Water and the environment

A drought is a period of drier-than-normal conditions. A drought can last for days, months or years. Drought often has large impacts on the ecosystems and agriculture of affected regions, and causes harm to the local economy. Annual dry seasons in the tropics significantly increase the chances of a drought developing, with subsequent increased wildfire risks. Heat waves can significantly worsen drought conditions by increasing evapotranspiration. This dries out forests and other vegetation, and increases the amount of fuel for wildfires.

area of land where precipitation collects and drains off into a common outlet, such as into a river, bay, or other body of water

right|thumb|upright=1.5|An illustration showing groundwater in aquifers (in blue) (1, 5 and 6) below the [[water table (4), and three different wells (7, 8 and 9) dug to reach it.]]

contamination of water bodies

line that separates neighbouring drainage basins

language model built with very large amounts of texts

thumb|upright=1.8|Schematic of an aquifer showing confined zones, groundwater travel times, a spring and a [[well]]

flooded parcel of arable land used for growing semiaquatic rice

Certification for high quality beaches

sources of water that are useful or potentially useful

thumb|right|260px|Water cycle of the Earth's surface, showing the individual components of transpiration and evaporation that make up evapotranspiration. Other closely related processes shown are runoff and [[groundwater recharge.]]

Soil salinization happens when the salt content in soil increases above normal, naturally occurring levels

thumb|Turbidity standards of 5, 50, and 500 NTU

in geography, area between high and low tide marks of water bodies (both still and moving), or a raised landform on the side of a water body

landform

International treaty on environmental protection

pattern formed by the streams, rivers, and lakes in a particular drainage basin

interface between land and a river or stream

amount of water used by an individual, community, business, or nation

top of a saturated aquifer, or where the water pressure head is equal to the atmospheric pressure

pollution that occurs when when pollutants are released to the ground and seep down into groundwater

process of infiltration and percolation of water in the ground and aquifers

surface slope along a stream

hidden flow of water if food or other commodities are traded from one place to another; e.g. it takes 1340 m³ of water on average to produce 1000 kg of wheat

thumb|upright|Spherical porous cup atmometer An atmometer or evaporimeter is a scientific instrument used for measuring the rate of water evaporation from a wet surface to the atmosphere. Atmometers are mainly used by farmers and growers to measure evapotranspiration (ET) rates of crops at any field location. Evapotranspiration is a measure of all of the water that evaporates from land surfaces plus the water that transpires from plant surfaces. Based on the amount of water that does evaporate and transpire, the user can water crops correspondingly, which results in less water use and possibly

artificial wetland to treat municipal or industrial wastewater, greywater or stormwater runoff

thumb|right|Flood-meadow near Hohenau an der March thumb|right|The same meadow in spring

building or device used to collect water by condensing the water vapor present in the air

thumb|The water meadow at Magdalen College, Oxford, is an island in the River Cherwell

physical and economic access at all times to safe water needed, e.g., for drinking, hygiene, livelihood

oceanography instrument used to measure the conductivity, temperature, and pressure of seawater

overview of the distribution of water on planet Earth

device that extracts drinkable water from humid air

Land use and runoff management technique

unsustainable extraction of groundwater

organization

Aridification is the process of a region becoming increasingly arid, or dry. It refers to long term change, rather than seasonal variation.

management of watersheds

WaterAid is an international non-governmental organization, focused on water, sanitation and hygiene. It was set up in 1981 as a response to the UN International Drinking Water decade (1981–1990). As of 2025, it is operating in 30 countries.

organization

Property rights adjacent to waterways

annual prize for water-related activities

impact of the hydraulic fracturing industry

device used to assess water quality

house on or near a beach

drainage of agricultural lands by wells

work to improve the environmental health of a river or stream

upper-atmospheric experiment performed by NASA in 1962

conservation-oriented land use planning

water quality modelling expression

The Wadi Rum Consultancy of Wadi Rum Organic Farms

gallons per capita per day

thumb|Aerial view of a riverscape of the Kugruk River ([[Alaska)]] A riverscape (also called river landscape) comprises the features of the landscape which can be found on and along a river. Most features of riverscapes include natural landforms (such as meanders and oxbow lakes) but they can also include artificial landforms (such as man-made levees and river groynes). Riverscapes can be divided into upper course riverscapes, middle course riverscapes, and lower course riverscapes. thumb|Riverine landscape along the lower course of the Rhine ([[Netherlands)]]

organization managing waters bordering Canada and USA

restoration of a river's floodplain

on the quality and availability of freshwater resources

policy-making processes and legislation that affect water resources

Largely undeveloped or wild land, usually forested, surrounding a river or stream

conditional descriptions of a plain based on elevation above sea level