Application of pesticides or fertilizers to farmlands through irrigation systems.

A rock formation that will not readily transmit water and which retards or stops the free movement of water underground. Confining beds have also been called aquicludes, aquitards, or semiconfining beds.

A semi-liquid mass of accumulated settled solids deposited from the treatment plant process. Most water treatment plant sludge is inert and can be used as components in some manufactured products and as a base for fertilizer. Also called "residual solids."

The demand that would be experienced were it not for conservation and natural replacement. Usually expressed in thousand acre-feet (KAF).

American Water Works Association. The drinking water industry’s trade association; headquarters are in Denver.

Volume of water required to cover 1 acre of land (43,560 square feet) to a depth of 1 foot, equivalent to 325,851 gallons.

General term for deposits of clay, silt, sand, gravel, or other particulate material deposited by a stream or other body of running water in a streambed, on a flood plain, on a delta, or at the base of a mountain.

To take the legal actions necessary to create a right to take water from a natural stream or aquifer for application to beneficial use.

The right to take water from a natural stream or aquifer for beneficial use at a specified rate of flow, either for immediate use or to store for later use. Usually confirmed by a water court decree. (See also Prior Appropriation, Riparian Rights and Water Right.)

Art and science of farming organisms that live in water, such as fish, shellfish, and algae.