Water information for rural landowners in the Saugeen and Maitland watersheds.
Surface water refers to all the water found on the surface of the Earth, including rivers and streams, lakes and ponds, and human-made drains and reservoirs. Surface water is extremely important because it is a source of water for drinking and irrigation; it is also used extensively for recreation. Healthy surface waters are essential to maintain healthy ecosystems and sustain our natural heritage.
Surface water is derived from two main sources – groundwater discharge and runoff from precipitation. Groundwater discharge feeds water to streams from underground aquifers and is responsible for most “baseflow” – the amount of water that is constantly flowing in a river, even during dry periods. Streams with lots of baseflow are often found in areas where there are highly permeable sand and gravel soils from which groundwater can move quickly.
When water hits the ground in the form of rain, a portion of it infiltrates through the ground, eventually becoming part of underground aquifers. Another portion of water is used up by growing plants or evaporates back into the atmosphere while the remaining portion of water “runs off” the land and into surface water systems. The amount of runoff from rainfall is dependant on several factors including temperature, vegetation, soils and the slope of the land it falls on.
Surface water can become contaminated by a number of chemical compounds and biological organisms. For the most part, these contaminants stick to soil particles. Since the contaminants adhere to soil, preventing soil erosion can protect surface water quality.
The likelihood of erosion occurring on a property is dependant on any number of factors, the most important being the amount and speed of water flowing over the land, and the soils, slopes and vegetation of the land. For example, areas with higher slopes are more likely to have erosion problems than flat areas.
Healthy streams, rivers and lakes are essential to provide habitat to fish and wildlife as well as for human needs. In healthy surface waters a balance has been achieved between the water, the organisms that use the water and the land around it. Since every surface water system is different, it is necessary to evaluate the health of every system separately.