education: working with watersheds
vocabulary list

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Advanced treatment: Any wastewater treatment that goes beyond secondary treatment. It usually helps remove inorganic material like phosphorus and nitrogen, and any remaining solids in the wastewater.

Aeration basin: Container with many small, air-blowing jets where wastewater goes during the first step of secondary treatment.

Aerenchyma*: Plant tissue made of air-filled spaces that transport air from the leaves and stems to the roots.

Algae bloom: An overgrowth of algae, usually caused by an abundance of nutrients (predominantly nitrogen and phosphorus). As the algae dies the decaying process uses up all (or most) of the available dissolved oxygen in the water. When this happens, other aquatic animals die as well because there is not enough oxygen to support them.

Alluvial*: Alluvium is soil deposited by a river or other running water. The structure formed by the soil is called an alluvial deposit.

Altricial*: Neonates that are born relatively helpless and require extended periods of parental care (compare: Precocial).

Anadromous*: Fish that live most of their adult lives in saltwater but spawn in freshwater.

Anaerobic*: A biological process that occurs in the absence of oxygen.

Angler: A person catching fish or shellfish with no intent to sell.

Anoxic: Without oxygen.

Appalachian flyway: One of four migratory bird flight paths that covers the eastern portion of the United States.

Aquifer: An area under the ground, usually filled with a porous material like gravel or sand, which holds water, much like a sponge. It is usually lined in clay or another material that does not allow passage of water.

Artesian well *: A well drilled into a confined aquifer with enough hydraulic pressure for the water to flow to the surface without pumping.

Arthropods: A group of invertebrates that have hard exoskeletons, segmented bodies, and jointed limbs. This group includes animals like insects, spiders, scorpions, crabs, shrimp, and more.

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Bank destabilization: The removal of material from a stream or riverbank which causes it to become unstable often leading to the widening of a waterway and erosion.

Barrier island*: A long, narrow island running parallel to the mainland, built up by waves and currents, protecting the coast from erosion by surf and tidal surges.

Benthic: Pertaining to the bottom of the sea.

Best Management Practice (BMP): Specific method, procedure, or practice that reduces the environmental impact and pollution caused by any type of land-use activity. The term originated from the section 208 of the Clean Water Act .

Bioaccumulation: Process by which contaminants, typically pesticides and heavy metals, move through the food chain as larger animals consume smaller animals or plants (passing the contaminants from prey to predator). Initially, the harmful material can be consumed as food, or by indirect processes; when an infected individual is consumed by another, and another, and another. the toxin magnifies in proportion in the fatty tissues of the organisms at higher levels of the food chain. verb: bioaccumulate

Biodiversity *: Refers to t he variety of different species, the genetic variability of species, and the variety of different ecosystems that they form.

Biological indicator species: Species that express characteristics indicating the condition or health of the local environment/ecosystem that serves as their habitat.

Biosphere*: The part of the earth and its atmosphere in which living organisms exist or that is capable of supporting life.

Bivalve*: A mollusc whose body is enclosed by a pair of hard shells.

Blackwater river*: River that has a dark color due to tannins and other plant decay products.

Brooding: caring for eggs or young on the inside or outside of the adult female (or male) body during the early stages of development.

Buffer: A zone of a specified distance around a specific coverage feature. A naturally vegetated area established or managed to protect aquatic, wetland , shoreline, and terrestrial environments from man made disturbances.

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Capillary fringe*: The transition zone between the saturated and the unsaturated zone where the pore spaces in soil and/or rock layers are filled with water. The water will not flow in sufficient quantities to support a well.

Carrying capacity*: The maximum number of individuals of a particular species that an ecosystem can sustain without showing adverse effects.

Castoreum *: A reddish-brown substance obtained from two sacs in the groin of a beaver and used in medicine and perfumery.

Catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE): The number (or weight) of fish caught for a certain amount of effort. Effort may include time spent fishing, the amount of equipment used (i.e. number of fishing rods, seine nets, etc.), the number of fishermen per unit of time or over a specified area, etc. This method is commonly used by fisheries biologists to compare the relative abundance of fish in one area to another.

Catchment basin*: A region of land whose water drains into a specified body of water such as a river, lake, sea, or ocean.

Channelization: Refers to the straightening (and sometimes deepening) of the natural path of rivers or streams. The process removes meanders and makes water flow faster, often to provide easier navigation. It often disturbs fish and wildlife habitats and aggravates flooding.

Chemocline*: Zone where the amount of salt dissolved in the water increases rapidly with depth.

