What is a watershed? A watershed is the surrounding land area
that drains into a lake, stream, or river. It includes natural
and artificial drainage systems, such as ditches and storm
sewers. Even if your home is not next to a lake, stream, or
river, you still live in a watershed. Every water body has a
watershed that surrounds it. Each of us lives in a watershed and
shares its water quality. How do watersheds affect water
quality? If we pollute the watersheds surrounding a lake,
stream, or river, we're directly affecting the water quality in
that lake, stream, or river. Everything we do in a watershed,
from caring for our lawns and gardens, to picking up our leaves,
affects the local water body. Caring for your watershed is
caring for your local lake and stream. What watershed do I live
in? To answer this question we need to first look at several
scales of watersheds: Small minor watersheds are grouped
together to form major watersheds. Faribault County is located
within two major watersheds, the Blue Earth