Water Cycle

One day Aqua was swimming in the warm sea currents off England, when all of a sudden she was lifted into the air. Oh how excited was Aqua to play with lots of new friends bouncing around the clouds and overlooking the beautiful countryside. Below she could see rivers, lakes, wetlands and lots of happy farmers spreading water over their crops.

When there were too many friends for Aqua, a door opened and down she poured to the ground. What a thrilling ride it was to land in a river! When Aqua looked around she could only see a few of her friends. What happened to them? she thought, and was sad for a moment. Then she met some new friends called Parr, Elver and the Cray twins with their big nasty claws, but all waved and were happy to see Aqua. Then Aqua bounced into a wall and was instantly cascading down a beautiful weir into a nice wide river. All of a sudden there was a swoosh and King Fisher was diving, dipping and laughing at the fish scuttling around the clear water. While swimming towards the sea she met the stern Effy who said You must return with more friends to make sure the river is healthy and happy and your friends, Parr and Elver and the Crays can breathe in the healthy waters After a little time Aqua was back out to sea, swimming in the warm waters off England.

Again, Aqua was lifted into the air and met some more friends bouncing around the clouds. This is so exciting she thought. When she fell to the ground this time she landed on some soil with a splash. Ouch! she said and was thinking what would happen next as she did not have a river to swim in. Then came a voice from below the soil which said to Aqua, I am Vaydos come quickly with all your other friends and join us below So Aqua went down past all the grains of soil and rock and met up with Vaydos, who told her not to be frightened as a treat was in store for her. In an interstitial moment Aqua found that as she went lower, she was getting cleaner and more beautiful. When at last she came to a watery table she saw that all her friends from the cloud were also the prettiest things she had ever seen.

Where am I? said Aqua. Then a voice said, I am Flo and you

are indeed very lucky. You have joined a large movement that protects all those lovely rivers, lakes and wetlands you saw from the clouds Wow! said Aqua, that is impressive But then Aqua said she met up with Effy who said that she protects the rivers. Flo laughed and said that Effy needs us to support her rivers, otherwise she would not last for the duration of a summer. While Aqua and Flo swam through the rocks she learnt more about this wonderful underground movement called groundwater. She heard about King Creta who was much depleted about the lack of water in his beautiful streams and was heard crying in his bed. Why is there not enough water? gasped Aqua. Flo said sadly that people may love water but they do not love groundwater, as they have taken us for granted for too long. Oh dear said Aqua and then felt like a circle of depression was around her. While thinking about other things she bumped into a shrimp call Stygo. Aqua said that she had heard that Stygo bites, but he just laughed and said, No, I just like swimming around and Im very friendly!

While travelling, Flo told her about the wetlands and lakes they support and the clean water for drinking. People drink us? cried Aqua. Yes said Flo and then Aqua thought that would be yucky and a terrible waste. After a wonderful time swimming together Aqua could hear a noise coming from above. A bit scared, Aqua asked Flo what the noise was. That is a river and it is now your turn to help Effy keep the rivers healthy. Feeling hyporheic Aqua sprang through the river bed and met her friends Parr, Elver and the Cray twins. Well, Aqua could not stop talking about her wonderful adventures with Vaydos and Flo, and the wonderful stories about the importance of groundwater. Aqua was very proud as she passed by Effy, knowing that she and her friends were keeping the rivers healthy.

When Aqua was swimming back to sea she could not wait to tell all her friends about Vaydos, Flo and the important work they do for the water environment. Aqua hoped that she would again be lifted up again and be part of the groundwater movement.