Once it reaches the zone of saturation under the ground, groundwater begins to move slowly by the force of gravity through the interconnecting pore spaces until it reaches a discharge area, where it seeps or flows out into a wetland, spring, river, or pond to become part of the surface water.

Does groundwater form surface water?

Surface water is any body of water above ground, including streams, rivers, lakes, wetlands, reservoirs, and creeks. ... Surface water and groundwater are reservoirs that can feed into each other. While surface water can seep underground to become groundwater, groundwater can resurface on land to replenish surface water.

What is surface water groundwater?

Surface water includes the freshwater that is channeled into stream systems, lakes, and wetlands on land. Groundwater, on the other hand, is contained in subterranean aquifers within the rock layers below the water table – the underground boundary that divides the saturated and unsaturated levels of the ground.