Groundwater— Nature's Hidden Treasure

Abstract

Abstract It is sometimes thought that water flows through underground rivers or that it collects in underground lakes. Groundwater is not confined to only a few channels or depressions in the same way that surface water is concentrated in streams and lakes. Rather, it exists almost everywhere underground. It is found underground in the spaces between particles of rock and soil, or in crevices and cracks in rock. The water filling these openings is usually within 100 metres of the surface. Much of the earth's fresh water is found in these spaces. At greater depths, because of the weight of overlying rock, these openings are much smaller, and therefore hold considerably smaller quantities of water. Groundwater flows slowly through water‐bearing formations (aquifers) at different rates. In some places, where groundwater has dissolved limestone to form caverns and large openings, its rate of flow can be relatively fast but this is exceptional. Many terms are used to describe the nature and extent of the groundwater resource. The level below which all the spaces are filled with water is called the water table . Above the water table lies the unsaturated zone . Here the spaces in the rock and soil contain both air and water. Water in this zone is called soil moisture . The entire region below the water table is called the saturated zone , and water in this saturated zone is called groundwater .