the drainage area you are in, until you max out at the 12 digit HUC, which is like almost neighborhood size in some cases. the two digit HUC is like several states.
this has good pictures. https://nas.er.usgs.gov/hucs.aspx
as you drill down to the smaller and smaller areas, learn the names. look at where water is coming from (besides the sky). where is upstream, where is downstream. look at the communities you share these resources with. and, probably most critically, look at where intakes are for municipal water sources.
become intimately familiar with them and make note of where they are in relation to infrastructure like pipelines (sometimes that data is public) and rail (usually can find on OpenStreetMap data or google maps). in an emergency, you want to be in a position to communicate with your neighbors about risks to the water, because we can't always trust our political leaders to tell us when we're in trouble. google's "mymaps" lets you develop free maps, google earth lets you import HUC shapefiles. a map can be a powerful tool to communicate risks and proximity and there are free tools for developing them (i heart QGIS) for print or electronic distribution.
if there is a risk to your water intake, learn about what filtration techniques are being used in your town. are the ones employed going to do anything about chemical spills? what about if severe flooding overwhelms the sewage system and overflows into storm drains up stream. floods can absolutely overwhelm muncipal water systems. reverse osmosis is supposedly the platinum standard for everything, but it's expensive and discharges a lot of water as waste iirc so it's less common in places with water scarcity, not to mention broke ass places.
find out what's around. communicate about it to neighbors. organize action items and take them to your city council. make a stink. protecting the water supply can surprisingly cut through a lot of noise, especially in times like these where some communities are fucked.
if you are on a well, learn everything you can about your well. how deep it goes, what is "upstream" from you both above and below ground. learn your home's filtration system and consider upgrades based on your risks (biological / chemical contaminants / both). if you're on a well, all it costs is the electricity to pump. so if you have clean, safe water and electricity during an event, you can literally become a lifeline for your community. i used to live in a rural community where we had the only safe water (being at the top of the watershed) after a century of mining and we had a big, heavy duty spigot with a turnabout right at the entrance for anyone who wanted to come fill up whatever containers they had any time of day.
water is life and it is very easy to take for granted when it comes right out of the faucet. everything goes out the window when it doesn't.
Thank you for so much useful information! It's easy to feel overwhelmed with things as they are and seeing advice like this gives me somewhere to start.
If that great post intimidates you, call your local city or county and ask to speak to the environmental services/stormwater department. There's usually a helpful civil servant eager to talk to you about water
i would say having a good grasp on the general watershed and basin(s) your community is in is a good start, and how/where water falls, moves and exits out of them.
apologize for this being rambling, but i normally deliver this via powerpoint with pics and shit, lol. the HUC (Hydrologic Unit Codes) system is how it works in the US. everywhere in the US falls inside of a watershed/basin/sub-basin/etc/etc. the two digit HUC is the largest. each two digits you add gives you more detail about what "part" of the drainage area you are in, until you max out at the 12 digit HUC, which is like almost neighborhood size in some cases. the two digit HUC is like several states.
this has good pictures. https://nas.er.usgs.gov/hucs.aspx
as you drill down to the smaller and smaller areas, learn the names. look at where water is coming from (besides the sky). where is upstream, where is downstream. look at the communities you share these resources with. and, probably most critically, look at where intakes are for municipal water sources.
become intimately familiar with them and make note of where they are in relation to infrastructure like pipelines (sometimes that data is public) and rail (usually can find on OpenStreetMap data or google maps). in an emergency, you want to be in a position to communicate with your neighbors about risks to the water, because we can't always trust our political leaders to tell us when we're in trouble. google's "mymaps" lets you develop free maps, google earth lets you import HUC shapefiles. a map can be a powerful tool to communicate risks and proximity and there are free tools for developing them (i heart QGIS) for print or electronic distribution.
if there is a risk to your water intake, learn about what filtration techniques are being used in your town. are the ones employed going to do anything about chemical spills? what about if severe flooding overwhelms the sewage system and overflows into storm drains up stream. floods can absolutely overwhelm muncipal water systems. reverse osmosis is supposedly the platinum standard for everything, but it's expensive and discharges a lot of water as waste iirc so it's less common in places with water scarcity, not to mention broke ass places.
find out what's around. communicate about it to neighbors. organize action items and take them to your city council. make a stink. protecting the water supply can surprisingly cut through a lot of noise, especially in times like these where some communities are fucked.
if you are on a well, learn everything you can about your well. how deep it goes, what is "upstream" from you both above and below ground. learn your home's filtration system and consider upgrades based on your risks (biological / chemical contaminants / both). if you're on a well, all it costs is the electricity to pump. so if you have clean, safe water and electricity during an event, you can literally become a lifeline for your community. i used to live in a rural community where we had the only safe water (being at the top of the watershed) after a century of mining and we had a big, heavy duty spigot with a turnabout right at the entrance for anyone who wanted to come fill up whatever containers they had any time of day.
water is life and it is very easy to take for granted when it comes right out of the faucet. everything goes out the window when it doesn't.
Thank you for so much useful information! It's easy to feel overwhelmed with things as they are and seeing advice like this gives me somewhere to start.
If that great post intimidates you, call your local city or county and ask to speak to the environmental services/stormwater department. There's usually a helpful civil servant eager to talk to you about water