What is a Watershed?
A watershed is the area of land where all of the water that is under it or drains off of it goes into the same place. John Wesley Powell, scientist geographer, put it best when he said that a watershed is: “that area of land, a bounded hydrologic system, within which all living things are inextricably linked by their common water course and where, as humans settled, simple logic demanded that they become part of a community.” Watersheds come in all shapes and sizes. They cross county, state, and national boundaries. In the continental US, there are 2,110 watersheds; including Hawaii Alaska, and Puerto Rico, there are 2,267 watersheds.
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You’re sitting in a watershed now Homes, farms, ranches, forests, small towns, big cities and more can make up watersheds. Some cross county, state, and even international borders. Watersheds come in all shapes and sizes. Some are millions of square miles, others are just a few acres. Just as creeks drain into rivers, watersheds are nearly always part of a larger watershed.
Illustration of a watershed No matter where you live or play, youre in a watershed! So what is it and how does it work? A watershed is an area of land where all the water (surface and groundwater) flows to the lowest point usually a stream, lake or river. Imagine your bathtub is a watershed and the drain is a river. Any water that falls inside the tub (watershed) will eventually go down the drain (river) carrying dirt and soap with it. The high sides of the tub (like mountains and hills) keep the water from ending up on the floor (or in other watersheds).
A watershed is an area of land, that drains into a river, lake, stream, pond, or other body of water. It includes the waterway itself and the entire land area that drains into it. For example, the watershed for a lake includes any streams emptying into the lake and the land area that drains into those streams. A watershed can be small, like a backyard puddle, or large, such as the Mississippi River drainage basin.
