Credit: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C. "Protecting Water Quality from Urban Runoff." Document No. EPA 841-F-03-003. 2003.
Water is constantly in motion, moving across the land, through the atmosphere and back down to the ground as rain and snow. It is also stored below our feet as groundwater. This ongoing motion is called the water cycle.
Human activities impact this natural cycle. As this image shows, buildings, roads and other impervious surfaces lead to more runoff and less water being infiltrated into the soil. It’s important to shift development practices so we can get to a more sustainable system that more closely mimics nature, even in urban areas.
