Groundwater
Groundwater (or ground water) is water found below the surface. It is water that is in empty spaces of soil and rocks. Groundwater starts as rain (or other precipitation), and flows under ground for long periods of time through aquifers. Groundwater flow returns to the surface again through springs and rivers. Groundwater is an important part of the water cycle. Plants take in groundwater through their roots.
People bring groundwater to the surface by digging or drilling wells below the surface. They bring up water from the aquifer and use it for irrigation and other purposes. Some of the dissolved minerals in groundwater are important in the food making process of plants. Rainwater is the main source of groundwater.
Groundwater Media
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.
Conceptual diagram of near-surface hydrology, showing evapotranspiration, evaporation, transpiration, runoff, and recharge processes.
The entire surface water flow of the Alapaha River near Jennings, Florida, going into a sinkhole leading to the Floridan Aquifer groundwater
Groundwater may be extracted through a water well
Center-pivot irrigated fields in Kansas covering hundreds of square miles watered by the Ogallala Aquifer
Families collecting water from a water well in Niger.
Within a long period of groundwater depletion in California's Central Valley, short periods of recovery were mostly driven by extreme weather events that typically caused flooding and had negative social, environmental and economic consequences.
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