Water School

A watershed is the land area or topographic region that drains into a particular stream, river, or lake. This land feature can be identified by tracing a line on a map along the highest elevations between two areas.Large watersheds may contain hundreds or thousands of smaller subwatersheds that drain into the river or other waterbody. The Brazos River watershed encompasses more than 42,000 square miles and includes many smaller streams and rivers with their own smaller watersheds.

Percolation is the movement of water through soil and its layers by force of gravity.

Total dissolved solids, or TDS, are the amount of minerals that remain when a water sample is completely evaporated, such as the water spots on your glassware.  TDS is a measurement of all organic and sometimes inorganic solids in water and is reported as milligrams per liter (mg/l). TDS includes elements and organic compounds such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, bicarbonates, chlorides, and sulfates.  TDS is used as a general indicator of water quality.

An aquifer is an underground geological formation that stores and transmits water in amounts that can be extracted by a water well in useful quantities. For a full size map, click here.

Wetlands provide a habitat for a variety of plants and animals that would fare poorly in other environments. They also provide water storage, functioning like a sponge, storing water and slowly releasing it. This helps ease water’s potential for flooding and erosion. The slow release also contributes to surface water flow during dry periods.Wetlands also can act as a natural water filtration system. As the water enters the wetland, its movement slows around plants, which allows suspended sedime...

Salinity or chloride concentration, refers to the amount of salt dissolved or contained in water. The higher the salinity, the less useful the water is for human consumption, agriculture and other uses.The Brazos River particularly in the upper part of the watershed, contains a high amount of salinity due to a naturally occurring underground salt deposits located northwest of Abilene.  As a result, surface water in some areas of the Brazos River must be treated to remove the amount of salt befor...