Chemosynthesis*: The process whereby chemical energy is used to make organic compounds from inorganic compounds.

Clean Water Act: National legislation originally passed in 1972 to regulate water pollution; the goal of this set of laws is to make all waters of the United States fishable and swimmable; the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is the federal organization that enforces the regulations of the Act.

Cloud forest *: Moist, high-altitude forest characterized by dense understory growth and abundance of ferns, mosses, orchids and other plants on the trunks and branches of trees.

Coagulation*: The clumping together of fine particles into larger particles, caused by the use of chemicals. The larger particles are easier to separate from water.

Commensal*: One of two partners living in permanent close association, who gains a slight benefit from the association without causing serious disadvantage to the other.

Commensalism*: A symbiotic relationship in which one member is benefited and the second is neither harmed nor benefited.

Competitor species*: A species that is dominant in a habitat .

Confluence*: A place where two rivers merge together.

Conservation*: The protection and careful use of resources and the environment.

Conservation pricing: Charging more for higher levels of consumption; this provides an incentive to not "waste" water. (definition by River Basin Center)

Crepuscular*: Appearing or becoming active at twilight or just before sunrise.

Cysts*: A dormant resting cell, often thick-walled. Many species make cysts to wait out unfavorable environmental conditions. When the environment is again favorable to growth, these cysts germinate, releasing cells again capable of growth and division.

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Dam: A structure built across a stream, river or estuary to retain water. Dams are made from a variety of materials such as rock, steel and wood. Large dams are usually made from concrete.

Dendritic pattern*: Drainage pattern of a river and its tributaries which resembles the branches of a tree or veins in a leaf.

Deposition*: Also known as sedimentation, it is the geological process whereby material is added to a landform.

Development: A human-caused change, usually some sort of construction on any piece of land. It includes but is not limited to building, mining, drilling, paving, and grading.

Disinfection basin: Container where the remaining bacteria in the wastewater are killed, usually by adding chlorine or exposure to ultraviolet light. This basin is where the last step of secondary treatment occurs.

Dispersal: The process by which an organism spreads out away from their parents or to new locations geographically.

Drainage basin*: The area of land that drains water, sediment, and dissolved materials to a common outlet at some point along a stream channel.

Drainage divide*: The boundary line along a topographic ridge or along a subsurface formation separating two adjacent drainage basins.

Dredging: Refers to the removal of sediment by cleaning, deepening, or widening of a waterway using a machine (dredge) that removes materials using a scoop or suction device, typically to produce sufficient depths for navigation. Dredging stirs up sediments, which can often expose biota to soil contaminants like heavy metals and other toxics. These activities are typically regulated under the Clean Water Act (Section 404).

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Ecoregion*: A part of a province characterized by distinctive regional ecological factors, including climate, physiography, vegetation, soil, water, fauna and land use.

Ecosystem services: Functions performed by ecosystem processes, often through natural cycles, that provide some service to people and are usually assumed to be free of cost. They include things like flood control provided by floodplain forests, water purification by marshes, and crop pollination by insects.

Effluent*: Wastewater or other liquid-raw (untreated), partially or completely treated-flowing from a reservoir , basin, treatment process, or treatment plant.

Endemic*: An organism that is unique to an area; found nowhere else.

Environmental impact statement: Whenever projects or programs are planned, there are potential impacts upon the environment. When these proposed projects are federally funded, such impacts become important to the public. What these impacts may be and the magnitude of their effect are reported in Environmental Impact Statements.

Eolian: Related to wind deposits and their associated effects.

Ephemeral: Lasting a short time. An ephemeral stream may have water in it during the rainy season, but dries up when there is little rain.

Erosion: Process by which wind, water, and ice wear away at natural surfaces like rock or soil.

Escarpment*: A long, more or less continuous cliff or steep slope facing one general direction. It generally marks the outcrop of a resistant layer of rocks or the exposed plane of a fault that has moved recently.

Estuary*: A coastal water resource where freshwater from rivers mixes with saltwater from the ocean.

Eutrophication*: The slow aging process during which a lake, estuary, or bay evolves into a bog or marsh and eventually disappears. During the later stages of eutrophication, the water body is choked by abundant plant life due to higher levels of nutritive compounds such as nitrogen and phosphorus. Human activities can accelerate the process.

Evapotranspiration*: Loss of water from the soil both by evaporation and by transpiration from plants.

Extinct: A species that is no longer in existence, i.e. having no living representatives.

Extirpated*: Extinct in a particular area.

