Surface Water

Surface water is water collecting on the ground or in a stream, river, lake, wetland, or ocean; it is related to water collecting as groundwater or atmospheric water.

Surface water is naturally replenished by precipitation and naturally lost through discharge to evaporation and sub-surface seepage into the groundwater. Although there are other sources of groundwater, precipitation is the major one and groundwater originated in this way is called meteoric water.

Land surface water is the largest source of fresh water.

For more, visit the Wikipedia entry for surface water, URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface_water