Water

In what forms do we find water on Earth?

Oceans - salt water

Rivers – fresh water

Water vapor rising from a hot spring

Glacier: Himalayas

Credit: DEP Kumar/UNEP/Topham

The Polar Ice Cap

Water cycle

diagram

Evaporation• Heat energy from the sun causes

water in puddles, streams, rivers, seas or lakes to change from a liquid to a water vapor.

• This is called evaporation. • The vapor rises into the air and

collects in clouds.  

Water evaporating off a car roof

Condensation• Water vapor collects in clouds. As the

clouds cool the water vapor condenses into water drops.

• This is called condensation. • These drops fall to the earth as rain,

snow or hail.

Water can condense on glass.

Oregon coast w/clouds

Cloud types

Precipitation• Water falls to the earth from clouds.

Mainly as rain, but sometimes as snow and hail.

• This is called precipitation.

Rain

Where does water go after it rains?

Rain water either soaks into the ground and becomes part of an aquifer or runs off to join other surface water (creeks, rivers, oceans etc.)

Snow White?

White Snow

Hail bouncing off the interstate

Transpiration• Transpiration is the process by which

plants lose water out of their leaves.  • Transpiration gives evaporation a bit of a

hand in getting the water vapor back up into the air.

Diagram showing Transpiration

This bag tied around a plant stem has trapped water vapor given off through transpiration.

What is a Watershed?

The simple definitionIt's the area of land that catches rain and snow and drains or seeps into a marsh, stream, river, lake or groundwater.

A watershed can be compared to a huge basin collecting all the precipitation that falls within it and carrying this to the common outlet. A watershed includes not only the land within its boundaries but also the surface water of lakes, streams and wetlands as well as the groundwater moving beneath the surface. Watersheds vary from the largest river basins to just a few acres in size. 

           Artwork by Katharine Dodge   

• Watersheds are natural systems that link the land and water resources and the living organisms, including people, within its boundaries. How we live on the land affects the quality and quantity of water resources within the watershed. 

Wisconsin’s Watersheds

Lower Wisconsin Watershed

Lower Wisconsin Watershed

Watershed Name: Castle Rock

Watershed Name: Castle Rock

Baraboo Watershed

Baraboo Watershed

Skillet Creek Hwy W bridge.

Skillet Creek bottom near Hwy 159.

The Baraboo Rapids

Overlooking Baraboo

Pine creek flowing under Hwy. Co. W

Close up of the stream at Hwy 113.

Simply Impervious!

Riparian Buffer Zone - area alongside stream where vegetation protects the stream from runoff.

shade

June 22, 1969

"The Cuyahoga will live in infamy as the only river that was ever declared a fire hazard."- Congressman Louis Stokes

Tiete River in Pirapora do Bom Jesus, Brazil

They attach nozzles to the bridge itself to spray They attach nozzles to the bridge itself to spray on that foam to keep it down. The foam itself is on that foam to keep it down. The foam itself is generated by a mixture of chemical detergents generated by a mixture of chemical detergents and organic pollutants.and organic pollutants.