The water cycle never concludes, but meteorological patterns sometimes shift. An area may have too much precipitation and flood one year. The next year there may be a drought, with minimal or no precipitation. People have zero ability to control weather patterns, but people do influence changes in the hydrologic cycle. When people dam rivers or cut down forests, they change the water cycle in that location. Changes in one place can transfer into changes in neighboring locations. lt is like tossing a rock into the water, making ripples that spread out.