Donate 
Share
- Look down at the ground. The ground you are standing on is in a watershed. (https://water.usgs.gov/edu/watershed.html)
- The largest watershed in the U.S., made up of many smaller watersheds, is the Mississippi River watershed. (http://www.nationalgeographic.org/activity/mapping-us-watersheds/)
- Most people use a watershed for drinking water and many recreational activities, such as canoeing, kayaking, hiking, fishing, swimming, hunting, birding and more. (http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/indiana/journeywithnature/watersheds-101.xml)
- The U.S. Geological Survey measures water resources all across the United States, measuring flow levels, water quality and quantity with various water gauges that are regularly monitored. (https://www2.usgs.gov/water/)
- All freshwater comes from precipitation. (http://www.eschooltoday.com/global-water-scarcity/fresh-water-and-children.html)
- Not every community in the U.S has access to clean drinking water. (https://www.unicefusa.org/mission/survival/water)
- Waste water re-enters the watershed in different ways, such as agricultural, commercial and residential runoff. (http://www.gdrc.org/uem/water/watershed/introduction.html)
- What happens upstream affects water quality and quantity downstream, for example, management of forests and wetlands upstream directly affect communities downstream from those management areas. (https://water.usgs.gov/edu/watercyclestreamflow.html)
- Headwaters are organic streams or tributaries of a river close to or a part of its originating sources. Healthy headwaters supply organic matter that contribute to the growth and productivity of organisms such as insects and fish. Headwaters also help to keep sediment and pollutants out of the streams system’s lower branches and enhance biodiversity. (http://www.dep.wv.gov/WWE/getinvolved/sos/Pages/Headwaters.aspx)
- According to the EPA’s (2013) national water quality survey, our rivers and streams showed that 55% of the nation’s flowing waters are in poor biological condition and 23% are in fair biological condition. (https://www.epa.gov/hwp/healthy-watersheds-overview)
