What is a Watershed?

A watershed is the surrounding land area that drains into a stream. Watersheds cover the entire land surface of the earth. Watersheds contain homes, neighborhoods, cities, forests, farmland, and more. Watersheds come in all shapes and sizes and can even cross state lines.

Smaller streams flow into larger rivers. Just like streams, smaller watersheds join together to form larger watersheds. Because we all live in a watershed, our actions directly impact our watershed. If there is pollution in your watershed, then your stream will get polluted from the runoff that drains into it.

Additional Resources

The Center for Watershed Protection has lots of resources and print materials on how you can help protect watersheds from pollution

Learn about North Carolina watersheds and get access to free watershed maps!

This Purdue University web site provides definitions, videos, and many other resources to learn more about watersheds

This website by the US Environmental Protection Agency has an interactive map to help you find out which watershed you live in and how to protect it