Glossary:W Words
From Indian River Lagoon Project
washover fan noun
A fan-like landform of sand washed over a barrier island or spit during a storm and deposited on the inland-side.
The combination of liquid and pollutants from residences, commercial buildings, industrial plants, and institutions, together with any ground water, surface runoff, or leachate that may be present.
a place that treats waste water from homes and businesses, such as toilet or sewage water.
a molecule-composed compound of hydrogen and oxygen.
water column noun
the area of water from the seafloor up to the water surface. The water column contains free swimming, or pelagic, organisms and plankton (tiny drifting and floating organisms). The water column is a part of all bays, sloughs, lagoons and coastal areas; and is therefore part of an estuary.
water cycle noun
the recycling of water between the earth and the atmosphere.
A set of enforceable requirements under the Clean Water Act that establish measurable limits for specific pollutants based on the designated use(s) of the receiving water body. Water quality criteria can be expressed as numeric limits (e.g., pollutant concentrations or mass loads) or narrative descriptions of desired conditions (e.g., no visible scum, sludge, sheens, or odors).
watershed noun
Topographic area that contributes or may contribute runoff to specific surface waters or an area of recharge.
The process of addressing water quality concerns within their natural boundaries, rather than political or regulatory boundaries. The process draws together all the participants and stakeholders in each basin to decide what problems affect the water quality in the basin, which are most important, and how they will be addressed.
areas inundated or saturated by surface or ground water at a frequency and duration sufficient to support , and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions.”
wrack line noun
a string of debris stranded by last high tide; cast ashore seaweeds, isolated sources of food and shade support an important community of isopods and amphipods as well as providing food for birds.