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Facultative*: An organism that is capable of living under a variety of conditions.

Fall Line*: The physiographic border between the Piedmont and Coastal Plain regions. The name derives from the river rapids and falls that occur as the water flows from hard rocks of the higher Piedmont onto the softer rocks of the Coastal Plain.

Fecal coliform: A group of bacteria that are found in the intestinal tract and waste of warm-blooded animals. These bacteria while not harmful themselves, are used to indicate the presence of human and animal waste in water. Other pathogenic bacteria (that also come from human and animal waste) are often found in the same places as fecal coliform.

Filter press*: A de-watering device where sludge is pumped onto a filtering medium and water is forced out of the sludge.

Filtration: The treatment process of removing particulate matter (or sometimes bacteria and other contaminants) from water.

Flocculation*: The water treatment process after coagulation that uses gentle stirring to cause suspended particles to form larger, aggregated masses (floc). The aggregates are removed from the water by a separation process (i.e., sedimentation, flotation, or filtration).

Flood mitigation: Alleviating or moderating the overflowing of water onto land that is normally dry.

Floodplain*: A low area of land, surrounding streams or rivers, which holds the overflow of water during a flood.

Floodplain forest: A forest that is moderately low-lying and borders a river. It is usually only inundated when the river floods.

Flowstone*: A speleothem formed when water flows down walls, over floors, or over older formations.

Fluvial environment*: Pertaining to a river or stream.

Food web*: The feeding relationships by which energy and nutrients are transferred from one species to another.

Forested wetland: a low-lying forest that is usually inundated with water.

Fry*: Newly hatched fish .

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Geographic Information System (GIS): A multi-layered, multi-faceted technological network that helps display information from a geographic perspective. Examples of applications include location of landforms, population distribution, land cover, and much more.

Global Positioning System (GPS): Funded and controlled by the Department of Defense, GPS is a satellite navigation system that can provide a person's exact coordinates (latitude and longitude). It is commonly used in the military, and recently has been used by civilians in navigation as well.

Glochidium*: A microscopic mussel larva; many species require a fish as a host for development to a juvenile.

Groundwater*: Water beneath the surface of the earth that saturates the pores and fractures of sand, gravel, and rock formations.

Growth rings: Layers of wood that are deposited over the course of a year on the outside of a tree's trunk and branches as it grows; also called annual rings.

Guano*: The solid wastes of bats and some seabirds. Guano is rich in nutrients and often used as fertilizer.

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Habitat*: An area that provides an animal or plant with adequate food, water, shelter, and living space.

Habitat fragmentation*: The process by which isolated patches of habitat are created through land clearing and deforestation.

Headwater*: The source and upper part of a stream.

Heterotrophic*: Organisms that feed on organic matter from external sources.

Humus*: Organic component of soil formed by the decomposition of animal or vegetable matter.

Hydrologic cycle: The continuous transfer of water from the surface of the Earth to the atmosphere and back to the surface again.

Hydroperiod*: The time during which a soil is waterlogged.

Hydropower*: Energy or power produced by moving water.

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Impervious*: A material that does not allow another substance to pass through or penetrate it.

Impervious surface: The physical layer above the ground that acts as a barrier, preventing water from seeping naturally into the ground. Instead, water must flow on top of an impervious surface until it reaches a drain, water source, or unexposed area of land where it can infiltrate.

Indicator species*: A species whose status provides information on the overall health of the ecosystem and of other species in that ecosystem. Indicator species reflect the quality and changes in environmental conditions as well as aspects of community composition.

Infiltration: A component of the water cycle, in which water flows down through the ground and rocks. As the water travels further, it tends to naturally lose more of its pollutants . Paved roads and other impervious surfaces prevent the infiltration of water, especially in urban areas where the proportion of impervious land is greatest.

Infructescence*: The fruiting stage of a cluster of flowers.

Intake basin: Refers to a large pipe that extends into the water of a river or ocean, typically associated with nuclear facilities, which is used to collect water to cool heat exchangers. For example, for each 100 megawatts of electrical capacity, the thermoelectric power plant requires 60,000 gallons per minute to cool heat exchangers.

Intermittent stream*: A watercourse that flows in a well-defined channel only in direct response to a precipitation event. It is dry for a large portion of the year.

Inundation: The process of filling or covering with liquid.

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Kettle hole*: A geological feature formed by receding glaciers.

Keystone species*: A species upon which several other species depend. Removal of the keystone species leads to the death or disappearance of the dependent species.

Kinetic energy*: Energy that a moving object has due to its motion.

