Story originally published in Fall, 2004
Whether you know it or not, you live in a watershed.
From very large systems – like the Mississippi River that extends across 31 states and parts of Canada to small basins like Buckhorn Creek in Brandon – a watershed is simply the area that drains into a common collection site. Somewhat like a funnel, a watershed collects water from a large area where it flows into another creek, river or bay. From an airplane, a watershed’s drainage patterns resemble the branches of a tree or the human nervous system.
The Tampa Bay watershed spans 2200 square miles and more than 100 tributaries drain into the 400-square-mile bay. That large number of tributaries gives Florida’s largest open-water estuary a special distinction: it’s one of the few estuaries in the nation that isn’t associated with a single large river.
If you didn’t know you lived in a watershed, you aren’t alone. A recent study by the Southwest Florida Water Management District indicates that less than 20% of residents in the Brooker Creek basin knew they lived in a watershed.
While not always understood, the concept of watersheds is critical to the continued restoration of Tampa Bay. The bay’s watershed is five times as large as it is, so contaminants released on land are concentrated by the time they’re discharged into the bay.
“When people understand that they live in a watershed, and know that what they do affects their watershed, they’re more likely to do the right thing,” notes Melissa Roe, communications assistant for the district.
Learn more about your watershed address online. If you live in Pinellas, Pasco and Manatee counties, visit http://www.swfwmd.wateratlas.usf.edu/navigator/waterbodylist.asp?listype=all&order_by=All&quicksearch or in Hillsborough County, visit http://www.hillsborough.wateratlas.usf.edu/default.asp?referrer=lakeatlas.
Watersheds Focus of Education Initiatives
Clichés don’t count when it comes to watersheds: ignorance is not bliss and what you don’t know can hurt the world around you.
That’s particularly true in the Brooker Creek watershed, which encompasses some of the last remaining natural areas in Pinellas County as well as a wide swath of northwest Hillsborough County. The Southwest Florida Water Management District will kick off a prototype educational initiative in October to reach the 80% of residents there who don’t know they live in a watershed.
Along with traditional advertising and direct mail, the district is planning a series of workshops, community outreach programs at shopping centers and local events with radio remotes, student and teacher programs and educational events with prizes like microirrigation systems. “We want to get people thinking about living in a watershed and give them a feeling of empowerment so they will want to take care of it,” said Melissa Roe, communications assistant for the district
Brooker Creek was selected for the prototype initiative because rapid population growth is encroaching upon the watershed’s pristine natural areas, she adds. “We’ll key into civic groups and homeowner’s associations with workshops for residents because they still have time to protect some of the last remaining green space in Pinellas County.”
For more information and a schedule of events, call 800-423-1476 or visit www.brookercreek.org.
Water Atlas Goes Live
A project that started with plans to chart Hillsborough County lakes has grown into what may be the world’s most comprehensive internet site on water resources. Created by the Florida Center for Community Design and Research at the University of South Florida, the website at www.wateratlas.org is designed to provide both scientists and citizens with the data they need to make informed decisions.
“People need access to data to make good decisions and the atlas gives them an enormous amount of data that’s easy to access,” notes Shawn Landry, the center’s interim director. “The responsibility to manage water resources falls on everyone, from federal, state and local governments to homeowners.”
With just a few clicks, even Internet novices can discover a world of information about the watershed they live in, including maps, ecology and hydrology, fishing reports and oral histories for large systems as well as the smaller creeks.
On the drawing boards are expanded sites for Pinellas and Pasco counties (currently available through the Southwest Florida Water Management District’s site), a new site for Manatee County and a site being developed with the Tampa Bay Estuary Program and the U.S. Geological Survey covering Tampa Bay itself.