All land on earth is a watershed. Humans and their activities play an important and essential role in watersheds, yet few know the dynamics and boundaries of the ones in which they live.
A watershed is a system. It is the land area from which water, sediment, and dissolved materials drain to a common watercourse or body of water. For each watershed there is a drainage system that conveys rainfall to its outlet. A watershed may be drainage area surrounding a lake that has no surface outlet, or a river basin as large as that of the Columbia River. Within a large watershed are many smaller watersheds that contribute to overall streamflow.
The point where two watersheds connect is called a divide. A watershed is drained by a network of channels that increase in size as the amount of water and sediment they must carry increases. Streams are dynamic, open-water systems with channels that collect and convey surface runoff generated by rainfall, snowmelt, or groundwater discharge to the estuaries and oceans. The shape and pattern of a stream is a result of the land it is cutting and the sediment it must carry.
Source: Oregon Fish and Wildlife-The Stream Scene
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