What exactly is a watershed? How is it determined? What does it mean for Oyster Pond?
What does it mean for the residents within the watershed?
wa.ter.shed: a region or area bounded peripherally by a water parting and draining ultimately to a particular water course or body of water--Webster's Dictionary.
The watershed area for Oyster Pond is depicted on the left. How was it determined? By measuring the elevation of the watertable. Water runs downhill, so a high 'point' or 'ridge' in the water table is a divide or water parting.
What does it mean for Oyster Pond? It means that anywhere within that area, groundwater will flow towards and into Oyster Pond. And with it, anything that reaches the groundwater. That includes wastewater from the septic systems, runoff from yards and gardens and roads, whatever doesn't get absorbed or utilized on its way to the groundwater table. But not only the groundwater reaches the pond -- also surface runoff gets there, especially after heavey rains when the ground has either been dry for an extended period and has not yet 'opened' up to absorb the deluge, or when the ground is already so saturated that it can't absorb more, or where road run-off channels directly into the pond.
What does it mean for the watershed residents like you and me? It means we have to be VERY careful aboutr what we allow to get into the septic systems (no toxic stuff down the drain or toilet!) or onto the ground (pesticides, gasoline, car oil, heating oil, fertilizers that can't be used up entirely by plants, all these are No-No's if we want a healthy pond). And we need to have as much 'open space' as possible, where 'open space' is defined here not just as vacant lots (no septic systems) but also as those areas within our properties that are covered by native vegetation which requires no (0r minimal) human input to thrive.
Lawns definitely do NOT fit this definition. Have no or only as much lawn as you really are going to make use of, say for the kids to play on or for the barbeque or that bit of view. Let some of your yard go 'wild', allow brush and brambles in and keep those trees! Check where your neighbor's 'wild' spaces are and make your contiguous -- a bigger continuous space is more effective as beneficial watershed area, and that way you can also create a wildlife corridor that may stretch over many properties.
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