Do you know your watershed?
Do you know your watershed?WILX Blog Listing
Do you know your watershed?
Topic Author: Andy Provenzano
Posted: 3:25 PM Nov 19, 2009
Replies Posted: 0 comments
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Lansing-Jackson, MI
 
November 15-21 is Geography Awareness Week, a campaign led by National Geographic to increase knowledge about global geography.  The 2009 Awareness Week theme is mapping.
 
Earth Gauge: Your Watershed Address
Watersheds are areas of land in which all water drains into a common body of water. Because water does not obey political boundaries, watershed maps can cross county, state and even national lines. The size of a watershed can vary, but all bodies of water have one. You can think of watersheds like pieces of a puzzle; each one is part of a larger watershed “picture.” The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Watershed covers all or part of seven states and extends into Canada. Anytime a raindrop falls in one of these areas, that raindrop could eventually make its way to one of the Lakes.
 
Viewer Tip: Do you know your watershed address?
  • Surf your watershed: Enter your zip code to find out which watershed you live in. http://cfpub.epa.gov/surf/locate/index.cfm.
  • Explore your watershed: Take a walk or hike in your community and observe which way water travels. Watershed boundaries are usually the highest points of land from which water flows downhill. Where does rain water end up after it hits the ground? Where does your local stream or river lead?
  • Adopt your watershed: Become a volunteer water quality monitor or organize a trash cleanup. Learn more: http://www.epa.gov/adopt/.
(Sources: USGS. "Science in Your Watershed." http://water.usgs.gov/wsc/map_index.html; US EPA, www.epa.gov/adopt)
 
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