drainage area
River's collection zone
A drainage area is the land from which water flows into a particular river, lake, or reservoir.
Rain falling anywhere within a drainage area eventually makes its way to the same destination.
Also called a watershed or catchment basin: The drainage area of the Mississippi covers nearly half the continental United States.
Area collecting water runoff
- watershedDrainage area boundary
- runoffExcess water drainage
- precipitationAtmospheric water deposit
- streamflowRiver water's measured movement
infiltration · percolation · groundwater · aquifer · water table · evapotranspiration · hydrograph · water cycle
Concave water receptacle
- topographyPhysical feature mapping
- elevationHeight above reference point
- slopeAngled terrain or steepness
- dividesSeparates into parts
channel · gully · erosion · deposition · sedimentation · alluvium · meander · oxbow
Preventing soil loss
- land useHow terrain is allocated
- urbanizationPopulation shift toward cities
- retention pondArtificial basin for stormwater
- best practicesProven effective methods
conservation · monitoring · flood control · zoning · agricultural runoff · point source
Relating to riverbanks
- wetlandsWater-saturated terrain
- habitatOrganism's natural environment
- biodiversityRange of life forms
- ecosystemInterconnected organisms and surroundings
aquatic · flora · fauna · conservation · water quality · buffer zone · marshland · streamside
catchment
Area collecting water runoff
- watershedDrainage area boundary
- runoffExcess water drainage
- precipitationAtmospheric water deposit
streamflow · infiltration · percolation · groundwater · aquifer · water table · evapotranspiration · hydrograph · water cycle · surface water
basin
Concave water receptacle
- topographyPhysical feature mapping
- elevationHeight above reference point
- slopeAngled terrain or steepness
divides · channel · gully · erosion · deposition · sedimentation · alluvium · meander · oxbow · floodplain
erosion control
Preventing soil loss
- land useHow terrain is allocated
- urbanizationPopulation shift toward cities
- retention pondArtificial basin for stormwater
best practices · conservation · monitoring · flood control · zoning · agricultural runoff · point source
riparian
Relating to riverbanks
- wetlandsWater-saturated terrain
- habitatOrganism's natural environment
- biodiversityRange of life forms
ecosystem · aquatic · flora · fauna · conservation · water quality · buffer zone · marshland · streamside · pollution
- hydrologyrivers, streamflow, aquifers, aquifer, lakes
- watershedsriver basin, river basins, catchment, catchments, watersheds
- petroleum engineeringoil recovery, permeability, porosity, drilling, horizontal drilling
- Rainforest termsjungle, canopy, understory, forest floor, epiphytes
- bacinopelvis, hip bone, river basin
drainage areaaquifer
Groundwater-bearing geological formation
water source · water table · confined aquifer · reservoir · spring
drainage areadistribution network
Channels linking producers to consumers
drainage, drain, drained, draining, drains, drainer, undrained, area, areas