By, Janet Hooks

WATERSHEDS

Watershed:

The land area that supplies water to a RIVER SYSTEM

* Can also be called a DRAINAGE BASIN

Appalachian

Mountains

Yadkin

North Carolina Sounds

To Gulf of Mexico

DIVIDES:• Boundary lines that DIVIDE one

watershed from another. • They are areas of high elevation

compared to the other land around them.• Examples: tops of

mountain ranges, ridgelines, & hilly areas.

• At the top of a divide, the water must flow DOWNHILL to one side or the other because of GRAVITY

• Eventually, the water reaches rivers and flows out to a large body of water like a bay, gulf, or ocean.

RIVER SYSTEM:A large river with all of its

tributaries(smaller streams

that feed water into a large

river)

UNITED STATES WATERSHEDS The largest watershed in

the United States is the Mississippi River Watershed.

The Rocky Mountains (also called the Continental Divide) are the western boundary of this watershed.

Two other major U.S. Watersheds are:~ Columbia River Watershed~ Colorado River Watershed*See the map on page

201 in your textbook

It drains into the Gulf of Mexico.

The Appalachian Mountains are the eastern boundary.

VIRGINIA WATERSHEDS - About HALF of Virginia’s land drains water into

the Chesapeake Bay!

Hampton lies in the Bay Coastal Watershed

Appalachian

Mountains

Yadkin

North Carolina Sounds

To Gulf of Mexico

- Virginia’s smallest watershed is the Yadkin watershed

* Hampton is in the Chesapeake Bay watershed!