How many of us live in a watershed?

It’s a trick question, of course. Everyone lives in a watershed – which can be thought of as a land basin that collects water from rainfall and snowfall and then directs it to a lower-lying body of water such as a marsh, lake, or river.

In the case of Lake Wentworth and Crescent Lake, much of the land area in the town of Wolfeboro, including the highlands in the north and east, makes up their watershed. The water that collects in this basin flows into the two lakes by way of numerous streams (see the accompanying map) and through underground seepage.

Very likely, most of us live in a number of watersheds, each of which may empty into a larger one until the water that those watersheds capture makes its way into the ocean. For example, residents of Wolfeboro also live in the Lake Winnipesaukee watershed (Wentworth and Crescent empty into the Big Lake) as well as the Merrimack River watershed (where Winnipesaukee’s waters eventually end up).

On a smaller scale, we may live in a localized watershed. For example, people living in the northern parts of Wolfeboro may live in the Fernald Brook, Willey Brook, or Claypit Brook watersheds, while those living in the southeastern parts of town are likely to live in the Warren Brook, Townsend Brook, or Heath Brook watersheds. When viewed from the perspective of the larger watershed into which they drain – in this case, Lake Wentworth – these smaller drainage areas are referred to as sub-watersheds. (By extension, the drainage area of Lake Wentworth and Crescent Lake is a sub-watershed of Lake Winnipesaukee.)

While most of us understand that we need to protect the quality of the water in our lakes, we may not appreciate the fact that the  best way to do that is to look at what is happening to all the water captured in the lake’s watershed rather than focusing on the lake in isolation.

For example, we may find milfoil choking the shallows of one or more brooks that flow into a lake. Clearing the milfoil – an expensive and labor-intensive process — may solve the problem for a season, but why do the weeds grow so extravagantly year after year?

Similarly, we may observe slimy algae blooms lining the shallows along our shorelines during the height of summer. While the unsightly clouds eventually dissipate with cooler weather, we may wonder whether their appearance, which spoils enjoyment of the lake during a prime recreational period, is really unavoidable.

Lastly, maybe we see extensive sandbars at the mouths of major streams, creating navigational hazards along the shorelines and limiting access to properties farther upstream, and it may occur to us that these obstacles appear to be growing.

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