Which processes of the water cycle contribute to pollution?
Precipitation and runoff would be the most responsible processes. Precipitation carries air pollutants into water, while runoff collects any pollutants that are in or on the ground into the water supply.
How does the water in the water cycle connect to watersheds?
Watersheds are an area of land where all the water drains to a particular watercourse or larger body of water. Water cycles through watersheds via the water cycle. Point and non-point sources of pollution enter the watershed through different means and affect the ecosystem in different ways.
What is watershed in water cycle?
A watershed is an area of land that captures rainfall and other precipitation and funnels it to a lake or stream or wetland. The Grand Traverse Bay watershed itself is defined as the area of land that captures rainfall and other precipitation and funnels it to Grand Traverse Bay. The Water Cycle.
Can a watershed be fed by groundwater?
The boundaries of a surface watershed and groundwater recharge area can, but do not always, coincide. In recharge areas, surface waterbodies and groundwater are often interconnected. Lakes that appear to have no major inlet are often fed by groundwater.
What are the processes that take place in the water cycle?
Simply put, the hydrological cycle has neither a beginning nor an end, it’s an incessant process. The water cycle processes involve evaporation, condensation, precipitation, interception, infiltration, percolation, transpiration, runoff, and storage. Evaporation takes place when water changes from its liquid state to vapor or gaseous state.
How does water move from the air to the watershed?
The sun evaporates some water back into the air as it flows in streams, rivers, and oceans. The water released back into the air by plants through transpiration and by evaporation combines to form clouds and more precipitation. This continuous movement of water from the air to a watershed and back to the air is called the water cycle.
Where does the runoff go in the water cycle?
Many people probably have an overly-simplified idea that precipitation falls on the land, flows overland (runoff), and runs into rivers, which then empty into the oceans. That is “overly simplified” because rivers also gain and lose water to the ground.
What happens to the water cycle when forests are cleared?
When forests are permanently cleared for homes or other land uses, the water cycle is altered. The large amount of water that had been used by trees and plants now flows directly to streams. Streams may become muddy because the soil is no longer covered by leaves and held in place by tree roots.