Freshwater Systems less than 1% of the water on Earth is available for us as freshwater freshwater exists as surface water groundwater

Surface Water lakes and ponds → standing water in a pond sunlight reaches the bottom in a lake sunlight does not reach the bottom wetlands → areas that are saturated with water rivers and streams → flowing water speed, temperature, clarity varies more dissolved oxygen than in standing water

Lakes near shore, lots of plants open water, affected by wind and currents near surfa ce, lots of light & life Winds in spring and fall help water circulation and transport of oxygen throughout the lake Summer winds also help transport heat and cold – bottom of the lake is often warmer… denser water sinks Even in winter when the surface freezes the water at depth remains about 4 degrees C PROFUNDAL ZONE deep & dark, little life bottom-dwelling life that eats mainly waste from above

Lake Succession sediments slowly fill in lake… and vegetation grows in from the sides

Rivers rivers are powerful forces… because they move they erode the land they flow over rivers can move vertically (cutting down) and horizontally (cutting sideways) rivers transport a lot of sediment with the water

sometimes river channels get cutoff leaving an OXBOW LAKE old channels will eventually fill in like a lake rivers also dump tons of sediments into lakes and oceans sediments dropping out of suspension form deltas

Groundwater most precipitation that falls on the Earth becomes groundwater groundwater sits just above bedrock the layer of saturated soil is called the WATER TABLE the water table is closer to the surface in wet years… and deeper from the surface in drier years it is similar to a surface river system… except underground 25% of Albertans get their water from groundwater… mainly for agriculture when a well is drilled pressure forces groundwater to the surface in the well when groundwater gets heated up it often erupts to the surface as a GEYSER

Run-off and Erosion factors affecting run-off amount of precipitation & form (rain vs snow) time it takes to fall/how fast it melts slope of the land type of soil vegetation cover the movement of sediments from one place to another is called EROSION after sediments are transported they are deposited … this is called DEPOSITION

How can we reduce erosion?

Watersheds the area of land that drains into a body of water upstream areas or start of watershed is called HEADWATERS downstream areas or end of watershed is called OUTFLOW

Watershed Management slow down water flow keep vegetation on surface protect river banks vegetation rip rap direct water

Watershed Management control what goes into our waterways