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<br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />.' <br /> <br />" <br /> <br />WATER CONSERVATION BENEFITS AND LIMITATIONS <br /> <br />The most obvious benefits of water conservation is water <br />savings. However, water conservation and water savings are not <br /> <br />necessarily synonymous. Due to the nature of the hydrologic cycle, <br /> <br />many waters which might appear to be wasted and lost return to <br /> <br /> <br />surface streams and ground water reservoirs where they are again <br /> <br />available for use. The hydrologic cycle is a natural process <br /> <br /> <br />whereby water endlessly circulates through our environment. The <br /> <br />sun supplies heat energy which, along with the force of gravity, <br /> <br />powers the cycle with water undergoing various changes. Water <br /> <br />evaporates from the land, lakes and seas, and is transpired by <br /> <br />vegetation. It rises and later cools in the atmosphere, where <br /> <br />it condenses and eventually falls to earth as precipitation. Rain <br /> <br />and snow ultimately return to lakes and the oceans as either surface <br /> <br />streamflow or ground water flows. Then the cycle is repeated. <br /> <br />An important physical principle which must be understood is <br /> <br />that the amount of water in the cycle is fixed, and no water is <br /> <br /> <br />lost or gained in the process.' However, the amount of water <br /> <br />available for use at a specific location may fluctuate widely. <br /> <br /> <br />Over geologic time, changes have made deserts of seas, and now <br /> <br />relatively minor weather variations cause floods and droughts. <br /> <br />For thousands of years man has struggled to exercise some control <br /> <br />within the cycle. In arid areas he has used various measures in <br /> <br /> <br />order to increase the amount of water available for his use. <br />