Climate & Environment
Surface Water
Definition
Surface water is water collecting and flowing on the surface of the ground: rivers, streams, lakes, reservoirs, wetlands and estuaries. It supplies the majority of human freshwater withdrawals for cities, industry and irrigation, hosts a disproportionate share of aquatic biodiversity, and is the water most directly exposed to pollution and climate-driven flow alteration. Though rivers and lakes hold a tiny fraction of Earth's freshwater, their renewal rate makes them the most used — and most contested — resource.
References
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This reference provides supporting context for how “Surface Water” is defined and used.
Overview
How it is used
The concept structures water abstraction licensing, ecological flow requirements, pollution control, transboundary water agreements and drought management.
Why it matters
Surface water is the bloodstream of landscapes and economies; what happens to rivers happens to everything downstream of them — which is everything.