| A | B |
|---|
| Acid rain | rain containing pollutants that give it a pH of less than 7.0. |
| Algae | photosynthetic organisms with a one-celled or simple multicellular body plan. |
| Aquifer | a sand, gravel or rock formation capable of storing or conveying water below the surface of the land. |
| Best Management Practices | a practice or combination of practices that provide an effective, practical means of preventing or reducing pollution from non-point sources. |
| Bioaccumulate | the practice of concentrating a particular substance over time. |
| BOD | Biochemical Oxygen Demand. A measure of the quantity of oxygen used by microorganisms in the aerobic oxidation of organic matter. |
| Buffer | a vegetated area of grass, shrubs or trees designed to capture and filter runoff from adjoining land uses. |
| Cultural Eutrophication | process whereby human activity increases the amount of nutrients entering surface waters. |
| Dendritic | a pattern of stream drainage that resembles the pattern of a tree. |
| Discharge | the flow of surface water in a stream or canal or the outflow of groundwater from a flowing artesian well, ditch or spring. |
| Dissolved Oxygen | oxygen dissolved in water which is readily available to plants and animals. |
| Estuary | an arm of the sea that extends inland to meet the mouth of a river, usually characterized by tidal changes and rich diversity of aquatic life. |
| Eutrophication | a process in which organic matter accumulates in a body of water until eventually it fills in and becomes dry. |
| Fecal Coliform | that part of the cloiform group of bacteria originating in the intestinal tract of warm blooded animals. |
| Floodplain | a low area of land, surrounding streams or rivers, which holds the overflow of water during a flood. |
| Fresh Water | water that is not saline or brackish. |
| Groundwater | water beneath the Earth's surface between saturated soil and rock. |
| Hardness | a characteristic of water caused by the presence of various salts, calcium, magnesium and iron. |
| Headwaters | the uppermost reaches of a river or stream. |
| Hydric Soils | soils found in saturated, anaerobic environments usually characterized by grey or mottled appearance, found in wetlands. |
| Hydrologic Cycle | the series of pathways the earth's water may take on its journey from the sea to the atmosphere to the land and ultimately back to the sea. |
| Limnology | the study of inland waters - ponds, lakes, and streams |
| Littorral | region of shallow water where light reaches the bottom |
| Meander | the circuitous winding or sinuosity of a stream, used to refer to a bend in the river |
| Nitrate | An important nutrient for building protein in plants and animals |
| Nonpoint source pollution | pollution that originates from many diffuse sources and usually is not regulated, such as runoff from streets |
| Parts per million (ppm) | The quantity of one substance contained in one million units of another substance |
| phosphorus | An important part of life, especially plants and animals |
| plankton | collective word for microscopic organisms that drift around in the upper level of a body of water |
| Point source pollution | pollution that is discharged through a pipe or other conduit and is usually a regulated discharge |
| pond | a quiet body of water os shallow that rooted plants usually grow completely across it |
| receiving waters | all distinct bodies of water that receive runoff such as streams, rivers, ponds, lakes, and estuaries |
| riffle | a shallow section of a stream where water bubbles over rocks, often found at the bend in a river |
| riparian | relating to the banks of a sream or river |
| Run | the straight section in a river between riffles, also refers to fish migration |
| Runoff | water, including rain and snow, which is not absorbed into the ground - instead it flows accross the land and eventually runs into streams and rivers |
| Sediment | soil,sand, and materials washed from land into waterways |
| Stream | A body of running water moving over the earth's surface in a channel or bed |
| Subwatershed | a small watershed that is part of a larger watershed such as the watershed of a tributary stream |
| Surface water | water that flows over or is found on the Earth's surface |
| Thermocline | intermediate (middle) layer of water in a lake |
| Tributary | a stream or river that flows into another larger stream or river |
| Turbidity | a measure of water cloudiness caused by suspended solids |
| waterfowl | birds that depend on water for habitat i.e. Ducks |
| Watershed | an area of land that drains into a particular river or boby of water usually divided by topography |
| Watertable | the upper level of groundwater |
| Waterway | a natural or man-made place for water to run through ( such as river, stream, creek, or channel |
