title: Water: A Primer
author:  Luna B. Leopold 
description: This text is an expansion of a manuscript that I wrote some years ago, with the assistance of Walter B. Langbein, for the United States Geological Survey. It was entitled, A Primer on Water. That brief pamphlet, although it was widely read, did not deal with some of the topics that presently are important in teaching the elements of hydrology to students who are interested in a variety of environmental problems. Most books on hydrology are directed principally to professionals the engineers, meteorologists, foresters, and soil scientists who design or evaluate projects or carry on research. Since in recent years there has been an increased interest in environmental problems, most of which are in some way related to water, there appears to be a need for a text that contains simple but technically sound information written in terms that are understandable to the nonspecialist. An increasing number of courses are being given at colleges and universities under the general heading of environmental science. Such courses must, of necessity, deal with water in some detail; yet few texts are avail- able to cover this aspect of the subject. My own course for undergraduates is typical. This short book is designed to cover the general principles of hydrology and the facts concerning water use that must precede any consideration of the impact on the environment of man's of the water resources The environmental effects of resource use can hardly be understood without some background knowledge of the occurrence and movement of water. A detailed explanation of the principles that I have attempted to summarize here can be found mainly in the Professional Papers and Water Supply Papers of the United States Geological Survey. To any interested reader who wishes to study in greater depth the subject of hydrology I recommend the publications of this organization. Luna B. Leopold
zlib_text: ![image](images/title.jpg)
  
  
  Simone
  
  
  van der Vlugt
  
  
  **Translated from the Dutch by**
  
  
  **MICHELE HUTCHISON**
  
  
  ![image](images/logo.gif)
  
  
  Published in Great Britain in 2013 by Canongate Books Ltd, 14 High
  
  
  Street, Edinburgh EH1 1TE
  
  
  [www.canongate.tv](http://www.canongate.tv)
  
  
  This digital edition first published in 2013 by Canongate Books
  
  
  Copyright © Simone van der Vlugt, 2013
  
  
  English translation copyright © Michele Hutchison
  
  
  The moral rights of the author and translator have been asserted
  
  
  Originally published in 2012 in Dutch as _Blauw water_ by Anthos,
  
  
  Amsterdam
  
  
  _British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data_
  
  
  A catalogue record for this book is available on
  
  
  request from the British Library
  
  
  ISBN 978 1 78211 073 6  
  ePub ISBN 978 1 78211 074 3  
  Mobi ISBN 978 1 78211 074 3
  
  
  Typeset in Sabon by Palimpsest Book Production Ltd,
  
  
  Falkirk, Stirlingshire
  
  
  ## Contents
  
  
  [Chapter 1](05_ch01.xhtml#ch1)
  
  
  [Chapter 2](06_ch02.xhtml#ch2)
  
  
  [Chapter 3](07_ch03.xhtml#ch