What human activities have effects on watersheds?

Construction projects like dams can limit the flow of water; construction of roads and buildings can divert and even increase the flow of water. Agricultural fertilizer can run off of crop fields and inadvertently harm microorganisms in rivers and lakes, having an adverse effect on water quality and marine life. The irresponsible disposal of household and industrial chemicals can be harmful because these chemicals travel through the watershed, poisoning life and damaging the ecosystem.

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1. What is a watershed?
2. Did you know that watersheds encompass lawns, parking lots and streets?
3. What human activities have effects on watersheds?
4. Did you know that watersheds can also have an effect on human life?
5. Are floods a major event in a watershed?
6. Can watersheds also become dry?
7. Did you know that stormwater produces water for our watersheds? What is stormwater and why does it matter?
8. Is stormwater runoff generated in more urban developed areas?
9. Why is stormwater runoff a problem?
10. Can polluted stormwater runoff have adverse effects?
11. Can pollutants on land reach waterbodies that are miles away?