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Stack #4668461
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Watershed (catchment) | Land area that drains surface water to a common point along a river or lake; the fundamental unit of water resource management. |
| Runoff ratio (R/P) | Fraction of precipitation that becomes streamflow; Edmonton ~0.1, West Coast ~0.7; influenced by soils, slope, vegetation, lakes. |
| Stream power (Ω) | Rate of energy dissipation against river bed and banks; Ω = ρ·g·Q·S (Watts); steep, high‑discharge rivers have greater ability to erode and transport sediment. |
| Hydrograph | Plot of stream discharge over time; components |
| Return period (Tᵣ) | Average time between floods of a given magnitude; Tᵣ = (n+1)/rank; “100‑year flood” has 1% annual exceedance probability. |
| Meandering river | High sinuosity (>1.5); example |
| Alluvial fan | Depositional landform at mountain front where slope decreases, stream power drops, and sediment is deposited. |
| Delta | Depositional landform where river enters lake or ocean; can shrink if upstream dams trap sediment (e.g., Mississippi delta). |
| Actual evapotranspiration (AET) | Real water loss from evaporation and plant transpiration; always ≤ PET; limited by water availability and stomatal control. |
| Potential evapotranspiration (PET) | ET if water is unlimited; increases with solar radiation, temperature, wind, lower humidity. |
| Runoff generation pathways | Overland flow (fast, low solute), interflow/throughflow (macropores, moderate), groundwater flow (slow, high solute, sustains baseflow). |
| Rating curve | Relationship between water level (stage) and discharge (Q) at a stream gauge; used to convert continuous water level data into discharge. |
| Water balance | ΔS = P – ET – R ± Gw; change in storage = precipitation minus evapotranspiration minus runoff, plus/minus groundwater flow. |
| Turbidity | Optical measurement of light dispersion in water (NTU); caused by suspended solids; affects habitat, water treatment, and primary productivity. |
| Eutrophication | Excessive nutrient enrichment (especially phosphorus in freshwaters) leading to algal blooms, anoxia, toxin production, and biodiversity loss. |
| Dissolved oxygen (DO) | Oxygen dissolved in water; decreases with temperature; essential for aquatic life; can be depleted by decomposition (BOD). |
| Biological oxygen demand (BOD) | Oxygen used by bacteria to decompose organic matter; high BOD indicates risk of oxygen depletion. |
| Brownification | Increase in dissolved organic matter (DOM) in surface waters; caused by recovery from acid rain and climate warming; increases water treatment costs. |
| Acid rain | Deposition of sulfuric and nitric acids from burning coal and smelting; lowers pH, increases metal solubility (aluminium toxic to fish); peaked in 1980s‑90s. |
| Methylmercury | Toxic form of mercury produced under anoxic conditions (e.g., wetlands, reservoirs); biomagnifies up food chains. |
| Coliform bacteria | Found in intestines; total coliform indicates possible fecal contamination and pathogens (E. coli, Giardia, etc.). |
| Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) | Synthetic compounds (PCBs, PAHs, PFAS) that resist degradation, bioaccumulate, and can be toxic; “forever chemicals”. |
| Porosity | Volume of void space in soil/rock (fraction or %); high in clay and peat, but not all pores are connected. |
| Aquifer | Saturated geologic unit that can store and yield usable amounts of water (e.g., sand, gravel, sandstone, fractured bedrock). |
| Aquitard (confining layer) | Low‑permeability layer that restricts groundwater flow (e.g., clay, shale, unfractured granite). |
| Darcy’s law | Q = –K (Δh/ΔL) A; discharge is proportional to hydraulic conductivity, hydraulic gradient, and cross‑sectional area. |
| Hydraulic conductivity (K) | Measure of how easily water moves through a material (m/s); varies over 13 orders of magnitude. |
| Seepage velocity (v) | Actual speed of groundwater (and contaminants); v = q / porosity, where q = specific discharge (Darcy flux). |
| Cone of depression | Lowering of the water table around a pumping well; can reverse groundwater flow and reduce baseflow to rivers. |
| Fossil groundwater | Ancient groundwater with little to no modern recharge; effectively non‑renewable (e.g., Ogallala Aquifer). |
| Anadromous fish | Migrate from freshwater to ocean and back to spawn (e.g., salmon, steelhead); dams block migration; mitigation includes fish ladders and trap‑and‑haul. |
| Functional flows | Regulated dam releases designed to meet both human water needs and ecological requirements (e.g., riparian cottonwood seedling survival). |
| Prior appropriation (FITFIR) | “First in time, first in right”; water rights based on seniority; rights can be sold or moved; used in western US. |
| Riparian doctrine | Water is public; landowners along rivers have equal rights to reasonable use; no priority by seniority; used in eastern Canada/US. |
| North‑West Irrigation Act (1894) | Foundation of prairie water law; all water vested in the Crown; Crown issues licences for water use. |
| Water licence (Alberta) | Permission from the Crown to use a specified volume of water; priority based on application date (senior/junior rights). |
| Assignment (water law) | Temporary transfer of a water licence; no prior approval needed; “no net harm” principle. |
| Transfer (water law) | Permanent sale/transfer of a water licence; only allowed in certain basins (e.g., South Saskatchewan); requires public review and 10% holdback. |
| Integrated Watershed Management (IWM) | Adaptive, collaborative process using the watershed as the management unit; integrates environmental, social, and economic goals. |
| Synergistic cumulative effect | Impact of multiple stressors > sum of individual impacts (e.g., nutrient loading + climate warming → worse eutrophication). |
| Hyporheic zone | Sediment under and beside a river where surface water and groundwater mix; moderates temperature, improves water quality, provides unique habitat. |
| River continuum concept | Physical and biological gradients from headwaters (shaded, coarse organic matter) to large river (productive, fine organic matter). |
| Invasive species – zebra mussel | Filter‑feeder that depletes plankton, clogs pipes, increases water clarity, outcompetes native species. |
| Treatment wetland | Constructed or natural wetland used to remove nutrients, BOD, metals, and pathogens from wastewater or runoff (e.g., Frank Lake, AB). |
| Source water protection | Managing a watershed to maintain high quality of drinking water source; reduces treatment costs. |
| Alberta Wetland Policy (2013) | Avoid‑minimize‑replace framework; wetland value score (A to D) determines replacement ratio (A = 8 |
| Riparian buffer zone | Vegetated area along a stream that filters runoff, provides shade, stabilizes banks, and supplies organic matter. |
| Fish Sustainability Index (FSI) | Alberta tool that combines population status, habitat, genetics, and threats to guide management of native trout. |
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