Spring (hydrosphere) in the context of Humans

The Neretva (pronounced [něreːtʋa], Serbian Cyrillic: Неретва), also known as Narenta, is one of the largest rivers of the eastern part of the Adriatic basin. Four hydroelectric power plants with large dams (higher than 15 metres) provide flood protection, electricity and water storage. The Neretva is recognized for its natural environment and diverse landscapes.

Freshwater ecosystems have suffered from an increasing population and the associated development pressures. One of the most valuable natural resources of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia is its freshwater resource, contained by an abundant wellspring and clear rivers. Situated between the major regional rivers (Drina river on the east, Una river on the west and the Sava river) the Neretva basin contains the most significant source of drinking water.

Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available fresh water in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated deposit is called an aquifer when it can yield a usable quantity of water. The depth at which soil pore spaces or fractures and voids in rock become completely saturated with water is called the water table. Groundwater is recharged from the surface; it may discharge from the surface naturally at springs and seeps, and can form oases or wetlands. Groundwater is also often withdrawn for agricultural, municipal, and industrial use by constructing and operating extraction wells. The study of the distribution and movement of groundwater is hydrogeology, also called groundwater hydrology.

Typically, groundwater is thought of as water flowing through shallow aquifers, but, in the technical sense, it can also contain soil moisture, permafrost (frozen soil), immobile water in very low permeability bedrock, and deep geothermal or oil formation water. Groundwater is hypothesized to provide lubrication that can possibly influence the movement of faults. It is likely that much of Earth's subsurface contains some water, which may be mixed with other fluids in some instances.

A geyser (/ˈɡaɪzər/, UK: /ˈɡiːzər/) is a spring with an intermittent water discharge ejected turbulently and accompanied by steam. The formation of geysers is fairly rare and is caused by particular hydrogeological conditions that exist only in a few places on Earth.

Generally, geyser field sites are located near active volcanic areas, and the geyser effect is due to the proximity of magma. Surface water works its way down to an average depth of around 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) where it contacts hot rocks. The pressurized water boils, and this causes the geyser effect of hot water and steam spraying out of the geyser's surface vent.

Freshwater ecosystems are a subset of Earth's aquatic ecosystems that include the biological communities inhabiting freshwater waterbodies such as lakes, ponds, rivers, streams, springs, bogs, and wetlands. They can be contrasted with marine ecosystems, which have a much higher salinity. Freshwater habitats can be classified by different factors, including temperature, light penetration, nutrients, and vegetation.

There are three basic types of freshwater ecosystems: lentic (slow moving water, including pools, ponds, and lakes), lotic (faster moving streams, for example creeks and rivers) and wetlands (semi-aquatic areas where the soil is saturated or inundated for at least part of the time). Freshwater ecosystems contain 41% of the world's known fish species.

An underground lake or subterranean lake is a lake underneath the surface of the Earth. Most naturally occurring underground lakes are found in areas of karst topography, where limestone or other soluble rock has been weathered away, leaving a cave where water can flow and accumulate.

Natural underground lakes are an uncommon hydrogeological feature. More often, groundwater gathers in formations such as aquifers or springs.

Tartaro-Canalbianco-Po di Levante (Latin: Tartarus) is a river of north-east Italy. It is the only river whose course runs between the Adige river and the Po river and flows into the Adriatic Sea.

The first part of its course, whose length is 52 kilometres (32 mi) from resurgences to Torretta, flows in the province of Verona and in the province of Mantua and is known by the name of Tartaro.The second part of its course, whose length is 78 kilometres (48 mi) from Torretta to Volta Grimana, flows in the province of Rovigo and is known by the name of Canalbianco or Canal Bianco (meaning White Canal in both Italian and Venetian).The third and final part of its course, whose length is 17 kilometres (11 mi) from Volta Grimana to mouth, flows in the province of Rovigo and is known by the name of Po di Levante (meaning Eastern Po).

Limnology (/lɪmˈnɒlədʒi/ lim-NOL-ə-jee; from Ancient Greek λίμνη (límnē) 'lake' and -λογία (-logía) 'study of') is the study of inland aquatic ecosystems. It includes aspects of the biological, chemical, physical, and geological characteristics of fresh and saline, natural and man-made bodies of water. This includes the study of lakes, reservoirs, ponds, rivers, springs, streams, wetlands, and groundwater. Water systems are often categorized as either running (lotic) or standing (lentic).

Limnology includes the study of the drainage basin, movement of water through the basin and biogeochemical changes that occur en route. A more recent sub-discipline of limnology, termed landscape limnology, studies, manages, and seeks to conserve these ecosystems using a landscape perspective, by explicitly examining connections between an aquatic ecosystem and its drainage basin. Recently, the need to understand global inland waters as part of the Earth system created a sub-discipline called global limnology. This approach considers processes in inland waters on a global scale, like the role of inland aquatic ecosystems in global biogeochemical cycles.

A holy well or sacred spring is a well, spring or small pool of water revered either in a Christian or pagan context, sometimes both. The water of holy wells is often thought to have healing qualities, through the numinous presence of its guardian spirit or Christian saint. They often have local legends associated with them; for example in Christian legends, the water is often said to have been made to flow by the action of a saint. Holy wells are often also places of ritual and pilgrimage, where people pray and leave votive offerings. In Celtic regions, strips of cloth are often tied to trees at holy wells, known as clootie wells.

