Watershed Information
What is a watershed?
A watershed is nature’s boundary for water. It includes all the land that drains to a single stream, river, lake or body of water. Rainfall and snow melt flow into streams, rivers, wetlands, lakes and eventually to the ocean. Or, the water may travel through the soil to become groundwater. You may not realize it, but you are always in a watershed.
How big is a watershed?
Watersheds may be as small as just a few acres, or as large as several states. The watershed of the Mississippi River is about 1.2 million square miles and contains thousands of smaller watersheds. These smaller watersheds drain to smaller streams that empty into a larger river like the Ohio River or Missouri River. These larger rivers then empty into the Mississippi River.
What is a basin?
A basin is a large scale watershed. Kentucky 's 12 basins have been grouped into seven management areas. Each management area has a basin coordinator and River Basin Team. The basin coordinators serve as a point of contact for addressing clean water issues in individual basins.
What watershed/basin do you live in?
The Kentucky Watershed Viewer is an online mapping tool that enables Kentuckians to locate the watershed they live in.
Who is the basin coordinator for the watershed you live in? Click on map to view printable PDF version.
Resources:
Please note: The following is a list of resources and web sites related to watersheds. This list is by no means complete and is frequently updated. Some web sites to which these materials provide links are not managed by the University of Kentucky. The University does not review, control or take responsibility for the content of those sites. Many of the resources are in PDF format.
- Displays
- Educational Materials
- Publications
This page is maintained by Ashley Osborne.
Email questions or comments to ashley.osborne@uky.edu.
Last updated: 01/16/2008
