Homeowners need to recognize those activities that are a risk to the environment and understand the practices that can help to reduce those risks. Many of today's environmental problems are caused by man's activities on the land. If we want to reduce the adverse effect our actions are having, then each of us must do what we can to avoid polluting our environment. Take a minute to think about our water and how it cycles. All the water we have is already here on earth in some form.
Water falls as rain, which either runs off or soaks into the soil.
The water that runs off usually enters some sort of surface storage area such as a lake, pond, river or ocean where it is subject to evaporation. The water that soaks into the soil becomes groundwater. This water is available for our use as a shallow well and feeds our lawns, crops and trees. All living plants return some of this water back into the atmosphere through transpiration. Some groundwater also returns to the surface by flowing down grade to fill a pond, supply a stream or just bubble as a spring.