Watersheds

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Overview | Benefits | Conservation | Wildlife | Cultural Connections

Local Resources | Activities/Lessons | Videos

Overview

You live in a watershed! It doesn’t matter where you live – in the city, in the country, on a mountaintop, or in a swamp – you live in a watershed. Because water drains from wherever you are to a river, a bayou, a lake, or a bay. And what you do where you live has a direct impact on the rivers or the bays that you drain to. That’s why you should care and why you should know what a watershed is!

A watershed is simply the area of land that drains to a common outlet (usually a stream or river). The watershed is usually named for the river that drains it. For example, the Colorado River watershed is drained by the Colorado River. Watersheds can be large (like the Colorado) or small (like Horsepen Bayou, below), and smaller watersheds exist within larger watersheds. You likely live in more than one watershed. The figure to the right shows a series of watersheds in suburban Houston. It shows how each watershed is like a bowl with an outlet. (click image to enlarge)

Watersheds of the San Jacinto River Basin, courtesy of SJRA. These major waterways drain into Galveston Bay

Benefits

Conservation

Wildlife

Cultural Connections

“Native Land Digital creates spaces where non-Indigenous people can be invited and challenged to learn more about the lands they inhabit, the history of those lands, and how to actively be part of a better future going forward together.” Visit this interactive map.

Local Resources

Find your watershed:

You can search by address on the Galveston Bay Report Card's Find Your Watershed tool or the Texas Watershed Viewer from Texas Parks and Wildlife.
Access maps from Bayou Preservation Association which show the 22 bayou systems and waterways in the greater Houston region. Most of these watersheds are located within Harris County and extend to Spring Creek, Clear Creek, and Cedar Bayou, plus Lake Houston.

Find your water district:

Start with the TCEQ’s ArcGIS map, and then check the status of your drinking water using the Texas Drinking Water Watch database. Great datasets available.

Texas Parks & Wildlife Department will let you borrow a local trunk filled with activities and materials.

Activities/Lessons

Elementary School

Watershed Modeling Activity with paper & markers

Middle School

Know your Watershed interactive from regional partners.

Texas Gateway Resources for 7th Grade, Science TEK S.7.8C:

A. Human Impact on Watersheds with 5E lesson

B. Human Activities in Watersheds with an interactive model and biodiversity lab

Galveston Bay Foundation offers "At Home With The Bay," a series of educational videos featuring a virtual lab, conservation craft, talk with a Bay biologist and an activity (all in Google Drive). Use tools from the Galveston Bay Report Card (also available in Spanish) and Stop Aquatic Hitchhikers, and participate in Bay Day. Check out their extensive curriculum guide, too. Complete with background information, activities & lesson plans.

The WaterWise program from the Subsidence Districts is fun, results-driven and streamlined, and it is flexible and free! WaterWise Kits, for each student, come with high efficiency showerheads, aerators, toilet-leak detectors, digital thermometers, tape measures and a flow rate test bag for students to use in a home water audit. They offer interactive activities and a water detective program, in addition to a Storymap about watersheds.

Virtual Field Trip to Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge

Wonders of the Wetlands virtual program from Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge

Part of a series on Green Jobs in Houston. Meet Jessica, a ranger at Anahuac NWR.

Download corresponding, TEKS-aligned activities for K-8 regarding wetland ecosystems, animal adaptations and water quality in regards to watersheds.

Virtual Field Trip to Galveston Bay

At Home with the Bay - Five Part Series found here.

Download corresponding, TEKS-aligned activities to this five-part series on the bay.

Videos

Bayou Land Conservancy celebrated its 20th year of conserving Houston's wild places in 2016.

Clear Creek is one of the last untouched, pristine bayous in Harris County. For a city like Houston known as Bayou City, it's ironic that so few of these waterways remain intact. This story chronicles the natural beauty of the Clear Creek area, along with its ecological significance.

An introduction to the hydrologic cycle and hydrologic science.

Postcard From Texas Early in the morning is a great time to watch the wildlife at Brazos Bend State Park.

Overview of Houston’s ecosystems, with key vocabulary.

On July 7, Houston Television (HTV) was present to see the Student Conservation Association Community Work Crew in action as they tend to White Oak Bayou.

This lighthearted animation tells the story of groundwater: where it is, where it comes from, and where it goes. Learn more about this video: http://ow.ly/vcFiU

Postcard From Texas This South Texas waterhole is a busy place as songbirds, snakes and quail gather for a bit of refreshment on a hot day.

Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge

How to make a wetland model

All about freshwater wetlands, a vital part of a watershed