This causes the blood to not carry oxygen as efficiently and can lead to death of the infant that drinks water that is high in nitrate. What we do to the soil and water impacts the health of the bay. Standard concerns for soil conservation and surface water quality must be coupled with the need to protect groundwater. Added to this should be a knowledge of the role properly managed turf areas can play in maintaining high water quality. New combinations of many current practices may be needed, and better nutrient and pesticide management must also play a part.
Nutrients can enter groundwater by percolation and are carried with runoff into surface waters.
Conservation practices which control runoff and erosion also prevent nutrients from entering waters. The Water Cycle Groundwater and surface water are both parts of the natural hydrologic cycle of water in the environment and as such, are closely related. In this cycle, water in the atmosphere moves to the earth's surface, either by natural precipitation or irrigation. Once on the earth's surface the water evaporates, is transpired by plants, runs off or moves into the ground and eventually back into the atmosphere. Much of the runoff naturally goes into our surface waters, as streamflow is largely affected by such things as runoff and precipitation.