Here are a couple of videos introducing the idea of a watershed. These videos deal with watersheds from a general viewpoint. In practice however, watersheds can be seen at different scales. Conway Lake for example sits at the bottom of its own watershed. As you may be aware however, Conway Lake is not the end of the line for water in the lake. Lake water drains from the North end of Conway Lake into the Saco River. At this larger scale is the well recognized Saco River watershed. The Saco River ultimately travels through Maine and into the Atlantic Ocean. How does it help to look at watersheds from these two different scales?
If you are a homeowner on Conway Lake you may already be aware that the water quality here is among the best anywhere. Water quality in any water body is largely determined by land use in the immediate surroundings, in other words the immediate watershed. Most of the land surrounding Conway Lake is forested. Hills rise on all sides of the lake and inflows consist of small creeks and ground water. There is little opportunity for watershed contamination so long as shore and use doesn’t create problems such as can be caused by winter salt use or activities that result in greater runoff. This means that most of the responsibility for the water quality in Conway Lake resides with the lakeside home owners. And of course for a home owner, taking care of the lake carries many direct benefits. In addition the care people take in protecting the water near their homes can result in better water quality downstream, in this case along the Saco River watershed.
Can you identify that mountain pond at the end of this video?