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Specifically, an acid
has more free hydrogen ions (H+) than hydroxyl ions (OH-).
2. Alkalinity--the capacity of water for neutralizing an acid solution.
3. Alluvium--deposits of clay, silt, sand, gravel, or other particulate material that has
been deposited by a stream or other body of running water in a streambed, on a
flood plain, on a delta, or at the base of a mountain.
4. Aqueduct--a pipe, conduit, or channel designed to transport water from a remote
source, usually by gravity.
5. Aquifer--a geologic formation(s) that is water bearing. A geological formation or
structure that stores and/or transmits water, such as to wells and springs. Use of the
term is usually restricted to those water-bearing formations capable of yielding
water in sufficient quantity to constitute a usable supply for people's uses.
6. Artesian water--groundwater that is under pressure when tapped by a well and is
able to rise above the level at which it is first encountered. It may or may not flow
out at ground level. The pressure in such an aquifer commonly is called artesian
pressure, and the formation containing artesian water is an artesian aquifer or
confined aquifer.
7. Artificial recharge - a process where water is put back into groundwater storage
from surface-water supplies such as irrigation, or induced infiltration from streams
or wells.
8. Base flow--sustained flow of a stream in the absence of direct runoff. It includes
natural and human-induced streamflows. Natural base flow is sustained largely by
groundwater discharges.
9. Base--a substance that has a ph of more than 7, which is neutral. A base has less free
hydrogen ions (H+) than hydroxyl ions (OH-).
10. Bedrock--the solid rock beneath the soil and superficial rock. A general term for
solid rock that lies beneath soil, loose sediments, or other unconsolidated material.
11. Channel (watercourse) - An open conduit either naturally or artificially created
which periodically or continuously contains moving water, or which forms a
connecting link between two bodies of water. River, creek, run, branch, anabranch,
and tributary are some of the terms used to describe natural channels. Natural
channels may be single or braided. Canal and floodway are terms used to describe
artificial channels.
12. Condensation--the process of water vapor in the air turning into liquid water. Water
drops on the outside of a cold glass of water are condensed water. Condensation is
water from the oceans. Atmospheric winds transport the moist air to other regions,
where it condenses into clouds, some of which produce rain and snow. If the
precipitation falls into an ocean, the water is ready to begin its cycle again. If the
precipitation falls on a continent, a great deal of the water makes its way back to
the ocean in a complex journey over land and underground.
38. Hydrologic cycle--the cyclic transfer of water vapor from the Earth's surface via
evapotranspiration into the atmosphere, from the atmosphere via precipitation back
to earth, and through runoff into streams, rivers, and lakes, and ultimately into the
oceans.
39. Hydrology: the study of water. Hydrology generally focuses on the distribution of
water and interaction with the land surface and underlying soils and rocks.
40. Hyetograph: rainfall intensity versus time. A hyetograph is often represented by a
bar graph.
41. Impermeable layer--a layer of solid material, such as rock or clay, which does not
allow water to pass through.
42. Impoundment - Storage of water
43. Infiltration: the movement of water from the land surface into the soil.
44. Intake - Any structure on the upstream face of a dam or within a reservoir created
for directing water into a confined conduit, tunnel, canal, or pipeline.
45. Irrigation--the controlled application of water for agricultural purposes through
manmade systems to supply water requirements not satisfied by rainfall.
46. Mesotrophic - A descriptive term for water bodies that contain moderate quantities
of nutrients and are moderately productive in terms of aquatic animal and plant life.
47. Oligotrophic - Pertaining to a lake or other body of water characterized by
extremely low nutrient concentrations such as nitrogen and phosphorous and
resulting very moderate productivity. Oligotrophic lakes are those low in nutrient
materials and consequently poor areas for the development of extensive aquatic
floras and faunas. Such lakes are often deep, with sandy bottoms and very limited
plant growth, but with high dissolved-oxygen levels. This represents the early stages
in the life cycle of a lake.
