The Cheney Lake Watershed (North Fork Ninnescah River) covers 633,000 acres within five counties in south central Kansas including portions of Reno, Stafford, Pratt, Kingman, and Kiowa counties. Over 99% of the watershed is used for agricultural purposes. What is a watershed?

Understanding the Context

It’s a land area that channels rainfall and snowmelt to creeks, streams, and rivers, and eventually to outflow points such as reservoirs, bays, and the ocean. What is a watershed? It's the land that water flows across or under on its way to a stream, river, or lake. How do watersheds work?

Key Insights

The landscape is made up of many inter connected basins, or watersheds. Within each watershed, all water runs to the lowest point-a stream, river, or lake. Watersheds impact everyone; every community, farm, ranch, and forest. They provide a vital resource for all living things to survive and thrive. All watersheds are interconnected, creating a land-water system that conveys water to its final destination such as a river, lake, wetland, or estuary.

Final Thoughts

A watershed is an area of land that drains rainfall and snowmelt into streams and rivers. Lesson 1: What is a Watershed? No matter where you live, your home is situated in a watershed: a land area that drains to a central location, such as a lake, river, or ocean. What Is a Watershed? A watershed is the land area that drains into a stream or other body of water. Gravity pulls water downhill from rainstorms, snow melt, and even groundwater supplies until it reaches the lowest point, where bodies of water are found.

Watershed Conservation Resource Center Mission Statement: The Watershed Conservation Resource Center strives to protect, conserve, and restore natural resources by utilizing the watershed approach, environmental outreach, providing planning and technical assistance to landowners, communities, and government.