WATERSHEDS

watersheds

A watershed is simply the geographic area through which water flows across the land and drains into a common body of water whether a stream, river or ocean.

IMPORTANCE OF WATERSHEDS

Watersheds are important because the surface water feature and stormwater runoff within the watershed ultimately drain to the other bodies of water lakes rivers & oceans .it is essential to consider these down streams impacts when developing and implementing water quality protection and restoration effects

WATERSHED MANAGEMENT PRACTICES IN TERMS OF PURPOSE

*To increase infiltration

*To increase water holding capacity

*To prevent soil erosion

Management problems in watersheds

*The soils and underlying rocks of catchment areas of (Mangla) and (Tarbela) reservoirs are mostly erodible.

*In the watersheds areas the slopes are very steep, thus erosion caused by human interference. Our land use policy particularly in the hilly areas has lead to the present unhappy situation of soil erosion runoff losses and its sediment load.

*The fields in these watersheds are not properly terraced, making the area susceptible to erosion and landslides and increase in silt load of rivers