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White Water, California

40 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1901 and the latest in 1996. It stands in the Desert Hot Springs census division. It lies in ZIP code area 92282. It stands on Super Creek. The Survey maps it on the White Water quadrangle. 984 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,575 feet above sea level.

White Water within Riverside County

Then and now

1901 to 1996

The same ground, surveyed 95 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of White Water, surveyed 1996
Topographic sheet of White Water, surveyed 1901

Compare 1901 against another survey:

Population over time

2 figures

White Water grew from 859 to 984 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
2010859
2020984+125 (+15%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

16 surveys from 40 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires near this place

624 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 624 fires within 5 miles of White Water between 1992 and 2020, burning about 48,351 acres in total. 5 started naturally. 18 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined306
Smoking128
Equipment and vehicle use103
Power generation/transmission/distribution20
Arson/incendiarism18
Debris and open burning16
Recreation and ceremony11
Misuse of fire by a minor11
Natural5
Fireworks3
Firearms and explosives use2
Railroad operations and maintenance1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
9 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Desert DistrictFREEMAN
8 September 2003Smokingunder an acreCalifornia Desert DistrictLOCAL
7 September 1993Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresSan Bernardino National Forestnot named
7 September 1992Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreRiverside UnitLOCAL 14823
6 September 2011Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreSan Bernardino National ForestWINDY
6 September 2004Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Desert DistrictSTATE
5 September 2007Smokingunder an acreCalifornia Desert DistrictUNNAMED FIRE 2715
4 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreRiverside UnitI 10 W/ WHITEWATER OFRP

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Riverside County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 21 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 21 workings within 5 miles of White Water: 11 occurrences, 6 past producers, 4 prospects. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Limestone, General, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Gold, Silver. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Blackshock ClaimsSilver, CopperOccurrence
Dbl ClaimsUranium, Copper, SilverOccurrence
Painted Hill QuarryFlagstone, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Stone, DimensionPast Producer
Super Creek Claims QuarryStone, DimensionPast Producer
Unnamed Silica Sand OccurrenceSilicaOccurrence
White Water Sericite-Schist DepositMicaOccurrence
Desert Gold ClaimsGold, SilverProspect
BonanzaGoldProspect
Desert Rainbow ClaimsGoldProspect
Good Hope GroupGoldOccurrence

Every working recorded in Riverside County

Storms near this place

5 since 2002

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names White Water in 5 storm reports between 2002 and 2021: 3 flood, 1 wildfire, 1 flash flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
February 2019Flash FloodWhite Water$3,000,000Heavy rainfall of 3 to 5 inches occurred on the desert slope of Mt San Jacinto and the Coachella Valley floor. This resulted in massive flooding and water flow into the Whitewater river (up to 10,000 CFS). Flooding severely damaged highway 111 causing a week long closure.
July 2021FloodWhite Water$1,000Riverside Emergency Management reported minor rock slide on Highway 111 at Windy Point. Rain gauges showed 0.50 in 30 minutes early that morning.
December 2021FloodWhite Water-Road closures include indian canyon from tramview to palm road springs station road, gene autry from interstate 10 to east via escuela, araby drive through wash, vista chino from gene autry to cathedral city, elm street from bonita ave to adele ave, and part of seminole drive. 0.5 to 1.5 inches of rainfall and 2 to 3 inches across surrounding foothills. 1 inch rainfall reported at Palm Springs Airport.
July 2011FloodWhite Water-The Whitewater River gage at Windy Point rose 1000 cfs in 30 minutes from 1830 TO 1900 PST. The source of the heavy rainfall was in the San Gorgonio Wilderness.
June 2002WildfireWhite Water-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Riverside County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Bonnie Bell1.7 miles40
Snow Creek3.4 miles40
North Palm Springs5.1 miles39
Garnet5.2 miles39
Mons5.8 miles40
Dos Palmas Corners7.2 miles39
Desert Hot Springs7.7 miles39
Cabazon7.9 miles40

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on White WaterAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q518382The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1667936. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.