Texas Watersheds (TX Aquatic Science)

Texas Watersheds
Texas Aquatic Science

Identify and examine Texas watersheds and determine our needs based on our own local watershed

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Today, we will...

Open Ended

Take a guess as to what our watershed is named after:

By definition, a watershed is all the land from which water drains into a specific body of water. It encompasses a large area where all the water runs into a main water system, such as a river

​What is a watershed?

For us, our watershed is the Brazos River Basin/San Jacinto-Brazos Coastal Basin

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Brazoria County Watershed

Find your watershed and explore the watersheds in Texas--->

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​Texas Watersheds Map

• Our main watershed derives from the Brazos River

• Examine the origin and endpoint of the Brazos River Basin in Texas

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​Brazos River Basin

Even though the San Jacinto River Basin is north of us, it still affects our watershed and runs into our county

San Jacinto River Basin

Multiple Choice

What is our exact watershed called?

• Brazos River Basin

• San Jacinto-Brazos Coastal Basin

• Colorado River Basin

• Rio Grande River Basin

• All water runoff flows into streams, creeks, bayous, and eventually rivers.

• Texas has 15 major river basins. Most states only have 1 or 2. We also have....

• 7 major bay systems

• 3,700 streams

• All flow into the Gulf of Mexico

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Water Flow

• Longest river in Texas (840 miles)

• Part of a 45,000sq mile drainage basin

• Dammed in 3 places (Possum Kingdom, Granbury, Whitney)

• Source: Llano Estacado (Stonewall Co)

• Mouth: Freeport

• Supplies power, recreation, and irrigation

The Mighty, Mighty Brazos!

Open Ended

Have you ever been to the mouth of the Brazos?

• Lots of history (settlements, Washington-on-the-Brazos "birthplace of Texas")

• 120,000 acre-feet/yr of groundwater available

• 31% used for crops

• 61% grasslands

• 4.6% urban use (will increase)

• Water quality issues: high nutrient loads due to fertilizer/livestock/chemical runoffs, high bacterial levels and low oxygen levels in some places

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​More on the Brazos

• Headwaters: the area of the watershed where precipitation collects or is originated from (like a spring)

• Perennial Stream: A permanent flowing stream that always has water in it

• Dry Streambed: A stream that is only active during certain parts of the year or season

• Intermittent/Ephemeral Stream: streams that flow below ground; can be dry above

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Terms to Know

Open Ended

Explain 2 ways the Brazos River becomes polluted: