The Water Cycle and Water Insecurity Glossary

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the total flows of water or carbon in a year
annual fluxes
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water from one storm that has not had time to drain away
before more rain arrives, recent rainfall
antecedent moisture
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the breeding and harvesting of aquatic animals and plants
aquaculture
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a vast underground reservoir most commonly formed in
rocks such as chalk and sandstone
aquifer
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also known as groundwater flow – slow-moving water that
seeps into a river channel through rocks
base flow
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elements within a drainage basin – such as shape, relief,
geology, vegetation, climate and land use – which determine
what happens to the precipitation when it falls
basin wide factors
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another name for drainage basin, because drainage basins
‘catch’ all of the precipitation falling within the watershed
catchment area
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the movement of water contained within a river channel
channel flow
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water held in rivers and streams
channel storage
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where there are no inputs or outputs of matter from an
external source – i.e. where inputs and outputs are balanced
closed system
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where larger rivers cross several different relief and climatic
zones, and therefore experience the effects of different
seasonal climatic events – human factors can also contribute
to their complexity, such as damming rivers for energy or
irrigation
complex river regimes
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when the ground warms up, evaporation takes place and the
air above is heated and rises – associated with intense
rainfall, electrical storms and thunder
convectional rainfall
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the frozen part of the Earth’s hydrological system
cryosphere
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when thawing of the cryosphere becomes continuous and
water flows away and is lost
cryosphere loss
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the removal of trees, leading to surface runoff and soil
erosion and reducing soil water stores
deforestation
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the volume of water passing a certain point in the channel
over a certain amount of time
discharge
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reducing the amount of water used around the home, such
as repairing leaks or metering supplies
domestic conservation
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the area of land that is drained by a river and its tributaries
drainage basin
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describes whether a river has many or few tributaries –
dense drainage networks have many tributaries and carry
water more efficiently
drainage density
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when people can’t afford water, even if it is available
economic water scarcity
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the amount of precipitation remaining after evaporation
effective rainfall
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a situation occurring every 3-8 years where pressure
systems and weather patterns reverse
el nino
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the change in air pressure between ‘normal’ years and El
Niño
enso
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the process of creating electric energy, such as thermal
power generation and hydropower
energy generation
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the conversion of water to vapour
evaporation
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the combined effect of evaporation and transpiration
evapotranspiration
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the maximum capacity of moisture that a soil can hold
field capacity
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when dry soil surfaces become waterlogged very quickly,
causing rapid surface runoff
flash flooding
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a statistical estimate of how often a flood of a certain
magnitude is likely to occur, based on past flood levels (e.g.
a 1-in-50-year or a 1-in-100-year flood)
flood return period
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the movement or transfer of carbon or water between stores
flux
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formed when warmer moist air meets colder Polar air –
warmer air is forced to rise over the denser colder air,
creating low-pressure and rain
frontal rainfall
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ways in which water accelerates under gravity, thus
transporting it to rivers and eventually to the sea
gravitational potential energy
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water that has percolated through rocks where it may be
stored in aquifers for some time
groundwater
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also known as base flow – slow-moving water that seeps into
a river channel through rocks
groundwater flow
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water held within permeable rocks (also known as an aquifer)
groundwater storage
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human-made, artificial structures which are designed to
protect the land from erosion
hard engineering
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the properties of water and how it is distributed on the Earth
hydrological
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water entering the topsoil – most common during slow or
steady rainfall
infiltration
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a component in a system which comes from outside the
system, such as precipitation into the drainage basin system
input
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a policy setting out that water resources are an integral
component of ecosystems, a natural resource and a socioeconomic good – promoting the co-ordinated management of
water, land and related resources in a sustainable way
IWRM
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a band of cloud that occurs within tropical regions, caused by
low pressure where the trade winds meet
ITCZ
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temporary storage, as water is captured by plants, buildings
and hard surfaces before reaching the soil
interception
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the supply of water to the land by means of channels,
streams and sprinklers in order to permit the growth of crops
irrigation
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a band of fast-moving air (located between 9 and 16
kilometres above the Earth) which determines the direction of
depressions and their speed of movement
jet stream
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when the ‘normal’ pressure systems and weather patterns
intensify and low pressure over the western Pacific becomes
lower, and high pressure over the eastern Pacific higher
la nina
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the gap between the peak (maximum) rainfall and peak
discharge (highest river level) on a storm hydrograph
lag time
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caused when warm air rises and then cools and condenses,
often causing prolonged and heavy rainfall
low pressure system
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a period of unusually low rainfall, lasting for decades or
longer, drought for over 30 years (eg california)
mega drought
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to do with the weather and processes in the atmosphere
meteorological
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the rains which accompany the monsoon wind when it blows
from the southwest, and which bring rain across South and
Southeast Asia between May and September
monsoon rainfall
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when a change tends to reinforce a system, leading to
stability
negative feedback
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a system with inputs from and outputs to other systems
open system
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when warm, moist air is forced to rise over upland areas,
causing the moisture to condense and create rainfall
orographic rainfall
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an output from the system to the outside, such as
evaporation or transpiration from a drainage basin system
output
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the removal of too much water from groundwater reserves,
leading to rivers drying up in times of low rainfall
overabstraction
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the downward seepage of water through rock under gravity,
especially on permeable rocks e.g. sandstone and chalk
percolation
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when there is insufficient water to meet demand
physical water scarcity
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individuals, groups and organisations involved in making
decisions that affect people and places, known collectively as
stakeholders
players