48. Permeability--the ability of a material to allow the passage of a liquid, such as
water through rocks. Permeable materials, such as gravel and sand, allow water to
move quickly through them, whereas unpermeable material, such as clay, don't
allow water to flow freely.
49. Porosity--a measure of the water-bearing capacity of subsurface rock. With respect
to water movement, it is not just the total magnitude of porosity that is important,
but the size of the voids and the extent to which they are interconnected, as the pores
in a formation may be open, or interconnected, or closed and isolated. For example,
clay may have a very high porosity with respect to potential water content, but it
constitutes a poor medium as an aquifer because the pores are usually so small.
50. Potable water--water of a quality suitable for drinking.
51. Precipitation, Probable Maximum - Theoretically the greatest depth of
precipitation for a given duration that is physically possible over a given size storm
area at a particular geographical location at a certain time of the year.
52. Runoff--(1) That part of the precipitation, snow melt, or irrigation water that
appears in uncontrolled surface streams, rivers, drains or sewers. Runoff may be
classified according to speed of appearance after rainfall or melting snow as direct
runoff or base runoff, and according to source as surface runoff, storm interflow, or
groundwater runoff. (2) The total discharge described in (1), above, during a
specified period of time. (3) Also defined as the depth to which a drainage area
would be covered if all of the runoff for a given period of time were uniformly
distributed over it.
53. Seepage--(1) The slow movement of water through small cracks, pores, Interstices,
etc., of a material into or out of a body of surface or subsurface water. (2) The loss
of water by infiltration into the soil from a canal, ditches, laterals, watercourse,
reservoir, storage facilities, or other body of water, or from a field.
54. Sewage - 1.) The liquid waste from domestic, commercial, and industrial
establishments.
2.) Human excreta, or the water-carried wastes from drinking, bathing, laundering,
or food processing.
55. Sewage Treatment - The processing of wastewater for the removal or reduction of
contained solids or other undesirable constituents.
56. Spillway - A chute, weir, conduit, tunnel, channel, or other structure designed to
permit discharges from a reservoir. The primary purpose of a spillway is to
discharge flood flows safely past a dam, but they may also be used to release water
for other purposes. A spillway may be gated (controlled) or not. Gates are used to
regulate the level of the reservoir above the spillway crest. In an un-gated
(uncontrolled) spillway, the discharge occurs automatically when the water level
rises above the level of the spillway crest.
57. Surface Water - Water bodies such as lakes, ponds, wetlands, rivers, and streams,
as well as groundwater with a direct and immediate hydrological connection to
surface water (for example, water in a well beside a river).
58. Time of concentration - The travel time from the hydraulically furthermost point in
a watershed to the outlet. Also defined as the time from the end of rainfall excess to
the inflection point on the recession curve.
59. Transpiration--process by which water that is absorbed by plants, usually through
the roots, is evaporated into the atmosphere from the plant surface, such as leaf
pores.
60. Tributary--a smaller river or stream that flows into a larger river or stream. Usually,
a number of smaller tributaries merge to form a river.
61. Turbidity--the amount of solid particles that are suspended in water and that cause
light rays shining through the water to scatter. Thus, turbidity makes the water
cloudy or even opaque in extreme cases. Turbidity is measured in nephelometric
to specific criteria.
77. Conduit - Canal or pipeline constructed to convey large quantities of water, either
by gravity or under pressure, between two locations.
78. Contamination - Pollution of water causing degradation of the aquatic ecosystem
or affecting public health.
79. Convective precipitation - Precipitation caused by convective motion in the
atmosphere.
80. Crest - (1) Top of a dam, levee, spillway or weir to which water must rise before
passing over the structure. (2) Top of a wave. (3) Peak of a hydrograph.
81. Critical depth - Depth of water flowing in an open channel under conditions of
critical flow
82. Cryosphere - Total ice, snow and permafrost masses of the world.
83. Culvert - Closed conduit for the free passage of surface drainage water under a
highway, railroad, canal or other structure.
84. Cyclonic precipitation - Precipitation caused by the activity of an atmospheric
depression.
85. Daily storage - Volume of water which can be stored daily in a reservoir between
minimum and maximum daily water levels under ordinary operating conditions.
