Welcome to the Hackensack River Watershed!\u00a0 Because of its coastal location, the Hackensack encompasses many kinds of aquatic systems – you may already know something about these.\u00a0 Take a moment to refresh your memory or learn something new.<\/p>\n\t
Rivers, streams, and creeks are all names for water flowing on the Earth’s surface. A river forms from water moving from a higher to a lower ground because of gravity. When rain falls on land, it either seeps into the ground, called infiltration, or becomes runoff. Both runoff and groundwater contribute to rivers.<\/p>\n
Since life began on Earth, rivers have been important to all living things. It isn’t by chance that rivers run through so many cities. Historically, cities have been built along the banks of rivers because humans depended on rivers for transportation, drinking water, flood control, irrigation, power generation, and even waste disposal.<\/p>\n
The characteristic that makes rivers a unique aquatic system is the flow of water in only one direction. <\/b>These ecosystems depend on a river’s current, which is the speed and direction of the water. Faster moving water is more turbulent<\/i> which means the water currents vary with depth and time. <\/i>Turbulent water has more dissolved oxygen<\/i>, which fish and other aquatic life need to survive. Faster-moving water supports more biodiversity than slower-moving water.<\/p>\n
To learn more: National Geographic Resource Library – Rivers<\/a><\/p>\n\t