1. Freshwater Systems = <1 % of Earth’s total water!
= water we can see (above ground) and water we can’t see – seeps into the ground (ground water

2. Freshwater Vocab – Complete your retrieval chart as we learn about fresh water sources – stores
Lakes
generally larger bodies of water
deep enough so that sun doesn’t reach the bottom
may provide habitat for fish – trout require colder, deeper lakes, walleye, pike and perch can tolerate shallower, warmer lakes
2) Ponds
- similar to lakes but shallow enough that sun does reach the bottom
- generally don’t have fish unless they are stocked by humans
3) Wetlands
- low are of land
- saturated with water most of the time
- examples are marshes (<1m), sloughs
4) Streams/Rivers
- fast flowing waterways (fastest in spring or after a big weather event or warm temperatures in mountains)
- many factors affect them – color, clarity, speed, temperature, lots of rapids, few rapids
5) Groundwater
- water found in small spaces between soil and rocks
- the water table describes how far up the water backs up from the solid rock layer barrier underneath

4. Freshwater is always on the move!!
- water cycle moves it from ground to air and back to ground again
- once on the ground it can flow seep into ground or flow downhill (runoff) into its watershed
- watersheds are determined by landforms (mountains, hills)
- upstream areas of watersheds are called headwaters and the end of the water journey is called an outflow (river
flowing into ocean usually)
What we do on land affects the water around us!!
- When we use water and flush it or drain it, it usually gets some treatment and then ends up back in a water body
(river, lake, pond)
- When we cut trees down we change erosion activities and the runoff usually carries more sediment and can make
a river appear dirty – this can change how much sun gets through and affect temperature and plant growth which
can affect what lives in the body of water
- paving, filling up a boat with gas, washing a car….
Erosion Affects Water Bodies – What Affects Erosion?
- weather event (gentle rain or downpour)
- slope of land
- vegetation
- urbanization (smooth surfaces, roads)

5. Deposition – When someone deposits something they are dropping it off
- rivers usually start higher in mountains and are fast flowing (steep, sloped surfaces) – they eventually reach flatter
land and they become wider – quite wide when they are close to end of watershed
- when they hit a bigger body of water they slow down (more room for the water to flow) so they drop off some of
the sediments they have been carrying or have picked up from the bottom of the river along the way
Monitoring Rivers – Why? How?
- Streamflow – amount of water discharged by a watershed
- Sediment monitoring (suspended, rolling along bottom or
fixed on bottom) – sediment load
- Sediments are like busses for pollutants – sediments can
have a big impact on the water body
- fish habitats can become toxic
- farming practices can be evaluated
- depth can change making it hard to navigate
- can affect water delivery from pumps and pipes
Reducing Erosion and Sediment Load
- de-sedimentation site during construction
- dredging the waterway
- plant vegetation along banks or reinforce banks -

6. What About Water Underground? Is it safe from our activities??
First some vocabulary:
Aquifer – like an underground river system but filled with porous rock, not just a channel (sandstone is a permeable rock that allows water to fill spaces inside of it)
Water Table – When all pores are filled with water we describe that as the water table (changes over seasons – high in spring, low in fall and winter)
Wells – holes dug into the ground into the water table – a pump is used to pump that water to the surface (hydraulic system) – sometimes wells go dry or get low….. Why?
Now the Problems
Groundwater Contamination
Examples of activities that can lead to this……….
Pollutants can be POINT (small defined source of pollution) or NON-POINT (pollutant from wide area)
2) Too Little…..
3) Too much….. (flooding)
Fixing the Problems
- Conservation
- Responsible Activities
- Dams