GROUNDWATER | 1. Groundwater flow through rocks

Water is continually moving through the environment – we call this the water cycle. This video talks about an important aspect of the water cycle – groundwater.

Key ideas:

Groundwater forms an important component of the water cycle:

💧 Rainfall infiltrates into the ground to replenish groundwater
💧 Rocks that store groundwater are called aquifers
💧 Groundwater is contained in rocks in the spaces between grains and in cracks
💧 The level of groundwater in an aquifer is called the water table
💧 We monitor groundwater levels using observation boreholes
💧 Groundwater levels vary with time and spatially
💧 Groundwater flows from areas where the water level is high to areas where the water level is low
💧 Flow in many of our rivers is supported by groundwater inflow from aquifers.