Why Are Watersheds Important

Did you know that watersheds are all around us? You're in a watershed everywhere you go.Most watersheds include streams, rivers, land areas, and any other type of land you go to. We also live in a watershed, and our backyard is one too. Watersheds are very important in our daily lives. ‘What is a watershed?’ You may ask well, think of a watershed as a funnel that drains the water into the nearest body of water. Most of the water comes from rain and runoff from storms. Why are watersheds so important? They’re important because most of the water in a watershed drains into a body of water; Ocean, sea or basin.This means that if there's any pollutants, in the watershed water, then it will drain into those bodies of water and pollute the water.
Nutrients may sound like a good thing, but too many nutrients can cause many problems. For example, sediments can suffocate the fish, when the sediments get clogged in their gills, it cuts off their oxygen and kills them. This can eventually lead the population to die off. Bacteria can do the same, but also harm the water too. The bacteria can spread quickly from fish to fish, but it can also spread to the water and make it unhealthy. Different human pollutants in watersheds include soil, toxic waste, fertilizers, oil spills, landfills, industries, farms, pesticides and chemicals. Even animal waste can pollute water if washed in. Natural occurrences include acid rain, runoff from roads, lawns and etc. Watersheds can be harmed when people change the water’s direction. This can lead to flooding. Why would flooding be a problem? Flooding is an obvious problem. Flooding is one of the most common natural disasters in the US. Flooding can cause many problems including economical, environmental and problems with humans. Flooding can cause thousands, even billions of dollars in damaged. Flooding can also cause a lot of water to come down at once. This means that the water will not have time to soak into the ground, which leads to runoff. This can lead to many dangerous chemicals flowing into bodies of water, which leads to the water getting contaminated, with toxic chemicals . That
We can protect our watersheds by conserving water. You can conserve water by taking shorter showers, fixing leaks or turning off water when you’re not using it. If you’re a farmer or a gardener than don’t use many fertilizers and avoid pesticides. Try using fertilizers that don’t have much nitrogen in them, nitrogen can contaminate the soil. You could also get plants that don’t take much fertilizers. When the soil is contaminated then the water in the soil is contaminated also. Plant a tree. Trees can increase oxygen and decrease runoff. If you have toxic chemicals or hazardous wastes such as paints, pesticides, motor oil, cleaning products and more, try to dispose of it properly. If you are digging in your yard then avoid leaving loose/bare soil in the yard. This will keep the sediments and soil out of rivers, lakes and streams. If you have a dog you may want to pick up after