1
BRAE 349 FINAL COMPLETE QUESTIONS AND
CORRECT DETAILED ANSWERS (VERIFIED
ANSWERS)
QUESTION: What percent of California groundwater is used as a key
source of water in a normal water year based on lecture?
Ans: 30%
QUESTION: Why is reservoir storage needed in California?
Ans: Difference between supply and demand of the snow pack/rainfall runoff
water
QUESTION: What is the lift (in feet) and combined horsepower of
the Edmonston Pumping Plant that moves water over the Tehachapi
Mountains to Southern California?
Ans: 1,926 feet and 1,120,000 Horsepower
QUESTION: How much water is stored as groundwater in California
(reservoir storage is about 40 Million AF)?
Master01 | 2025/2026 | Latest update
, 2
Ans: 850 million AF
QUESTION: What is one of the greatest issues in California's
hydrology?
Ans: A majority of the rain water falls in the northern part of the state, but a
majority of the population is in the southern part of the state.
QUESTION: Assuming you could...roughly how much time would it
take to count the water molecules (H2O) in one small drop of water
at a rate of one per second?
Ans: 300 billion centuries
QUESTION: From the water allocated to California from the Colorado
River in a "normal" year, how much of the 4.4 million acre-feet
allocation is used by agriculture as senior water rights?
Ans: 87.5%
QUESTION: Why are nitrates in the groundwater an issue?
Master01 | 2025/2026 | Latest update
, 3
Ans: Nitrates can cause health problems such as Blue Baby Syndrome
QUESTION: When were the state water projects constructed in
California?
Ans: 1960s
QUESTION: Assuming the population in California is 39.5 million,
how many gallons of water would be needed to make the food to
create 1 hamburger (use the quarter-pounder from lecture) for
lunch for 1 day? Assume grain-fed beef versus grass-fed beef.
Ans: 23.7 billion gallons (or about 72,700 Acre-Feet)
QUESTION: How much subsidence has occurred at Mendota,
California after groundwater pumping?
Ans: About 30 feet (according to Dr. Poland)
QUESTION: Which of the following represent relatively "new"
sources of water in California?
Master01 | 2025/2026 | Latest update
BRAE 349 FINAL COMPLETE QUESTIONS AND
CORRECT DETAILED ANSWERS (VERIFIED
ANSWERS)
QUESTION: What percent of California groundwater is used as a key
source of water in a normal water year based on lecture?
Ans: 30%
QUESTION: Why is reservoir storage needed in California?
Ans: Difference between supply and demand of the snow pack/rainfall runoff
water
QUESTION: What is the lift (in feet) and combined horsepower of
the Edmonston Pumping Plant that moves water over the Tehachapi
Mountains to Southern California?
Ans: 1,926 feet and 1,120,000 Horsepower
QUESTION: How much water is stored as groundwater in California
(reservoir storage is about 40 Million AF)?
Master01 | 2025/2026 | Latest update
, 2
Ans: 850 million AF
QUESTION: What is one of the greatest issues in California's
hydrology?
Ans: A majority of the rain water falls in the northern part of the state, but a
majority of the population is in the southern part of the state.
QUESTION: Assuming you could...roughly how much time would it
take to count the water molecules (H2O) in one small drop of water
at a rate of one per second?
Ans: 300 billion centuries
QUESTION: From the water allocated to California from the Colorado
River in a "normal" year, how much of the 4.4 million acre-feet
allocation is used by agriculture as senior water rights?
Ans: 87.5%
QUESTION: Why are nitrates in the groundwater an issue?
Master01 | 2025/2026 | Latest update
, 3
Ans: Nitrates can cause health problems such as Blue Baby Syndrome
QUESTION: When were the state water projects constructed in
California?
Ans: 1960s
QUESTION: Assuming the population in California is 39.5 million,
how many gallons of water would be needed to make the food to
create 1 hamburger (use the quarter-pounder from lecture) for
lunch for 1 day? Assume grain-fed beef versus grass-fed beef.
Ans: 23.7 billion gallons (or about 72,700 Acre-Feet)
QUESTION: How much subsidence has occurred at Mendota,
California after groundwater pumping?
Ans: About 30 feet (according to Dr. Poland)
QUESTION: Which of the following represent relatively "new"
sources of water in California?
Master01 | 2025/2026 | Latest update
