Check out my new article in the local paper on the Connecticut River Valley watershed!
It explains what a watershed is, provides some geological and historical details about the this region in particular, and links to the Connecticut River Watershed Council’s Source-to-Sea cleanup. Here’s a preview of the article:
If you’re like I was a few years ago, you may be wondering, “What is a watershed, anyway?”
In fact, the word “shed” is quite descriptive of this geographic phenomenon. Much like rain cascading down one side or another from a shed’s roof, a watershed can be thought of as a geographic area defined by ridges of high ground that determine which direction water travels en route to a major basin, river or ocean.
A large watershed can encompass many smaller watersheds. For instance, the largest watershed on any given continent is defined by the continental divide. In North America, the continental divide runs along the crest of the Rocky Mountains. Broadly speaking, rivers to the west of the Rocky Mountains flow to the Pacific Ocean, and rivers to the east flow to the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic Ocean.
Of course, within these enormous watersheds are many smaller regional and local watersheds. The dominant regional watershed in our area is the Connecticut River Valley, whose drainage basin encompasses five states, one Canadian province and 11,260 square miles.
Approximately 410 miles long and passing through New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut, the Connecticut is the longest river in New England. It starts at a small pond known as the Fourth Connecticut Lake…
If you are interested in improving the Connecticut River’s water quality, see here for details and updates on this year’s Source-to-Sea cleanup. (As of last year, the cleanup project had removed almost 900 TONS of trash from the watershed over the last 18 years!) It’s not too late to jump in – the cleanup runs through the end of the day today! See you there!