Watersheds Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Watersheds - Essay Example The watershed has a number of tributaries that drains in all of the states in America or to approximately 31 states within the United States of America between the Appalachian Mountains and the rocky extending to the southern regions of Canada. River Mississippi is ranked as the largest and the longest river in the world and it holds tenth and fourth positions in that order (Carluer and De Marsily 87). For long time watersheds have acted as an important framework for various scientific studies on the impacts of anthropogenic and natural phenomenon on both quantity and quality of water (Naiman 78). The effects of silvicultural and agriculture have been based on watersheds. Studies concerning watersheds have been conducted in places such as Coweeta in which the data collected have been used by researches to evaluate the effectiveness of various ecological regions. Most individuals are not aware about the source of their drinking water an aspect that means that they care less whether th e water they drink have been treated or not before they reach their homes. Additionally, people should be knowledge about the process used in treating the water that they consume. This is because clean water is important to life even though people have taken this fact for granted. Therefore this particular essay will analyze watershed within Mississipi River with an aim of helping the society to have a better understanding of scientific process and various forms of water resources. According to Carluer and De Marsily (95) a watershed is that particular area of land that drains into the lake, river, stream or other forms of water bodies. Moreover, watersheds can be small or large. For instance a small stream located in neighborhood may consist of a watershed. Nevertheless, the watershed of the Mississippi river covers approximately two thirds of the North America (Naiman 78). Figure 1: Mississippi watershed (Schertzer, 124) Put into consideration a small stream located at the top of the mountains. The watershed of this particular stream will comprise of few underground precipitation runoffs and springs coming from the lands that are above it. Hence the stream continues to flow down the hill; it flows to large water bodies including larger rivers, streams and even lakes before flowing into the oceans which accordingly have watersheds that are large. However, it is important to note that all watersheds both large and small have complex processes that in one way or the other impact on the quality of water coming out and utilized by the human population for various purposes. According to Sivapalan (2266) human beings does not only use water for the cleaning and cooking but also for drinking, cleaning and draining the waste systems. In order to achieve this treatment plants, dams and pipes have to be put into place for the purposes of treating water before and after it enters the homes of individuals in the society. Additionally, other structures should be put in pl ace for the purpose of transporting water. This is because in order for human beings to be free from infections, to be water too need free from all forms of pollution and safe for domestic use. This explains the importance of managing all the watersheds as they are the sources of water for human and animal populations. According Sivapalan (2268) most cities and towns have put in place plans for managing the watersheds with an aim of ensuring not only quantity but also quality of the water sources. Moreover, it is important to take note that as watersheds continue to develop; storm water continues to drain from areas such as buildings, parking lots, fields and even fields. Hence, the roadside ditches are designed in a particular manner to prevent the structures from flooding by ensuring