WATCHING THE SNOW MELT
Watching the melting snow as we watch for signs of spring is a good starting point for thinking about our watershed. You are in a watershed. The accumulated snow around you melts and runs off over the surface or under the surface to a body of water.
All the area above and below the surface of the landscape that drains into a particular body of water such as a lake, river, stream, or wetland is the watershed of that body of water. Watersheds come in all shapes and sizes. For example, the Mississippi River watershed drains one million square miles and is made up of thousands of smaller watersheds. A smaller watershed drains only a few acres of land into a small stream, which flows into a larger stream and then into a larger water body.
No water molecules are created or destroyed, just recycled. The earth's hydrologic cycle - evaporation, condensation, precipitation, runoff, and infiltration - provides for the continuous flow of water through the watershed and its bodies of water. We share our watershed with all the people, plants, and animals that live there. Our human activities create many challenges to maintaining the quality of the water.

1. Parking lots, streets, roads, and storm sewers allow runoff to enter directly to a body of water. Accumulated snow makes visible some of the sediment that will be carried with runoff.
2. Buildings and paved areas change the direction and rate of the water flow.
3. Construction sites, city streets, and planted fields allow runoff to carry sediment to streams, rivers, and lakes blocking out sunlight need to produce food for aquatic life. Sediment makes rivers more susceptible to flooding and, in roadside ditches, adds to the work of maintaining them.
4. Urban lawns and croplands have fertilizers and nutrients applied to them that, if they runoff with the water, promote algae growth and lead to oxygen depletion.
5. Septic systems, municipal sewer treatment systems, and small and large livestock facilities may release nutrients and bacteria into our water.
6. Construction of bridges and roads alters the natural drainage patterns increasing erosion.
7. Mining produces waste and other chemical byproducts, which are carried off by water.
8. Industry produces wastes that may be discharged into the air, into the ground, or directly into a body of water.

As we watch the snow melt and run off and winter flow into spring, we must challenge ourselves to manage our work and daily lives to have the least impact possible on our precious water supply. The Soil and Water Conservation District can provide technical assistance for good management of our natural resources. Visit www.stephensonswcd.org and “Ask Jim” if you have a question.

Della Moen, Earth Team Volunteer, NRCS/Stephenson Soil and Water Conservation District, an equal opportunity provider and employer, 02/17/10 (for publication on 02/20/10 in the Journal Standard, Freeport, Illinois) Della can be reached at info@stephensonswcd.org