Watershed

The Chesapeake watershed spans 64,000 squares miles, covering parts of six states—Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia. Over 17 million people live in this area.

More than 250 fish species use the Chesapeake Bay and tributaries for some portion of their life cycles, including American and hickory shad, river herring, striped bass, eel, weakfish, bluefish, flounder, oysters, and blue crabs. More than 300 migratory bird species can also be found in the watershed.

Boston is in the Neponset River watershed.

It is the 15th of February of 2015, on Lulu Island. I am more interested in cosmology now than in astronomy. Physical cosmology is the "study of the origin, evolution, large-scale structures and dynamics, and ultimate fate of the universe." The vast cosmic "watershed" in which Earth finds itself is called Laniakea, from Hawaiian for "immeasurable heaven." (Hawaiian 'lani' is cognate with Tagalog's 'langit'.)

This is a watershed moment for the whole industry.

They say this upsets the natural ecosystem of the watershed by endangering smaller Everglades residents who might end up as a reptile's lunch.

The Chesapeake Bay is a national, natural American treasure. It was formed 15,000 years ago when an immense glacier melted and flooded an ancient river valley. Today, the estuary marks where the Potomac and 150 other rivers, streams and creeks merge on their way to the Atlantic Ocean. The sprawling 166,000 square-kilometer watershed stretches through six states and the nation's capital, nourishing a multitude of land and marine species. It's also the source of fresh drinking water, food and recreation for 17 million people.

The sprawling watershed, where the Potomac and several other great rivers merge on their way to the Atlantic Ocean, stretches over 166,000 square kilometers and encompasses six Atlantic coast states and the nation's capital. It nourishes a multitude of marine and terrestrial wildlife. It's the source of fresh drinking water, food and recreation for 17 million people. But in recent decades, rapid population growth, farm chemical runoff and industrial activity have polluted the bay and upset the watershed's delicate ecology.

But restoring the Chesapeake also means considering how we build our homes, office buildings and factories. George Hawkins, director of the District Department of the Environment in Washington, says communities in the watershed are designing new buildings that conserve energy and water and pollute less. They are also upgrading older buildings to green standards and protecting land from development. Hawkins says individual actions can make a huge difference in the bay's restoration.

A strange looking motorized raft, loaded with all kinds of cameras, sensors and high-tech widgets, looks like an invader from outer space. But it serves the down-to-earth purpose of making extraordinary maps of waterways of the Chesapeake Bay watershed in the Eastern United States.