"For the most part, water is like energy: it is neither created nor destroyed. With the exception of a few chemical reactions that create and use water, most water cycles around the Earth simply change the form of the water. For example, one water droplet in New York can condense, become part of a cloud, and then fall from the sky as rain or snow in Chicago, IL. From Chicago it might travel through waterways down the entire length of the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico and end up in the ocean for years."