Watersheds
Wetlands are a part of a larger watershed context. A watershed is an area of land where all of the water is somehow connected to each other (above ground or underground) in a water system made up of a tributary of headwater streams, different kinds of wetlands, lakes or ponds (or both), rivers, creeks and/or major streams, flowing into another water body, possibly a large lake, large river, or ocean. Often when wetland managers talk about protecting wetlands, they are also considering the watershed (streams, lakes, ponds, other waters, ocean) that are part of the bigger picture.