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WHAT IS A WATERSHED

 

No matter where you live or play, you're in a watershed! So what is it?

 

A watershed is an area of land where all the water (surface and groundwater) flows to the lowest point - usually a stream, lake or river. 

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Watersheds come in all shapes and sizes. They cross county, state, and national boundaries. In the continental US, there are 2,110 watersheds; including Hawaii Alaska, and Puerto Rico, there are 2,267 watersheds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This description of a watershed was taken from the US EPA “What is a Watershed” website: http://www.epa.gov/owow/watershed/whatis.html

We refer to watersheds by their proper name as well as by a grouping of numbers. This set of numbers is called the watershed's Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC) also known as the watershed address. The HUC can range from 2 to 16 digits long - more numbers means it’s the address of a smaller watershed.  There are two different watersheds within the Palouse Conservation District:

 

HUC: 17060107- Lower Snake-Tucannon

 

Rivers and streams that make up the Lower Snake-Tucannon Watershed:

Wawawai Creek

Steptoe Creek

 

HUC:  17060108-Palouse

 

Rivers and stream that make up the Palouse Watershed:

Main Stem Palouse River (Union Flat Creek Subwatershed)

 Dry Creek

Thorn Creek

South Fork Palouse River

Missouri Flat Creek

Paradise Creek

Fourmile Creek

Sunshine Creek

 

North Fork Palouse River

Silver Creek

Clear Creek

Duffield Creek

Cedar Creek

 

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