2.1-2.4

• saline


  salty
• freshwater


  water that is not salty
• groundwater


  water that is stored underground
• surface water


  water that is found on the earths surface, e.g., water in rivers, lakes or canals
• water cycle


  a schematic overview of the reservoirs and movements of water
• drainage basin


  an area that is drained by one river
• tributaries


  smaller side rivers which meet the larger river
• watershed


  boundary between two drainage basins
• riverbed


  the bottom of a river
• river banks 


  the sides of a river
• upper course


  the part of the river closest to the source - erosion
• middle course


  the middle part of the river, between the source and the mouth - transportation
• lower course


  the part of the river closest to the mouth - deposition
• mixed river


  a river that receives water from glaciers as well as from rainfall
• discharge


  the amount of water that flows past a certain place
• gradient


  steepness
• transportation


  movement of eroded particles
• distributaries


  a river that splits into smaller rivers
• groynes


  structures in a river that help to limit river bank erosion
• floodplains


  land located next to a river, which is prone to flooding
• water treatment plants


  companies which treat water to make it suitable for drinking
• dwelling mounds


  hills constructed by people to live on, to prevent flooding
• water authorities


  a dutch governmental organisation that focuses on water in a region
• channelizing


  straightening of rivers
• evacuated


  being asked to leave the house
• outer-dyke areas


  areas that are not protected by dykes
• room for the river


  a set of projects that has created extra space for the rivers
• summer bed


  the river bed during low discharge in the summer months
• summer dykes


  lower dykes along the river that are able to withstand summer discharges
• de-poldered


  a polder area that is given back to the river
• pluvial flooding


  flooding due to heavy rainfall
• retain-store-discharge


  a dutch government plan to deal with heavy rainfall
• confluence


  a meeting point of two rivers
• rain-fed river


  a river of which that water comes from rainfall
• downstream


  measured from a point on the river towards the mouth
• upstream


  measured from a point on the river towards the source
• regime


  the fluctuations in discharge throughout the year
• water evaporation


  water that goes from a liquid (in the river, lake or sea) into a gaseous state (in the atmosphere)
• watercycle

  evaporation - cloud formation - condensation - precipation
• the waal, Nederrijn and ijsel are distributaries of Netherlands