Slide 2 Groundwater is water located beneath the ground surface
in soil pore spaces and in the fractures of lithologic formations.
Slide 3 Slide 4 Groundwater can be found at nearly every point in
the Earth's shallow subsurface, to some degree; although aquifers
do not necessarily contain fresh water. The Earth's crust can be
divided into two regions: the saturated zone where all available
spaces are filled with water, and The unsaturated zone, where there
are still pockets of air with some water that can be replaced by
water. Slide 5 Slide 6 An uncontrolled use of the borewell
technology has led to the extraction of groundwater at such a high
rate that often recharge is not sufficient. Slide 7 The causes of
low water availability in many regions are also directly linked to
the reducing forest cover and soil degradation. Slide 8 Slide 9 The
solid, liquid, and the gaseous waste that is generated, if not
treated properly, results in pollution of the environment; this
affects groundwater too due to the hydraulic connectivity in the
hydrological cycle Slide 10 Example, when the air is polluted,
rainfall will settle many pollutants on the ground, which can then
seep into and contaminate the groundwater resources. Slide 11 Water
extraction without proper recharge and leaching of pollutants from
pesticides and fertilizers into the aquifers has polluted
groundwater supplies. Slide 12 Slide 13 Aquifers are typically
saturated regions of the subsurface which produce an economically
feasible quantity of water to a well or spring Slide 14 Most land
areas on Earth have some form of aquifer underlying them, sometimes
at significant depths. Slide 15 An aquitard is a zone within the
earth that restricts the flow of groundwater from one aquifer to
another Slide 16 There are two end members in the spectrum of types
of aquifers; confined and unconfined Unconfined aquifers are
sometimes also called water table aquifers, because their upper
boundary is the water table. Typically (but not always) the
shallowest aquifer at a given location is unconfined, meaning it
does not have a confining layer (an aquitard or aquiclude) between
it and the surface Slide 17 Slide 18 Confined aquifers have very
low storativity values (much less than 0.01, and as little as 10 -5
), which means that the aquifer is storing water using the
mechanisms of aquifer matrix expansion and the compressibility of
water, which typically are both quite small quantities. Slide 19
The Ogallala Aquifer, also known as the High Plains Aquifer, is a
vast yet shallow underground water table aquifer located beneath
the Great Plains in the United States. Slide 20 Slide 21 Global
Warming Effects? Slide 22 Groundwater recharge will rise
dramatically in some areas and decrease in others a direct result
of soil-water-plant systems, which control it, amplifying the
effects of rainfall variations. Because many countries have
groundwater reservoirs that constitute a significant portion of
their total water supply. Slide 23 It is vital that policymakers
and scientists gain a better understanding of the complex
interactions between the climate, soil and groundwater. Doing so
will allow us to predict future changes in the soil-water-plant
systems more accurately and will also enable us to institute better
water management practices when the time comes.
