California's Water: Facts on "We All Live in What Are Watersheds?"

What Are Watersheds?

• Watersheds are nature’s way of dividing up the landscape.
  
• In simplest terms, a watershed is defined as an area of land that captures rainfall and snowmelt, and then drains into the same place. That place may be a river, lake, estuary, wetland, stream, groundwater basin or even the ocean.
  
• The actions of people who live within a watershed affect the health of the water that drain into it.
  
• Watersheds come in all shapes and sizes. Some are millions of square miles, while others are just a few acres. Some (like the Mississippi River basin) are very large and include many smaller river basins or watersheds. These smaller watersheds can be subdivided into even smaller areas.
  
• Some watersheds cut across county, state and even international borders. Their area can encompass homes, farms, ranches, forests, small towns, big cities and more.
  
• Just as creeks drain into rivers, watersheds are nearly always part of a larger watershed.
  
• A watershed is a dynamic and unique place. It is a complex web of natural resources, including soil, water, air, plants and animals. We all rely on water and other natural resources to exist.
  
• Everyday activities within a watershed have an impact on its natural resources. Cities, homes, roads and factories modify the watershed and affect its natural resources. Farming, recreation, hydroelectricity generation, mining, construction and forestry can also significantly affect a watershed. All of these impacts ultimately affect our health, our environment, and our economy.
  

Why Are Watersheds Important?

• We all live in a watershed. Watersheds are the places we call home, where we work and where we play.
  
• Healthy watersheds are vital for a healthy environment and economy. Watersheds provide water for drinking, irrigation and industry as well as hydroelectric power for communities and businesses. They are also important to our recreational needs, providing opportunities to enjoy natural beauty as well as boating, fishing and swimming.
  
• Fish and wildlife also need healthy watersheds for food and shelter.
  
• In recent decades, many people have come to recognize that the best way to protect our vital natural resources is to understand and manage them on a watershed basis. When viewed this way, it’s easy to see that any action taken in a watershed can affect everyone and everything that is part of that watershed’s system.
  

Watersheds and Water Quality

• Scientists and water managers realize that protecting watersheds is one of the most effective ways to protect and maintain a clean water supply for people and the environment.

• In the past, most efforts to address water pollution focused on specific causes or locations such as industrial leaks or sewage discharge sites. Tremendous progress has been made over the past 30 years to detect and control these problems and prevent further pollution from so-called “point sources.”

• Today, much of the focus is on “non-point sources,” or pollution that results from a wide variety of activities over a wide area. These sources, which can be harder to identify and measure, can be difficult to control. Parking lots, construction sites, and water that drains from agricultural land or freeways are all sources of “non-point” pollutants that can affect the quality of our water supply.

• Watershed partnerships are emerging as a key way to address these water quality problems. With their focus on education and pollution prevention, these partnerships are proving to be more cost-effective than trying to clean up a polluted watershed or remove contaminants from drinking water supplies.

• Partnerships can include anyone who lives, works or recreates in the watershed. Likely members include landowners, homeowners, local businesses, developers, recreationists, local government agencies, elected officials, teachers, civic groups and environmental organizations.

• Partnerships can establish a sense of cooperation and help identify concerns, educate community members and encourage people to take action to protect their watershed.
  
• Watershed plans developed by local partnerships are often more effective and efficient than other methods such as broad sweeping regulations. The result is the improved environmental and economic health of a watershed.