Watershed Management. What can you do?

I recently wrote an article for the EcoMerge websites on technologies that we can apply in our everyday lives . I felt that it was something of a necessity to tease that article as well as to let all of our readers know what they can do.

First thing first, what is watershed management? Well simply put its taking care of the area around you so that you don't pollute the major waterways that your watershed feeds into. For example, where I live, our watershed is the Sandy River Basin which eventually feeds into the Columbia River Basin, so theoretically, if I drained my oil from my truck and didn't dispose of it properly it could end up drifting down the Columbia River into the ocean. So in short the butterfly effect of pollution, particularly in bodies of water is staggering.

So what can you do? Well since watershed management can be anything from damming a river, to improving stormwater drains, to simply washing your car over your therefore taking less water out of the environment; the possibilities are endless. You can apply pressure to your legislature, organize groups to clean trash locally or become involved with your local government, since that is where most watershed management comes from. So basically I implore you and challenge myself to become involved. Try to do what you can to keep you watershed clean and healthy because whether you're an avid fisherman (like me) or someone that loves hiking, or simply someone that likes a cold glass of water on a hot day, this is very important. Without watershed management there wont be as many fish, your waterfalls wont be as pristine and your cold glass of water will be foggy.