Introduction
A watershed is an area of land from which all runoff (rain water) drains, or 'sheds' to the same river, lake, or other body of water. Everyone lives in a watershed. The watersheds in Dallas, Texas are part of the Trinity River Basin Watershed. This basin eventually drains into the Gulf of Mexico! The Trinity Basin is the largest river basin whose water-shed area is entirely within the State of Texas and the third largest river in Texas.
When water falls to Earth, some water soaks into the ground becoming part of groundwater. Gravity causes some of it to flow downhill as surface water instead of soaking into the ground. This is called runoff. (Water running off of the land)
Task
Complete the handout with your partner.
- What is a watershed? What is your local watershed?
- Where will the rain water in Dallas end up?
- What is an aquifer?
- What is potable water?
- What is groundwater?
- What is surface water? Provide examples.
- Explain how groundwater and surface water are related.
- Explain why we should reduce the amount of pollutants in our watershed.
- How much water is accessible on the Earth’s surface?
- What are some natural causes of water pollution?
- What are some human causes of water pollution?
Process
Watershed Videos
Websites
https://kera.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/ket09.sci.ess.water.wshed/what-is-a-watershed/
http://www.mbgnet.net/fresh/rivers/shed.htm
https://fergusonfoundation.org/hbf-kids-zone/ways-of-a-watershed/
Evaluation
Completion of the handout.
Conclusion
Watersheds are important because the surface water features and storm water 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 waters. Watersheds provide us with our drinking water supply.