The Hasbani (Arabic: الحاصباني / ALA-LC: al-Ḥāṣbānī; Hebrew: חצבני Ḥatzbaní) or Snir Stream (Hebrew: נחל שניר / Nahal Sənir), is the major tributary of the Jordan River that flows in Lebanon, the Golan Heights and Israel. In the mid-19th century, what the Westerners would call 'Upper Jordan River', the locals called Nahr Hasbani, Arabic for Hasbani River.

The Hasbani River derives most of its discharge from two springs in Lebanon, the Wazzani and the Haqzbieh, the latter being a group of springs on the uppermost Hasbani. The Hasbani runs for 25 mi (40 km) through the Wadi al-Taym in Lebanon before crossing the border at Ghajar and shortly after joining with the Banias and Dan Rivers at a point in northern Israel, to form the River Jordan. For about 4 km (2.5 mi) downstream of Ghajar, the Hasbani forms the border between Lebanon and the Golan Heights.

The Ussuri (/uːˈsʊəri/ oo-SOOR-ee; Russian: Уссури [ʊsˈsurʲɪ]) or Wusuli (Chinese: 乌苏里; pinyin: wūsūlǐ [ǔsǔlî]) is a river that runs through Khabarovsk and Primorsky Krais, Russia and the southeast region of Northeast China in the province of Heilongjiang. It rises in the Sikhote-Alin mountain range, flowing north and forming part of the Sino-Russian border (which is based on the Sino-Russian Convention of Peking of 1860), until it joins the Amur as a tributary near Khabarovsk. It is approximately 897 km (557 mi) long. The Ussuri drains the Ussuri basin, which covers 193,000 km (75,000 sq mi). Its waters come from rain (60%), snow (30–35%), and subterranean springs. The average discharge is 1,620 m/s (57,000 cu ft/s), and the average elevation is 1,682 metres (5,518 ft).

Phoenix is a genus of 14 species of palms, native to an area starting from the Canary Islands in the west, across northern and central Africa, to the extreme southeast of Europe (Crete), and continuing throughout southern Asia, from Anatolia east to southern China and Malaysia. The diverse habitats they occupy include swamps, deserts, and mangrove sea coasts. Most Phoenix species originate in semi-arid regions, but usually occur near high groundwater levels, rivers, or springs. The genus is unusual among members of subfamily Coryphoideae in having pinnate, rather than palmate leaves; tribe Caryoteae also have pinnate or bipinnate leaves.The palms were more numerous and widespread in the past than they are at present. Some Phoenix palms have become naturalised in other parts of the world; in particular, the date palm's long history of cultivation means that escaped plants in the past have long-since become ingrained into the native ecosystems of countries far from its original range in the Middle East.

The Rječina (Italian: Eneo; German: Flaum or Pflaum), also known as the Fiumara, is a river in Croatia that flows into the Adriatic Sea at the city of Rijeka (Italian: Fiume).

It is about 18 kilometers (11 mi) long, with an average width of 9 to 16 meters (30 to 52 ft). It springs from a cave at an elevation of 325 meters (1,066 ft) above sea level, below the high cliff of Kičej Hill (elevation 606 meters or 1,988 feet). Until 1870 the river's spring was below the next hill, Podjavorje, but it collapsed in an earthquake near the village of Klana. The most significant confluents are the Sušica, Lužac, Zala, Zahumčica, Golubinka, Ričinica, and Borovšćica, but they are dry for most of the year. In 1968 a dam Valići was built, creating Lake Valići to facilitate a hydroelectric power plant, HE Rijeka, but destroying the village of the same name in the process. The Rječina flows through a canyon for almost half of its length. In Rijeka, the river branches into two parts: Dead Channel (Mrtvi kanal, the old basin), and the new channel, which was created in the 19th century, when Dead Channel was used as a harbor. The best-known sight is the Gaspar Mill (Gašparov mlin) in Martinovo Selo, which was restored in the 1990s. Notable fauna are trout and river crabs.

A clootie well is a holy well (or sacred spring), almost always with a tree growing beside it, where small strips of cloth or ribbons are left as part of a healing ritual, usually by tying them to branches of the tree (called a clootie tree or rag tree). Clootie wells are places of pilgrimage usually found in Celtic areas. It is believed that the tradition comes from the ancient custom of leaving votive offerings in water. In Scots, a clootie or cloot is a strip of cloth or rag.

Sacred waters are sacred natural sites characterized by tangible topographical land formations such as rivers, lakes, springs, reservoirs, and oceans, as opposed to holy water which is water elevated with the sacramental blessing of a cleric. These organic bodies of water have attained religious significance not from the modern alteration or blessing, but were sanctified through mythological or historical figures. Sacred waters have been exploited for cleansing, healing, initiations, and death rites.

Ubiquitous and perpetual fixations with water occur across religious traditions. It tends to be a central element in the creations accounts of almost every culture with mythological, cosmological, and theological myths. In this way, many groups characterize water as "living water", or the "water of life". This means that it gives life and is the fundamental element from which life arises. Each religious or cultural group that feature waters as sacred substances tends to favor certain categorizations of some waters more than others, usually those that are most accessible to them and that best integrate into their rituals.