Lectures 18 & 19

Water Resources & the Great Lakes

Today's objectives -

• To learn the uniqueness of water.
• To learn the importance of water.
• To learn how water is stored and moves underground.
• To learn some of the legal restrictions on the taking of water.
• To learn some of the negative effects of pumping too much water
• To learn the significance of wetlands.

Vocabulary -

Water cycle –
Ground Water –
pores –
porosity  –
permeability –
Reservoir  –
Aquifer –
aquitard –
Confined aquifers  –
Unconfined aquifers  –
spring –
recharge –
“Riparian rights” –
“Doctrine of Prior Appropriation” –
“Rule of Capture” –
“Law of Reasonable Use” –
Saltwater intrusion –
Water mining –
Land subsidence –
wetlands –

Lecture Outline -

Water cycle and importance of water
Molecular properties of water
Groundwater – aquifers and aquitards
            where it is stored
            how it flows
            how it interacts with surface water
Use of groundwater – legal rights to water
What happens when we pump it out
            water mining & water drawdown
            saltwater intrusion & land subsidence
Wetlands and their importance