What is a watershed?

It is the area of land that drains into streams and rivers.

How to make a watershed model

How do they become polluted?

• Point source pollution
  
• litter
• trash dumping
• factory
• power plant
  
  
• Non-point source pollution
  • acid rain
  • fecal matter
  • agriculture
  • urban runoff

How do we monitor watersheds?

• benthic macroinvertebrates - organisms without a backbone and able to see with the visible eye, and they live on the stream bottom.
  • sensitive
  • somewhat sensitive
  • not sensitive

More information can be found at http://www.people.virginia.edu.

• Save Our Streams
  • materials
    

Why do we monitor watersheds?

• acceptable vs. unacceptable ecological condition

• increase and sustain biodiversity
  • 6-Tier food web
    
• reach fishable and swimmable waters again
  
• they are in everybody's backyard

Questions:

• What helps in monitoring the health of watershed communities?
• Describe one macroinvertebrate that is somewhat sensitive to the level of water pollution.
• How can water communities become polluted?