The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) defines a watershed as an area of land that channels rainfall, snowmelt, and runoff into a common body of water. A watershed is also known as a drainage basin.
Maine is made of up ten watersheds that collect water from rain, runoff, streams, rivers, and tributaries and eventually flows to the Atlantic Ocean.
As residents of a watershed, we have influence over the health of our resources, from reducing homeowner impact on a local lake to preventing invasive species from entering a stream. As our global clean freshwater sources are becoming more limited, understanding our impacts on our local water systems is even more critical, especially at a young age. Fostering an appreciation for healthy ecosystems and garnering an understanding of how connected our planet is by water resources is at the center of Fresh to Salt: Flowing Together. Fresh and saltwater are all around us in Maine. Many of our industries rely on healthy water which provides environmental and economic value to our communities.