What is Watershed Protection?
A watershed is the land area that drains to a single point, such as a stream or lake. Everyone lives in a watershed, and many of the activities we do on a daily basis can either help or hurt the quality of water entering local lakes - the main source of drinking water in North Texas.
Watershed protection is taking action to ensure that water stays as clean as possible even before it reaches the lake and our treatment facilities. Doing so will help prevent water supply emergencies and keep treatment costs as low as possible.
The water we treat and provide to communities comes from local runoff, flowing above and below ground to nearby streams, and ultimately to local lakes. This means that the water that flows through our neighborhoods will eventually end up in your glass. This is why it is so important that we protect it.
After this water is used by our customers (becoming wastewater), it is treated once more and begins the process again. This is called the “Urban Water Cycle.”
To protect the water flowing through our neighborhoods, we need to be mindful of our daily activities and the products we put on the land in the watershed or that we flush down the toilet or drain.
You can help protect water quality by:
- Properly disposing of (like common hazardous household wastes) so they don't harm local streams and lakes.
- Picking up pet waste and placing in the trash (their waste is not a good fertilizer and is a major source of bacteria).
- Properly disposing of litter in the trash can or recycling bin.
- Applying fertilizers, pesticides and other outdoor chemicals according to the instructions on the label (and not right before it rains!). If you can limit or eliminate the use of fertilizer by using organic fertilizer or compost, that's even better!
- Setting mower decks at the highest level to allow longer grass blades, and keep grass clippings and leaves on the yard, not the street (it's natural fertilizer!).
- Keeping our natural streams and riverways healthy. UTRWD partnered with Denton County and the to develop the Denton County Greenbelt Plan - a voluntary effort to aid local communities, developers and landowners in preserving the vital riparian areas, greenbelts and floodplains in their area. The Greenbelt Plan identifies many strategies that can be implemented to benefit water quality and the local quality of life.
Watershed protection is especially important when an area is developing quickly because many natural areas are being turned into urban ones, with more potentially hazardous substances that need to be (and often aren’t) disposed of properly. Our service area is expected to grow 500% in the next 50 years—one of the fastest rates of development in the country. It is urgent that we protect our water and watersheds as this development continues.