RUNOFF

Runoff can be described as the part of the water cycle that flows over land as surface water instead of
being absorbed into groundwater or evaporating. According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), runoff
is that part of the precipitation, snow melt, or irrigation water that appears in uncontrolled surface
streams, rivers, drains, or sewers.

Effects of run off

There are a variety of factors that affect runoff. Some of those include:

Amount of Rainfall

The amount of rainfall directly affects the amount of runoff. As expected, if more rainfall hits the
ground, more rainfall will turn into runoff. The same can be said about snowmelt. If a large amount of
snow melts in a short time period, there will be a large amount of runoff.

Permeability

The ability of the ground surface to absorb water will affect how much surface runoff occurs. If you have
ever poured water onto sand, you may have noticed it sinks into the sand almost instantaneously. On
the other hand, if you pour water on the street, the water will not sink but runoff to the gutter or a
ditch. The less water the ground can absorb, the more runoff on the surface there will be. This is called
permeability.

A surface with high absorption ability has high permeability, and a surface with low absorption ability
has low permeability. This image shows permeability rates for different types of surfaces.

Vegetation

Vegetation needs water to survive, and a plant's root system is designed to absorb water from the soil.
There is less runoff in highly vegetated areas because the water is used by the plants instead of flowing
off the surface of the ground.

Slope

The slope of a surface is also important to the amount of runoff there will be. The steeper a surface is,
the faster it will flow down the slope. A flat surface will allow the water time to absorb.

Runoff Effects

While runoff is affected by various things like amount of rainfall and vegetation, too much of it can have
a bad effect on the environment as well. Some examples include erosion and pollution.

Erosion
As runoff progresses, it can collect things that are in its way, transport them and drop them off
somewhere downstream when the water slows down. You may have noticed things floating in rivers or
streams. Moving water is a strong force that is able to move these objects. Small runoff is able to move
lightweight items such as leaves and pebbles, whereas large runoff, like a flash flood, is able to wash
away cars and even houses.

MATEORIC WATERS

Meteoric waters occur near the earth's surface and are caused by the infiltration of rainwater. Their
salinity, naturally, is negligible, and they tend to be oxidizing. Meteoric waters are often acidic because
of dissolved humic, carbonic, and nitrous acid (from the atmosphere), although they may quickly
become neutralized in the subsurface, especially when they flow through carbonate rocks.

What is groundwater?

Groundwater is fresh water (from rain or melting ice and snow) that soaks into the soil and is stored in
the tiny spaces (pores) between rocks and particles of soil. Groundwater accounts for nearly 95 percent
of the nation’s fresh water resources. It can stay underground for hundreds of thousands of years, or it
can come to the surface and help fill rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, and wetlands. Groundwater can also
come to the surface as a spring or be pumped from a well. Both of these are common ways we get
groundwater to drink. About 50 percent of our municipal, domestic, and agricultural water supply is
groundwater.

How does the ground store water?

Groundwater is stored in the tiny open spaces between rock and sand, soil, and gravel. How well loosely
arranged rock (such as sand and gravel) holds water depends on the size of the rock particles. Layers of
loosely arranged particles of uniform size (such as sand) tend to hold more water than layers of rock
with materials of different sizes. This is because smaller rock materials settle in the spaces between
larger rock materials, decreasing the amount of open space that can hold water. Porosity (how well rock
material holds water) is also affected by the shape of rock particles. Round particles will pack more
tightly than particles with sharp edges. Material with angular-shaped edges has more open space and
can hold more water.

Groundwater is found in two zones. The unsaturated zone, immediately below the land surface,
contains water and air in the open spaces, or pores. The saturated zone, a zone in which all the pores
and rock fractures are filled with water, underlies the unsaturated zone. The top of the saturated zone is
called the water table as illustrated below. The water table may be just below or hundreds of feet below
the land surface.

What affects groundwater contamination?

Advection occurs when contaminants move with the groundwater. This is the main form of contaminant
migration in groundwater.

Sorption occurs when contaminants attach themselves to soil particles. Sorption slows the movement of
contaminants in groundwater, but also makes it harder to clean up contamination.

Biological degradation happens when microorganisms, such as bacteria and fungi, use hazardous
substances as a food and energy source. In the process, contaminants break down and hazardous
substances often become less harmful.

Drainage basin

Each waterway has a drainage basin, or watershed, which is an area of land where all precipitation that
falls will drain or flow downhill into a specific stream. Based on where rain falls, and in what drainage
basin, determines what waterway it will end up traveling to. Drainage basins often have well-defined
boundaries.

Examples of Drainage basin

*In America, there's

River drainage basin

Colorado River drainage basin

Mississippi River drainage basin

* Where your currently standing or sitting is within a drainage basin

Drainage divide

The line that separates two adjacent drainage basins is called a drainage divide. Drainage divides are
often steep mountain ranges or hills. When rain falls on one side of the divide, it will flow into a certain
drainage basin, and if the water falls on the opposite side of the divide, it will flow into a different
drainage basin. Within a drainage basin, sometimes water that is moving downhill is stopped due to a
depression in the land. This process creates ponds, which are small bodies of standing water, and lakes,
which are much larger bodies of standing water

TYPES OF DRAINAGE WORKS