Drought. It’s a word that gets used a lot, particularly in the Southwest. During droughts, rain might still be present, but it typically is low to the point that water reserves become strained. It can be easy to look at the times when it does rain and think that the water running down the street is being wasted. A listener asked that precise question when she brought that subject to our attention:

Where does all the water go that runs off the streets? Does the state capture it somewhere or does it just go into a river that empties into an ocean?

In this episode of Valley 101, we explore what happens to rainfall in Arizona. The answer turned out to be more complicated than a simple yes or no. And it involves snow.

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