Climate & Environment
Surface Water
Water in rivers, lakes, reservoirs and wetlands — the visible fraction of the water cycle, under abstraction and pollution pressure.
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.
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