Groundwater and the Hydrologic Cycle
Introduction
Water is the lifeblood of every living creature on earth. Approximately 70 percent of the earth's surface is covered with water. Thought the wonders of nature, water can take on many different forms, form the water we drink, to the ice we use to chill a glass of lemonade, to the water vapor used to steam clean equipment equipment. It is easy to understand the significance water plays in our lives, but it may be much more difficult ot understand the water that exists below the earth's surface, called groundwater.
From the time the earth was formed, water have been endlessly circulating. This circulation is known as the hydrologic cycle. Groundwater is part of this continuous cycle as water evaporates, forms clouds and returns to earth as precipitation.
The Hydrologic Cycle
The hydrologic cycle begins with the water evaporation from the earth's soil, plant and water surfaces to form water vapor. The energy required to evaporate water is supplied by the sun. The vast majority of evaporation occurs from the oceans. It is estimated that 39 inches of water annually evaporate from each acre of ocean.
Water vapor is drawn into the atmosphere by temperature gradients and can be transported over hundreds of miles by large air masses. When water vapor cools, it condenses to form clouds. As water condenses within clouds, water droplets increase in size until they fall to the earth's surface as precipitation such as rainfall, hail, sleet or snow.
Approximately 70-90 percent of the water that falls to the earth's surface enters the soil. This water can become groundwater but most of it evaporates or is used by vegetation.
Water that passes though the root zone ...
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...ment levels (Florida Aquifer).
Florida's growing population, now fourth in the nation, is placing a heavy demand on the state's water supply. The addition of 6,000 new residents each week has increased the use of water for direct human needs to more than 60 million gallons per day.
Florida rainfall averages 54 inches per year, or nearly 150 billion gallons of water a day. Unfortunately, an estimated 110 billion gallons is lost to evaporation and plant life consumption.
The southern 50 percent of Florida receives only 44 percent of the state's natural water supply, yet is home to 78 percent of the population and accounts for 75 percent of the state's total water use (Groundwater Withdraw).
The largest consumer of water is the agriculture industry, using 42 percent. Homes, offices and hotels consume 11 percent. The rest is consumed by other industries.
In the state of Florida majority of its drinking waters comes from these deep layers of limestone that actually stores water. Florida has the most springs and are quite unique to the earth’s ecosystem and is the greatest groundwater system on earth. Furthermore, the water from the Florida aquifer
...ric Science (2010). A summary of the hydrologic cycle. Retrieved from http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/hyd/smry.rxml. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
What is ground water? Water is the life blood of every living creature on earth. Approximately 70 percent of the earth's surface is covered with water. Through the wonders of nature, water can take on many different forms. It is easy to understand the significance water plays in our lives but it may be difficult to understand the water that exists below the earth's surface. This water is called groundwater. Groundwater is usually held in porous soil or rock materials, much the same way water is held in a sponge. The source for much of the world's drinking water is ground water.
The water supply of Florida is important for a number of reasons. But it is crucial because it not only helped develop human society but it is also continually sustaining it. There are a number of phases and processes that take place to make this happen.
Nature designed Florida to be one large marine ecosystem. Florida is one big sand peninsula located below the 40th longitudinal North American line. Three bodies of salt water (Gulf of Mexico, Strait of Florida and Atlantic Ocean) surround three out of four directions of Florida. Man-made canals, natural lakes, rivers and estuaries are confined within the State of Florida’s physical boundaries. All of these form an interlocking system of waterways that impact the interconnected marine environment (marine ecosystem). All of Florida’s waterways are connected back to the surrounding bodies of water while passing through Florida’s sub-tropical and temperate zones and impact the delicate marine ecosystem balance. Man and nature are causing a negative impact to this region like never before. Hurricanes, lack of green initiatives, garbage, pollution and the stripping of natural resources for population growth are decimating Florida’s natural ecosystems.
