Chapter 13: Water Resources

Hydrologic cycle

Movement of water in the seas, land, and air. It is driven by solar energy and gravity

Zone of saturation

Spaces in soil are filled with water

Water table

Top of the zone of saturation

Aquifers

Naturally recharge, lateral recharge

Water footprint

Volume of water we directly and indirectly

India, China, and the United States

Three largest grain producers. Overpumping aquifers for the irrigation of crops

California Water Project

Inefficient water use. Environmental damage to the Sacramento River and San Francisco Bay

Desalination

Removing dissolved salts

Distillation

evaporate water, leaving salts behind

Reverse osmosis, microfiltration

use high pressure to remove salts

Flood plains

Highly productive wetlands, that provide natural flood and erosion control, maintain high water quality and recharge groundwater

Dams/Reservoirs

They capture and store runoff as well as they release runoff as needed to control

Surface Run-off

Precipitation that does not infiltrate the ground or evaporate

Water Shed

The region from which water drains into a body of water

Groundwater

Precipitation that infiltrates the ground and percolates downwards through voids in soil and rocks

Unconfined Aquifer

Aquifer with water table as top

Confined Aquifer

Bounded above and below by semi-permeable beds of rock and clay