1. Evaporation: Sunshine warms surface water and moist soils and water becomes vaporized. 2. Transpiration: Trees and plants take water from the soil and release it as vaporized water. 3. Respiration: Animals and humans take surface water or groundwater and release it as vaporized water. 4. Condensation: Water vapor cools in the upper atmosphere and becomes liquid water. 5. Precipitation: Liquid or frozen water in the atmosphere falls to earth as rain or snow.
6. Infiltration: Rain or melting ice and snow percolates though the earth’s crust, eventually recharging the groundwater aquifers.
7. Runoff: Rain or melting ice and snow on saturated soil or hard surfaces like rock or asphalt flows into watersheds.