From filtering water, to attracting tourists, to providing jobs, to being a big source of food, the Everglades seems to be able to do it all. In "Are the Everglades Forever?" , the author mentions that "humans have benefited from the Everglades in many ways." She later states that making the Everglades into a National Park lead to the creation of park and tourism jobs. Moreover, in Wetlands and Habitat loss it says, "Wetlands also improve water quality by filtering, cleaning, and storing water. They are also important centers for hunting, fishing, and recreation." 7 million Floridians depend on the Everglades as their main source of water. The Everglades is more helpful to Florida than many people have
The article, Hidden Waters by Joanne Zygmunt describes how water is used in almost everything in the world. The article begins by stating agriculture soaks up the majority of all water and is depleting the limited supply. Roughly “70 percent of global freshwater withdrawals are for irrigation” (Zygmunt 8). Zygmunt, sates there are many unknown uses of water. For example, A hamburger contains “2400 litres of embedded water” (10). It is also stated the are different types of embedded water, “blue” and “green”. “Blue” is the water used in daily life. “Green” is water that is found underground (Zygmunt 11). Unlike other natural resources, there is no substitute for water. The effects of water shortage depend on water utilization, environment
The water in The Everglades has been tampered with by humans for many decades. First the plan was to “drain to make land more agriculture-ready,” (as stated in Source 3). This was done to help the farmland for the new settlers coming near The Everglades. Yet one of the main problems in replenishing the water supply was the extreme time, cost, and effort into this monumental job. Also, quite a few people had to use the Everglades as there water supply, and even though it was polluted with phosphorous, mercury, and other hazardous
rains down on us from the sky which then either enters the soil or joins with a larger body
This is not a problem which is limited to the developing world either, as even the United States has also been experiencing the effects of water shortages in recent years. In the US, the average citizen uses more than three times the amount of water as many European countries (Data 360). A key difference between the US and the European continent is the geographical variation. A majority of the large cities in America where water is becoming more scarce are located in the West and are surrounded by arid landscapes, although it should be noted that shortages are not limited to this area alone (The Atlantic). Most water usage in the country is reserved for irrigation of farmland, general landscaping, and home use (EPA). It is estimated by the EPA that the average family uses over 400 gallons of water every day, and that the cumulative volume of water used in homes is much less than the former two greatest uses. Not only is extreme overuse a problem, but seasonal droughts have become increasingly frequent throughout the US. Here, we will look more closely at the causes, effects, and implications of water shortages across the United States and beyond.
Florida is known for various things but we are most famously known for our bodies of Water and our Agriculture, while our state is known for this we do have and see issues surrounding this in the near future. Florida currently has a problem with our water management; though Florida is the Sunshine State, we have a lot of rain, and this rain becomes an issue when it overflows into man-made sewer drains, this runoffs into our drains and into our oceans, and then starts to leak into our groundwater, carrying pesticides and other dangerous substances into our drinking water and other unwanted places. 90% of the pesticides in our groundwater can result from only one inch of rainwater. When a high level of pesticides enters the aquifer, the quality
Humans depend on water for survival and it is a very important part of our daily lives.
Where does all this water go you might ask? Well, in an article from USA Today, Kirsty Carden says that most is going to the city’s leafy suburbs. People with gardens and swimming pools waste more water than others because they’re used to it coming out of taps. Instead of using this water for recreation we they should be using it for necessities such as cooking, showers,
There is a global shortage of drinking water. A person might wonder how this can be if seventy percent of the earth’s surface is covered by water. Most of the Earth’s water is unsuitable for human consuption. Ocean water is salt water, which makes up 97.5% of all water on the planet. Freshwater is only 3.5% of all the water on Earth. Drinking water is sourced from bodies of freshwater.
Water is an irreplaceable natural resource on this earth which comprises marine, estuarine, fresh water (river and lakes), ground water across coastal and inland areas. Even though there is huge water resource in this world, about 97% of water is salt water (marine) only 3% is fresh water. And in this small fraction of fresh water a major part is in the form of ice in polar region. So just 0.003% is in the form of ground water and surface water which we can use.