2. What is a Watershed? A watershed is the area of land where all of the water that is under it or drains off of it goes into the same place. John Wesley Powell, scientist geographer, put it best when he said that a watershed is: "that area of land, a bounded hydrologic system, within which all living things are inextricably linked by their common water course and where, as humans settled, simple logic demanded that they become part of a community." Watersheds come in all shapes and sizes. They cross county, state, and national boundaries. In the continental US, there are 2,110 watersheds; including Hawaii Alaska, and Puerto Rico, there are 2,267 watersheds. Source: EPA
7. Land Use in the Watershed The land uses in the Bay watershed consist of high density residential, commercial and industrial areas of the Cities of Providence and Fall River and surrounding suburbs, as well as rural residential development and small commercial development, forestland, nurseries and other specialized crops, small vegetable farms, a few dairies, and small livestock operations with pasture and hayland. Land Cover/Land Use Cropland 8,767 acres 4% Pastureland 4,283 2% Forestland 56,453 27% Other open land 5,078 2% Water/Wetlands/Shrub 22,347 11% Residential/urban/other 114,928 54% Source: nrcs, 1999
8. Everything affects everything else How does land use in the watershed affect water quality? What else that goes on in the watershed can have an effect?
9. Other impacts Air pollution, which can bring in pollutants from outside the watershed region Wildlife using the water bodies, such as excessive swan colonies in shallow reservoirs Quality of pipes and other infrastructure can affect quality at the faucet.
12. What do you think? Are we doing a good job of managing our water? Do you think our current methods are sustainable? What should change, and how can that change happen?
13. For Next Week define these terms Watershed Ecosystem Trophic levels Biomagnification
