Ground water is water stored underground in spaces between rocks. Aquifers are underground rock formations that yield significant water quantities that can be pumped for use. Wells tap into groundwater by drilling or digging into aquifers. Surface water includes lakes, rivers, streams, and ponds. It comes from precipitation and runoff. The water cycle involves evaporation, condensation, precipitation, infiltration and transpiration that circulates water on Earth.

1. Ground Water
Aqueduct - an artificial channel carrying water.
Ground water – water in the ground, stored between rock spaces.
Aquifer – an underground rock formation that yields significant
quantities of water that may be pumped to the surface for use by
people, livestock or irrigation. The main source of drinking water
for most NM communities.
Well – a hole dug or drilled into the ground for the purpose of
pumping up water from the groundwater. The pipe with a pump used
to bring ground water to the surface.
Artesian well - a well into the Earth where there is a constant
supply of water with little or no pumping.
Water table – the name of the uppermost level of ground water.
MARINE - having to do with the oceans.
OCEAN - the sea surrounding the continents of earth.
OCEAN MOVEMENT - how the currents of the ocean move.
SEA - a small ocean.
Surface Water
Surface water -- water above the surface of the land, including
lakes, rivers, streams, ponds, floodwater and runoff.

2. Flood--an overflow of water onto lands that are used or usable by
humans and not normally covered by water.
Pollution – dirt or poison in the environment. Dumping waste, oil,
pesticides and sediment into the water causes this.
Erosion--the process in which a material (e.g., river bank) is worn
away by a stream of liquid (water) or air, often due to the presence
of abrasive particles in the stream.
Watershed – the land area from which snowmelt and rain drain into
a stream channel, lake, reservoir or other body of water. Also called
a drainage basin.
DAM - to hold back water and control its flow.
IRRIGATION - to water by way of canals, ditches or pipe.
MOIST - slightly wet, damp.
MOISTURE - having wetness.
RESERVOIR - a natural or artificial lake or pond in which water is
stored for use.
LAKE - a body of water larger than a pond and too deep in parts for
rooted plants to live.
RUN OFF - water that flows on the surface or through the ground
into streams, rivers, lakes, and ocean.
Earth’s Water
Fresh water -- found in streams, rivers, lakes, reservoirs and
swamps.

3. Brackish -- a mixture of fresh and salt water.
CURRENTS - a horizontal flow of water.
ESTUARY - the part of a river mouth within which tides have an
effect and therefore where fresh and saline water are mixed.
Water Cycle
Evaporation – the conversion of water into a vapor, usually
through the application of heat energy (the opposite condensation).
Precipitation – water falling, in a liquid or solid state, from the
atmosphere to Earth (e.g., rain, snow).
Condensation – when water vapor becomes a liquid (the opposite
of evaporation).
Infiltration/percolation -- downward movement of water through
the soil profile or other porous media.
Transpiration – water absorbed by plants (usually through the
roots) that is evaporated into the atmosphere from the plant leaves.
Properties of Water
Ice – the solid that is formed when water freezes.
H2O – the chemical abbreviation for water.
Hydrology – the scientific study of water on Earth’s surface, in the
soil and underlying rocks, and the atmosphere.

4. Glacier- a very slow moving river of ice.
HYGROMETER - an instrument for measuring the amount of
water vapor in the air.
PRECIPITATION - forms of water vapor that are heavy enough to
fall to the earth's surface, such as rain, snow, sleet, hail, and fog.
RAIN - condensed moisture of the atmosphere falling in separate
drops.
RAIN GAUGE - instrument for measuring the amount of water
vapor in the air.
RAINFALL - the total amount of rain falling within a given area
and a given time.
SHOWERS - a brief fall of rain or snow.
SLEET - rain that is partly frozen.
SNOW - crystals of ice that form from atmospheric vapor and fall
in light white flakes.
SPRING - water flowing up from the ground.
STEAM - water changed into vapor by being heated to the boiling
point.