Kype*: Hooked jaw comprised of cartilage acquired by trout and salmon, especially at spawning time.

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Lacustrine*: Area of permanent water with little flow (i.e. relatively shallow lake).

Lentic*: Related to still waters such as ponds, lakes, or swamps.

Lichen*: Algae and fungus growing together in a symbiotic relationship.

Limesink*: Isolated wetlands that are seasonally filled.

Lithosphere*: The upper most layer of the earth's crust.

Lotic*: Moving water systems such as streams and rivers.

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Maritime forest *: A forest located by or near the sea.

Meander*: The winding of a stream channel.

Metamorphism*: A change in the constitution of rock; specifically a pronounced change effected by pressure, heat, and water that results in a more compact and more highly crystalline condition.

Microhabitat: A small area where an organism lives that has different conditions from other small areas that might be right next door!

Migratory bird: A bird that travels long distances, usually on a seasonal basis.

Mollusks: A group of invertebrates with soft, unsegmented bodies and, sometimes, a hard outer shell. This group includes animals like snails, clams, oysters, octopus, mussels, and more.

Monadnock*: Land that contains more erosion -resistant rock than the surrounding area and, therefore, is higher.

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Nacreous Layer: The pearly, iridescent layer made partially of calcium carbonate that gets secreted from the mantle and forms the inside lining of fresh and salt-water mollusc shells. It is used as a defense against parasites and detritus.

Naiad*: The aquatic growing stage of insects with an incomplete metamorphosis.

Navigable waters: Any stretch of water that is passable by a boat; when a waterway is classified as navigable it then comes under federal jurisdiction and may be governed by the Clean Water Act.

Nictitating membrane*: A bird's third eyelid. It is a semi-transparent membrane that covers the bird's eye in flight, keeping the eye from drying out.

Non-point source pollution: Pollution that does not come from a single, identifiable source. Includes materials that wash from roofs, streets, yards, driveways, sidewalks and other land areas. Collectively, this is the largest source of stormwater pollution.

Noxious weed*: A weed arbitrarily defined by law as being especially undesirable, troublesome, and difficult to control.

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Obligate*: Any species that can only survive naturally in a specific habitat .

Old growth: Referring to individual trees or entire stands of trees that are well beyond biological maturity; definitions vary but usually refer to trees of 100 to 200 years old, or more.

Ombrotrophic*: Condition of an ecosystem that derives its nutrient input largely from rainwater. For example: raised bogs.

Opportunistic *: Referring to an organism that w ill eat whenever food is available.

Organic chemicals: A category of chemicals, where the other is "inorganic chemicals." Organic chemicals are substances that are made primarily from carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. Usually they are naturally-occurring but they can also be synthetic (man-made).

Organic material: Matter that comes from something alive and is made of the element carbon. Things like skin, hair, dead leaves, and wood are all organic materials. Most human waste is also organic because it once came from something alive like vegetables or meat.

Outfall: The pipe that takes treated wastewater back to the environment, usually a body of water.

Oxbow*: A U-shaped bend in a river or stream.

Oxidation*: The chemical addition of oxygen to break down pollutants or organic waste.

Ozonation*: A water treatment process that destroys bacteria and other microorganisms through an infusion of ozone, a gas produced by subjecting oxygen molecules to high electrical voltages.

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Paleozoic*: An era of geologic time, from the end of the Precambrian to the beginning of the Mesozoic, or from about 570 to about 225 million years ago.

Palustrine wetland *: All non-tidal wetlands dominated by trees, shrubs, aquatic plants mosses, or lichens; and all such tidal wetlands in areas where salinity from ocean-derived salts is below 0.5 parts per thousand.

Pangaean supercontinent*: The supercontinent that broke apart 200 million years ago to form the present continents.

Parasite*: An organism that lives in or on the living tissue of a host organism at the expense of that organism.

Parasitic: Describes the nature of a relationship whereby an organism grows, feeds, and lives in or on the living tissue of a host organism at the expense of that host. The survival of the parasitic organism depends upon the host, but the host organism does not benefit from the relationship.

Percolation*: Downward flow or infiltration of water through the pores or spaces of rock or soil.

Perennial stream*: A watercourse that flows throughout a majority of the year in a well-defined channel.

Photosynthesis *: The process by which plants use light energy trapped by chlorophyll to convert water and carbon dioxide into stored energy or food.

Piscivorous*: Animals that primarily feed on fish .

Plankton: The collection of tiny animals, including algae and protozoans, that float or drift in the water, and serve as food for many organisms.

