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

These are large bounders.  If the river can move them, where would it drop them?  Close to the edge of the river, where the flow slows down or in the middle where the water stops?

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.

Fill in the Blanks

Eutrophication is bad for our waterways because when

enters the water, plants grow quickly, die and rob the fish of Oxygen due to decomposition

​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