Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;
Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;
H to show hint;
A reads text to speech;
15 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
|
Groundwater |
water that sinks into the soil and is stored in slowly flowing renewed underground reservoirs called aquifers; underground water in the zone of saturation below the water table |
|
|
Aquifer |
porous, water-saturated layers of sand, gravel, or bedrock that can yield an economically significant amount of water |
|
|
Surface Water: |
precipitation that does no infiltrate the ground or return to the atmosphere by evaporation or transpiration |
|
|
Watershed |
land area that delivers water, sediment, and dissolved substances via small streams to a major stream (river) |
|
|
Natural Recharge |
natural replenishment of an aquifer by precipitation, which percolates downward through soil and rock |
|
|
Water “mining” |
Water used for agriculture is primarily obtained from three sources: local precipitation contributing to soil moisture available for root water uptake (green water), irrigation water taken from rivers, lakes, reservoirs, wetlands and renewable groundwater (blue water) and irrigation water abstracted from non-renewable groundwater (fossil water). |
|
|
Floodplain |
flat valley floor next to a stream channel. Legal purpose, the term often applies to any low area that has the potential for flooding, including certain coastal area |
|
|
California Water Project |
uses a maze of giant dams, pumps, and aqueducts to transport water from water-rich northern California to southern California’s arid but heavily populated agricultural regions and cities |
|
|
Ogallala |
A vast groundwater resource under eight US states, used especially for crop irrigation, that stretches from southern South Dakota to western Texas and eastern New Mexico |
|
|
Desalination |
purification of salt water or brackish (slightly salty) water by removal of dissolved salts |
|
|
Drip Irrigation |
most efficient way to deliver small amounts of water precisely to crops. It consists of a network of perforated plastic tubing installed at or below the ground level |
|
|
Eutrophication |
natural nutrient enrichment of a shallows lake, estuary, or slow-moving stream, mostly from runoff of plant nutrients such as nitrates and phosphates from surrounding land |
|
|
Groundwater Pollution |
Sources of surface water pollution are generally grouped into two categories based on their origin. Interactions between groundwater and surface water are complex. |
|
|
Arsenic |
A metallic element that forms a number of poisonous compounds, arsenic is found in nature at low levels mostly in compounds with oxygen, chlorine, and sulfur. |
|
|
Sewage Treatment |
Is the process of removing contaminants from wastewater, primarily from household sewage. It includes physical, chemical, and biological processes to remove these contaminants and produce environmentally safe treated wastewater |
