YOUR WATERSHED COMMUNITY!

Everyone lives in a watershed and everyone affects the water quality in a watershed. In Perry Township, we have 3 major watersheds, Grand River Watershed, Lake Erie Watershed, and Arcola Creek Watershed. A watershed is an area of land that water flows over or under on its way to a stream, river, lake or other body of water. Since a watershed is a natural land area and not a human made boundary, a single township or municipality may affect several watersheds or a single watershed may include parts of several townships or municipalities. The land in each watershed is extremely important because it directly impacts the water quality. Some of the natural resources affected are the soil, water, plants, and animals.

The natural features that are present in our watershed provide services for us. We all know that clean water is important to us; in fact, humans cannot live without it! What you may not be aware of are the other functions that a healthy watershed supplies for us. Wetlands filter runoff water from cities and fields and remove sediment. Natural stream banks slow down water as it races downstream helping to control flash flooding. And natural, un-compacted soils absorb water slowly after it rains helping to control erosion and flooding, and helping to filter the water before it reaches ponds, lakes, and rivers.

A healthy watershed provides all these services to us for free, but when we disturb the natural systems that are at work for us, we have to pay to have the same services performed. Instead of the healthy soils absorbing and filtering water to help clean it, we must pay more for water treatment. Instead of natural stream banks slowing down rushing, raging, high waters, we pay the costs of flash flood damage. Instead of wetlands absorbing sediment and runoff from cities and fields, those sediments end up choking streams and lakes resulting in maintenance costs. Protecting a healthy well-functioning watershed saves us all money in the long run. We are not the only ones who count on healthy watersheds! All plants, birds, fish, and other living things depend on healthy watersheds to survive.

You can protect your watersheds through water conservation by:

	Turning off the water when brushing your teeth.
	Take short showers instead of baths or long showers. Make sure your showerhead is a water-saving kind.
	Run washing machines and dishwashers only when fully loaded.
	When you wash your car, turn the water off while you scrub and turn it on only for rinsing. Wash it on the lawn to prevent run-off.
	Fix a faucet as soon as it starts to drip.
	Test toilets in your home for leaks.

You can protect your watersheds by reducing your contribution to water pollution by:

	Compost yard waste.
	Keep litter, pet wastes, leaves and debris out of street gutters and storm drains.
	Keep your lawn natural and avoid chemicals. Let your grass clippings re-fertilize your lawn or use organic fertilizer.
	Dispose of used oil, anti-freeze, paints, and other household chemicals properly, not in the storm sewer.
	Clean up spilled break fluid, oil, grease, and anti-freeze. Do not hose them into the street where they can eventually reach local streams and lakes.
	Control soil erosion on your property by planting ground cover and stabilizing erosion-prone areas.

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