Plate tectonic*: Theory of geology developed to explain the phenomenon of continental drift.

Pocosin*: An upland swamp of the Coastal Plain of the southeastern United States.

Point source pollution: Pollution which can be traced to a single, stationary, fixed point. Examples include pollution from pipes, sewage treatment plants, and factory smokestacks. Most of this pollution is highly regulated at the state and local levels.

Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs): Group of man-made (synthetic) toxic compounds that were manufactured in the 1930's for insulation of electrical transformers and capacitors and as lubricants in gas pipeline systems. Although they were banned by the US EPA in 1979, they have remained persistent because products that already used PCBs were not banned, they are not easily broken down in the environment, and because they become incorporated ( bioaccumulate) in fatty tissues and move through the food chain. They are listed by the US EPA as likely carcinogens, meaning they are thought to cause cancer.

Primary clarifier: First large container wastewater enters for primary treatment. Scum and sludge are removed by collectors after they settle out. It is also called a "sedimentation tank".

Primary treatment: The first required stage of wastewater treatment. The wastewater is allowed to sit while 40-50% of the solid waste either settles to the bottom or floats to the top and is removed.

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Redd*: A depression in streambed gravel dug by a female spawner where she deposits her eggs.

Relief*: The difference in elevation between high and low points of land surface.

Renewable energy*: Energy from sources that cannot be used up: sunlight, water, wind, and vegetation.

Reservoir*: A pond, lake, or basin (natural or artificial) used for the storage, regulation, and control of water.

Revetments*: Facings of stone, concrete, or other material to protect the banks of a lake or river from erosion .

Rhizome*: A thickened horizontal underground stem with roots and leaves or shoots.

Riffles*: Shallow, turbulent, but swiftly flowing stretches of water that flow over partially or totally submerged rocks.

Riparian*: Pertaining to anything connected with or immediately adjacent to the banks of a stream.

Riparian forest: A forest that borders a river. In this case, it also refers to a forest that is high enough that it rarely, if ever, floods. May also be called an upland riparian forest.

Riparian zone: The area directly adjacent to a river starting at the water's edge.

River basin*: The land area drained by a river and its tributaries.

River delta*: The mouth of a river where it flows into an ocean, sea, or lake, building outward (as a deltaic deposit) from sediment carried by the river and deposited as the water current is dissipated.

River mouth*: The end of a river where it enters the sea or a lake.

Riverine: An aquatic environment with a water source conveyed by a channel. A channel is an open conduit either naturally or artificially created that periodically or continuously contains moving water, or which forms a connecting link between two bodies of standing water. Rivers, streams, creeks, and aqueducts are all riverine environments.

Riverine wetland *: Situated in a river channel, containing moving water either continuously or periodically (i.e., floodplain).

Rock cycle*: A collection of processes that shape the surface of Earth. Rocks are constantly recycled by burial, melting, uplift and erosion .

Rookery*: A breeding place or colony of birds or animals.

Runoff: Water that comes off the land into lakes, rivers, and streams when it rains. Following a rain event, runoff begins with a very large first flush, containing the majority of the pollution (such as gasoline from roads).

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Salvage/Deadhead logging: Recovering lost logs for economic benefit; in this case, recovering logs from a river bottom.

Saprolite*: Any unconsolidated residual material underlying the soil and grading to hard bedrock below.

Saturated zone*: Area below the land surface where all the pores or fractures are filled with water.

Scum: The solid waste that floats to the top of the primary clarifier. It is usually made up of lightweight material like oil, foam, grease, hair, and plastic.

Secondary treatment: The second required stage of wastewater treatment. Bacteria break down about 85% of the organic material remaining in the wastewater. When the bacteria are done, most settle out and are removed and the rest are killed. Many wastewater treatment facilities send water back into the environment after this stage.

Sedimentation*: The process of subsidence and deposition of suspended matter from a wastewater by gravity.

Segregation*: A separation of groups or species of organisms.

Sinkhole*: A natural depression in a land surface indicating a subterranean passage, generally occurring in limestone regions and formed by solution or collapse of a cave roof.

Siphons: Mussels have two siphons or tubular-like organs, incurrent and excurrent. As filter feeders they draw water/microspopic food in through their incurrent siphon and the labial palps funnel this food into the mouth where digestion can continue. Waste-water exits out through the excurrent siphon.

Sonar: A device that uses sound waves to detect underwater objects.

Speleologist*: A scientist who studies caves.

Speleothem*: A mineral deposit formed in a cave.

