what is a watershed?

Question

what is a water shed search me a picture of it somewhere from the websites. and plz explain in detail.
thanx

Watersheds come in all shapes and sizes. They cross county, state, and national boundaries. No matter where you are, you're in a watershed!

YOU ARE IN A WATER SHED????????HOW I COULD NOT UNDERSTAND PLZ EXPLAIN ME!

Answer 1

A watershed, or drainage basin, is the total land area that is drained through a network of tributaries into a main waterway. Turn the word ‘watershed’ backwards and you get ‘shed water,’ which sounds more like the meaning of this word: a watershed refers to the land area that ‘sheds’ its water into a body of water. Water is always moving in a downward direction, so when precipitation falls to the ground, the water will either soak into the ground or flow across the surface toward the closest body of water as runoff. The lay of the land determines the direction water moves through and across the ground. Ridgelines, easy to identify on topographic maps, define the boundaries between watersheds.

Everywhere you go, you are in a watershed. Step into your backyard and consider the closest body of water to your home. In Prince William County, most of our homes are close to a stream or pond. Water, the universal solvent, is the vehicle by which pollutants and garbage from our yards and streets travel to our waterways. The amount of surface water, and the accompanying pollutant loads, that runs off is determined by a variety of factors, such as climate, vegetation, topography, geology, land use and soil characteristics.

As the groundwater or surface water travels, pollutants and sediments attach to the water molecules. These pollutants also travel to the next closest body of water. Pollutants originating from a single source, such as a pipe, that you can ‘point your finger’ toward are referred to as point source pollution. point source pollution is regulated by federal, state and local laws.

Nonpoint source pollution refers to pollutants that come from a multitude of sources. Nationwide, nonpoint source pollution is the major contributor to water quality problems. Nonpoint Source Pollution comes from a variety of human activities, including applications of fertilizers and pesticides, metals and oils from cars, household chemicals, erosion from construction sites and other land clearing activities, stormwater runoff from urban areas and sewage system overflow. We all contribute to nonpoint source pollution. Often we don’t understand how our activities affect local waterways. How we use and dispose of household or yard chemicals can make a difference. Although we may be small contributors individually, the cumulative impact from all residents in a watershed has a big effect. Everyone counts. And sometimes accidents happen. For example, one gallon of spilled motor oil can pollute up to two million gallons of water. .

Your watershed is made up of a network of connected waterways. Watersheds come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Within the watershed boundary, the network of creeks and streams shows a branching pattern. This defines the path water and pollutants from your yard, or a parking lot, travel to larger creeks and even larger rivers. Waterways that always flow, even during periods with little or no rain, called perennial. Much of the water flowing in perennial streams comes from groundwater. The smallest perennial stream in the network is called a ‘first order’ stream, First order streams are located in the upper portions of a watershed, the headwaters. When two first order streams meet to form a larger waterway, this larger stream is called a ‘second order’ stream.

Water in the stream channel moves with a corkscrew-like pattern and at different rates of speed. The water close to the stream bottom is slowed by friction, while water close to the surface flows more quickly. Where the stream curves, the faster flowing water at the surface pushes against the outer bank causing erosion of this area. The slower water near the bottom of the stream moves toward the inner bank, where it drops some of its sediments and silt. This simultaneous erosion of the outer bank and sedimentation at the inner bank results in the meandering shape we see in healthy creeks and rivers

picture a a watershed on the following website

Answer 2

A watershed marks the boundary of the catchment of a river or static water body. A good example would the the ridge of a hill - water falling as rainfall on one wide of the ridge will flow towards one stream or river, whilst water on the opposite side of the ridge will flow in the opposite direction.

Answer 3

Good question.The watershed is defined by the terrain. It is essentially a drainage area where the water is allowed to settle and percolate into the ground and subsequently into the watertable. Valleys are normally watersheds.

Answer 4

A watershed is a body of water used to extract water for the public.
The water is purified and distributed.

Answer 5

9pm till 6am but i don't think it really counts these days, what makes me laugh is ITV1 in the afternoon they show midsomer murders with John Nettles, the other day they showed it at about 3-4pm in the afternoon there was a murder but that was no surprise but then there was also sex a naked body found dead and showing scenes of a stabbing with garden shears, all that time of the afternoon it did not bother me at 22 years old and i had seen it before anyway but anyone could be watching that time of the afternoon but when it went out originally it was on at 9 -10pm so who ever thought that was suitable for day time TV i don't know.