Groundwater

The introduction to runoff page gave a description of the water cycle and various processes in the cycle. After a precipitation event, water can either runoff,infiltrate into the soil, or evaporate. The infiltrated water either is taken up by plants and transpirated or evaporated or becomes part of the groundwater. The term groundwater describes water that is stored underground in the rocks or geologic formations. Over time, the water stored in the groundwater flows (like a very, very slow river) back to the land surface further downhill. Most of the water stored in the groundwater eventually comes back to the land surface as springs or into streams, lakes, and oceans. Some groundwater may go into deep storage and not make it back to the surface.