The Chesapeake Bay watershed, or draingage basin, encompasses six states – New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. A drainage basin is a giant system of creeks, streams, and rivers that all flow into a common outlet, which in this case is the Chesapeake Bay.
What is the largest watershed in the Chesapeake Bay?
Potomac
Five substantial rivers feed the western half of the Bay: the Patuxent, Potomac, Rappahannock, York, and James. The Potomac is the longest and has the largest watershed.
How long is the Chesapeake Bay watershed?
approximately 524 miles
The Chesapeake Bay watershed stretches approximately 524 miles from Cooperstown, New York, to Norfolk, Virginia. It includes parts of six states—Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia—and the entire District of Columbia.
What is unique about the Chesapeake Bay watershed?
It is about 200 miles long and holds more than 18 trillion gallons of water, some from the Atlantic Ocean and some from the 150 streams, creeks and rivers that drain into its watershed. This fresh and saltwater mix supports more than 2,700 species of plants and animals.
What type of water is the Chesapeake Bay?
The Chesapeake Bay is an estuary—a partially enclosed body of water where fresh water from rivers and streams mixes with salt water from the ocean. About half of the water in the Bay comes from salt water from the Atlantic Ocean. The other half drains into the Bay from its enormous 64,000-square-mile watershed.
What is the largest watershed in the US?
the Mississippi River Watershed
The largest watershed in the United States is the Mississippi River Watershed, which drains 1.15 million square miles from all or parts of 31 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces stretching from the Rockies to the Appalachians!
What is the largest watershed in America?
The Mississippi River watershed
The Mississippi River watershed is the biggest watershed in the United States, draining more than three million square kilometers (one million square miles) of land. The Mississippi River watershed stretches from the Appalachian Mountains in the east to the Rocky Mountains in the west.
What are the 3 main watersheds in Virginia?
Virginia rivers also are part of three major watersheds of North America: The Chesapeake Bay, the North Carolina Sounds, and the Mississippi River.
Why are watersheds important?
We all live in a watershed, and watershed condition is important to everyone and everything that uses and needs water. Healthy watersheds provide critical services, such as clean drinking water, productive fisheries, and outdoor recreation, that support our economies, environment and quality of life.
What types of water does a watershed include?
The watershed consists of surface water–lakes, streams, reservoirs, and wetlands–and all the underlying groundwater. Larger watersheds contain many smaller watersheds. It all depends on the outflow point; all of the land that drains water to the outflow point is the watershed for that outflow location.
What is Virginia’s largest watershed?
Chesapeake Bay Coastal
Watershed size, tributaries
| Name | Area (sq. miles) | Major Tributaries |
|---|---|---|
| Chesapeake Bay Coastal | 2,577 | Chesapeake Bay, Piankatank |
| Atlantic Ocean Coastal | 580 | Chincoteague Bay, Hog Island Bay |
| Rappahannock | 2,714 | Rappahannock River, Rapidan River, Hazel River |
| York | 2,669 | York River, Pamunkey River, Mattaponi River |
Why is the Chesapeake Bay so famous?
It is one of the most productive estuaries in the world, with over 3,600 species of animals and plants. The bay provides vitally important habitats for wildlife, lots of recreational opportunities for people, and is an important fishery upon which both people and wildlife depend.
Where does the Chesapeake Bay watershed drain into?
The Chesapeake Bay watershed (drainage basin) extends about five hundred miles south from the headwaters of Otsego Lake, near Cooperstown, New York to the Atlantic Ocean and Suffolk, Virginia.
Where does the water in the Chesapeake Bay come from?
Only about half of the water in the Bay comes from the ocean. The rest comes from the 64,000 square mile watershed, which extends approximately 524 miles from Cooperstown, New York to Norfolk, Virginia. Roughly 51 billion gallons of water enter the Bay each day from the 100,000 streams, creeks, and rivers that feed it.
How many states make up the Chesapeake Bay watershed?
six states
The Chesapeake Bay watershed, or draingage basin, encompasses six states – New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. A drainage basin is a giant system of creeks, streams, and rivers that all flow into a common outlet, which in this case is the Chesapeake Bay.
Can you swim in the Chesapeake Bay?
Despite these health concerns, beaches along the tidal rivers and the Chesapeake Bay are often safe for swimming, fishing and boating.
What are the 5 main watersheds?
Lawrence basin, the Pacific basin, the Arctic basin, the Hudson Bay basin, and the Great Basin. Together, the principal basins span the continent with the exception of numerous smaller endorheic basins.
What are the 5 main watersheds in North America?
These are the major watersheds in North America: Pacific Ocean, Arctic Ocean, Hudson Bay, Atlantic Ocean, and Gulf of Mexico.
Why do they call it watershed?
But, the word was originally a geographical term describing the area from which water sources drain into a single river or a ridge, like that formed by a chain of mountains, which sends water to two different rivers on either side. From that, watershed came to mean a turning point or dividing line in life.
How many watersheds are in the United States?
There are 78 major river basins, or watersheds, in the lower 48 states. As water moves from the sky to the land to the ocean it travels overland and through the ground in bounded basins called watersheds.
What are the three largest watersheds in the world?
Largest river basins
The three rivers that drain the most water, from most to least, are the Amazon, Ganga, and Congo rivers.