flood irrigation
Also known as wild flood irrigation. Water is turned into a field without any flow control such as furrows, boarders or corrugations. This is the least efficient, least uniform and least effective method of irrigation
floodplain
Flat valley floor next to a stream channel. For legal purposes, the term often applies to any low area that has the potential for flooding, including certain coastal areas.
gray water
Wastewater from sinks, showers, kitchens, washers, etc. Unlike black water, gray water does not contain human waste. Typically gray water, after purification, is used for non-potable uses such as flushing, irrigation, etc.
groundwater
Water that sinks into the soil and is stored in slowly flowing and slowly renewed underground reservoirs called aquifers; underground water in the zone of saturation below the water table.
hydro-logic cycle
Biogeochemical cycle that collects, purifies, and distributes the earth's fixed supply of water from the environment to living organisms and then back to the environment.
hydrological connection
Connections of different bodies of water through underground aquifers. These connections are many times not seen.
hydrological poverty
Poverty that is geared towards water. Being poor in the sense of not having enough water or not having enough clean water.
land subsidence
The gradual sinking of land. The condition may result from the removal of groundwater or oil, which is frequently instrumental in supporting the overlying rock and soil.
lateral recharge
aquifers are replenished through access to nearby streams
low-energy precision application (LEPA) sprinklers
Concept developed primarily to allow irrigators in arid and semi-arid areas to maximize the use of their total water resource and significantly increase irrigation efficiencies. It was particularly targeted to those areas experiencing declines in water av
micro-irrigation systems
A family of irrigation systems that apply water through small devices. These devices deliver water onto the soil surface very near the plant or below the soil surface directly into the plant root zone. Growers, producers and landscapers have adapted micro
natural recharge
Natural replenishment of an aquifer by precipitation, which percolates downward through soil and rock.
non-consumptive use
Freshwater use in which the water from a particular aquifer or surface water body either is not removed or is removed only temporarily and then returned. The use of water to generate electricity in hydroelectric dams is an example.
Ogallala aquifer
A massive groundwater deposit under eight mid-western states, including Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.
rainwater harvesting
Water collection method which uses containers & earth structures to collect rainwater for farm & home use; also uses nets to collect water from fog.
reliable runoff
Surface runoff of water that generally can be counted on as a stable source of water from year to year.
reverse osmosis
A process of desalinization where water is forced under pressure through a semipermeable membrane whose tiny pores allow water to pass but exclude most salts and minerals.
sinkholes
A large surface crater caused by the collapse of an underground channel or cavern; often triggered by groundwater withdrawal.
soil moisture detectors
Devices that measure the quantity of water contained in a material, such as soil on a volumetric or gravimetric basis.
surface runoff
Water flowing off the land into bodies of surface water.
surface water
Precipitation that does not infiltrate the ground or return to the atmosphere by evaporation or transpiration.
Three Gorges Dam
Positives: controls flooding, creates hydroelectric power, allows transportation and shipping of goods to the interior of China...Negatives: cost $70 billion, displaced 1-2 million people from their homes, historical sites and villages were submerged, env
tiered water-pricing system
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user-pays approach
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water hot spots
Places in which the scarcity of water is becoming a huge problem.
water table
Upper surface of the zone of saturation, in which all available pores in the soil and rock in the earth's crust are filled with water.
watershed
Land area that delivers water, sediment, and dissolved substances via small streams to a major stream.
xeriscaping
A method of landscaping that uses plants that are well adapted to the local area and are drought resistant.
zone of saturation
Area where all available pores in soil and rock in the earth's crust are filled by water.