What makes for high quality drinking water - pure taste, clarity, color? Many factors contribute to the quality of water and good watershed management considers all of these aspects.
Any drop of water that falls on land within a reservoir’s watershed could, potentially, find its way to the reservoir. With that in mind, it is important that the land uses within a watershed contribute to the quality of the water. Rainwater that falls on paved areas may pick up pollutants such as oils, dirt, animal waste, and even heat, as it travels towards the reservoir. Even surfaces such as lawns and dirt roads may contribute lawn chemicals and sediment to runoff. Forests, however, are particularly good at filtering runoff before it reaches the reservoirs.
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