Key Words for Water Conflicts

Key Term

Definition

Aquifer

A body of permeable rock which can contain or transmit groundwater.

Desalination

A process that removes minerals from saline water. More generally, desalination refers to the removal of salts and minerals from a target substance, as in soil desalination, which is an issue for agriculture. Saltwater is desalinated to produce water suitable for human consumption or irrigation.

EL Nino

An irregularly occurring and complex series of climatic changes affecting the equatorial Pacific region and beyond every 7 years, characterized by the appearance of unusually warm, nutrient-poor water off northern Peru and Ecuador, typically in late December. The effects of El Niño include reversal of wind patterns across the Pacific, drought in Australasia, and unseasonal heavy rain in South America.

Groundwater

Water held underground in the soil or in pores and crevices in rock.

High Pressure

Pressure above the normal

Infiltration

The process by which water on the ground surface enters the soil. Infiltration rate in soil science is a measure of the rate at which soil is able to absorb rainfall or irrigation. It is measured in inches per hour or millimetres per hour.

Irrigation

The method in which water is supplied to plants at regular intervals for agriculture. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and vegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall.

La Nina

A cooling of the water in the equatorial Pacific, which occurs at irregular intervals, and is associated with widespread changes in weather patterns complementary to those of El Niño, but less extensive and damaging in their effects.

Percolation

The gravity flow of water within soil. Stem flow – water running down a plant stem or tree trunk. Surface Runoff – the movement of water over the surface of the land, usually when the ground is saturated or frozen or when precipitation is too intense from infiltration to occur.

Precipitation

Any type of water that forms in the Earth's atmosphere and then drops onto the surface of the Earth. Water vapour, droplets of water suspended in the air, builds up…