What is a Watershed?
A watershed is an area of land where all of the water, on the surface and underground, drains to a common place such as a lake, river or the ocean. Watersheds come in all sizes and cross city, county, state and national political boundaries. All living things, including humans, are connected in a watershed so even if you don’t live near a body of water, your everyday actions may affect water quality because you are always in a watershed.
A Watershed Approach
Recognizing that water quality problems need to be addressed in a holistic manner, DHEC’s Bureau of Water coordinates water quality monitoring, assessment, planning, permitting and remediation activities at the watershed level. This watershed approach is stakeholder-focused, based on sound science and adaptive to changing environmental conditions and management priorities. By helping to maximize resources, this framework encourages the efficient and effective protection and restoration of the State’s waterways.
How Can Our Watershed Program Help You?
DHEC’s Watershed Planning Section offers a variety of services to help local governments and citizen’s groups improve and maintain their water quality. We can assist you with:
- Creating and implementing watershed-based plans
- Implementing water quality Best Management Practices (BMP’s)
- Downloading and understanding monitoring data
- Finding funding for water quality projects
- Answering technical questions about water quality
- Connecting with organizations in your watershed
Learn More About Watersheds!
- Understand the water cycle with the watershed atlas
- Surf Your Watershed on EPA’s website
- Learn how to protect your watershed with After the Storm, an online video produced by EPA and The Weather Channel
- View a clickable map of watersheds in South Carolina
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Did you know? The term “watershed” comes from the German wasserscheide, meaning a division or separation of waters.
Bureau of Water . Phone: (803) 898-4300 . Fax: (803) 898-3795 . Contact Us