RIVER BASINS AND WATER CYCLE

A river basin is the land that water flows across or under on its way to a river. Just as a bathtub catches all of the water that falls within its sides, a river basin sends all of the water falling within it to a central river and out to an estuary or to the ocean. A river basin drains all of the land around a major river. Basins can be divided into watersheds, or areas of land around a smaller river, stream, or lake. North Carolina is made up of many watershed connected to each other. Within each watershed, all water runs to the lowest point – a stream, river, lake, or ocean. On its way, water travels over the surface of the land across farm fields, lawns, and city streets, or it seeps into the soil and travels as groundwater. Large river basins are made up of many smaller watersheds. Everyone lives in a river basin. It is part of your ecological address. You can change what happens in your river basin, for good or bad, by how you treat the natural resources – the soil, water, air, plants and animals. As water moves downstream, it carries and leaves behind gravel, sand, and silt. It also carries bacteria and chemicals. Whatever happens to the surface water and groundwater upstream will eventually have an effect downstream. Even if you don’t live near a river, you still have an effect on your river basin. HOW THE WATER CYCLE WORK Name: Bee Qi Pin Class: 7 KAPPA