The answer is "YES"
No matter where you live, city or country, next to a lake or far away on a hill-top, we all live in a watershed. Watersheds are places we call home, where we drive, where we work, and where we play.

The first syllable of the word is essential to its meaning, but a watershed is not simply a body of water. In fact, you don't even have to see a stream or lake to be in its watershed.

A watershed is the total area of land that drains into a stream, river or lake. A good analogy is that of a bathtub. The top rim of the tub could be the hilltop, the sides are the slopes, the bottom is the valley, and the drain represents the lake. Anything poured inside the tub ends up down the drain. The water poured closest to the drain gets to there first, but all of the water eventually reaches the same destination.

Likewise, when the snow melts or when it rains you may notice that the topography of the land around you determines how quickly the water runs. Some rainwater seeps into the ground and becomes groundwater, some evaporates, and the rest runs downhill into our wetlands, streams, rivers and lakes.

One place that clearly demonstrates how water moves across land is on a parking lot. Next time it rains, notice how the water appears to move in sheets down to the sewer drain or low spot. That sheet is the runoff of a small segment of the watershed.

How does the land affect the water?

Scientists now recognize that the best way to protect waterways is to understand and manage them on a watershed-wide basis. The reason is that everything done in a watershed affects the water quality within it.

In the past, most water quality problems were traced to the most obvious cause--point source pollution. This means the problem can be traced to a specific location such as a pipe or disposal site.

However, water quality problems from non-point sources are more difficult to isolate. These sources are often hard to pinpoint and more complicated to measure because this type of pollution results from a wide variety of activities over a wide area (e.g. lawn chemical use, septic systems, agricultural practices).

The water at the top of the hill may be "clean", but as it flows over the land it carries sediments and other materials with it. The closer the water gets to the lake and the more land it flows over, the more pollutants it collects and carries.

Why are WATERSHEDS important?

Clean lakes and rivers are vital to a healthy environment and economy. Our watersheds provide water for drinking, agriculture, and industry. Many people also enjoy lakes and streams for their beauty and for boating, fishing and swimming. Wildlife also needs healthy watersheds for food and shelter.

Study after study has shown that clean water is vital to economic prosperity and healthy, thriving communities.

The "personality" of a watershed

No two watersheds are the same. They come in different sizes, shapes and contents. Social, demographic and economic characteristics, as well as historical experiences, all influence the character of a watershed. So a watershed is not just the land--it's the people too.

However, watersheds are similar in that they are all complex. They do not follow political boundaries. In the Cayuga Lake watershed, for example, there are 6 counties, 40 towns/villages, and roughly 120,000 residents within the 722 square mile land area.

Because of the size of some watersheds, they are often broken down into subwatersheds for management purposes. Like a piece to a puzzle, a subwatershed is a portion of the larger drainage basin. For example, Dutch Hollow Brook is a subwatershed of the Owasco Lake watershed. Since water from Owasco Lake drains to Lake Ontario, Owasco Lake is a subwatershed of Lake Ontario. And Lake Ontario is a subwatershed of the Atlantic Ocean. Indeed it is a large puzzle, but each piece is equally important.

Working together for a plan

Because each person's use of the watershed affects someone else's use, as well as the community's, it's important for watershed residents to agree what they want the land and its use to look like in the future.

With a plan, economic, environmental, recreational and social interests can be recognized and managed so that they are complimentary and interdependent--there is a common vision.

For this reason, communities that have assessed key issues are likely to be at an advantage of securing federal and state funds, such as Clean Water Act monies, for various development and environmental improvement projects.

The outlook is that a community with consensus and a plan is more likely to have sustainable, long-term results than one that is reactive to problems. Tax dollars can be used most efficiently when communities and local governments work together to reduce duplication of services and conflict of interests.

Issues that are prioritized by the entire community are viewed as a wiser use of fiscal resources.

Essentially, here's what the process involves:

1. Identify everyone who has a stake or interest in the watershed.
2. Identify stakeholders' issues and concerns.
3. Compile a "State of the Lake" report.
   This report contains scientific information, a description of the watershed and land uses, and summaries of residents' issues/concerns.
4. Generate recommendations based on the "State of the Lake" report. Building consensus is a large part of this stage.
5. Create an action plan that reflects community priorities and recommendations.

The Future of the Finger Lakes

Many of the Finger Lakes have some type of watershed assessment/plan already in place. Residents in the Kueka and Canandaigua Lake watersheds, for example, have created action plans with recommendations that reflect their community's priorities for their watersheds. Owasco, Seneca, and Cayuga Lakes are all in different stages of the process.

Everyone lives in a watershed, whether it is large or small. The question you may want to ask yourself is "What watershed do I live in and what I am doing to impact or protect it?"