Region 1: EPA New England

What is a Watershed?

A watershed is the land that water flows across or under on its way to a stream, river or lake. Rivers, lakes, estuaries, wetlands, streams and even the oceans can serve as catch basins for surrounding land. Watersheds are nature’s way of dividing up the landscape, a division that often fails to coincide with our political, social, and economic boundaries.

Everyone lives in a watershed and this affects water quality. Your actions have an impact on the land, water, air, plants and animals. For instance, minimizing the use of fertilizers and pesticides on your lawn will help reduce soil erosions and in turn protect the watershed.

At the EPA, we believe that many water quality, human health and ecosystem problems are best solved at the watershed level rather than isolating and treating problems in a specific body of water. This approach takes the entire aquatic ecosystem into account, keeping both the watersheds and the oceans healthy.

• Map of the Long Island Sound Watershed

• Surf the Watersheds of Connecticut

• US EPA Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds

• Coastal Watershed Fact Sheets