Global Water & Cycling
Only this percentage of all water on Earth is freshwater.
What is 2.5%?
An underground, permeable region of soil or rock saturated with water is called this.
An underground, permeable region of soil or rock saturated with water is called this.
Globally, this sector is the largest user of freshwater, accounting for 72% of total usage.
What is agriculture?
Unfiltered, corrosive river water leached severe amounts of lead into tap water during an environmental justice disaster in this Michigan city.
What is Flint, Michigan?
This primary U.S. federal law protects public drinking water supplies and regulates tap water quality nationwide.
What is the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA)?
The global water cycle is powered by energy from this source.
What is the Sun?
The uppermost water level of the saturated zone in an aquifer is called this.
What is the water table?
Of the three primary categories—agriculture, industry, and domestic—this sector accounts for the lowest overall percentage of water consumption.
What is domestic water use?
Water will completely stop flowing through Hoover Dam if this lake's elevation drops below 895 feet.
What is Lake Mead?
Water that is clean and safe enough for human consumption is described by this word.
What is potable?
Water found trapped underground in soil or porous rock is known as this.
What is groundwater?
This process describes water soaking down into the ground to replenish aquifers.
What is infiltration?
In the United States, roughly 85% of industrial water usage is dedicated to this specific facility purpose.
What is thermoelectric power generation (or plant cooling)?
Supplying water to over 40 million people, this river rarely reaches its delta in the Gulf of Mexico due to heavy extraction.
What is the Colorado River?
Whether using high-tech facility tanks or low-tech natural wetland systems, both wastewater methods rely on these microorganisms to consume and digest organic waste.
What are bacteria?
Tropical rainforest trees release water vapor into the atmosphere through this specific biological process, contributing up to half of local rainfall.
What is transpiration?
Over-pumping freshwater aquifers in coastal regions can lead to this type of ocean contamination.
What is saltwater intrusion?
The primary law that protects surface water in the United States
What is the Clean Water Act?
This issue may be physical (not enough water is present) or economic (cannot afford to buy or access water).
What is water scarcity?
This energy-intensive technology removes salt and minerals from seawater to create freshwater.
What is desalination?
This term combines evaporation and plant water loss to describe total water vapor moving into the atmosphere.
What is evapotranspiration?
When excessive groundwater is pumped out faster than natural recharge occurs and hard surfaces block infiltration, the loss of subterranean water pressure reduces structural integrity, causing this geological failure.
What is aquifer collapse?
Supplying 30% of all U.S. irrigation water, this massive North American aquifer beneath eight Great Plains states is being depleted far faster than its recharge rate.
What is the Ogallala Aquifer?
The 1922 agreement dividing the Colorado River among seven basin states led to modern water crises primarily because of this original flaw.
What is an overestimation of the river's annual flow?
Treated wastewater that is discharged directly back into the environment after going through a decontamination process is called this.
What is effluent?