1. North Carolina Watersheds

2. 1. What is a watershed? An area of land drained by a river, stream or lake. It is also called a river basin.

3. 2. What watershed do you live in? FRENCH BROAD

5. Which river basin is the largest in NC? CAPE FEAR RIVER BASIN FRENCH BROAD is 2,842 square miles

6. 3. What is the name of the main river in your watershed? FRENCH BROAD RIVER

7. 4. What are the headwaters of your river basin? The headwaters of the French Broad River spill from a 50-foot waterfall in Transylvania County (Court House Falls).

8. 5. Tributaries of the French Broad River Pigeon River Nolichucky River Swannanoa River Mills River Davidson River

9. 6. What’s a tributary? A stream or river flowing into a larger stream or river.

10. 7. How many people live in the French Broad Watershed? 393,795 people live in the French Broad Watershed. Some areas in the watershed have doubled in population since 1990 (Hendersonville)

11. 8. What unique organisms can be found in your watershed? Hellbender salamanders, the Appalachian elktoe (freshwater mussel), and many species of fish that are not found in any other rivers in the state.

12. 9. How clean is the water found in the French Broad Watershed? The state has named about 263 miles of rivers as “Outstanding Resource Waters” due to their high quality. The Pigeon River has been affected for years by polluted discharge from a paper mill. Now the mill releases much lower levels of contaminants which has greatly improved the quality of water.

13. 10. What are some other factors that may contribute to water quality in the French Broad River Basin? POPULATION – as population increases pollutions increases –URBAN DEVOLOPMENT – due to the population increase –CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES – due to the population increase

14. 11. Where does the water in your watershed end up going? French Broad River to the Tennessee River to the Ohio River to the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean.

15. What’s the closest creek to our school? Moore Creek to Hominy Creek to French Broad River

16. Tennessee River Basin

17. Mississippi River Watershed

18. 12. What factors affect the rivers that are fed by your watershed? Land development Construction activities Forestry and mining operations Animal feeding lots Failing septic systems Roads and parking lots

19. 13. Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico Due to eutrophication

20. The Continental Divides Western (Great) Continental Divide – an imaginary line that divides the continent in two main drainage areas. –runs from NW Canada, down south along the Rocky Mountains on into Mexico.Rocky Mountains Eastern Continental Divide – separates the land draining east to the Atlantic Ocean, or west into the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. –runs along the high ridges and peaks of the Appalachian Mountains Appalachian Mountains

21. Eastern and Western continental divides

22. HERE ARE SOME OF THE MAJOR RIVERS IN NORTH CAROLINA

23. HERE ARE SOME OF THE MAJOR RIVERS IN THE USA