Watershed or River Basin?
A watershed is the land area that drains into a stream, river, lake, or wetland. Watersheds occur at different scales, so some watersheds are very large while others are very small. For example, Lake Michigan, the Fox River, and the East River each have their own watersheds. Watershed boundaries are defined by topography. Since water always flows downhill, the points of highest elevation around a water body will define its watershed
A river basin is the portion of land that is drained by a river and all its tributaries. The Lower Fox River Basin is part of the Fox-Wolf Basin. This basin is the largest drainage basin to Lake Michigan and the third largest to the Great Lakes. "River basin" is another name for a very large watershed.
Watersheds are important because what happens to the land and water in the upper part of the watershed affects water quality downstream - linking all of the watershed's residents together in managing and protecting their water resources.
