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What is a Watershed?
What is a watershed?
 A watershed (or drainage basin) is an area
of land that drains all of its waters
through a network of streams and
rivers into larger bodies of water.
Everybody lives in a
watershed because
every part of the
earth catches some
form of water.
What is a Watershed?
•
An area of land,
from ridge top to
ridge top, that
collects, stores, and
releases water to a
common point, such
as a river or a lake
What’s in a Watershed?
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Streams
Rivers
Lakes
Wetlands
Hills
Mountains

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Farms
Cities
Houses
Humans
Animals
Plants
What separates one watershed from
another watershed?
 Watersheds are separated by ridges of
high ground called divides.
 Every watershed is
bounded by divides.
 Different streams or
rivers empty each
watershed.
The
Wolfcreek
Watershed
The Lower
Great
Miami
River
Watershed
Ohio Watersheds
Why is it important to know about
watersheds?
WATER IS CRITICAL
FOR LIFE

We know this
because of how
much life we see
around water.
Where is the water in this picture?
Every drop of water that touches the surface
of the ground does one of three things …
Every drop of water that touches the surface
of the ground does one of three things … (cont’d)
1. It evaporates.
 Evaporation puts water back into the
atmosphere to again become rain or snow.
2. It soaks into the ground.
 Once it soaks into the ground, it becomes
groundwater, also known as an aquifer.
3. It runs downhill along the
ground.
 This is surface water, which makes its
way into streams, rivers, ponds, lakes, and
eventually, into the ocean.
Watershed Science is …
• The study of all the chemical, physical and
ecological processes within watersheds.
Sciences of Watershed Science
Chemistry
Geology
Physics
Biology
Engineering
Also Involved in Watershed Science
Art
Geography
Mathematics
Economics
Journalism
History
Social Studies
Legal Studies
Literature
We all live in a watershed.
An area of land that drains all its
water into a network of streams
and rivers that drain the area is
called a …
Watershed
Topography is …
Earth’s land forms
QUESTIONS?