Agencies
Services
Temporary Water Supplies
Characteristics
Temporary water supplies such as flooded fields, puddles and vernal pools are formed only when conditions are favorable from weather events like rainfall or snowmelt. They may last from a few days to a few weeks. They can be formed anywhere that water can spread from its normal channel or can be held in a depression in the landscape.
What Lives Here?
Temporary water supplies are important because they are utilized by many animal species for feeding, resting and reproduction. Some fishes, frogs, salamanders and insects rely on these areas as places to mate, to lay eggs and for the development of the young. Development in these species must be rapid. If a pool should dry up or the flood waters recede before development is completed, the young generally will die. Those individuals that reach the adult stage often move elsewhere to live.
Recreation
Waterfowl hunting and wildlife observation and/or photography.
Where is it Found?
Temporary water supplies may form anywhere in the state.
