Title: Groundwater and Surface water in a Watershed
1Groundwater and Surface water in a Watershed
2What is Groundwater?
- Groundwater is water that comes from the ground.
Sounds easy, doesn't it? Amazingly, many people
use groundwater but don't even know it. In fact,
half of everyone in the United States drinks
groundwater everyday! Groundwater is even used to
irrigate crops which grow food for tonight's
dinner.
3Where Does Groundwater Come From?
- Groundwater comes from rain, snow, sleet, and
hail that soaks into the ground. The water moves
down into the ground because of gravity, passing
between particles of soil, sand, gravel, or rock
until it reaches a depth where the ground is
filled, or saturated, with water. The area that
is filled with water is called the saturated zone
and the top of this zone is called the water
table. Makes sense, doesn't it? The top of the
water is a table! The water table may be very
near the ground's surface or it may be hundreds
of feet below.
4Do YOU Live on a Watershed?
- Do ya? Huh? Do ya???
- What do you think of when you hear the term
watershed?
5Watershed Diagram
6What is a Watershed?
- Watershed- the land area from which surface
runoff drains into a stream channel, lake,
reservoir, or other body of water also called
a drainage basin. A BASIN is the entire
geographical area drained by a major river and
its intersecting streams. - In every watershed, small streams flow into
larger streams, which flow into rivers, lakes,
and bays. The smallest streams at the outer
limits of a watershed are called headwaters.
Headwaters are the source and upper part of a
stream.
7What is a Watershed?
- These headwater streams have no tributaries and
are called first order streams. All other streams
have tributaries. Second order streams form when
first order streams meet.A tributary is a stream
that flows into a larger stream or other body of
water.
8Do WE Live on a Watershed?
- All land is a part of some watershed! Not only do
streams and rivers flow to a collecting basin,
but so too do the impacts that humans have upon
those waterbodies. Human activities that impact
the quality of the river water flowing into a
basin also impact the basin itself.
9YOUR Watershed!
- http//cfpub.epa.gov/surf/huc.cfm?huc_code1210030
4
This is your watershed.
10Think About This
- Think about this have you ever dug a hole in
sand next to an ocean or lake? What happens? As
you're digging, you eventually reach water,
right? That water is groundwater. The water in
lakes, rivers, or oceans is called surface
water...it's on the surface. Groundwater and
surface water sometimes trade places. Groundwater
can move through the ground and into a lake or
stream. Water in a lake can soak down into the
ground and become groundwater.
11Where is Groundwater Stored?
- Groundwater is stored in the ground in materials
like gravel or sand. It's kind of like the earth
is a big sponge holding all that water. Water can
also move through rock formations like sandstone
or through cracks in rocks.An area that holds a
lot of water, which can be pumped up with a well,
is called an aquifer. Wells pump groundwater from
the aquifer and then pipes deliver the water to
cities, houses in the country, or to crops.
12How Does Groundwater Fit in the Water Cycle?
- The water cycle is also known as the hydrologic
cycle- the same water is cycled on earth since
the beginning of time. - Where does this water come from?
13How does the water cycle all begin?
- The water cycle has no beginning or ending point.
- The Sun plays a major role in the water cycle.
- The Sun drives the water cycle.
14Steps of the water cycle
- 1) Evaporation- happens when heat is added to
water molecules and causes them to slowly
transform from liquid into vapor. - What phase change occurs?
- 2) Condensation- water vapor travels up into the
atmosphere and condenses, forming clouds. - 3) Precipitation- Water vapor in the clouds
condense more and more until they form water
droplets. The clouds get heavy and cause the
droplets to fall as rain, sleet, snow, or hail.
15Steps of the water cycle
- 4) Infiltration/Runoff- Infiltration means water
soaks into the ground (called recharge). Runoff
is when water flows from high points of ground to
low points, due to gravity. - Down, down, down the water goes through the soil
until it becomes groundwater and is stored in the
aquifer below.Once the water has joined the
aquifer, it doesnt stop there. The groundwater
slowly moves through the spaces and cracks
between the soil particles on its journey to
lower elevations. This movement of water
underground is called groundwater
flow.Eventually, after years of underground
movement, the groundwater comes to a discharge
area where it enters a lake or stream. There, the
water will once again be evaporated and begin the
cycle again. Water has been transported through
the water cycle for millions of years and will
continue this cycle forever. In the water cycle,
water is constantly on the move.
16Draw and Label Animation of the Water Cycle
17Click on this page and listen..
- http//www.epa.gov/safewater/kids/flash/flash_wate
rcycle.html
18What Happens to Groundwater?
- Most groundwater is clean, but groundwater can
become polluted, or contaminated. It can become
polluted from leaky underground tanks that store
gasoline, leaky landfills, or when people apply
too much fertilizer or pesticides on their fields
or lawns. When pollutants leak, spill, or are
carelessly dumped on the ground they can move
through the soil.Because it is deep in the
ground, groundwater pollution is generally
difficult and expensive to clean up. Sometimes
people have to find new places to dig a well
because their own became contaminated.
19Human Activity
- Human activities commonly affect the
distribution, quantity, and chemical quality of
water resources. - Human activity can include agriculture, urban
development and industry, drainage of low-lying
areas, construction of levees, dams, or
reservoirs and removal of vegetation from flood
plains.
20Agriculture
- Irrigation removes groundwater or surface water
for use on crops then carries it away. - Chemicals, pesticides or fertilizers, are applied
to croplands and eventually make their way into
watersheds can lead to an overgrowth of algae in
water.
21Urban Development
- Discharge from sewage-treatment plants,
industrial facilities, and storm water drains,
leaking fluid storage tanks, septic tanks, and
landfills can also add to the contamination. - Urbanization changes rain run-off from its
original path.
22Quiz Time
Which of the following sets of equipment can be
used to analyze the effects of human activity on
a watershed? A water testing kit, triple beam
balance B water testing kit, hand lens,
notebook C water testing kit, beaker, hotplate D
hot plate, beaker, graduated cylinder
23Discuss this with each other
- A small stream runs through the center of a
residential neighborhood. Water enters the stream
from a series of storm drains in the area. For
many years, the shape of the streambed, the
amount of water, and the species of wildlife have
remained stable however, there has been an
increase in building in the area. New homes, new
streets, and new storm drains have impacted the
area. - Describe what effect the changes will likely have
on the stream.
24- Palo Duro Canyon, often called the Grand
- Canyon of Texas, is located in the Panhandle.
- The steep walls and deep caves of the canyon
- were most likely carved by
- A years of prevailing winds from the Rocky
Mountains - B deforestation by early settlers
- C water erosion from a fork of the Red River
- D continuous, intense rainfall over long periods
of time
25Finally youre finished!
- Hope you got all this great information on
watersheds and the water cycle.