GEF

Unit 2  |  Water Science and the Water Cycle 60 A good example of the importance of the watershed frame- work is the Mississippi River basin in the central U.S. This massive watershed collects water from 1,245,000 square miles (3,220,000 square kilometers), including thirty-two U.S. states and two Canadian provinces. From this vast catchment basin, agricultural runoff, factory pollutants, and other chemi- cals are funneled to the mouth of the Mississippi River into the Gulf of Mexico. Farm fertilizers and nutrients from sewage runoff concentrated in the northern Gulf promote eutrophi- cation, giving rise to an extensive dead zone in which most marine life suffers or is killed from reduced oxygen levels. In the Gulf of Mexico, a dead zone the size of New Jersey is harm- ing economically important shrimp fisheries and other marine DEAD ZONES Marine areas with low levels of oxygen caused by the decomposition of algae blooms or other phytoplankton. WATCH & LEARN http://bit.ly/2u9C41R Watch the video and respond to the questions below. 1. What does thinking in a watershed framework allow us to see? 2. What are some results that can come from looking at the entire watershed to monitor water quality? 3. Why could it be effective to have efforts rooted in a specific geographic location? video: The Watershed Framework