Nutrients and toxins from the land filter through the soil into the groundwater. These inputs travel in the groundwater, and once in the lake, the nutrients and toxins sink to the lakebed.
Wai and whenua are interconnected. Water moves down through the soil via a process called leaching – carrying the contaminants with it. Groundwater eventually discharges to surface water such as a lake.
Related resources
- Land use impacts on water quality – video
- Farming and environmental pollution – article about impacts on water quality
- Dairy farming and the nitrogen cycle – article about inputs and outputs
- Focusing on phosphorus – article about inputs and outputs
- Constructing an aquifer model – activity and demonstration video that show the relationship between groundwater and surface water
- Groundwater contamination – activity and demonstration videos that show how pollutants are dissolved and/or carried into groundwater and surface water
Groundwater inputs illustration by Lakes380 is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
