What is a River Basin?

A river basin is the land that water flows across or under on its way to a river. As a bathtub catches all the water that falls within its sides, a river basin sends all the water falling on the surrounding land into a central river and out to an estuary or the sea. A river basin drains all the land around a major river. Basins can be divided into watersheds, or areas of land around a smaller river, stream or lake. The landscape is made up of many inter-connected basins, or watersheds. Within each watershed, all water runs to the lowest point—a stream, river, lake or ocean. On its way, water travels over the surface and across farm fields, forestland, suburban lawns and city streets, or it seeps into the soil and travels as groundwater. Large river basins such as the Neuse and Cape Fear are made up of many smaller watersheds.

Everyone lives in a river basin. You influence what happens in your river basin, good or bad, by how you treat the natural resources-the soil, water, air, plants and animals. As water moves downstream, it carries and redeposits gravel, sand and silt. Water also transfers bacteria, chemicals, excess nutrients and organic matter. Whatever happens to the surface water or groundwater upstream will eventually effect downstream systems. Therefore, the health of the aquatic ecosystem is directly related to activities on land.