Groundwater and surface-water interaction refers to the bidirectional exchange of water, solutes, heat, and sometimes contaminants between aquifers and surface-water bodies such as rivers, lakes, wetlands, and estuaries. This interaction is governed by hydraulic gradients, permeability contrasts, geological heterogeneities, and temporal variability in recharge and evapotranspiration. It encompasses processes such as baseflow discharge, bank storage, hyporheic exchange, and infiltration from surface water to aquifers, which together control streamflow regimes, water quality, redox conditions, and ecological habitat. Quantifying these exchanges is critical in hydrologic modeling, water-budget analysis, contaminant transport studies, and integrated water-resources management under changing climatic and anthropogenic stresses.
About two-thirds of the U.S. is in some stage of drought in late spring 2026, yet at the same time the country has been seeing more intense downpours. It might seem contradictory, but both are symptoms of rising global temperatures.
Environment
May 26, 2026
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As climate change increases the risk of flooding worldwide, understanding how floods form has never been more important. However, the science behind flooding is notoriously difficult to grasp, involving interactions among ...
Earth Sciences
May 18, 2026
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A Dartmouth study shows that annual rainfall in much of the world has consolidated over the past four decades into heavier storms with longer dry periods in between.
Earth Sciences
May 13, 2026
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Heavy rains causing repeated river flood intrusions into Florida's freshwater springs are changing the function of the clear natural resource. Findings from University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences ...
Earth Sciences
May 5, 2026
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A new study by University of Hawai'i at Mānoa researchers revealed that Waikīkī is facing a fundamental shift in flood hazards as sea levels rise—transitioning from a flooding that is driven primarily by rainfall to events ...
Earth Sciences
Apr 16, 2026
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Florida is among the wettest U.S. states, but that doesn't mean it is drought-free. Nearly all of Florida faced at least "moderate" drought, and nearly 80% faced "extreme" conditions in April 2026, according to data from ...
Environment
Apr 7, 2026
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It's a well-established fact that forests and water are deeply connected. For decades, paired-watershed experiments—a scientific method for evaluating land-use impacts on water quantity or quality—have shown that when we ...
Environment
Apr 4, 2026
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83
The Syrian civil war, which began in 2011, caused widespread population displacement and infrastructure damage. However, it has also led to an unintended environmental effect with notable changes in the country's landscape, ...
A potentially huge underground reservoir of freshwater beneath the Great Salt Lake is coming into sharper focus with a new study that used airborne electromagnetic (AEM) surveys to X-ray geologic structures under Farmington ...
Earth Sciences
Mar 20, 2026
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South Africa is the 30th driest country in the world. Over 400 towns, especially in the western and central parts of the country, rely on water from aquifers that they pump out of the ground (groundwater).
Environment
Mar 19, 2026
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