Groundwater and Watersheds

Groundwater and Watersheds

by Angela Douglas

​Fresh Water

• ​Only 3% of the Water on Earth is FRESH

• Of that 3% most of it is Frozen, so only 30% of 3% is available for us to use (30/100* 3= .9% of the water on Earth== less than 1%

Multiple Choice

How much fresh water is available for human use? (as a % of all water)

• 30%

• 67%

• .9%

• 3%

​Watershed: All of the land that drains into a body of water. Our Watershed drains into the James river, the Chesapeake Bay, and Then the Atlantic Ocean

​Imagine the Watershed like a tub. If water falls on the side of the tub it rolls down to the inside of the tub or the floor. The high wall is the Divide--it divides one Watershed from Another

Multiple Choice

Our Watershed (Newport News VA) drains into the _________ _______, Which flows into the ________ ____ and finally into the Atlantic Ocean

• York River, Chesapeake Bay

• James River, Chesapeake Bay

• New River, Albomaro Sounds

• Gulf of Mexico, Chesapeake Bay

​Chesapeake Bay

• ​An Estuary where fresh water from the River meets Salt water from the Ocean

• ​The York River, James River, Rappahanock and Potomac all Drain the watersheds into the Bay.

• ​The Atlantic Ocean boarders the Bay into which it flows

​Deposition of sediment

• ​Fast water carries bigger rocks

• ​Slow water cannot carry large rocks, instead pebbles

• ​Slowest water only carries sand and Clay

Fill in the Blanks

Multiple Choice

Tiny particles like this would likely

• be dropped by fast water

• be carried by still water

• be dropped when the river s

• Never be dropped by the water

​Ground water flows through the ground

​In order for water to flow there must be pores (holes in the ground)

​The number of holes which allow the water to flow is known porosity

​In order for the holes to hold water they must be permeable.

​PERMEABILITY is the ability for water to pass through. If holes are blocked then they are not Permeable.

​

​Think of is like this-- if the pore is like a cup it will hold water, but the water will stop moving-- the cup is impermeable.

​If the pore is like a straw it will let water flow-- the straw is Permeable

Multiple Choice

The water in this picture is bouncing off the surface. The surface has

• porosity

• permeability

• Low permeability

• reflectivity

​Pollution

• ​Water carries pollution

• ​Pollution comes from our activities

• ​Animal waste

• ​fertilizer from lawns

• ​oil from cars

• ​trash from our homes

Multiple Choice

What type of pollution would you expect to come from streets and car use?

• fertilizer

• trash like paper

• oil and fuel

• animal waste

​Fertilizer Pollution: Eutrophication

​When Fertilizer gets into the river or bay, the plants there grow very quickly, then die. This causes oxygen to be quickly depleted from the water, causing fish to die.

​Eutrophication is too much of a good thing.

​Water by location

​Water is not always available no matter where you live.

​

​Some areas don't have a lot of water due to their climate

​

​On this map, areas in red are Water poor-- they would likely have a climate that is hot and dry.

Multiple Choice

Areas with dry climates are water poor because

• It doesn't rain or snow their often

• People drink too much water

• All the animals can live without water

• There are no rivers or Oceans