Stalactite*: A cone-shaped deposit of minerals hanging from the roof of a cave.

Stalagmite*: A cave formation growing upward from the floor, usually conical in shape.

Stormwater: Rainwater that enters the storm drain system and empties into lakes, rivers, streams or the ocean.

Stormwater pollution: Water from rain, irrigation, garden hoses or other activities that picks up pollutants (cigarette butts, trash, automotive fluids, used oil, paint, fertilizers and pesticides , lawn and garden clippings and pet waste) from streets, parking lots, driveways and yards and carries them through the storm drain system and straight to waterways.

Stormwater Utility: A program that has been initiated in cities across the United States to try to solve urban stormwater pollution problems using an economic model. Typically, the parties that contribute to runoff are required to pay a "pollution tax" for the runoff. However, certain actions can reduce or eliminate the amount owed, such as decreasing impervious surfaces or investing in educational initiatives.

Stratification*: Layering of a water body, caused by differences in water density. It is commonly caused by temperature or salinity differences.

Stream buffer: A vegetated area of land, which includes trees, shrubs, and/or herbaceous vegetation, directly adjacent to and on either side of a river or stream that exists or may be established to protect or improve water quality by providing adequate filtration of pollutants , reducing erosion , stabilizing steam banks, maintaining base flow, contributing organic matter as a source of food for aquatic food webs, providing shade and temperature control, and providing habitat . In most cases, alteration of this natural area is strictly limited.

Stream Management Zone (SMZ): The area directly adjacent to a body of water that may be protected or restricted from certain types of development in order to protect water quality. Best management practices usually include specific distances from the edge of body of water that an SMZ should reach.

Symbiotic*: A close, prolonged association between two or more different organisms of different species that may, but does not necessarily, benefit each member.

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Tannin*: Complex organic compounds found naturally in the soil and in certain tree barks.

Temperate zone*: Either of two regions of the earth (one in each hemisphere), which lie between the polar circles and the tropics.

Thermal shock*: Abrupt changes in temperature.

Tidewater*: Water influenced by the tides. It includes the ocean, bays and the lower parts of rivers.

Trace quantity: A very small amount, sometimes negligible.

Transition zone*: The area between habitats or ecosystems.

Tributary*: A stream that contributes its water to another stream or body of water.

Troglobite*: A creature that permanently lives underground, beyond the daylight zone of caves, and cannot survive outside the cave environment.

Tufa*: A spongy form of calcium carbonate created by evaporation around springs or from a lake surface.

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Unionid*: Refers to freshwater mussels in the Order Unionoida.

Ultra low-flow devices: Devices that use or release less water than their traditional counterparts, but still work in the same way. Examples include ultra low-flow toilets, showerheads, faucets, and sprinklers.

Ultrabasic rock*: Igneous rocks containing less than 45 per cent silica.

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Vadose zone*: The unsaturated soil zone. An area above the water-table where soil pores are not fully saturated, although some water may be present.

Vascular plant*: A plant that has an internal water and food transport system (xylem and phloem) of specially modified cells that form tube or pipe-like structures.

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Water audit: evaluations that can help accomplish more efficient water use. Audits provide a better understanding of how and where water is used and where potential savings can occur. Normally, audits are performed on residential dwellings or commercial buildings and involve evaluating landscaping and irrigation systems, checking for leaks, and teaching the customer how to read a water meter. Audits are designed to help customers save both water and money by identifying ways to conserve water inside and outside their homes or businesses. (definition by River Basin Science and Policy Center)

Water reclamation: A reclamation facility treats county wastewater and provides it to customers for irrigation use. Rather than using potable water for irrigation, reclaimed water is used on golf courses and other landscapes, saving energy as well as decreasing the demand on local water supplies. (definition by River Basin Science and Policy Center)

Water table*: The upper surface of groundwater . The soil is fully saturated below the water-table and unsaturated above it.

Watershed: The total area of land that drains into a particular stream or river, as defined by the movement of runoff from higher to lower elevations, which is directed by the topography of the land.

Wetland: Area inundated or saturated by surface or ground water at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar areas.

Wildlife corridor*: A relatively narrow area-land, water, or both-used by wildlife to travel or migrate from one larger habitat area to another; also called "wildlife linkage" and "wildlife movement corridor"

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Zonation*: The presence of organisms within a particular range.

Zone of saturation*: The part of a groundwater system in which all of the spaces between soil and rock material are filled with water.

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* Courtesy of Georgia Conservancy, 2005.

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