A new report published by the United States Forest Service emphasizes the high amount of water that national forests supply to the population of the United States, especially on the west coast. In the report, the amount of people that receive some or all their water from sources related to national forests in the west is almost 90 percent. Some cities even receive almost 90 percent of their total water from national forests.

 

The eastern United States shares a similar value, though many of the forests that provide this high quantity of water are privately owned. According to the Forest Service, this is the first report to detail how specific national forests contribute to water supply while accounting for inter-basin water transfers like the California Aqueduct that take water to drier areas of the country.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/features/new-research-reveals-how-critical-forests-are-drinking-water-supply