Chesapeake Bay Watershed

Chesapeake Bay

Chesapeake Bay watershed stretched across 64,000 square miles, encircling parts of six states: Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and the entire District of Columbia. Almost 150 rivers and streams drain into the bay making it the largest estuary (enclosed area where the fresh water from rivers mixes with salt water) in the United States ("Chesapeake: Still at Bay"). Watersheds are sometimes called basins or drainage basins. It is defined by highpoints and descending points through which water flows in stream valleys. Watershed carries water from the land after the rain falls and melting of snow. Then all area ...