| Term | Definition |
|---|
| surface water | water you can see on the surface of the earth (rivers, ponds, lakes) |
| groundwater | water that infiltrates the soil and is located in underground reservoirs called aquifers |
| watershed | the land from which surface runoff drains into a stream channel, lake, reservoir or other body of water; also called a drainage basin |
| recharge zone | the area of land from which groundwater originates |
| point pollution | pollution discharged from an identifiable source |
| nonpoint pollution | contamination that originates from many locations that all discharge into a location (can't identify single source) |
| water pollution | foreign substances in water that degrade its quality, limit its use, and affect living organisms dependent upon it |
| aquifer | underground lake, consisting of porous rock, sand, or gravel, holding water, within the boundaries of non-porous rock |
| desalinization | process of removing salts from ocean water, expensive |
| bioaccumulation | toxins passed up through a food chain, increasing in potency |
| eutrophication | excessive nutrients in water, causing excessive growth of algae and leading to fish-kills |
| thermal pollution | adding excessive heat to a body of water, decreasing oxygen concentration |
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