WATER

RESOURCES
 Properties of WATER
• Composed of 2 Hydrogen and
1 oxygen
• Exists as solid, liquid or gas
• High heat capacity
• Polar
• One end has (+) charge, one
end has (-)
 Properties of WATER
•Forms Hydrogen bond
between 2 water molecules
•H-bonds define water’s
physical properties
 Properties of WATER
•Water is never
completely
pure in nature
•Many
substances that
dissolve cause
water pollution
 USES OF WATER
•All living things need water
•Composes majority of the
body of organisms
•Habitat for many organisms
 USES OF WATER
•Helps regulate climate
•Shapes earth’s surface
•Dilutes and degrades
wastes
 WATER on EARTH
• About 97% Earth’s water is salty–
less than 1% of the planet’s water
is available fresh H2O
• Fresh water is distributed unevenly
• 2025: 1/3 human population will
live in areas lacking fresh water
 USES OF WATER
•Only 2.4% of water on
earth is freshwater
•2% is in the form of ice!
•Only ~0.5% of water on
earth is available
freshwater
GROUNDWATER AND SURFACE WATER ARE
CRITICAL RESOURCES

• SURFACE WATER
-the freshwater from
precipitation and melted snow
that flows across the earth’s
land surface and into lakes,
wetlands, streams, rivers,
estuaries, and oceans
GROUNDWATER AND SURFACE WATER ARE
CRITICAL RESOURCES

•SURFACE RUNOFF
-Movement of surface
water to lakes, rivers,
etc.
 FRESHWATER Terminology
• WATERSHED (DRAINAGE BASIN)
-Land area that delivers water into
a stream or river system

• GROUNDWATER
-Freshwater under the earth’s
surface stored in aquifers
 GROUNDWATER
• Supply of fresh
water found under
Earth’s surface--
recharged when
water at surface
infiltrates into the
ground
• Stored in
underground
aquifers
 Ground Water Movement
• Movement of ground water through
pores and fractures is relatively slow
(cms to meters/day) compared to flow
of water in surface streams
– Flow velocities in cavernous
limestones can be much higher
(km/day)
• Flow velocity depends upon:
– Slope of the water table
– Permeability of the rock or sediment
 infiltration
• Process of water
percolating through
the soil and into
cracks and
permeable rocks.
Zone of Aeration -
•Upper soil
layers that
hold both air
and water.
 The Water Table
• Subsurface zone in which all rock
openings are filled with water is
the phreatic, or saturated zone
Zone of Saturation
•Lower soil
layers where
all spaces are
filled with
water.
 The Water Table

• Top of the saturated zone

is the water table
–Water level at surface of
most lakes and rivers
corresponds to local water
table
WATER TABLE
•Top of zone
of
saturation
 RECHARGE ZONE
• Area where water
infiltrates
into an aquifer.
Precipitation
Flowing
Unconfined Aquifer Recharge Area
Evaporation and transpiration -Recharge rate
Confined
Recharge Area
artesian well
Evaporation is often very slow.
Water table -Presently,
Infiltration Runoff groundwater is
Well requiring a pump
being removed
faster than it
Unconfined aquifer can be
Less permeable material Confined aquifer replenished.
such as clay
Confining permeable rock layer
 Aquifers -
Porous layers
of sand,
gravel, or rock
lying below
the water
table.
 Aquifers
- body of saturated rock or sediment through
which water can move easily
– Sandstone
– Conglomerate
– Well-jointed limestone
– Sand and gravel
– Highly fractured
volcanic rock
– Shale, clay, unfractured crystalline rocks
 Aquifers
- Forms in fractured
igneous rock (granitic)
- Porosity and permeability
are low
- Wells are difficult to
locate, yield is low
- Often limits development
 Unconfined vs. Confined Aquifers
• Unconfined Aquifer
– Has a water table, and is only
partly filled with water
– Rapidly recharged by
precipitation infiltrating down to the
saturated zone
• Confined Aquifer
– Completely filled with water
underpressure (hydrostatic head)
– Separated from surface by impermeable
confining layer/aquitard
– Very slowly recharged
 Aquitards

• rock/sediment that retards

ground water flow due to
low porosity and/or
permeability
–Shale, clay, unfractured
crystalline rocks
 Wells
• deep hole dug or drilled into the
ground to obtain water from an aquifer
– For wells in unconfined aquifers,
water level before pumping is the
water table
– Water table can be lowered by
pumping, a process known as
drawdown
– Water may rise to a level above
the top of a confined aquifer,
producing an artesian well
Spring
• a place where water
flows naturally from
rock or sediment onto
the ground surface
 Aquifer
A saturated, permeable, geologic unit that can
transmit a significant amount of
groundwater under an ordinary gradient.
 Aquiclude
A saturated geologic unit which does not
transmit a significant quantity of
groundwater under ordinary gradients.
How can we increase
water supplies?
Withdrawing groundwater has
advantages and disadvantages
Large dams and reservoirs have advantages and
disadvantages
Large dams and reservoirs have advantages and
disadvantages
• Dams are structures built across rivers to block some of the
flow of water.
• Dammed water usually creates a reservoir, a store of water
collected behind the dam.
• A dam and reservoir:
• capture and store runoff and release it as needed to control floods.
• generate electricity (hydroelectricity).
Provides Flooded land
irrigation destroys forests or
water above cropland and
and below dam
displaces people

