NCCER Introduction to Earthmoving (22201) Practice Test

The boundary where all the soil pores are filled with water, separating the unsaturated zone above from the saturated zone below, is the water table. This level marks the transition to groundwater, the body of water residing in the saturated subsurface. The water table isn’t a fixed line; it can rise with heavy rainfall and infiltration or fall with pumping and drought. The capillary fringe sits immediately above it, where capillary action pulls some water upward, but it isn’t the full saturation of the entire layer. Pore water refers to the water within the pores in general, not to a specific boundary.