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Size It Up
The Bronx River is a fairly minor watershed within a network of hills and mountains that ultimately drain into a large water basin called the Lower Hudson River and Long Island Sound.
The Lower Hudson and Long Island Sound basin is, in turn, part of a major watershed, known as the Mid-Atlantic Region.
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What is the major watershed region in which you live?
Look at the watershed-region map of the U.S. and jot it
down as your first field note. You will need to include
this basic piece of information in whatever final report
you choose to produce.
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Click here to see the Watershed Region Map.
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Bronx River Watershed
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Now that you know your major watershed region, it's time to find the
name of your own watershed. The U.S. Geologic Survey has catalogued
the entire country according to a network of smaller watersheds within
larger watersheds. Each watershed is given a hydrologic unit code,
or HUC. Find yours!
The U.S. Geologic Survey will steer you to your watershed. Using the ESEPA watershed locating tool,
you can locate your watershed and find your HUC using your zip code. This site will also direct you to
a variety of links to information about your watershed. Click here for the watershed locating tool.
Use your watershed name or HUC to find your
watershed in the USGS watershed catalog. Here you can see a list of all the minor watersheds and their sizes.
Click here for the watershed catalog.
Scroll through this catalog and find the size of your region. (Hint: Use the Edit: Find feature on your browser to search through the catalog.)
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If you already know the name of your local watershed, you may want
to just look it up in the USGS catalog and find out more about it.
But to complete this exercise, you could also find out the name of
the county where your teacher or other faculty member lives and look
up the name of their local watershed. You might teach them something!
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#1. Open the regional watershed map and locate yours.
Note it down.
#2. Open the USGS HUC Catalog and find your watershed.
Note down its size and any other important features. You
will need this for your final report.
| CAUTION: Watershed descriptions
are not strict. The area that drains into the Bronx
River, for instance is generally accepted by people
who are working to restore the river to be about
60 square miles. But when you look up the Bronx
River's HUC, it is described as 190 square miles.
That's because the USGS includes a number of tributaries
that lead not only into the Bronx River, but also
into the Long Island Sound. |
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© 2004 Wildlife Conservation Society.
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