gen-explain-watershed-and-drainage-basins-as-you-would-to-a-capa-1950

Explain watershed and drainage basins as you would to a capable student, in 3-4 sentences.

A **watershed** (also called a drainage basin or catchment) is an area of land where all precipitation that falls eventually drains to a common outlet, like a river mouth, lake, or ocean. Think of it like a giant bowl—rain or snowmelt that lands anywhere within that bowl flows downhill and collects into streams and rivers that merge together. The high points around the edges, called **divides** or **ridgelines**, separate one watershed from another, determining which direction water will flow. For example, the Mississippi River watershed covers about 40% of the continental U.S., collecting water from as far away as Montana and New York, all flowing toward the Gulf of Mexico.