Water Resources

1. Water Resources Chapter 11 Section 1

2. What do we use water for? Where does our water come from?

3. Did you know? Humans can survive for more than a month without food, but we can live only a few days without water.

4. Two Kinds of Water Freshwater Saltwater Water found in oceans Contains a higher concentration of dissolved salts • Water that people can drink • Contains little salt • Used for drinking and agriculture

5. The Water Planet • Water is a renewable resource because it is circulated in the water cycle. • Water molecules travel between the Earth’s surface and the atmosphere. • Water evaporates and leaves behind salts and impurities.

6. The Water Cycle

7. The Water Cycle • Water vapor rises into the air. • As water vapor rises through the atmosphere, the gas cools and condenses into drops of liquid water to form clouds. • Eventually the water in clouds falls back to Earth and replenishes the Earth’s fresh water.

8. Global Water Distribution 71% of Earth’s surface is covered in water. 97% is salt water 3% is freshwater 77% of the freshwater is frozen is glaciers and polar ice caps.

10. Surface Water • Fresh water on Earth’s land surface. • Found in lakes, rivers, streams, and wetlands. • Vital role in the development of human societies.

11. River Systems • Streams form as water from falling rain and melting snow drains from mountains, hills, plateaus, and plains. • Streams combine and form rivers. • As streams and rivers move across the land, they form a flowing network called a river system.

12. Watersheds • The Mississippi, the Amazon, and the Nile are enormous river systems because they collect the water that flows from vast areas of land. • The area of land that is drained by a river is known as a watershed. • Pollution anywhere in a watershed may end up polluting a river.

13. Watershed • The amount of water that enters a watershed varies throughout the year. • Rapidly melting snow as well as spring and summer rains can dramatically increase the amount of water.

14. How can communities around a watershed be affected by severe changes? • Floods • Droughts • Depend on water

15. Watersheds • Missi

16. Watersheds • Mississippi is largest in the United States

17. Watersheds There are 14 watersheds in New Jersey. Closest to us is the Raritan Watershed.

19. Groundwater • Most freshwater available for humans is underground. • Water stored beneath the Earth’s surface in sediment and rock formations is called groundwater. • As water travels beneath the Earth’s surface, it eventually reaches a level where the rocks and soil are saturated with water – known as the water table.

20. Groundwater • An underground formation that contains groundwater is called an aquifer. • Holds water like a sponge. • Porosity is the amount of space between the particles that make up a rock. Water is stored in these space. • The ability of rock or soil to allow water to flow though is called permeability.

21. Groundwater • To reach an aquifer, surface water must travel down through permeable layers of soil and rock. • It cannot reach an aquifer from places where the aquifer is covered by impermeable materials.

23. Why is freshwater considered a limited resource? • Write down one thing that you learned, and one question that you still have.