86. Datum level - Horizontal surface used as a reference to which elevations are
related.
87. Stagnant water - Water in a state of slow or no circulation, usually leading to an
oxygen deficit.
88. Degradation (weathering) - Breakdown of a substance in an ecosystem by
physical, chemical, biological or radioactive processes
89. Denitrification - Conversion of nitrate or nitrite to gaseous products, mainly
nitrogen and/or nitrous oxide, through the action of a certain type of bacteria under
anaerobic or aerobic conditions.
90. Denudation (stripping) - Removal of material from the land surface by various
processes.
91. Depletion - Continued withdrawal of water from groundwater or a reservoir at a rate
greater than the rate of replenishment. (2) Reduction of groundwater storage in an
aquifer, or of the flow in a stream or spring, caused by discharge exceeding natural
replenishment.
92. Dew - Deposit of water droplets on objects whose surface is sufficiently cooled,
generally by nocturnal radiation, to bring about the direct condensation of the water
vapour from the surrounding air.
93. Dewatering (see also drainage) Removal of water from an area by artificial means
to reduce the level of groundwater or surface water.
94. Diffusion - Process of spreading of a solute as a result of continuous random
molecular motion of the water and the solute.
95. Direct precipitation - Precipitation that falls directly on an open water surface.
96. Drift - Superficial deposit caused by a current of water or air.
97. Drizzle- Uniform precipitation composed exclusively of fine drops of water (less
water may flow. (2) Structure which admits water supplies from the source through
an intake work built upstream. (3) Opening that connects a wetland, a marsh or a
lagoon with the sea.
120. Insulated stream (see also perched stream) Stream or stretch of stream, perched
or not, which, with respect to groundwater, neither contributes water to the saturated
zone nor receives water from it.
121. Interception (see also retention) (1) Process by which precipitation is caught and
held by vegetation (canopy and litter structures) and then may be lost by evaporation
without reaching the ground. (2) Quantity of interception, equal to or less than
interception capacity.
122. Juvenile water (rimitive water see also magmatic water) Water derived from
the crust of the Earth that has not existed previously as atmospheric or surface water.
123. Leaching - Process of removal of soluble and colloidal substances by water
percolating downwards through the soil layers, by which the upper layer of leached
soil becomes increasingly acidic and deficient in plant nutrients.
124. Limnograph - Continuous record of stages on a chart made by a water-level
recorder.
125. Limnology - Science that deals with the study of lakes and open reservoirs,
including hydrological phenomena, in relation to the environment.
126. Low water - (1) State of the tide when the water level is lowest for any given tidal
cycle. (2) Lowest water level reached in a watercourse, a lake, or a reservoir during
a drought
127. Marsh (swamp see also bog, wetland) Lowland flooded in the rainy season, and
usually watery at all times.
128. Mineral water - (1) Natural water with a concentration of dissolved salts greater
than a defined threshold. (2) Natural groundwater which has special organoleptic
and/or therapeutic properties due to its dissolved mineral content and physical
characteristics; in most countries, the Mineral Water label is regulated according
to specific standards and procedures.
129. Monsoon - Seasonal change of wind direction, from sea to land or vice versa,
associated with widespread changes in temperature and rainfall in subtropical
regions.
130. Mudflow (hyperconcentrated flow) - Flow of water so heavily charged with
sediment and debris that the flowing mass is thick and viscous.
131. Nested wells - Series of single-cased monitoring wells that are closely spaced and
have screens at different depths.
132. Organoleptic - Pertaining to attributes of water, for example colour, taste, odour
and appearance, that are perceptible by the senses.
133. Osmosis - (see also osmotic pressure) Passage of a solvent from a dilute solution to
a more concentrated one through a semipermeable membrane, that is, a membrane
permeable to the solvent only.
134. Oxygen deficit - Difference between actual dissolved oxygen concentration in an
aquatic ecosystem and its oxygen saturation concentration.
135. Pancake ice - Pieces of newly-formed ice, usually approximately circular and with