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when a change leads to a decrease within a system and
creates instability
positive feedback
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an estimate of the amount of water lost through evaporation
and transpiration in any given period, depending on
temperature and air humidity
potential evapotranspiration
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moisture in any form, such as rain, snow, sleet and hail
precipitation
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when orographic rainfall has occurred over an upland area,
the area on the lee side of the hills will receive less rain
because the air descends, warms and becomes drie
rain shadow effect
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the conversion of dry landscapes to productive farmland
re greening
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prices which are adjusted for inflation or deflation and which
take opportunity cost into consideration – they are
considered to be more accurate than ‘nominal values’ when
making economic decisions
real value prices
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when soil moisture levels increase as a result of precipitation
following a dry period
recharge
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the annual pattern of flow within a river – influenced by
climatic conditions and the characteristics of the drainage
basin (physical factors and human interventions)
river regime
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the shape of the Earth’s surface with particular reference to
changes in altitude and slope
relief
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man-made lakes which store water, also another word for a carbon store
reservoir
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the amount of time that water stays in the atmosphere
residence time
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the ability of a system to ‘bounce back’ and survive
resilience
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the line on a storm hydrograph which shows the discharge
rise up to its peak discharge
rising limb
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the extent to which rocks allow water to pass through
rock permeability
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where the river experiences a period of seasonally high
discharge, followed by low discharge
simple river regimes
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the use of automated ‘smart’ technology which optimises
water levels based upon factors such as soil moisture and
weather forecasts
smart irrigation
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the integration of automated ‘smart’ technology during
planning in order to improve efficiency and minimise costs
smart planning
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attempts to work with natural processes in order to mitigate a
flood risk
soft engineering
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the types of soils and their features, such as whether they
are permeable, dry or deep
soil characteristics
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water held within the soil
soil moisture
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energy from the sun
solar energy
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water flowing down plant stems or drainpipes
stem flow
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an accumulation or quantity of water or carbon, such as
lakes or groundwater in a drainage basin system
store
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a graph showing how a river responds to a particular storm –
displaying precipitation and discharge over time
storm hydrograph
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water that is flowing in a stream or river channel
streamflow
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flow over the surface of the land – affected by factors such
as rock/soil type, storm intensity or if the ground is frozen, another name for overland flow
surface runoff
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any surface water stored in lakes, ponds and puddles
surface storage
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techniques such as permeable pavements and infiltration
basins which reduce surface runoff produced from rainfall
SUDS
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a series of connecting processes, containing inputs and
outputs, linked by stores and flows
system
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an ocean current that produces both vertical and horizontal
circulations of warm and cold water around the world’s
oceans
thermohaline circulation
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also known as inter-flow; water seeping laterally through soil
below the surface, but above the water table
throughflow
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the quantity of a material, such as water, that flows through a
system or store
throughput
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when a system changes from one state to another,
irretrievably
tipping point
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water taken up by plants and transpired onto the leaf surface
transpiration
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a biome which is located in the tropics and experiences an
equatorial climate
tropical rainforests
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huge atmospheric flows of moisture
tropospheric rivers
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the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, which
aims to encourage economic integration across Europe
UNECE
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the increasing proportion of people living in towns and cities
urbanisation
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any moisture taken up by vegetation and held within plants
vegetation storage
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water transferred by trading in crops and services that require
large amounts of water for their production – for example, by
importing a tonne of wheat from a water-rich area, a waterstressed area can save 1000 cubic metres of water
virtual water
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the circulation of air whereby upper atmospheric air moves
eastwards, and surface air moves west across the Pacific,
causing trade winds
walker cell
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a way of expressing the water budget. It balances
precipitation (P), runoff/river discharge (Q), potential
evapotranspiration (E) and soil moisture and groundwater
storage (S). The equation is P = Q + E +/- S
water balance equation
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the difference between inputs of water (such as precipitation)
and outputs of water (such as evapotranspiration) in any
given area
water budget
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when there is insufficient water to meet demand
water deficit
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the state where present and future supplies of water cannot
be guaranteed, caused by water scarcity and water stress
water insecurity
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methods of controlling or altering water flow and stores, such
as dams/reservoirs or abstraction
water management
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a score out of 100 which measures how far a community or
country meets all the criteria for: the availability of water
resources, access to water, handling capacity, use of water,
and the ability to sustain nature and ecosystems
wpi
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an ongoing lack of sufficient available water resources to
meet the water needs (less than 1000m³ per person, per
year) – including physical scarcity (insufficient water to meet
demand) or economic scarcity (people can’t afford water,
even when it’s avail
water scarcity
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an imaginary line around the edge of a drainage basin,
separating one basin from another
watershed
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temporary shortages of freshwater (less than 1700m³ per
person, per year) including difficulties in obtaining new
quantities of water, as well as poor water quality restricting
usage
water stress
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when there is an excess of water available in the drainage
basin system, potentially resulting in flooding
water surplus
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the upper level of saturated rock
water table
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refers to the fact that in many parts of the world there is not
enough water to meet demand, whereas wealthy countries
are consuming greater and greater quantities of water
world water gap
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

water from one storm that has not had time to drain away
before more rain arrives, recent rainfall

Back

antecedent moisture

Card 3

Front

the breeding and harvesting of aquatic animals and plants

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

a vast underground reservoir most commonly formed in
rocks such as chalk and sandstone

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

also known as groundwater flow – slow-moving water that
seeps into a river channel through rocks

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
View more cards

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