Watersheds
Watersheds
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An area of land where all precipitation (water that falls from the sky-rain, snow, hail, sleet, etc) drains to one single point is a watershed.
You can think of it as a big bathtub where all the water no matter where sprayed in the tub will end up going down the same drain!
Let's take a look at our watershed!
Let's take a look at our watershed!
Major US Watersheds
Major US Watersheds
This map shows the various major watersheds of our country.
Based on the map above, what watershed do you live in?
Based on the map above, what watershed do you live in?
Great Lakes! If you look closely you can see that we sit here in Northwest Indiana at the very southern edge of our watershed.
Indiana actually lies in 3 different major watersheds!
Indiana's Watersheds
Indiana's Watersheds
Above are the watersheds that drain to the major rivers/lakes in Indiana.
Above are the smaller watersheds that can be broken down within Indiana draining to smaller rivers/lakes.
Watersheds can be massive or narrowed down to smaller areas of land.
Watersheds can be massive or narrowed down to smaller areas of land.
The biggest watershed perimeters are Continental Divides.
The biggest watershed perimeters are Continental Divides.
Divisions made by elevation, mountains, and rivers that separate where water flows.
You can see all the continental divides in the US on the map to the right.
Our area is separated by the St. Lawrence Continental Divide!
The Great Divide, seen above in both maps, is the continental divide that divides the water that drains in the United States to the Pacific Ocean or Atlantic Ocean.
West of the divide drains to the Pacific Ocean. East of the divide drains to the Atlantic Ocean.
The Great Divide sits on the Rocky Mountains here and down to the Andes Mountains in South America.
Check your watershed out here!
Check your watershed out here!
Click the image to learn about the quality of your watershed by putting in your location and reading more.
Check out other ways to divide Earth
Check out other ways to divide Earth
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