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Why Should My Watershed Matter to Me?
Steve Tonn, Extension Educator – Omaha Metro Area Lakes

We all live in a watershed. It doesn’t matter how far you live from a stream, creek, lake, pond or river, you live in a watershed. A watershed is an area of land from which all water drains to a shared stream, creek, pond, lake or river. While many folks may not always realize it, they place a high value on healthy watersheds.

There are many different reasons why watersheds are important. Without a healthy watershed, problems such as increased flooding, drinking water contamination, loss of natural areas and wildlife, closure of recreational areas, and reduced or eliminated recreational opportunities can occur.

Water is an essential element for sustaining life, touching all physical, chemical and biological features of nature. Rivers, streams and lakes are the “lifeblood” of our environment. When waterways are polluted, we know the system is in need of repair. When waterways are healthy, we know the environment can support a diversity of plant and animal species. An adequate water supply and the biological diversity that the world’s waters support are the key to a sustainable future for all creatures, including humans.

Everyone lives in a watershed; consequently, everyone affects the health of their watershed through simple daily activities. The most important person in the watershed is the suburban and rural landowner, who individually lords over a few hundred square feet, but cumulatively dominates the watershed. Individual activities that have watershed impacts include: dumping used oil down a sewer; over-fertilizing lawns and gardens; applying sand and chemicals to driveways and sidewalks; over – irrigating lawns and/or misapplication; removing vegetation such as plants, trees and grasses along creeks and streams, around ponds, lakes and rivers; improperly disposing of litter and pet waste; inadequately maintaining septic tanks, blowing grass clippings and leaves into the street; washing cars in the driveway; hosing off driveways; or draining downspouts onto paved surfaces. At the community level, land and water uses such as residential and commercial development, hosing off parking lots, recreational activities, and agricultural development all impact water quality. As members of communities, our individual actions affect the watersheds where we live, and as community members we also directly and indirectly create community –level watershed impacts.

Caring about your watershed is the first step in protecting this important feature of our environment. Developing a watershed ethic and putting it into practice is the next step. Minimizing our collective impact on the watershed, changing our behaviors and practices, playing an active stewardship role by advocating better local watershed protection and working to restore degraded streams, ponds, lakes and rivers are important steps in practicing the watershed ethic.