Describe+changes+that+occur+from+a+stream's+origin+to+its+final+outflow.

[[image:PA_Watersheds.gif align="center" caption="Major watersheds in Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection 2003)"]]
Pennsylvania can be divided into thousands of watersheds or just one. Usually, there are five major watersheds and two other small ones. The major watersheds in Pennsylvania are the Erie watershed, the Genesee watershed, the Ohio watershed, the Susquehanna/Chesapeake watershed, the Potomac watershed, and the Delaware watershed (The Office for River Basin Cooperation 2003).

__Erie__ The Erie watershed is associated with the Lake Erie. The Erie watershed along with the Genesee watershed make up Pennsylvania's Great Lake watersheds. Together, they drain about 1.5% of the state (The Office for River Basin Cooperation 2003). Currently, there are many problems dealing with the Erie watershed. Some of these problems are the contamination of water with pesticides and other chemicals, the addition of nutrients and sediments effecting the ecosystems, accumulation of chemicals disturbing life underwater, fishes being threatened due to chemicals such as mercury, and the destruction of groundwater for buildings. As of 1996-1998, seventy-five percent of the Erie watershed was used for agriculture, eleven for urban development, eleven for forests, and three for water and wetlands. The amount of wetlands has been decreasing, and most of the forests are in New York and Pennsylvania ("Water Quality in the Lake Erie-Lake Saint Clair Drainages - Introduction" 2005 ).



__Genesee__ The Genesee watershed is associated with the Genesee River, which flows into Lake Ontario. Only small parts of Pennsylvania in Potter County drains to the Genesee watershed. The Genesee River goes into Lake Ontario. Along with the Erie watershed, it makes up the watersheds in Pennsylvania that flow into the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes Commission was formed in 1955 to improve the quality of the water and the ecosystem and to manage and regulate the use of resources (The Office for River Basin Cooperation 2003).



__Ohio__ The Ohio watershed is the second largest watershed after Susquehanna/Chesapeake. It covers about one third of the state, which is 15,614 square miles and drains to the Mississippi River. About 20 million people who live on the land it drains. The Ohio watershed provides people with water and takes in wastewater. Because there are more plants to treat the wastewater and the limits placed, the water quality has increased. Fishes are coming back. Organizations such as the Ohio River Basin Commission, the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission, and the Ohio River Basin Consortium have helped improve the water quality (The Office for River Basin Cooperation 2003).

__Susquehanna/Chesapeake__ The Susquehanna watershed drains into the Susquehanna River and covers more than 46% of Pennsylvania, which is 20,960 square miles. The Susquehanna watershed, Potomac watershed, Gunpowder River watershed, Elk River watershed, and the Northeast River watershed combined make up the Chesapeake Bay watershed, which covers almost half of the state. The Susquehanna provides Pennsylvania with water, recreation, and hydropower (The Office for River Basin Cooperation 2003).

__Potomac__ The Potomac is the fourth largest watershed in Pennsylvania. It covers 14,670 square miles and 1584 of it is in Pennsylvania, near the south. The part in Pennsylvania is mostly headwater streams. The Interstate Commission was formed in 1940 to help the water quality of the watershed and other problems with the rivers (The Office for River Basin Cooperation 2003).

__Delaware__ The Delaware watershed is the third largest watershed and covers 14% of Pennsylvania. Its area is 13,539 square miles.The Delaware River joins the Chesapeake Bay at the C &D Canal which is a shipping link between Philadelphia and Baltimore. In 1961, the Delaware River Basin Commission was formed because of concerns about the water allocation and transfer and the need for a cleaner river and estuaries (The Office for River Basin Cooperation 2003).

__Others__ Other watersheds in Pennsylvania are the Northeast River watershed, the Elk River watershed, and the Gunpowder Falls River watershed. The Elk and Northeast drain 64 square miles in Pennsylvania. The Gunpowder Falls River watershed drains 11 square miles. These rivers drain into the bay to the south of Havre de Grace. Commissions of these three watersheds have the power to control and regulate the use of resources (The Office for River Basin Cooperation 2003).

Describe changes by tracing a specific river's origin back to its headwaters including its major tributaries.
  media type="file" key="Following_a_River_from_Start_to_End.mov" width="594" height="594" (Environmental Media 1998) =   = 

Home = =