What you can do with this site
Learn about watersheds
Everyone lives in a watershed. A watershed is the area of land that drains into one particular stream or lake. We depend on reliable water sources for drinking, bathing, cooking, recreation and as a necessary resource for agriculture and manufacturing. Yet many of these same activities and uses can harm the watershed by changing how the river flows, how often and where it floods, and how clean it is. At this site and related sites, you can explore how people's activities can harm the watershed and how these activities can be managed to avoid such harm.
Find out how watershed quality is measured
Water quality can be measured in many ways. Here, you can explore what those measures are and what they can tell you about the water quality.
Look at what can be done to protect watersheds
It is very important to minimize the impact of development on watersheds. We can help maintain and protect the quality of watersheds by using best management practices (BMPs). You can learn about BMPs here and find out which are best suited for particular situations.
