LAND AS THE RESOURCE - Low Impact Development and Sustainable Stormwater Management - page 63

Figure 3-13 In the arid southwestern United States, native Americans built their habitats
in the walls of canyons near a water source.

Table 3-1 Major Physiographic Regions Within the United States a

Eastern Central Western

New England/Maritime Interior Lowland Plateaus Wyoming Basin

Adirondack Central Lowland Colorado Plateaus

Coastal Plain Ozark Plateaus Southern Rocky Mts.

Piedmont Plateau Ouachita Middle Rocky Mts.

Blue Ridge Valley and Ridge Northern Rocky Mts.

Appalachian Plateaus Great Plains Columbia Plateau

Coastal Plain Basin and Range

Cascade-Sierra Mts.
Pacific Border
Lower California

Source: Data from [Ref. 19, Chapter 1].
a Central North America only.

from the land surface. In the wetter portions of the country underlain by the
harder bedrock, the discharges from these aquifers as springs or base flow in
surface waters has provided a portion of water supply needs, but surface systems
were the primary water source until deep-well drilling equipment was developed
a few decades ago. Deeper waters are also brought to the surface in geothermal
formations, one of which was laid down by a moving “hot spot” or point of
discharge from the magma layer beneath the surface plates, such as the source
of the geothermal vents in Yellowstone (see Figure 1-6). At other locations on
the planet, the geothermal energy can be harnessed and utilized as an excellent