What's a Watershed?

What’s a watershed? I’ve been told that 70 percent of people don’t know the answer to that question. For there to be clean water in our streams, rivers and lakes, it’s important that everyone does know, so I’ll tell you.

In simple terms, a watershed is the area of land both above and below ground that drains to a body of water. Water drains downhill until it reaches the stream, river or lake. Think of a funnel. Watersheds go from very small areas to very large ones, called basins. Most of you reading this probably live in some part of the Cannon River watershed. This watershed is about 941,000 acres and is made up of land in parts of six counties—Dakota, Goodhue, Rice, LeSueur, Waseca and Steele.

The Cannon River starts in Shields Lake, flows west, south then east to Faribault. The Straight River starts in Oak Glen Lake, then flows north to join the Cannon River in Faribault. After that, it is known as the Cannon River as it flows north then east to join the Mississippi River at Red Wing. Think about what the nearest water body to you is and that is the smaller scale or subwatershed you live in. 

It’s important to understand this concept because it helps us realize how we are all connected to something beyond our own yards, streets, farms, and towns. What we do in our watershed affects the water, people and wildlife downstream. It might be the oil dripping from our car that makes it to the local stream that kills some fish  or the fertilizer from our yard or field that cause algae blooms in the lake.

A bigger picture example is the nitrogen that makes it from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico and causes the hypoxic zone. Helping to solve these problems takes a group effort and begins with us all understanding that what we do in one area
ripples out beyond us.

So, I challenge you to find out what your watershed address is. If you don’t know, contact me at the Cannon River Watershed Partnership at beth@crwp.net and I’ll help you figure it out!