River Runner: Visualization of Where a Raindrop Starts and Ends

As we begin another year of drought in California, you may wonder not only where the raindrops are, but if we had raindrops, where do they go. What is their journey.

The name“Mississippi” comes from either the Ojibwe or Algonquin word “misi-ziibi,” meaning Great River.

Sam Learner wondered the same thing. He first started researching the Mississippi River and found to his amazement that raindrops spanning more than 60% of the US find their way into Ol’ Man River, Big Muddy, Old Blue, the Gathering of Waters and other nicknames.

Some people follow the money. Sam decided to follow the raindrops. In nine long days, he built an interactive map using watershed databases from the U.S. Geological Survey. River Runner is a 3-D topographical map of the US that enables zooming into geography and cities. With a single click, users can see the route water takes. For example, rain in the Gilroy farm fields travels 28 miles to the Monterey Bay via Miller Slough, Llagas Creek, and the Pajaro River.

“I am a big believer in the power of visualization,” explains Learner. “As water becomes more scarce, it will help our communities to be more familiar with this valuable resource.”

There are still many more databases which could enhance this project. For example, UCSC has done significant watershed and water table studies on our areas. Water resources not only impact our communities flora and hillsides. Water flow also impacts the fish communities in the Monterey Bay. May Learner’s project flood our communities with new data and appreciation for our water resources.