What is the difference between a watershed and a drainage basin?
A good definition comes from the Univ. of Calif Hydrology Dept., Fact Sheet No.33. Basic Concepts: Hydrology, the Hydrologic Cycle, Watershed, Watershed Management, and Watershed Water Balance. “There is often confusion concerning watershed vs. drainage basin vs. catchment. Technically, a drainage basin or catchment is the area of land that drains water, sediment, dissolved materials, and biota to a common outlet at some point along a stream channel. If the area is large (hundreds of square miles) it is a drainage basin, if it is small (acres to square miles) it is a catchment. We define a watershed as the area of land that drains water, sediment, dissolved materials, heat, biota, etc., to a common outlet at some point along a stream channel (watershed outlet). A watershed is a naturally delineated unit of land. Watersheds are the basic land unit of the hydrologic cycle, just as pastures are the basic land unit of a ranch. All of the land on Earth is in a watershed.” The Center for Wat
