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Water is used for a variety of reasons in National Parks. The most common uses include:
1. Human Use
Water is used by you; the visitors, and the staff at parks. Water to drink, cook, and clean at campgrounds, water bottle fill up stations, and restrooms are just a few of the ways we use water at parks. You also use water to boat, fish, and swim in rivers, lakes, and oceans. Many recreational activities and aspects of visitor comfort (including accessible drinking water) are dependent on the availability of water! National parks work to ensure that abundant clean water is available to support these uses.
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2. Ecosystem Use
Humans aren’t the only ones that benefit from water. Many ecosystems in national parks directly depend on the availability of water! Water from springs and streams support a variety of streamside vegetation creating habitat for fish and wildlife, a vital part of maintaining healthy river systems. Natural processes, such as droughts and floods, continue to create a diverse landscapes that allow many unique species to thrive.
For example, in Everglades National Park, the “river of grass” ecosystem is completely dependent on seasonal water flows . Without the continual availability of these flows, this vast expanse of unique and highly diverse terrain would not exist as it does today!
Other ecosystems, like in Death Valley National Park, may be less directly dependent on the continual presence of water. However, the striking geology of its landscape with narrow canyons and super-blooms are a result of periodic rainfall and occasional flood flows.
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3. Visitor Experience
Water is also the primary component of many beloved features in our national parks. Visitors travel for miles to see water features such as Old Faithful, Yosemite Falls, Jackson Lake in Grand Teton, the Saint Croix Wild and Scenic River, Grand Canyon National Park, as well as the miles of natural seashore and lakeshore. Without the presence of water, many of these iconic national parks would be much less than they are today.
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- Locations: Obed Wild & Scenic River
- Offices: Wild and Scenic Rivers Program
Obed WSR partners with the National Parks Foundation to offer monthly Junior Ranger "Let's Go Fishing" Programs.
- Yellowstone National Park
When the River Breaks
- Locations: Yellowstone National Park
In the aftermath of the devastating 2022 Yellowstone floods, we examined historical river flows. Could our insights help predict future events?
- Agate Fossil Beds National Monument
How a Flower and Fish Changed the Niobrara River
- Locations: Agate Fossil Beds National Monument
People planted yellow iris and stocked northern pike in the river for beauty and sport. The iris altered the river channel, and the pike ate the native fish.
- Acadia National Park
A New Way to Gauge Risk of Toxic Blooms in a National Park
- Locations: Acadia National Park
Harmful algal blooms endanger drinking water sources and aquatic life but are notoriously hard to study and manage. We created a “scorecard” to assess the likelihood of toxic blooms. It can help water managers focus on the most effective actions.
The amount of tree cover around a lake may be more responsible for mercury in fish than contaminated rain or snow.
Building rock dams or digging new river channels may seem like harmless fun, but they can affect the flow and quality of the water, even well upstream. Find out how you can help keep rivers wild.
- Locations: Bryce Canyon National Park, Cedar Breaks National Monument, Zion National Park
Two IRA-funded projects are evaluating the impacts of climate change and other stressors on NPS water supplies and groundwater-dependent ecosystems. One project focuses on the implications for people, and another focuses on the implications for ecosystems.
What Drives Diversity in Rock Pools at Isle Royale National Park? Scientists Find Surprising Answers
- Locations: Isle Royale National Park
- Offices: Great Lakes Inventory & Monitoring Network, Inventory and Monitoring Division
When aquatic ecologist Alex Egan and a team of partners set out to learn more about freshwater rock pools at Isle Royale National Park, they expected interesting connections with the surrounding landscape. But what they found challenged them to rethink a lot of what they thought they knew—and will help park managers to protect the resilience of these systems into the future.
- Locations: Gauley River National Recreation Area, New River Gorge National Park & Preserve
The word “prairie” usually conjures images of herds of bison, rolling hills of grass waving in the wind, maybe a covered wagon and a little house. While the prairies along the New and Gauley Rivers are much smaller in size, they contain the same tall prairie grasses as found in the Midwest. They also harbor many rare plant species. The Eastern Rivers & Mountains Network collects information on the condition of riverscour prairies and how they are changing over time.
- Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area
Park Restores Unique Riverside Habitat by Managing Invasive Plants
- Locations: Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area
Many unique native plants grow on the Calcareous Riverside Outcrops and Seeps in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Over the past few years, park staff worked with the regional Invasive Plant Management Team, as well as an invasive plant control company, to remove invasive shrubs like autumn olive, honeysuckles, and multiflora rose.
Last updated: December 12, 2018