What is a Watershed?
A watershed—also known as a drainage basin or catchment—is an area of land where all the water drains to a common outlet, such as a river, lake, or ocean. Watersheds are defined at different scales using Hydrologic Unit Codes (HUCs), which reflect the geography relevant to each specific region.
Watersheds can be as small as a single county or a local inland lake. On the other end of the spectrum, they can span thousands of square miles, encompassing rivers, streams, lakes, reservoirs, and groundwater systems that stretch across vast distances.
The largest watershed in the United States is the Mississippi River Watershed. Covering 1.15 million square miles (2,981,076 square kilometers), it drains parts of 31 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces—from the Rocky Mountains to the Appalachian Mountains.
The Seneca Lake Watershed
Municipalities
The Seneca Lake Watershed is quite large at 712 sq miles. It includes parts of Ontario, Seneca, Schuyler, Yates, and Chemung Counties and is home to 28 towns, 11 villages, and 1 city.
Streams
While over 100 streams throughout the watershed feed the lake, 2/3rds of the water comes from just 2 streams – Catharine Creek & Keuka Lake Outlet.
Land Use
Agriculture is the dominant land use in the Seneca-Keuka watershed with corn, soybeans, and forage as the primary crops farmed.
Where does our water go?
Seneca Lake is part of the network of lakes, canals and waterways that comprise the Oswego River Basin. The Oswego River Basin drains water north, towards Lake Ontario. All of the water in Seneca Lake leaves near Geneva through the Cayuga-Seneca Canal.
Our Watershed Communities
Learn more about the municipalities around our lake through the Seneca Watershed Intermunicipal Organization (SWIO)
New York’s Watersheds
Learn more about the different main watersheds located in New York.
Remember – no matter where you live – you live in a watershed!
