What%20is%20a%20Watershed?

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What is a Watershed?
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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.
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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

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Whats in a Watershed?

• Streams
• Rivers
• Lakes
• Wetlands
• Hills
• Mountains

• Farms
• Cities
• Houses
• Humans
• Animals
• Plants

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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.

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The WolfcreekWatershed
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The Lower Great Miami River Watershed
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Ohio Watersheds
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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.

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Where is the water in this picture?
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Every drop of water that touches the surface of
the ground does one of three things
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Every drop of water that touches the surface of
the ground does one of three things (contd)

• It evaporates.
• Evaporation puts water back into the atmosphere
  to again become rain or snow.

• It soaks into the ground.
• Once it soaks into the ground, it becomes
  groundwater, also known as an aquifer.

• It runs downhill along the ground.
• This is surface water, which makes its way into
  streams, rivers, ponds, lakes, and eventually,
  into the ocean.

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Watershed Science is

• The study of all the chemical, physical and
  ecological processes within watersheds.

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Sciences of Watershed Science
Chemistry
Geology
Biology
Physics
Engineering
Also Involved in Watershed Science
Geography
History
Art
Economics
Mathematics
Social Studies
Journalism
Literature
Legal Studies
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We all live in a watershed.
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An area of land that drains all its water into a
network of streams and rivers that drain the area
is called a
Watershed
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Topography is
Earths land forms
and is shaped by
water flow
and determines
direction and speed water flows
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Remember. . . Everybody Lives Downstream !
QUESTIONS?