Large losses of
water through
evaporation
Provides water
for drinking

Deprives
downstream
cropland and
Reservoir estuaries of
useful for nutrient-rich
recreation and silt
fishing

Risk of failure
Can produce and
cheap devastating
electricity downstream
(hydropower) flooding

Reduces down-
stream flooding of Disrupts
cities and farms
migration and
spawning of
some fish
 HOW CAN WE USE
FRESHWATER WATER
MORE SUSTAINABLY?
 Reducing freshwater waste has many benefits
•An estimated 66% of the freshwater used in the
world is unnecessarily wasted.
•It is economically and technically feasible to
reduce such water losses to 15%, thereby
meeting most of the world’s water needs for the
foreseeable future.
Water resource problems
•Too much water
•Too little water
•Poor quality water
Ways to reduce freshwater waste in
irrigation
We can cut freshwater waste in
industry and homes
e need to use water more sustainably

• Each of us can help

bring about such a
“blue revolution”
by using and
wasting less water
to reduce our
water footprints.
We need to use water more sustainably
Solutions for groundwater depletion
CHANGES IN SURFACE RUNOFF
•Prior to 1970 about 10%
of storm water became
runoff
•Now 55% of stormwater
is transported as runoff as
development exceeds 75%
of the permeable soil area
Stormwater Runoff (greatest contributor to
nonpoint source pollution) contains:
• Nutrients*
• Metals*
• Suspended solids*
• Pesticides
• Hydrocarbons
• Microorganisms
*Present in nearly 100% of
stormwater samples
•Heavy rainfall, rapid snowmelt, removal
of vegetation, and destruction of wetlands
cause flooding.
•Floodplains, which usually include highly
productive wetlands, help provide natural
flood and erosion control, maintain high
water quality, and recharge groundwater.
•To minimize floods, rivers have been
narrowed with levees and walls, and
dammed to store water.
•Flooding
• Both natural and human-induced
•Modern floods are highly destructive because
humans:
• Remove water-absorbing plant cover from soil
• Construct buildings on floodplains
•Floodplain
• Area bordering a river channel that has the
potential to flood
 Too Little Water
• Arid & semiarid lands (growing in extent -- desertification)
• Irrigation required to produce food
• Greatest use of water (71%)
• Problems
• Drought
• Overdrawing water
for irrigation
purposes
• Aquifer depletion
• Subsidence
• Sinkholes
Colorado River bed in Mexico
 Too Little Water
• Problems (continued)
• Saltwater Intrusion
 Water Problems In
US and Canada

• US has a plentiful
supply of freshwater
• Many areas have a
severe shortages
• Geographical
variations
• Seasonal variations
 Global Water Problems
• Amount of freshwater on planet CAN meet human
needs
• BUT, it is unevenly distributed and some places lack
stable runoff
• Problems:
• Climate Change
• Drinking Water
• Population Growth
• Sharing Water Resources Among Countries
 Global Water Problems
•Water and Climate Change
• Climate change affects the type and
distribution of precipitation
• Potential issues:
• Reduced snowfall will impact water resources
downstream
• Sea level rise will cause saltwater intrusion into
drinking water supplies
 Global Water Problems
• Drinking Water Problems
• Many developing countries have insufficient water to
meet drinking and household needs
• Population Growth
• Increase in population means an increase in
freshwater requirements
• Limits drinking water available
• Limits water available for agriculture (food)
 Aquifer Depletion
• Removing groundwater faster
than it is replenished
• Lowers water table
• Land subsidence
• Saltwater intrusion
• Salt water seeps into fresh water
Overdrawing Surface Waters
• Damaging to ecosystems
• Wetlands dry up (Everglades)
• Estuaries become too salty (FL Bay)
• Worldwide, the demand for water is growing
as the human population and indvidual
consumption continue to grow exponentially
• Water wars

Arial Sea
Water Pollution
• Physical or chemical change in water that adversely
affects the health of humans or other organisms
• Global problem
Eutrophication
• Build up of nutrients in a body of water
• Naturally occurs slowly
• Humans cause imbalances
by creating pulses of
nutrients due to over-
fertilizing crops & lawns
and raising animals in
confined areas

Nutrients include nitrogen and phosphorus-containing

compounds that are essential to life in small quantities
but harmful in excess.
 Sources of Water Pollution
Point source: specific spot

Nonpoint source
• Enters over a large area
• Runoff (agriculture or, urban lawns) or
atmospheric deposition
 Ground Water Contamination
Infiltrating water may bring
contaminants down to the water table,
including (but not limited to):
– Pharmaceuticals
– Pesticides/herbicides
– Fertilizers
– Feed lots
– Mercury and gold mining
– Landfill pollutants
– Heavy metals
– Bacteria, viruses and parasites from sewage
– Industrial chemicals (PCBs, TCE)
– Acid mine drainage
– Radioactive waste
– Oil and gasoline