Watersheds

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Watersheds

• Videoclips from
• http//www.ctic.purdue.edu/KYW/glossary/whatisaws.
  html

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Watersheds

• We all live downstream.

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• Another name for watershed is drainage basin. A
  watershed is the land area that drains surface
  water into a river, lake, or other body of water.
  A watershed can be large, like the Mississippi
  River drainage basin, or very small, like 20
  acres that drain into a farm pond.

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• Wherever you live, you are in a watershed. Your
  watershed may be made up of mountains, farmland,
  houses, businesses, towns.
• What is the largest river near Rockford? Use a
  map. Where does it start? Everything from
  Rockford to the start is upstream of you. Follow
  the river to where it ends. It will flow into a
  larger river. Everything between Rockford and the
  end of the river is downstream of you.

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• Mountains and hills divide each watershed
• There could be many smaller watersheds within the
  larger one
• Flow of water
• Water flows from a higher elevation to a lower
  one
• Streams to rivers
• Rivers to larger rivers
• Larger rivers to ocean

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• Fun Facts
• Length of the Mississippi River 3,705 kilometers
  (2,302 miles)
• Area of Basin
• 3.2 million square kilometers (1.2 million square
  miles).
• 40 of the United States
• 1/8 of North America
• Population along the Mississippi Corridor 12
  million people live in the 125 counties and
  parishes that border the Mississippi River.
• Amount of water discharged to the Gulf 612,000
  cubic feet per second
• Provides habitat for
• 241 fish species
• 37 mussel species
• 45 amphibians
• 50 mammals
• 40 of the nation's migratory birds
• 
  facts taken from EPA website

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Ground Water Quality in Illinois

• Ground water quality is generally good, but past
  and present activities contaminate ground water
  in isolated areas. Major sources of ground water
  contamination include agricultural chemical
  operations, fertilizer and pesticide
  applications, above- and below ground storage
  tanks, septic systems, manufacturing/repair
  shops, surface impoundments, and waste piles.

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• 4 Things affect a the water quality in a water
  shed
• 1. Runoff oil, pesticides, industrial waste
• 2. Erosion excessive soil
• 3. Acid rain air pollution returning to earth in
  the rain
• 4. Water pollution industrial dumping,
  agriculture, oil spills, thermal pollution
  (warming of water)
• A watershed is all the area where water travels
  from higher elevations to lower elevations.
  Mountains and hills form the boundaries of a
  watershed. These ridges act as a natural divider
  to separate each watershed. Within each watershed
  you will find many smaller watersheds that will
  help to supply the water needed to keep the
  rivers and streams flowing.