The Washington times., 1923-08-20
GENERAL WATER
FAMINE IS
FEARED
Shortage Of Rain Causes Crop
Damage-Reserve Supply !.
Diminished.
BY e. b. c'FARMER'1 DUNN,
Copyright. 1928. by Cosmopolitan
News Service)

NEW YORK, Aug. 2O.-There are
general reports of shortage Of
rainfall throughout the country.
Farmers complain that vegetation
is suffering in some sections Of the
West and in the Atlantic States.
In some parts Of New Jersey and
adjacent States, wells and reservoirs
have become 80 far exhausted today
that several cities have given warn
ing to the people to curtail the use
Of water.
The consumption of water by each
person amounts to several thousand
gallons q year.
1t Is not the use Of water by the
| individual for general purposes that
causes shortage Of storage water;
1t is the careless or willful waste
| in handling 1t. There ID four times
as much water wasted than that
used for necessary purposes. Most
people do not realize water il essen.
tial to life and that a prolonged
drought may come at any time.
Everyone should conserve water so
there will be no danger In times Of
drought.
Each city, township or village pro-
videS adequate storage capacities for
immediate and future use and makes
an allowance for drought and in
creasing necessities, and with q
careful use Of /. water no place
should reach the condition of
water famine.
Cause Of Drought.
The drought in the West is
caused by q great number OF low
pressure areas moving from the
Southwest across the Central
States to the lake regions. These
have been unusually dry and have
created high temperatures Of 100
degrees or more IN the Southwest.
covering southern California, Ari-
IONA, New Mexico, Texas. and
Oklahoma. AS these atmospheric
depressions moved northeast. the
heat wave Travelled into the Central
States. Not only has there been
q lack 0 rainfall, but the intense
heat Slapped the soil Of It's moisture.
In the Middle Atlantic States there
has not been the intense heat Elk.
cept for a few. days, but the low
pressure areas failed to produce the
usual amount OF rainfall, that oc.
curing came in heavy thunder
storms and most OF 1t ran off, in
stead of soaking into the ground.
The natural supply of rainfall
should be sufficient at all times for
any locality. since the average rain.
fall for all the States for spring IL
90 inches; for summer. 1913 inches;
for autumn, S.3 inches: and for
winter, SO inches. This is. an aver
age total of SO inches for the year.
mean every part of the country gets
that. amount. Rainfall IL unevenly
distributed by season and districts.
The sea coast States have an aver
age of 40 to so inches. while the dry
sections of the west and southwest
get but Is to IS inches. These
amounts properly stored and not
wasted would be ample for the
respective sections for personal use.
Farmer Hard Hit.
The rainfall required for the farm
Is another question. The farmer
must depend entirely upon nature.
Az a rule, he has no storage supply
save that in the irrigated land Sec
tons; even there without natures
help, there would be no water.
There dams are adequate and hold
in reserve sufficient to cover the
largest droughts.
Rainfall is not as consistent a
performer as temperature. One
season may give an excess Of heat
and another a deficiency, but on
balancing, it is found about the
same amount of heat and cold has
been received for a year on the
earth's surface at nearly all points.
The loss Of rainfall is seldom made
up. and its absence at the proper
season. especially in spring and sum-
mer, Is materially felt in crop sec
tons.
The amount Of rain that falls over
the earth Is shown by the follow.
ing figures: One inch Of rain per
acre gives 22,624 gallons of water,
which equals 226.613 pounds. On a
square mile. one inch of rain would
give 14,479,366 gallons or lac, 632, 500
pounds.
On Manhattan island every inch
of rain means 2,S24,016 tons, or
7O6, 100000 gallons of water when
the fall is equally distributed. The
annual average rainfall OF about
forty-five indhes makes lO,1SO, 900
gallons Of water on every acre of
ground on the island.
At no other place in the world is
there such a uniform and we'll al
lOtted amount of rainfall as in the
middle districts of the United
States. from Iowa and Missouri; to
the Middle Atlantic coast. 1t ranges
from 40 to so inches per annum.
u. s. Fortunate.
The United States Is favored be.
cause the greater portion of it's
rainfall is moderate.
The average rainfall, a day in
the United States Is O2 of an inch.
This may seem an insignificant
| amount, but it is sufficient thor
oughly to wet the surface Of the
ground. In fact. .O1 of an inch Is
sufficient to cause water to run
from hard surfaces.
Less than half of the rainfalls
exceed .O5 of ninch. Half an
inch OF rain Is considered heavy.
Rainfalls Of one or two inches a
day occur occasionally. The num-
Der OF rainy days-that IL, DAYS
when the rainfall is OF of an inch
ranges from 126 to $50 in the At
ldntic and Gulf States and the
Upper Mississippi Valley; $50 to ITO
In the lake regions; 20 to 90 in the
Rocky mountain plateau region; so
to 20 In Texas; IA to % in southern
California and Arizona.
In New York city, the greatest
number Of rainfalls occur about
p m. and least about z a. m.
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