Ground water moves very slowly. 
While water at surface can be measured in meters per second, the ground water will more likely be measured in meters per year! 
Contamination of the ground water causes severe damage for a very long time. 
Despite this, military and nuclear industry constantly pollutes large areas of ground water - in times of peace. 
I've always loved the sound of rain 
Touching so softly my windowpane 
And then the scent of dew at dawn 
Coming to greet me from my moist lawn ...home... [D. Gildenlow] 
I always took it for granted 
I never valued the drops 
I shed I failed to see the relation 
Between my self and world starvation [D. Gildenlow] 
Water's for the chosen 
But how come we expect us to be those few... ...me and you? [In this hot, desolate timeglass I met this man, wearing a worn old flyer's cap. Every day he had to dig 10 feet down for his daily ration of water - one poor gallon. And so he did - singing while doing it!] 10 feet of sand for the thirst 
But he gave me half of what he was given for a day 
All for thirst and sanity use 
While we use up hundred times more: 
What do we do with it? 
Pipes and bathtubs, sprinklers and fountains! 
Freshwater used as a dump for oil and nuclear waste! "Desert people turns humble" he said 
They know what they have 
But do they know what they lose when we flush? [But yet, sadly, he looked up to me. Felt a need for our greed: our "freedom". Said all he really wanted was a car and a radio. He too failed to see the relation ...between our lives...and his starvation] 
Water's for the chosen 
Water's for the few 
Life is for the chosen 
But only if we believe it to be true...but we do! (But I'm through!) 
I've always loved the sound of rain...