The water table occurs everywhere beneath the Earth's surface. In desert regions it is always present, but rarely intersects the surface.
In more humid regions it reaches the surface at streams and lakes, and generally tends to follow surface topography. The depth to the water table may change, however, as the amount of water flowing into and out of the saturated zone changes. During dry seasons, the depth to the water table increases. During wet seasons, the depth to the water table decreases.