watershed

More and more these days we recognize that clean water is one of the most important products of our forests.  Forest lands are the source of nearly two-thirds of water in the 48 contiguous states -- the clean water that fills our rivers, streams, lakes and wetlands, sustains our fisheries, or flows from the taps of our homes and businesses.  Forests serve as a living sponge to capture, store and slowly release precipitation as well as trapping and transforming the chemicals and nutrient deposits that come in the rain or from adjacent runoff.  All the benefits that forests provide—like erosion and sediment control, maintenance of water quality, regulation of flows, and provision of clean drinking water—are called ecosystem services, and in this case can be called watershed services.

Most people do not realize that more than half the water in the United States comes from watersheds managed on forests. Used in homes, on ranches, in industry and for energy production, water resources in forests provide important services to people, as well as habitat for a wide variety of aquatic life. Our rapidly changing climate, however, is challenging our watersheds with both wet and dry extremes - more severe droughts, more frequent and larger floods, more soil moisture stress and lower stream flows during the dry season, less of a snowpack reservoir, and other effects. In a unique pilot project, 11 national forests around the country are assessing the vulnerability of their water resources and watersheds to such changes.

By Amy Maxwell, State Public Affairs Specialist, South Carolina

Three People’s Gardens at USDA Service Centers within South Carolina’s Edisto Watershed are encouraging community involvement and are providing fresh produce to those in need.