Northeast Region Certified Crop Adviser (NRCCA) Study Resources

In This Section

• PO 56 Watershed functions
• PO 57 Water inputs & outputs
• PO 57 Water inputs & outputs 2
• PO 57 Water inputs & outputs 3
• PO 58 Stream hydrograph
• PO 59 Pollutant delivery process
• PO 60 Precipitation return periods
• PO 61 Sources of contaminants
• PO 62 Aquifers
• PO 63 Well pumping and drawdown
• PO 64 Geologic conditions & contamination
• PO 65 Recharge areas
• PO 66 Hydrologically sensitive areas
• PO 67 Wetlands & riparian buffer zones
• PO 68 Multiple-barrier watershed
• PO 69 Impaired water bodies
• Summary

Competency Area 6: Watershed hydrology AEM

PO 56. Describe a watershed and its main functions.

A watershed, drainage basin, or catchment is an area of land from which surface runoff (and subsurface recharge, and groundwater usually) flows to a common discharge outlet. The main functions of a watershed are:

• The collection and redistribution of water
• Providing a diversity of soils, vegetation, and landscape features to support life functions of insects, animals and humans. A watershed's development and basic features or morphology characteristics result from climate and geologic interactions over long time periods.