Glossary
- Acre-foot
- An area of one acre covered with water to a depth of one foot. One acre - foot is 43,560 cubic feet of 324,851 gallons.
- Amnesty
- a governmental pardon granted to a number of offenders, esp. for political offenses
- Basin
- (1) Drainage area of a lake or stream as: river basin (2) A naturally or an artificially enclosed
- harbor for small craft as: yacht basin.
- CFS
- Cubic feet per second. Refers to the volume of water that is released from a dam or reservoir per second. One cubic foot of water is approximately 7 1/2 gallons.
- Clues
- something that leads to the solution of a problem or mystery
- Composting
- mixing decayed organic materials for use as fertilizer
- Condemnation
- to express disapproval
- Condensation
- the physical change of state in which a gas or vapor is transformed into a liquid, as in the formation of water droplets when water vapor cools
- Conservation
- wise use of our natural resources
- Contaminant
- an agent that makes a substance impure or by contact or mixture
- Cultivator
- a machine used for loosening the earth and destroying weeds around growing plants
- Dam
- A barrier constructed across a valley for impounding water or creating a reservoir.
- Directorate
- the office or position of a director
- Downstream
- in the direction of a stream's current
- Economics
- the science that deals with the production, distribution, and consumption of commodities
- Ecosystem
- the interacting system of a biological community and its non-living environment
- Electrolyte
- a substance that dissociates into ions in solution or when fused, thereby becoming an electrical conductor
- Erosion
- natural process, as weathering or abrasion, by which material is worn away
- Ethylene glycol
- a colorless, syrupy alcohol used as an antifreeze in cooling and heating systems
- Evaporation
- the process of a substance changing from a liquid to a gas by exposure to the air and/or heat
- Evidence
- the data on which a conclusion or judgement may be based
- Filter
- happens in a riparian corridor by removing sediment and other suspended solids from surface runoff before they enter streams and rivers
- Flood
- a large flow of water covering the land
- Flood Capacity
- The flow carried by a stream or floodway at bank - full capacity. Also, the storage capacity of the flood pool in a lake or reservoir.
- Flood Crest
- the highest peak elevation of the water level during a flood in a stream or river.
- Floodplain
- Valley land along the course of a stream which is subject to inundation during periods of high water that exceed the normal bank full elevation.
- Flow
- movement of fluids
- Fork
- the point at which a stream branches or parts
- Groundwater
- water beneath the surface in the saturated zone
- Herbicide
- a substance used to destroy plants, esp. weeds
- Hydrology
- the study of the properties, distribution, and effects of water in the atmosphere, on the earth's surface, and in soil and rocks
- Hydrophobic
- incapable of dissolving in water
- Initiative
- the first step or opening move
- Lake
- a large inland body of fresh or salt water
- Landscape
- a picture representing a view of natural inland scenery
- Leaching
- to remove soluble constituents from by the action of percolating liquid
- Milo
- a cereal type grain, which resembles corn in its growing form
- Mouth
- a natural opening, as the part of a stream that empties into a larger body of water
- Natural Resources
- things provided by nature for man's use
- Nitrate
- Sodium nitrate or potasium nitrate compounds used as fertilizer
- Non point source pollution
- combination of individual sources that pollute surface water, i.e.construction sites, storm water runoff from crop land, and failing septic tanks
- Organic
- free from chemical additives
- Pesticides
- a chemical used to kill pests, esp. insects and rodents
- Pollution
- contamination of air, soil, or water by the discharge of harmful substances
- Pool
- a small and rather deep boy of quiet water as: water behind a dam.
- Precipitation
- water from atmosphere that falls to the ground in the form of rain, sleet, snow, or hail
- Reservoir
- A pond or lake, either natural or created by the building of a structure such as a dam, which is used for storage, regulation and control of water for power, navigation, recreation, etc.
- Residual
- the amount of residue remaining at the end of the process
- Riparian Corridor
- the land surrounding a stream, river, or other body of water that is, at least periodically, influenced by flooding
- Riparian Forest
- natural riparian vegetation adjacent to permanent and intermittent streams, as well as rivers
- River
- a large natural stream of water emptying into a large body of water, as an ocean or lake, and usually fed along its course by converging tributaries
- River basin
- The tract of country drained by a river and its tributaries.
- Runoff
- water that drains or flows of the surface of the land
- Sanitation
- formulation and application of measures designed to protect public health
- Sea Level
- the level of the ocean's surace, used as a standard in measuring land elevation or sea depths
- Sediment load
- The natural inorganic soil materials composed of suspended load and bed load transported by a stream. The suspended load is composed of fine sediment transported in suspension while the bed load is composed of relatively coarse material transported along or near the bottom (bed) of the stream.
- Silt
- the buildup of sediments at points along the course of a river where the flow velocity decreases (e.g., upstream of a dam)
- Sink
- happens in a riparian corridor when nutrients are taken up by plants and stored in plant tissue for extended periods of time
- Solvents
- capable of dissolving another substance
- Source
- point where water originates
- Spillway
- a waterway of a dam or other hydraulic structure used to discharge excess water to avoid overtopping of a dam.
- Stream
- a steady current in a body of water
- Surface Water
- water in rivers, ponds, and lakes
- Tainter Gates
- a semi-circular gate which opens and closes through pivoting on a shaft and is used to control the flow of water over spillways.
- Terrace
- a soil conservation practice in which ridges or steps are built on slopes to slow down runoff and increase soil moisture
- Transformer
- happens in a riparian corridor when chemical and biological processes within the corridor change the chemical composition of compounds
- Tributary
- flowing into a larger stream or lake
- Vegetation
- the plants of an area or region
- Watershed
- The whole geographic surface area that drains excess rainfall and contributes to water to a collecting river or lake.
- Water Quality
- the relative goodness of water