What is a Watershed Webquest?

Name:

Access the following link and answer the questions:

http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/watershed.html

1. What is a watershed? An area of land where all the water that falls in it and drains off of it
goes to a common outlet.

2. Watersheds can vary in size. True/False True

3. What type of watershed is shown in the map? National 8-digit hydrologic units

4. The word watershed is sometimes used interchangeably with or .Drainage basin or

catchment

5. Ridges and hills that separate two watersheds are called the . Drainage divide

6. What does watershed consist of? surface water

7. Larger watersheds contain many smaller watersheds. It all depends on the outflow
point .

8. What is the outflow point? The watershed for that outflow location

9. Why are watersheds important? Streamflow and the water quality of a river are affected by
thing, human-induced or not, happening in the land area above the river-outflow point.

A Watershed is a precipitation collector:

1. Name 6 factors that determine how much of the streamflow will flow by the monitoring site?
Precipitation, Infiltration, Evaporation, Transportation, and Storage.
2. What is the greatest factor controlling streamflow?
Precipitation
3. The amount of water that will infiltrate (soak in over time) depends on which four characteristics?
Soil characteristics, Soil saturation, Land cover, and Slope of the Land.
4. Water from rainfall returns to the atmosphere largely through . Evaporation

5. The root systems of plants absorb water from the surrounding soil in various amounts through the
process of . Transpiration

6.

Reservoirs store water and increase the amount of water that evaporates and infiltrates.

River Basins of N.C.:

http://www.eenorthcarolina.org/riverbasins-interactive.html
Choose one of the NC. River Basins and list out 10 facts about the one you
investigate. Also include one picture that best represents a main feature of
the River Basin.
1.

The Neuse River is the longest river in North Carolina

2.

At the mouth it is the widest river in America- 6 miles across

3.

Feeds one of nations largest and most productive coastal estuaries,

the Neuse has played a prominent role in the states fishing history

4.

The River is home to many species of freshwater mussels and two rare
aquatic snail species

5.

Two of these mussels, the dwarf Wedgemussel and Tar River

Spinymussel, are federally listed as endangered

6.

Water quality in the Neuse river Basin is being affected by point source
pollution from the more than 400 sites that are allowed to discharge
treated wastewater into streams and rivers.

7.

Rules require property owners to protect 50-fees strips of land covered

with trees, shrubs and other vegetation along streams, rivers, lakes
and estuaries

8. Deep rooted plants to prevent soil erosion and filter out nutrients