Emily Granville, Communications Coordinator

Water is crucial to our survival, and without it the Earth wouldn’t be able to sustain life.  Thankfully, water is a renewable resource that moves in a continuous cycle! You’ve most likely heard of the water cycle before, and if not then you’ve probably seen it in action without even realizing it. Water changes from a liquid state to a gaseous state through evaporation. During the water cycle, water evaporates from the Earth’s surface (typically from bodies of water like oceans or streams) and rises into the atmosphere as water vapor. As the air cools, water vapor begins to change from a gas into a liquid through condensation. Once those tiny water droplets in the clouds collide with one another and join together, they become too heavy to stay in the air and fall back to the ground as precipitation. All that water that falls onto the ground will collect in rivers, lakes, soil, and the ocean, where it will once again evaporate and start the cycle all over again.  But why are we even talking about the water cycle? Because of that one very important step: precipitation!

 

[Image from: https://gpm.nasa.gov/education/water-cycle]

 

Precipitation comes in various forms from rain to snow to even hail, but we are going to focus on rain. So, why exactly is rain so important? I’m glad you asked.  When you think of rain, your mind might immediately go to some of the severe weather we have been having this year. And while too much rain can lead to some serious issues, which we will talk about later, rainfall helps us in many ways. Take, for example, the growing of crops (or if you have a garden growing vegetables!). Rain helps provide the moisture crops need to thrive. It also aids in maintaining biodiversity, or the variety of life, in a lot of our wooded and forested areas. Just like with the crops, rainfall gives other plants the necessary moisture they need to grow, which in turn creates a lot of different habitats for many animal species. You may also be thankful for the rain when it comes during a particularly hot bout of weather as it can help cool and regulate the temperature in surrounding areas.  Perhaps one of the most important jobs of rainfall, however, is recharging our natural water supplies.

 

Rain is vital when it comes to replenishing water sources like our rivers, lakes, and even our aquifers. As you are taking a stroll through the neighborhood, you may not think about all the water that is hidden in the ground below your feet. As rain hits the ground, it infiltrates, or soaks into, the surface, and once it’s made its way past the surface into the empty spaces underground, it becomes groundwater.  Aquifers are areas underground that hold and transport groundwater. Now, why is this important to you? Well, because most people’s drinking water comes from groundwater, especially in Pike County. Wells are drilled into the aquifers, and anytime water is taken out, some of that groundwater is depleted. And who is there to save the day when that aquifer needs replenishing? Rain!

[Image from Alabama Extension]

 

Rain can help us in many ways, as we have just learned, but we also mentioned that it can cause problems too. Although rain is vital to survival, too much or too little of it isn’t a good thing. Lack of rain can often lead to water shortages, increases in wildfires, and can make it harder to produce crops. On the flip side, too much water can lead to flooding, landslides, and destruction of properties. In order to deal with the problems that come from too much or too little rain, we can adopt some more sustainable practices.

If you have clicked around our website, you may have seen a section about stormwater management. Stormwater, simply put, is water from precipitation that flows across the land. In a natural environment, most stormwater will soak into the ground, but what happens when it can’t? What if a paved parking lot or building is blocking it from soaking in? That’s when you can end up with runoff. Runoff is water that flows over the land and into streams, rivers, and lakes instead of soaking into the ground or evaporating. Runoff can carry with it a lot of pollutants, such as excess nutrients, toxic chemicals, and sediment, as it flows over roofs, driveways, roads and lawns and makes its way back into the waterways. This is why installing things like rain gardens, permeable pavements, or even dams and reservoirs to catch excess rain is so important. By using these Best Management Practices (BMPs), we can help minimize runoff and prevent pollutants from getting into our water.

Pike County gets a significant amount of rain each year, and that rain can have both pros and cons. If we do our part and start putting into use some of those BMPs, we can hopefully start reducing those cons! Not ready to tear up your driveway? That’s okay! Even something simple like planting more native plants or using less pesticides can make a difference. Don’t let pollution rain on your parade!