Across
- 3. impurities, including pollution or pollutants, in a substance such as water; harmful substances in water that can make it unfit for drinking or for supporting aquatic resources.
- 4. oxygen gas absorbed by and mixed into water (two words).
- 6. water with a salt content lower than about 0.05%; for comparison, sea water has a salt content of about 3.5%.
- 9. to decay or rot; to break down or separate into smaller or simpler components.
- 11. a unit volume used to describe large water resources; an acre-foot is equal to the volume of water it would take to cover an acre to a depth of one foot.
- 14. The process of exposing water to air, allowing air and water to mix and water to absorb the gasses in air.
- 17. water and all things that live in or around water (two words).
- 21. to change from a liquid state into vapor.
- 22. an artificial or natural lake built by placing a dam across a stream or river and used to store and often regulate discharge of water; underground storage area of water, such as in an aquifer.
- 24. any living thing that is part of an ecosystem in water (two words).
- 25. to pollute—the contamination of air, water, or soil by substances that are harmful to living organisms, especially environmental contamination with man-made waste or chemicals; also the harmful substances themselves.
- 26. water that is so full of small particles, such as silt, that the water is no longer transparent but instead appears cloudy.
Down
- 1. the natural process of evaporation and condensation, driven by solar energy and gravity, that distributes the Earth’s water as it evaporates from bodies of water, condenses, precipitates and returns to those bodies of water (two words)).
- 2. the natural environment in which an organism normally lives, including the surroundings and other physical conditions needed to sustain it.
- 5. an extended period of below normal rainfall or other deficiency in water supply.
- 7. all of the Earth’s water, including surface water, groundwater, and water vapor.
- 8. composed of matter that does not come from plants or animals either dead or alive; abiotic.
- 10. the wearing away of land surface materials, especially rocks, sediments, and soils, by the action of water, wind, or ice; usually includes the movement of such materials from their original location.
- 12. something that is found in nature that is useful to humans (two words).
- 13. an underground reservoir of water that rests in a layer of sand, gravel, or rock that holds the water in pores or crevices.
- 15. the wise use of natural resources such that their use is sustainable long term; includes protection, preservation, management, restoration and harvest of natural resources; prevents exploitation, pollution, destruction, neglect and waste of natural resources.
- 16. an excess of natural or man-made substances in a body of water; especially, the contamination of water by substances that are harmful to living things (two words).
- 18. primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution, first passed by Congress in 1972 (three words).
- 19. material that comes from plants or animals either dead or alive that is capable of decay; important in the transfer of nutrients from land to water (two words).
- 20. the fitness of a water source for a given use, such as drinking, fishing or swimming (two words).
- 23. tiny specs of dirt, sized between sand and clay particles, that can be suspended in water or fall out of suspension to cover plants and the bottom of lakes or pool sections of rivers and streams.