E- Activity

Activity 3
Watershed characteristics

Characteristics of Watersheds. A watershed is an area of land that forms the

drainage system for a stream or river. This area collects surface water from
land within specific topographic boundaries (such as hills, valleys,
mountains, and other landscape characteristics).

What is a watershed?

Characteristics of Watersheds

A watershed is an area of land that forms the drainage system for a

stream or river.

This area collects surface water from land within specific topographic
boundaries (such as hills, valleys, mountains, and other landscape
characteristics).

Watersheds are characterized by the location

of the pour-point, or mouth, of the main flow of
water to which all the other points of flow join
and eventually drain from the watershed. Some of
the rainfall in the area of a watershed will flow on top of the ground or find
its way via underground water paths to the stream in the watershed. Some of
the water will evaporate into the atmosphere, be used by people or plants, or
be held in the soil or underground. Watersheds are very dynamic places
becoming alternately wet and dry, due to high water and low rainfall
conditions, with many differences in quality and flow depending upon the
season, the year, and even with what happens during an individual storm.
This is best illustrated by examining the components of the hydrologic cycle.

Within a watershed, activities on the land

interact with the natural hydrologic cycle.
Important nutrients and chemicals are
circulated throughout the watershed's system
and supply a basic nutritional source for both
aquatic (fish, aquatic insects, etc.) and
terrestrial (birds, small mammals, etc.)
species. People also use these environments
to grow food, build their homes and
businesses, and travel from one place to
another. Where and how these human
activities occur have major impacts on the
movement of water, water quality, and the
quality of the natural habitat which remains.
Ideally, we wish to have watersheds that
continue to function as healthy ecosystems
and serve as productive systems for people .

Many different attributes are needed to

maintain a high quality, biotically rich,
functioning watershed. Healthy watersheds
provide stable habitats for both biological
diversity and human recreational uses . These
stable systems are capable of adapting to
environmental changes over time and are good
indicators of the quality of the surrounding
habitat . The following characteristics are critical for a healthy
watershed:

Riparian Habitat & Protected

Banks

Riparian areas, areas along stream banks, are covered by transitional

vegetation and act as buffers between a waterway and the surrounding area.
These grasses, forbs, and trees reduce bank erosion by anchoring the soil.
These buffer areas also function as a wildlife corridor and enable safer and
more efficient wildlife migrations.

Good Water Quality

Good watersheds usually function best with low turbidity, minimal suspended
sediment in the water, and infrequent shifts in water levels. Frequency and
intensity of fluctuating water levels are also very important considerations.

Adequate Shade

A riparian canopy provides structure and shade, which decreases the amount
of penetrable sunlight. This decrease results in less extreme temperature
gradients of the surface and sub-surface water. Cooler water can hold more
oxygen for aquatic species to use.

Meanders
Meanders in a river are turns in the banks that result in a winding course for
the waterway. These meanders slow the water down and allow for deposition
of sediment and other suspended material on their banks. As healthy rivers
and streams age, they will naturally form more meanders.

Biological Diversity

Biodiversity is extremely valuable to both the natural order of the system and
human recreation and non-consumptive uses. Different types of internal
habitat and structure diversity, such as pool and riffle sequences and
vegetation, also help to diversify the system and provide for increased
stability.

Best Management Practices

Best management practices (BMPs) are
effective practices that act to reduce the
nonpoint pollution load in water systems and
decrease the velocity of runoff after storm
events. These practices are usually created
and maintained for long-term use and coincide
with the local water quality standards for a
particular area . Selection and suitability of a
BMP should be based on: site specific
conditions, type of land use activity, the
physical makeup of the watershed, and
consideration of the pollutant(s) involved .

Conservation Tillage and No-Till

Conservation tillage is an agricultural BMP that provides long-term crop

residues and vegetation on croplands. This practice greatly reduces erosion
and surface runoff of heavy metals and pesticides, which may reside in
higher concentrations in the surrounding soil. No-plow is a similar practice
that minimizes the spring influx of sediment into nearby waters by anchoring
the soil to the plant root systems. Either way, by retaining crop residue and
vegetative cover, this practice reduces time and energy on the farmer, it
delays the warming and drying of the soil, and overall maintains a higher
quality of soil.

Contour strip cropping

Various rowcrops and hay in alternating strips planted side-by-side can

reduce soil loss of about 50% compared to the same rotation contoured on
its own. This practice is effective in that it provides rotated crops in different
parts of the soil which act to strengthen the soil characteristics over time by
not continually depleting the resource based on a monoculture. This process
also decreases erosion and runoff and increases the stability of the local
soil.

Livestock Husbandry

Simple practices can be implemented to offset livestock impacts on nearby

streams and rivers. By providing an alternative water source, for example,
livestock would not be forced to wade in the streams and therefore would

not be as likely to contribute to excess nutrient input from wastes. Large

concentrations of wastes can speed up
eutrophication of a stream, which will
eventually decrease the effectiveness of the
watershed's sustainability . Another effect of
livestock in waterways is the increased
potential for erosion by streambank
deterioration from trampling and compaction .
An alternative to better manage for the
watershed could include creating a bridge to
connect pastures where the animals can easily
cross the stream without directly interacting
with the water system .

Urban and Suburban

Vegetative Buffers
Filter Strips

Filter strips are wide areas of vegetation that act to intercept runoff. They
can consist of any type of dense vegetation from woodlands to grass and can
remove various pollutants, such as heavy metals, sediment loads, and
excess organic materials.

Grassed Swales
Swales are shallow channel depressions
where runoff flows . These swales slow the flow
of the runoff water and allow particulates to
settle out and water to infiltrate into the soil.
These swales can effectively remove small
amounts of excess nutrients and heavy metals .

Constructed Wetlands

Constructed wetlands are often used in

mitigation of other areas that lost wetlands
due to development. Both natural and
constructed wetland areas are saturated for
sufficient time periods and are able to support
unique vegetation adapted for life in such
conditions. Wetlands are extremely efficient in
filtering sediment, nutrients, and some heavy
metals from storm water runoff and overflow of
nearby water systems.

Stormwater Retention

Structures are often built in residential areas to alleviate stormwater runoff

and retain or detain precipitation from storm events. Detention ponds are
basins that temporarily store runoff from a site and release it at a controlled
rate to minimize downstream flooding. These ponds are quite effective for
pollutant removal, especially suspended sediments, if well designed.

Infiltration Trenches

These trenches are shallow, usually three to

eight feet deep, and backfilled with gravel to
create underground reservoirs . Runoff,
therefore, is diverted to the trenches and
percolates into the subsoil. Such a practice
effectively removes sediments and similar
particles from stormwater runoff. This practice
is commonly used in both commercial and
residential areas .

Short-term Construction

Construction sites, while under development, can implement

many BMPs to reduce runoff, decrease pollutant loads to nearby water

systems, and decrease the amount of soil washed from the site . Simple
practices, such as setting up straw bales, silt
fences, or even filter fabrics can act to slow
runoff and retain sediment during storm events .
Other practices, such as sediment basins to
detain runoff or stabilizing entrances of
construction, further decrease sediment and
pollutant runoff.
Maintenance Practices
Citizens, commercial businesses, and even local and state agencies can
implement and maintain efficient BMPs by taking the conservative approach
to many everyday landscaping events. For example, sufficiently seeding
grass to promote long-term stabilization of soil surfaces and planting
wildflower cover (a practice used by many highway departments to provide
aesthetically pleasing vegetation along roadways) greatly reduces the
potential for erosion by securing the surfaces with plant roots. Other
practices such as sodding and mulching can also be applied and have similar
effective results.