“Water is the most critical resource issue of our lifetime and our children’s lifetime.
The health of our waters is the principal measure of how we live on the land.” …Luna Leopold
We all live Downstream!
We all live in a watershed and our everyday activities affect the health of the waters that drain through it. Whenever rain falls or snow melts, chemicals, fertilizers, sediment and other pollutants from the land are washed into our local streams, wetlands, lakes, and rivers.
A watershed is a geographic area in which water, sediments, and dissolved materials drain into a common outlet (a common outlet = a larger stream, a lake, an underlying aquifer, an estuary, or the ocean). EVERYONE LIVES IN A WATERSHED.
Do you know your “watershed address”?
Just like your home address is broken down into country – state – city – street, your watershed address can be found in much the same way. Why should you know your watershed address? Watersheds are the places we call home, where we work and where we play. Everyone relies on water and other natural resources to exist. Everything we do on land impacts the quality and quantity of water and our other natural resources. What we do in Lebanon County will eventually affect the water quality of our friends and neighbors downstream.
The term watershed is used when referring to broader management issues. Subwatershed is used in reference to level studies and specific projects within the smaller subwatershed units.
Pennsylvania’s Major River Basins
Lebanon County drains to 2 of those basins: the Susquehanna River Basin and the Delaware River Basin
The Susquehanna is the largest tributary to the Chesapeake Bay:
- Providing 90% of the freshwater flow to the Upper Bay
- 50% of the total flow to the Chesapeake Bay
Lebanon County Watersheds
The county has 5 major watersheds: Conestoga River Watershed, Chickies Creek Watershed, Swatara Creek Watershed, Clark – Paxton Creeks Watershed and the Tulpehocken Creek Watershed.
717-277-5275 ext. 114