Question

How does water naturally drain off the land? Be sure to discuss watershed and th water table

Answer 1

Evaporation, condensation, precipitation are all part of the water cycle. After the precipitation, the “destiny” of the water is ground water or surface runoff.

Groundwater is the term for all the waters beneath Earth’s surface, that fills in porous spaces in soil, sediment, and rocks. But, when falling rain cannot be absorbed by soil (saturated by water) and become groundwater, it flows over the surface and this is called surface runoff. Groundwater has its zones: vadose zone (right beneath the ground, unsaturated zone), water table (water pressure head is equal to the atmospheric pressure), zone of saturation (saturated with water).

A watershed is the land area that drains into a body of water.