Animation 3 Managing Your Watershed

Watersheds do a great job of storing and draining water. But when it comes to keeping that water filtered and clean, and also managing the amount of water that spills into and over it, watersheds can only do so much. It is up to all of us to help take care of the land that surrounds watersheds, and of the amount and quality of the water that runs through it.

Watch this animation to learn about ways you can help to manage your watershed. As you watch, pay special attention to the three orange circles that appear around the 50-second mark. The words in those circles indicate three very important strategies for watershed management.

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Managing Your Watershed: Transcript

Your local watershed plays a huge part in your local water--streams, ponds, and even that lemonade you like to drink. But the quality of that water depends in large part on how we manage our watershed.

What we put on the ground of our watershed, whether it's fertilizer, oil, chemicals, or even dog (ahem) shenanigans, it all gets into our local waters. And what we do on the ground in our watershed, whether it's building roads, or moving dirt from here to there, can cause waterways to get clogged up. All of this affects the quality of of our local H₂0.

We also need to consider the quantity of water in our watershed. Too much too quickly, caused by hurricanes, downpours and even snowmelts, can cause erosion and flooding. Too little, and you have a drought.

So we, as "livers of the land" and "users of the water," need to manage the quality and quantity of our water as best we can. If we take care of this resource by planting rain gardens, keeping trash and pollution in its proper place, and curbing excess erosion, we can all enjoy (and drink!) the water for years to come.

Take Notes

When you watched the video, did you see the three circles that list three strategies for watershed management? If you did, list them here: