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Human Impacts on Watersheds

Human Impacts on Watersheds. TEKS 7.8C model the effects of human activity on groundwater and surface water in a watershed. What is a Watershed???. A watershed is the area of land where all of the water that is under it or drains off of it goes into the same place.

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Human Impacts on Watersheds

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  1. Human Impacts on Watersheds TEKS 7.8C model the effects of human activity on groundwater and surface water in a watershed

  2. What is a Watershed??? • A watershed is the area of land where all of the water that is under it or drains off of it goes into the same place.

  3. What makes up a Watershed??? • Surface water- is water collecting on the ground or in a stream, river, lake, wetland, or ocean. • Groundwater- is water located beneath the earth’s surface such as in an aquifer or underground river.

  4. Aquifer - a natural underground area where large quantities of groundwater fill spaces between rocks and sediments. It is available for use by using wells to pump out the water.

  5. Runoff - water that is moving above the surface of the land - especially where the ground is bare or already saturated with water . • Water table - the upper surface of ground water below which the soil or rocks are permanently saturated with water and where the pressure of water in the soil equals the pressure of the atmosphere

  6. Porosity - a measure of the amount and size of spaces within an earth material. • Porous rocks that form aquifers - limestone, sandstone, chalk, and fractured basalt • Nonporous rocks - granite, slate , and marble

  7. Permeability- is a measure of the ability of an earth material to let water pass through it. • Impermeable - not allowing water to pass through ( clay is an impermeable earth material ).

  8. How do humans impact Watersheds??? • Any contaminant that is in the soil can lead to pollution of ground and surface water. Pollutants can soak through the ground (groundwater) or be washed away with runoff (surfacewater).

  9. Fertilizers

  10. Cleared land

  11. Barnyards

  12. Homeowners

  13. Commuters

  14. Antifreeze

  15. Carwashes

  16. Tourists

  17. Watershed Misconceptions: • Groundwater doesn’t get polluted because the water/ pollution are filtered by the substrate (layer on rock or soil). Groundwater pollutants can come from underground sources. Whatever polluted surface water can enter groundwater. • Water traveling into storm sewers ends up treated at the local wastewater treatment plant.This water actually travels from storm drains into local streams, rivers, ponds, and lakes, and ultimately into the ocean.

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