The water cycle has five main processes. Precipitation can take the forms of rain, snow, sleet, or hail. Precipitation occurs when areas of high pressure and low pressure air meet, or when areas of hot and cold air meet. Runoff is the process of water running off the land surface. Water flows downhill from high places like mountains and hills into streams, then rivers, and finally into the ocean.
Infiltration is the process where water seeps into the ground.
Just like a sponge soaks up water, so does the soil. When it rains, some of the water will infiltrate or soak into the soil. When the soil is full of water or saturated, then the rain will become runoff. Groundwater Flow is the process where water in the ground comes back to the land surface. The term groundwater describes water that is stored underground in the rocks or geologic formations.