WATERSHED

ENGR. ROEL P. BACUD

A watershed is an area of land that
drains rain water or snow into one
location such as a stream, lake or
wetland. These water bodies supply our
drinking water, water for agriculture and
manufacturing, offer opportunities for
recreation and provide habitat to numerous
plants and animals. Unfortunately various
forms of pollution, including runoff and
erosion, can interfere with the health of the
watershed. Therefore, it is important to
protect the quality of our watershed. 
A watershed is simply the geographic
area through which water flows across
the land and drains into a common body
of water, whether a stream, river, lake,
or ocean. The watershed boundary will
more or less follow the highest ridgeline
around the stream channels and meet at
the bottom or lowest point of the land
where water flows out of the watershed,
the mouth of the waterway.  
Much of the water comes from
rainfall and stormwater runoff. The
quality and quantity of stormwater is
affected by all the alterations to the
land--mining, agriculture, roadways,
urban development, and the
activities of people within a
watershed. Watersheds are usually
separated from other watersheds by
naturally elevated areas.
• Why are watersheds
important?
Watersheds are important because the
surface water features and stormwater runoff
within a watershed ultimately drain to other
bodies of water.  It is essential to consider
these downstream impacts when developing
and implementing water quality protection
and restoration actions. Everything upstream
ends up downstream. We need to remember
that we all live downstream and that our
everyday activities can affect downstream
• WHY DO WE NEED HEALTHY
WATERSHEDS?
Watersheds sustain life, in more ways than
one.  According to the Environmental
Protection Agency, more than $450 billion
in foods, fiber, manufactured goods and
tourism depend on clean, healthy
watersheds. That is why proper watershed
protection is necessary  to you and your
community.
Watershed protection is a means of
protecting a lake, river, or stream by
managing the entire watershed that drains
into it. Clean, healthy watersheds depend
on an informed public to make the right
decisions when it comes to the
environment and actions made by the
community.
Watershed Components
• Watershed is the area of land that
contributes water to a particular watercourse.
• Divide marks the high point of land that
separate one watershed from another.
• Headwaters are the upper limits of the
watershed.
• Tributaries are smaller branches of
watercourse that join together to make larger
sections of the river.
• Wetlands are permanently or seasonally
inundated lands.
• Wetlands are permanently or seasonally
inundated lands.
• Channel is the normal area that the river
occupies.
• Floodplain is the area on either side of the
watercourse that may be covered by water
in times of high flow.
• Confluence is where a branch of the
watercourse joins the main channel.
• Mouth marks the end of the watercourse at
a body of water, usually a lake or the sea.
 WHY WE NEED TO PROTECT OUR WATERSHEDS?

Earth is covered in 70% water and unfortunately

40-50% of our nation's waters are impaired or
threatened.  "Impaired" means that the water body
does not support one or more of its intended uses. This
could mean that the water is not suitable to drink,
swim in or to consume the fish that was caught there.
The leading causes of pollution in our waterways are
sediments, bacteria (such as E. coli) and 
excess nutrients (such as nitrogen and phosphorus).
 Although nutrients sound like things that belong in a healthy
environment, they can cause big problems in a poorly managed
watershed. For instance, sediment can suffocate fish by clogging
their gills and the presence of bacteria alone can indicate that
other viruses and germs can be found in the water as well. 

Erosion, runoff of animal waste and overflowing of

combined sewers are just a few ways these pollutants
reach our waters.
Watershed Management

Management of the environment has been primarily

focussed on specific issues such as air, land, and water. 
Most efforts have resulted in decreasing pollutant
emissions to air and water, improved landfills,
remediation of  waste sites and contaminated
groundwater, protection of rare and endangered
species, design of best management practices to
control water and contaminant runoff, and much more. 
What is still a continuing problem for our waters are nonpoint
source pollution and habitat degradation.  These are the
problems that are responsible for most of the water quality use
impairments throughout.  These are typically complex problems
that are difficult to manage.  Both nonpoint pollution and habitat
degradation generally cross program purviews.  To establish a
method to tackle these remaining problems managements must
come together to better understand the interactions between
the environmental components and the actions that can be
taken by all towards the goal of ecosystem integrity.