Potomac

To celebrate the June 5 World Environment Day, diplomats from more than a dozen foreign embassies and international organizations Monday joined the U.S. State Department to plant underwater seagrass in the Potomac River, a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay.

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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.

Source: tatoeba (12272000)

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.

Source: tatoeba (12272023)

Some of the rivers that feed the bay have American Indian names like Potomac, Susquehanna and Rappahannock. The bay supported native societies for thousands of years. The name Chesapeake comes from an Algonquin Indian word often defined as "great shellfish bay."

Source: tatoeba (12272372)